by Aubrey Dark
I could feel my face turning bright red.
“Oh,” I said. “Um. Okay. Never mind what I said.”
“Could I see you in the sexy space vixen get up, though?” he asked. “Just, you know, for research purposes?”
“Uh. No.”
“I might have a space-themed party sometime later this year.”
“Then you can get in contact with me then,” I said prissily, holding up my clipboard like a true businesswoman.
Lucas twisted a grin at me.
“Yes, ma’am.”
He pressed a button on the wall.
“Jeeves, move up the space party to next week.”
“I can’t guarantee that it’ll be me in the space vixen outfit,” I said in a teasing voice. “Sometimes my brother runs the parties. He looks great in silver hot pants.”
Lucas raised his eyebrows and pressed the button again.
“Jeeves, cancel the space party.”
“Mr. Black?” The wall was talking back, and I realized that the button actually was part of an intercom system in his apartment. Lucas startled back at the noise.
“Never mind, Alex,” Lucas said. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were here.”
“So wait,” I said. “You actually have a butler?”
He gave me an apologetic look.
“Assistant, really. His name is Alex.”
I raised my eyebrows. A personal assistant on beck and call.
“It must be nice to never have to do anything yourself,” I said, with no small amount of snark. “What do you do all day?”
“Oh, you know. Eat cupcakes. Plan parties. Serious stuff.”
“I’m sure. Speaking of,” I said, pivoting to the reason I had come here. “What exactly are you thinking for this party? How many guests are there?”
“Ah, that’s the thing. I’m not sure how many people my mom will bring. Probably less than ten, but we should plan for twenty, just to be sure. Can you make the cupcakes different? Individualize them or something?”
“Individualized how?”
“I don’t know. I was hoping you would help with that. I know my mother’s friends love customized crap. Not that your cupcakes are crap—”
“I could do personalized holders,” I said, politely deflecting the remark. “Then they could choose which kind of cupcake they want. I’ll just need the guest list.”
“That’s perfect.”
“Is there a theme to this party? All I know is that it’s definitely not space themed.”
Lucas smiled.
“It’s going to be old school Hollywood,” he said.
“Hmm.”
“I don’t know how you could do anything like that with cupcakes, but—”
“Oh! I’ve got it!” My mind was racing with ideas. I loved old Hollywood movies. Men in tuxes did something to my insides.
“What is it?”
“We can do black and white cupcakes,” I said. “You know, like old timey movies. I’ll do all the frosting in grayscale, and then when they bite into the cupcake, it’ll be in color inside.”
“That would be amazing.”
I didn’t know if he really thought my idea was amazing, or if he was just coming on to me. He was staring directly into my eyes, and I felt myself starting to grow hot under his gaze. I was imagining Lucas in a tux. That blond hair, always a little bit disheveled. Those piercing blue eyes— “Great!” I said brightly. “I’ll start working on it, then. Thanks for showing me around!”
I turned to go, but Lucas was by my side in a flash. He put two fingers on my wrist to stop me. It shouldn’t have worked, but it did. I stopped and swallowed back my discomfort.
“Let me take you back home,” he said.
“Totally not necessary.” I clutched my clipboard to my chest.
“Please.”
Lucas punched the button on the wall.
“Alex, would you bring the car out front?” he said into the intercom. “The, ah, the Lamborghini.”
“Yes, sir,” the disembodied voice said in a clipped tone.
We had barely stepped out before a bright yellow Lamborghini came roaring up to the curb. A young man with dark hair jumped out. I was surprised—I thought all butlers were old men, but this guy was younger than Lucas. He ran up and handed the keys over with an impish grin.
“Sir,” he said, nodding in our direction. He gave Lucas a knowing look. “Have a good time.”
“We’re not—”
I cut myself off. I wasn’t going to defend myself to a butler, for God’s sake. The relationship I had with Lucas was perfectly professional. And it was going to stay that way, no matter what a stupid assistant thought about us.
Lucas was already holding the car door open for me. I slid in, tucking my skirts between my legs to avoid giving his assistant any more ammunition. Lucas slid in behind me with a mischievous grin that told me I’d better buckle up quickly.
Driving a car in New York was always brutal, but somehow Lucas made it seem fun. Whenever we hit traffic, he’d careen around the corner or speed down an alleyway so fast that I clutched the side arm.
At one intersection, we hit a red light. Lucas swerved over to the curb, where an old woman was selling roses. He lowered the window.
“Hey Mrs. Norberg!” Lucas called.
“Mr. Black!” She was at the car window in no time. The aroma from her roses wafted in through the window.
“Mrs. Norberg, you look wonderful today,” Lucas gushed. “Did you do your hair differently?”
“Oh, thank you,” she said, touching the side of her gray permed bob. “I thought I’d go for a saucy look. Like a flapper.”
“You look divine,” Lucas said.
“A rose for your lady?” she asked.
“Yes, please,” Lucas said, passing over a bill and plucking one from the bouquet. Just then, the light turned green. Mrs. Norberg hopped back onto the sidewalk.
“Thank you!” Lucas called to her from the car window, as we sped away.
He held the rose out to me.
“A beautiful rose for a beautiful girl.”
“Thanks,” I said, plucking the rose out of his hand. “You must have a lot of beautiful girls for the flower lady to know you by name.”
“Oh, me and Mrs. Norberg go way back,” Lucas said.
“Really?” I asked. “You know, I could sense something between you two.”
“Oh, yeah,” Lucas said, continuing to joke. “What we have is special, you know. True love. You can’t buy that.”
“You certainly can’t,” I said with a pinched smile.
We zoomed around the last few corners and screeched to a halt in front of my apartment. I unbuckled right away.
“This car is great out in the country,” Lucas said. “Maybe I could drive you around sometime.”
“Sure. Or maybe not.”
I slid out of the car quickly and closed the door, only to see Lucas walking out behind me.
“Let me walk you up.”
“That’s really not necessary.”
“Please.” He skipped forward to where I was standing on the stoop and stood face to face with me.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to.”
“Do you always get everything you want?”
He only grinned. That funny feeling inside of me flamed up. Despite all of his brashness, there was a strange gentleness to the way he took my arm and put it in his. I began to imagine what other things he would do to me, and whether or not he would be gentle in bed.
I bit back my thoughts and climbed the steep stairwell up to my place. We lived cheaply right above the bakery, but it was a hell of a climb every night. I stopped in front of my apartment door and turned back to Lucas, the keys still in my hand.
“You can’t come in,” I said.
“Did I ask to come in?”
“I could tell what you were thinking,” I said, crossing my arms in front of me. I felt more vulnerable than ever with L
ucas looming in front of me. He was so tall.
“Is that right?” he asked. He put one strong arm up against the doorway, blocking me against the closed door. I could smell his cologne again, and a deodorant, like he’d been working out. “Then what am I thinking right now?”
I looked up at Lucas. His brilliant blue eyes burned into mine. The air between us was hot with energy. I opened my mouth and forgot what words meant.
“You…you’re not… you can’t be serious.” I mumbled..
“With one motion he cupped his hand around the back of my neck. I couldn’t step back to get away from him, but I didn’t want to. He seized my lips in his and pulled me into a kiss.
I gasped and my gasp was cut off halfway. His mouth was on mine, so hot and unrelenting that I couldn’t breathe for several seconds. I didn’t care. In an instant, all of my reservations were lost. Any hesitation in my mind was replaced by wildfire desire that ripped through my body, racing through my nerves.
His lips were hot and hard and wanting, and he took me into his arms without asking. Strong arms.
What was I doing?
My arms were limp at my sides. I raised my hands to push Lucas away, but when I touched him I only wanted more. My lips were burning as he tore away from the kiss.
“Nothing serious,” he whispered. “Just a kiss.”
His breath was hot on my skin, and the air was redolent with his cologne. I struggled to get air back into my lungs. I had imagined this, imagined what it would feel like to have his mouth against mine, but now that it was actually happening, it was so passionate, so tempting, so much better than anything my imagination could have conjured up.
“Lucas…” My voice was weak.
“And maybe a little more.”
Without any words to resist him, he was unstoppable. He shoved me back against the closed door, and now his hands were sliding down over my body, cupping, caressing. His mouth pressed hot firm kisses on my mouth, my cheek, my neck.
I let out a cry as he moved one hand down between my thighs, his fingers pressing hard against where I ached for his touch.
Yes, ached. My body arched against him even as my mind screamed Stop! Stop! Stop! But I couldn’t stop myself. I could feel my own legs parting, my muscles melting at every possessive touch of his. He pushed me back into the door, and then— “Ahh!”
The door fell away behind me and if Lucas hadn’t caught me, I would have fallen backwards onto my ass. Instead, strong arms cradled me tightly against an even tighter chest.
“Steph!”
I swiveled my head to see Andy staring at me with eyes as wide as mixing bowls. I realized that I was clutching Lucas’s arms like some stupid damsel in distress and let go, but too late. Realization dawned on my brother’s face like the sunrise glinting off of the downtown highrises.
I didn’t say anything. Lucas cleared his throat.
“Excuse me,” he said.
“Why hello,” Andy said. A dumbly enthusiastic smile blossomed on his face. “Lucas. Very nice to see you this evening.”
I stared down my younger brother with what I hoped was an intimidating glare.
“Andy,” I said, “What are you—”
“Sorry! I’m heading out to the club with George.” Andy pushed by me, grinning like the damn Cheshire Cat. “Don’t let me interrupt.”
Despite his snark, I couldn’t help but act the older sister.
“It’s late,” I said. “You’re just heading out now?”
“I’ll be back to do the deliveries at five. Don’t worry.”
“I’m worried.” I had to be worried. His excuse wasn’t much of one. “When will you sleep?”
“I’ll sleep all afternoon.”
I sighed.
“Okay,” I said. “But you’re going to have to get back into a better routine. I don’t want you coming in drunk.”
“I won’t. Thank you, big sister,” he said. “Good luck! Stay out of trouble.”
I flushed as he winked. He sped down the hallway, leaving me wrapped in Lucas’s firm grip. I let out a tense exhale and pushed Lucas slightly away.
“It’s nice of you to look after your little brother like that.”
“Thanks. I try to be a good sister. Uh, could you…” I poked at Lucas’s bicep, which was blocking the way out of his embrace.
“Could I kiss you again? Sure.” Lucas dove straight for my lips, but I swiveled away. His kiss landed on my neck, just below my ear. A shiver of pleasure ran through me.
“Lucas, stop,” I said. I swallowed hard. Seeing Andy had reminded me of something: the reason I never wanted to get involved with someone like Lucas. I couldn’t date a man like him, this billionaire playboy.
He went through girls by the handful. He wasn’t a monogamous man. He would always want something else, someone different. I imagined dating him, letting these feelings run away and grow into something more. And then, the inevitable: he would drop me off one night and never call or text me again, and I would see him with his arm around some other girl walking down the street like it had never mattered. I imagined how much I could want him. How much I would grow to need him…Just like Mom.
The feeling was a punch to the gut, and I involuntarily flinched back, curling my arms protectively around myself.
Lucas’s hands immediately softened on my arms, and he bent slightly to look into my face.
“Steph?” he asked.
I was embarrassed at my reaction. How stupid could I be, that I was already getting jealous over a guy in my imagination? We had just had one kiss— —our first kiss, my heart said—
—no, one kiss, that was all. And that was all it would ever be. It made me itch with discomfort to think that my desires had already grown this strong. I pushed them back, tried to suppress the hopeful feeling that I got when I looked into his beautiful eyes.
He’s an asshole. A player.
And yet, those eyes, god, those eyes. I could lose myself in them, let myself see the world reflected in their glassy depths…
He’ll hurt you. That kind always hurts you.
“Thanks for walking me up,” I said blankly. “I’m going inside now. Alone.”
My body was hot, craving his touch, but I tamped down the feelings burning through my nerves. This wasn’t what I wanted, no matter how much I thought I wanted it.
I stepped back and he let me go. I went to close the front door, but it stopped. I looked down to see his foot blocking the door.
My heart skipped faster. The first thought through my mind was that I hoped he would come in. In an instant, I saw him shoving me into the wall and taking my lips in his again.
Heat burned through my legs, and I trembled as I held the door halfway shut, pressing against his shoe. A shiny black shoe. Probably expensive Italian leather. Too expensive for him to scuff. I eased the door open an inch.
“I said I was going alone.”
“I’m not coming in,” Lucas said. “I just wanted to ask you something.”
I opened the door an inch farther.
“Ask.”
“I’m leaving tomorrow for Paris,” he said.
“That’s not a question.”
“Why don’t you come with me?”
I stared at him. What was this man doing this close to my apartment? My cramped, dingy apartment, always smelling of the city’s trash and smog. His watch would probably pay my rent for a year. He didn’t belong here.
Belle was right. I didn’t fit into his expensive, luxury apartment. And he didn’t fit into my world, either. Even the scent of his cologne made me feel like I was somewhere too fancy, like a jewelry store where the salesmen would look down their noses at me as soon as I walked in.
Come with me. Come with me. The words echoed around my brain, and I couldn’t parse them at first.
My mouth opened, and I tried to respond, but I found that I had nothing to say. What the hell was happening? This was like a crazy dream where nothing made sense anymore. I licked my lips. He wa
ited there, standing with one foot in my doorway and an earnest expression on his face.
“You want me… to come with you… to Paris?” I asked finally.
“Sure.” He looked bemused.
“You can’t be serious.”
“You keep saying that. Let me prove you wrong.” Don’t trust him.
“I can’t,” I said.
“Why?”
“Because I have a business that I need to run.”
“Andy can run it for a couple of days, can’t he?”
“My brother? He would burn the place down within the hour if I left him alone.”
“So close up shop. It’s only a few days.”
My fingers curled up into my palms. How could he be so nonchalant about shutting down my business? Of course, he wouldn’t care. He didn’t know what it meant to run on tight margin. He didn’t know that taking a few days off would be basically me flipping the finger to my regular clients. There were so many small cafes and coffee shops that sold my cupcakes. I couldn’t let them down. And he was asking me to let them down.
“No.”
“Please? We can take my private jet. It won’t take nearly as long to fly there.”
I set my face in a tight, neutral expression. Already I was feeling calmer, less jealous. Already, I was recovering.
“No.”
“Why not?”
Putting on my most serious expression, I said the words I didn’t want to say. My heart tore open as I spoke, pushing his shiny black loafer out of the doorway.
“I don’t want to get involved with you, Lucas Black.”
With that, I closed the door behind me and left him standing alone in the hallway.
Chapter Six
Lucas
“You should have busted down her door and thrown her down on the bed,” Clint said.
“That sounds like a great way to get the cops called on my ass,” I said. The hard rubber of the weight bench pressed against the back of my head as I looked over at the weights piled up on the bar.
I didn’t know where I’d fucked up. Steph had been kissing me back, really enjoying it. I could tell when girls were enjoying themselves, and she had been loving every touch. Until— “Can you spot me instead of just standing there?” I said. I gripped the iron bar in my hands.