“Is that, uh, my shirt?” I pointed.
“Maybe . . .”
“Hmm . . .”
“What were you saying about the days of the week?”
“Why are you wearing my shirt?”
“I stole it.”
“I was saying the days of the week because I figured I should be really, really clear about my intentions. Why did you steal my shirt?”
She shrugged. “And just what are your intentions, Thorn? The shirt’s comfortable, if you must know, and it smells like jackass.” She grinned behind the mug, and I barked out a laugh.
“My intentions are bad, very bad.” I swayed toward her. “On Mondays I plan on licking my way up and down your body—you know, as an extraspecial hello. And what exactly does jackass smell like?”
“What about Tuesday?” She gulped. “A jackass smells like Lucas Thorn—they’re one and the same . . .”
“Tuesdays are naked days. No clothes allowed. Sorry, champ, but no more stealing my shirts. And thanks for the compliment about my scent.”
Avery set the coffee on the bar and crossed her arms. “What if I don’t want to be naked?”
“I voted, and you already lost. You missed the entire meeting, so you don’t get a damn say.”
She took a cautious step toward me. “Do you have plans for every day then? Is that what this is about?”
“I fixed my schedule.” I locked eyes with her. “Wrote you in on every day, with marker nonetheless—and you know how I hate crossing things out.”
“Because you’re a freak.”
“Yes.”
“Every day, you said?”
I swallowed my nervousness. “Night and day.”
“OH WOW—I get nights too? This is surprising, since nobody is normally allowed in Lucas Thorn’s bed. Gonna move me out of the guest room, are ya?”
“I made an exception,” I whispered. “And that one exception ruined me for all other days—all other women.”
“Good.” Tears filled her eyes. “I’m glad.”
“Me too.”
I don’t think I could ever prepare myself for Avery Black’s kiss, which was proven yet again when she launched herself into my arms and molded her mouth to mine, only to break apart and slap me across the face and whisper, “Hurt me again, and I’m slashing the tires to your car.”
“Oookaaay,” I said slowly. “Why do I get the feeling you still want to do that just so you can say you’ve done it?”
She cocked her head to the side and gave me an evil grin. “Just one tire?”
“Hell no! There will be no slitting tires in this relationship.” I fused my mouth with hers. She tasted like coffee. She tasted like she was mine.
She broke off the kiss. “What about Thatch’s tires?”
I thought about it for a minute. “He did just buy a new Audi . . .”
Her grin widened.
“For Austin, of course, not because we have some sick fascination with slitting tires or anything.” I kissed her mouth.
She laughed against my lips. “Right, because that would be weird.”
“Right.”
Our gazes locked. Avery slid her hand up my neck and then snaked it around my head, pulling our mouths together again and again. I tried different angles, hungry for her, needing to prove myself not just with my words but also with my body. “Maybe,” she said between kisses, “we have naked Saturdays, and then we go slit his tires.”
“You read my mind,” I said gruffly. She wiggled against my body, making me lose every ounce of damn patience I’d built up over the course of the night. Every hour I wanted to break down her door. And every hour I told myself that it would be a bad idea—giving her the wrong idea that I only wanted her for her body when I wanted her for everything.
“No more cheating.” She took my lower lip between her lips and bit down.
I hissed out a curse. “No more cheating. Mainly because you terrify me and you did just offer to slit my best friend’s tires, then followed up by biting me, not to mention the scratching of your crazy long nails across my neck.”
“Oops,” she mouthed. “Sorry, I was distracted.”
“By what?”
“This.” She jabbed her finger in the cleft of my chin. “I so wish I could call you butt chin.” With a sigh, she trailed that same finger down my neck and dipped it into the collar of my T-shirt. “But it’s sexy.”
“And this makes you sad?”
“Humans need flaws, remember, Thorn?”
“I think I’m one of the most flawed men you’ll ever encounter . . . I did fall in love with my fiancée’s little sister and contemplate seducing her the night before my wedding.”
She seemed to think about this a minute, then said, “Well, for the record, I was weak enough to probably let you.”
“It would have ruined us.”
Avery nodded.
“Instead, it ruined me.”
Another nod. “Me too.”
Sighing, I leaned forward, our foreheads touching. “I’m so damn sorry, Avery Bug.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I want you to burn your phone. No, scratch that—I want you to toss that phone into a barrel, set it on fire, and chant a curse around it. Something like, ‘If I ever call any of these women again or cheat, let my balls be lit on fire and my penis just fall off.’”
I frowned. “Thought about this, have you?”
“Only a dozen or so times, but I can never get the curse right.”
“Unfortunate.” I choked out a laugh.
“I know.” She actually pouted.
And this was why I loved her.
“Come on.” I bent over and lifted her in my arms, then charged like a mad man into my bedroom before tossing her onto the bed and pulling off my clothes at an alarming speed.
When she did nothing but stare at me with her mouth open, I clapped my hands to gain her attention.
She jumped.
“Less staring, more stripping, Avery Bug.”
“Am I your girlfriend?” She grinned.
“Are we doing this now? Because there are so many other things I’d rather be doing with my mouth.”
“Thorn.”
I stalked her, slowly, putting one foot in front of the other before grabbing her leg and jerking her down the front of the bed and pulling her shorts down and her shirt up over her head.
“Cute socks,” I muttered.
“Thorn!”
“Yes.” I cleared every stitch of clothing away from her perfect body and settled myself between her thighs. “You’re my girlfriend.”
“And one day you’ll marry me.” She tipped her chin up.
“One day . . .” I inched inside her, and the tension left me immediately. “Very soon . . . I’ll marry you.”
“Soon?” she asked on a moan as her head fell back against the bed.
“Soon,” I swore.
Chapter Forty-Six
AVERY
He was pissed.
Because I was asking for a transfer to work with one of the other vice presidents. Something felt wrong about being Lucas’s private sexretary—it had been just one full day back at work, and he was a giant grumpy bear.
Every time I brought him papers to sign, he pouted.
Like a child.
Twice he texted me to come into his office and lock the door.
And twice I gave him a sweet no with a smiley face.
Lucas: Dying. You’re actually killing me. Remember that whole scenario where my penis falls off?
Me: You’ll make it.
Lucas: Is this punishment for the calendar?
Me: Yes. That’s what this is.
Lucas: I’m in hell.
I grinned and set my phone down, then went about sending in the next girl. “Molly?” I called her name. “Lucas Thorn will see you now.”
She glared at me.
And I nearly skipped toward the door after her. “Lucas, your next appointment is here.”
“Thanks,” he said through clenched teeth.
I waved and then went back to the desk and grabbed a piece of gummy candy just as the elevator doors opened and the flight attendants walked in.
“You guys are early, but if you’ll just take a seat right over there, Lucas will be right with you.”
They eyed me warily.
And they should have.
Because I was cleaning house. Lucas thought all he needed to do was call the girls and let them know he was settling down. But I knew girls, and I didn’t want him having that temptation in his life. So not only did he get a new phone with a new number, but he also set up meetings with each of the girls he had cheated with.
And apologized.
Ladies and gentlemen, Lucas Thorn—cheater of the year, man whore of the month—has found his heart! How about a round of applause?
“Why are you clapping?” one of the two girls asked. “Why is she clapping?”
“Sorry.” I grinned. “I just have a lot of company spirit, and it’s Secretary Appreciation Day.” Lie, total lie, but whatever. Let them stare down the other woman.
The one who singlehandedly stole Lucas Thorn’s heart.
And refused to give it back.
And just because I was feeling awesome, I offered them candy.
Naturally, they declined because, calories, which just meant more for me and my new spirit-animal bobblehead panda—compliments of my boyfriend.
I patted the head; it bobbled at me.
I had told Lucas I would quit being his intern, and naturally I said he should request a nice old lady to assist him. Someone who was bored with retirement—not that I didn’t trust him. I just knew the effect he had on women.
Really, it was like his superpower.
The door to his office opened. Molly left a sobbing mess. I held out the box of tissues while Lucas yelled from his desk, “Next!”
The flight attendants didn’t look happy.
Then again, who would be happy about being dumped?
I couldn’t wipe the grin from my face, and it would have probably stayed there had Austin not texted me.
Austin: He’s a monster!
Me: Who?
Austin: THATCH! A cheating, low life, ball-sucking bastard, and if I have to see him one more time, I’m going to strangle him alive.
Me: Drinks later?
Austin: No. Class. Sorry.
I sighed and dropped my phone. Stupid Thatch and his stupid cheating and inability to keep his pecker in his pants.
The door to Lucas’s office burst open, and out walked the flight attendants. They were classy. No tears. Instead, they looked at me, each with a respectful smile.
Lucas leaned his muscled frame against the side of my desk. Slowly, I raised my eyes to his. “Yes, sir?”
He grinned. “It’s done.”
“All of the girls? Even the substitutes?”
“Do you realize if you smiled any bigger, your face would actually crack near your ears?”
“Smile? What smile?”
He tipped my chin toward him. “I love you, Avery Black.”
“I love you too.”
He was just about to kiss me when I rolled my chair backward. “What?”
“Do you love me enough to find out why the hell Thatch would break Austin’s heart and cheat on her?”
“He did what?” Lucas said, and then let out a heavy sigh. “Thatch may be a player, but he doesn’t cheat.”
“He did. On her.”
“On purpose?” Lucas had the balls to ask.
“YOU DON’T CHEAT BY ACCIDENT!”
“Whoa.” He held up his hands and backed away slowly. “Yes, whatever you say. Look, I’ll call him, order you some lunch, make sure to draw you a bubble bath back at home, and let you have remote time.”
The door to his office closed.
What just happened?
My phone went off.
Lucas: I love you. When you love someone, you let them win—not every battle but at least the ones that matter. Calling Thatch now. There has to be a reason, not that I’m defending what he did or didn’t do. Now, your only job—if you choose to accept it—is to make reservations for dinner tonight, for our first real date.
I grinned down at my phone.
Me: I say where it all started.
Lucas: I couldn’t agree more.
Acknowledgments
This is the hard part.
Trying to thank everyone who helped put this book together. I think with the more books I write, the harder it gets, and the last thing I want is for this section to become habitual—because I truly mean a huge, giant, epic thank-you to all the people in my life who make writing possible.
I’m so thankful to God that I’m allowed to do what I love, and my husband for being so supportive when I have to put in long hours—for taking Thor for a walk when I just need that quiet time when I can play with the characters in my head (wow—that sounds weird, yet is oddly true).
Thank you to Erica, my amazing agent. I’m pretty sure she has no idea how fantastic she is, or how much I love her. One of these days I’m just going to force her to adopt me so she has no choice but to claim me as a blood relation—too far? ☺
Thanks to everyone at Skyscape for being willing to put your faith and trust in me yet again with another book series, hands down one of the best publishers I’ve ever worked with. It’s an honor to be one of your authors, and I hope I can continue to write books for you!
Jill! My amazing assistant and “family”! Thanks for always being ready and willing to take over the world on my behalf. I would be lost without you!
Ah, I’m missing people! See, the longer these acknowledgments get, the more people I miss! Readers, I adore you guys—it’s because of you that I’m able to do what I do.
The same goes for bloggers. I so appreciate the constant support you give me. I know most of you have thankless jobs and don’t get paid to do what you do, so the fact that you take time out of your schedule to help support me means more than you’ll ever know!
To the Rockin Readers—yeah, you guys are basically like the best fan group ever! (If you want to join, go to Rachel’s New Rockin Readers on Facebook).
To everyone who read Cheater—I hope it wasn’t what you expected; I hope you smiled, laughed, got angry, and were entertained. I hope it made you feel good and crave more. ;) Because, good news! Thatch’s story is next, and I can’t wait for you to see what I have in store for him!
As always, you can follow me on Facebook, Rachel Van Dyken; Instagram, @RachVD; and Twitter, @RachVD!
HUGS . . .
RVD
About the Author
Photo © 2014 Lauren Watson Perry, Perrywinkle Photography
A master of lighthearted love stories, Rachel Van Dyken is the author of several novels that have appeared on national bestseller lists, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. A devoted lover of Starbucks, Swedish Fish, and The Bachelor, Rachel lives in Idaho with her husband, son, and two boxers. Follow her writing journey at www.RachelVanDykenAuthor.com and www.facebook.com/rachelvandyken.
Cheater (Curious Liaisons Book 1) Page 26