Chasing Forever

by Lisa Cardiff

  “Your smell drives me crazy. I wish we were anywhere but here.” His warm breath against her neck sent goose bumps cascading down her body.

  She clutched at the lapels of his suit, pulling him closer, her ability to resist him unraveling with every touch. “Oh god,” she mumbled, her breath breaking as he nibbled on her ear. If he didn’t stop soon, she couldn’t be held responsible for her actions. She loved his touch.

  His fingers slid up the inside of her thigh until he found the edge of her silky panties. Sliding them to the side, she groaned as his finger slid inside of her and began to stroke, bringing her to the brink of insanity.

  “You’re so wet. You must’ve missed me too.”

  When she didn’t respond, his fingers stopped moving and her eyes flew open.

  “Admit it. You missed me,” he demanded in a dark, sexy voice that shot straight to her core.

  “I did,” she relented breathlessly as she wrapped her legs around his body. “I need you.”

  Smiling, his fingers starting plunging in and out of her slick folds as she thrust her hips impatiently against his hand. As her breaths became choppy, he quickened his pace and covered her mouth with his hand. Arching off the desk, he sent her flying, and she released a muffled moan as violent spasms coursed through her body.

  “Have you seen Lucas today?” She froze. Richard was right outside her door.

  Lucas lifted his head from her shoulder, and he stepped back, smiling wickedly, his grin in full force. She already missed the feel of his fingers moving inside her and the heat radiating off of his body.

  She pushed her skirt back down her legs and combed her fingers through her hair.

  “Do you remember now?” he asked. Lucas looked sexy as hell with a cocky smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He was going to get them in trouble, but it was hard to be mad at him when he’d made her feel so amazing a few minutes ago.

  She smiled coyly. “Yes, but—”

  He held his finger to her lips. “Good, I’m glad that is settled. Now we can get some work done today.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Get out of here before someone comes in here and finds us,” she said pointing at the door, trying to look serious, but her lips noticeably twitched.

  He didn’t make any move to leave. “Do you want go to dinner after work?”

  “I go to the gym after work on Mondays.”

  “Tomorrow, then.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “If you don’t say yes, I’m not opposed to playing dirty.” He walked to the door, and his hand rested on the doorknob.

  She’d witnessed him playing dirty, and she just might be compelled to beg for more. “Is that a threat?” she asked, a wayward smile dancing at the corner of her pleasure-stung lips.

  “If it needs to be.”

  “Hmm…” She looked up pretending to consider her answer. “Okay, tomorrow night it is.”

  “Lucas,” she called as he opened the door.

  “Yes?”

  “Have you seen my gold earrings? I think I might have put them in your toiletry bag accidently or left them on the bathroom vanity.”

  “I’ll look.”

  ***

  Two hours later, Parker called asking if she could meet him for drinks after work. Regan knew she shouldn’t be frustrated by his persistence. He still believed they were dating. He didn’t know what happened between her and Lucas, and that wasn’t his fault. It was hers. She should have dealt with this over the weekend instead of letting it linger.

  “I would love to go, but I have to work late tonight and I take a class at the gym on Monday nights.” She cringed at her word choice. Making him believe for one more second that she still had any interest in pursuing a relationship with him wasn’t fair.

  “Do you realize if you’re dating someone, you should make the effort to see that person on occasion?”

  “Parker—”

  “Unless you aren’t interested and, in that case, general courtesy dictates that you inform the other person,” he interrupted.

  She paused, trying to choose her words with awareness. “You know I’m busy, and I had that business trip last week and now.…” She couldn’t think of any explanation other than the truth. She owed him the truth.

  “Now what?” he asked and she could hear the frustration in his voice loud and clear. He’d been her friend for a long time. He didn’t deserve to be strung along like this. She wasn’t the type of person that did that.

  She bit her lip hard, and the silence stretched on the phone.

  “Regan,” he said, drawing out her name. “We’ve been friends for two years. Just tell what’s going on. I’m not going to be mad.”

  She sighed into the phone. “Okay, so I started seeing someone.” Parker didn’t say anything, so she felt compelled to keep talking. “This guy I know,” she added, hating the silence.

  “Do I know him?”

  Regan started tapping her pen on her desk. “It’s kind of new, and I don’t want to talk about him…with you.”

  “When did this happen?”

  “I don’t know. Last week. I can’t say exactly.” She answered evasively because maybe it started the moment she walked in Lucas’s office at the beginning of the summer. She’d thought her feelings for him were dead that day, but now she knew they’d been there all along just waiting for the moment he walked into her life again.

  “But you were gone most of last week,” he said sounding confused.

  “Uh huh.” She didn’t want to elaborate. The tapping of her pen sped up.

  “Unless…” He groaned. “Please tell me you’re not seeing your asshole boss.”

  Oh shit. She froze and the pen dropped onto her skirt leaving a sizable inkblot. This wasn’t exactly how she planned this conversation, not that she actually planned it out in detail, but she wanted to keep Lucas out of the explanation for as long as possible.

  “Parker, I don’t want to talk about who I’m dating.” She took a sip of water, her throat suddenly dry. “It’s not relevant.”

  “I wouldn’t either if I were you.” She heard him breathing into the phone, and she could imagine the disapproval coloring his face. “Your boss? Seriously. That guy is such an ass. I met him for five seconds and I knew what kind of guy he is. I thought you were smarter than that.”

  For the first time since she’d met Parker, he sounded bitter and harsh. She didn’t like this side of Parker. She wanted her friend back. “Don’t be mean. I didn’t set out to hurt you. I have a history with him, and I don’t know…” How could she justify what she did and why? It hardly made sense to her. Getting back together with Lucas wasn’t planned. He just worked his way under her defenses until she was too weak to deny him.

  The silence on the phone was telling. Parker had been her only friend at law school. She talked to other people, went to coffee with other people, and joined study groups, but he was the only person she actually let into her life on more than a superficial level. “I’m sorry. Don’t be mad at me.” Her voice wavered and she cringed. She hated this.

  He exhaled loudly into the phone. “Regan, I’m not mad. I’m worried. Do you hear what you’re saying? You’re dating your boss. Do you understand the risks you’re taking with your career? With your future? Have you thought about that?”

  “We’ll be careful,” she said, worrying her lower lip.

  He scoffed. “Careful would be not dating him, but in the end it isn’t my business.”

  “You may be right,” she said feeling a little defeated and unsure.

  “I knew he was interested in you that night at the bar, but you were harder to read. He clearly made you nervous and uncomfortable, and I thought maybe he had been pressuring you or acting inappropriately.”

  “No, it wasn’t like that,” she said quickly.

  “So that whole story of not liking him because of what he did to your friend in college…”

  “Not true.”

  “Yeah. I didn’t think so, bu
t I didn’t want to pressure you. I figured you had your reasons and you’d tell me eventually.”

  “I feel really bad about this. I should have said something to you right away, but I didn’t want to ruin our friendship, and to be honest, I really didn’t know what I wanted.”

  “He really did a number on you, didn’t he?”

  Regan hesitated. “Who?”

  “Your boss.” He said, making a point by not saying Lucas’s name. “He’s the reason you don’t date, and now you’re giving him another chance.”

  A direct hit. Her heart lurched in her chest. “I don’t want to talk about it. It’s in the past.”

  “Okay. I’ll leave it alone, but Regan…”

  “Yes,” she said impatiently, wanting to get off the phone. She didn’t want Parker or anyone else prying into her past.

  “I’ll be here for you when he hurts you again, because despite what you believe right now, he hasn’t changed. Men don’t change. A beautiful, smart woman walked into his office a month ago, one that he once held in the palm of his hand, and he saw a challenge, but guys like him don’t stay around for long.”

  That’s exactly what she was afraid of, but she’d bite off her tongue before she shared that with anyone, especially Parker. “You don’t know him.”

  “You’re right, I don’t, but I do know that he hurt you once, and I’m pretty sure he’ll do it again.”

  “What do you want me to say?” she asked, chewing the end of her pen, ready for this conversation to end. How did Parker manage to dredge up every one of her fears?

  “Nothing. There’s nothing to say. I’ll see you on Thursday, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Regan left the office at five the next day to get ready for dinner with Lucas. He’d told her she looked nice in her work clothes, but she wanted to look better than normal, not that she looked bad at work. She wanted to look feminine, soft, not all buttoned up and hard in another one of her suits.

  Dressed in a wispy emerald colored chiffon dress with a breezy cutout that stretched the length of her back, and gold strappy heels, she styled her hair until soft curls framed her face. As a result of the high humidity, she decided to forego redoing her makeup. Instead, she touched up her mascara and put on some clear lip-gloss. She liked the way she looked, and she hoped Lucas enjoyed it too because it was for him.

  The doorbell rang as she slid her wallet into her gold handbag. When she opened the door, Lucas stood on her front step with a bouquet of purple Irises. He handed it to her as he kissed her cheek.

  “You didn’t have to bring me anything,” she said, smiling as she twirled the deep purple bouquet in her hand.

  “I wanted to. An Iris means hope, and I thought it fit what I’m feeling about us.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets as he looked around her small one bedroom apartment.

  “How did you know that?” she asked, walking to the kitchen.

  “I asked the florist,” he said, smiling.

  “Ahh, and I thought you were an amateur botanist,” she commented, standing on her tiptoes trying to reach a vase in one of her upper cabinets.

  “Let me do that,” he said, putting his hand on her lower back, his fingers grazing her bare skin. She shivered. Would it always be like this?

  “Thanks,” she muttered, fiddling with the gold bangles on her wrists.

  As he reached over her, easily grabbing the vase from the top shelf, she leaned into him momentarily, inhaling his crisp, spicy scent. This man drove her crazy.

  “Put them in water and we’ll get out of here.”

  As she settled the flowers in a vase, Lucas’s arms went around her, pulling her back against his chest. He bent his head. “I’m glad you went home to change. You look beautiful,” he said, his low, silky voice caressing her skin.

  “You changed too,” she said, tilting her head up to look at him. Instead of his standard suit he was wearing charcoal pants and light blue dress shirt.

  “Do you approve?” he asked as his hands wandered along her sides, over her bare shoulders, grazing the underside of her breasts.

  “I do,” she said breathlessly.

  “Did you tell Parker about us?” He nuzzled her neck.

  “Yes.” She tried to pull out of his hold, but his arms tightened around her waist.

  “Finally.” He hands started moving again, sucking her under his spell and dismantling her brain. “How’d it go?”

  “Not good. He’s not very fond of you.” She tilted her head to the side to give him better access.

  As he pressed his mouth against the side of her neck, she felt the curve of his smile. “I didn’t think you planned to tell him about me, just that you’re seeing someone.”

  “I didn’t tell him. He guessed. I didn’t deny it.”

  His hands dug into her hips as her turned her around to face him. “Really? I’m surprised. What tipped him off?”

  She toyed with the top button of his shirt. “The way you looked at me.” She pushed the top button through its hole and moved to the next.

  “Good. I’m glad he received my message.”

  Her hands froze, and she cocked her head to the side. “What message?”

  “The silent communication where I staked a claim on you.”

  She dropped her hands to her sides. “At the bar?”

  “Yes,” he said, grabbing her waist, holding her tight against him again. “Does that bother you?”

  A wicked heat burned along her nerve endings, and she gave him a dark glance, not wanting to be swayed by the chemistry already sizzling between them. “You jerk…I can’t believe you thought you had the right. What were you thinking?” she fumed.

  He actually had the nerve to smile at her. “I saw him put his hands on you, you let him, and I didn’t like it. I made sure he knew.”

  “But I hated you then,” she sputtered, trying to ignore his sexy grin.

  He cupped her face in his hands and angled it upward. “Maybe at that moment, but I planned to fix that.” He kissed her lightly once, twice, and then pulled back. “And I did. You’re with me, not him, and clearly you don’t hate me.”

  Arrogant. That was the only word she could come up with to describe his actions. “There’s a fine line between love and hate,” she said, trying to be firm even though some deep, dark part of her that she’d never acknowledge in public secretly liked his cave-man behavior.

  “I’m glad I’m firmly on the other side of that hate line.”

  She frowned. “I’m not so sure how far you are over that line. I’m kind of pissed off right now. Your behavior was…adolescent.”

  His lips twitched.

  “Don’t laugh at me. You’re the one behaving like an animal marking your territory.”

  Lucas eased her closer, his arms circling tightly around her waist and his eyes amber eyes drinking her in. Her heart never failed to give a little jolt when he looked at her like that.

  “You can’t fault me for going after what I want,” he said, leaning forward to kiss her bare shoulder.

  “And what is that?” she asked, the fog of his blatant sensuality closing in on her.

  His hands slid over her hips and down her thighs scattering goose bumps along her skin. “Don’t you know?”

  “Remind me,” she murmured, unable to concentrate.

  “Didn’t we already go over this?” There was a sensual promise in the tone of his smoky voice.

  She wrapped her hands around the broad slope of his shoulders, tangling her fingers in the back of his hair. “We did? Show me again…maybe I need a refresher.” Her voice emerged a breathless whisper. “I’m growing very fond of the reminders.”

  “I’ll keep reminding you as many times as it takes.” His mouth descended on hers with a hot branding pressure, kissing her wildly until she couldn’t think about anything except his next kiss. Her arms dropped from his shoulders to his waist, pulling his shirt from his pants. She needed to feel every inch of his
skin. It seemed like an eternity since she’d seen him and touched him. Her hands groped the muscles along the sides of his spine and then she moved to his chest, loving the feel of every contour and curve beneath her fevered fingertips.

  Lucas lifted her onto the cold slab of the kitchen counter, her gold heels dangling from her feet. With his hands buried in the folds of her emerald chiffon dress, he slowly pushed the material up her thighs until she was totally exposed.

  “What about our dinner reservations? We’re going to be late,” she mumbled numbly. She didn’t want stop, but he had made plans.

  Stepping between her legs, he pushed the elastic of her panties to the side, his fingers teasing her, promising all kinds of naughty things just out of her grasp.

  “Should I stop? Are you hungry?” he asked, his fingers skating along her greedy folds, never quite touching where she wanted, needed him to be.

  Not for food. “No,” she yelled a little more forceful than she intended.

  He chuckled, his white-hot gaze traveling the length of her body. Then he moved his fingers and slid inside her, finally giving her exactly what she needed and she released a strangled breath. His heavily lidded eyes studied her face, watching her every move as she impatiently rocked against his hand wildly seeking relief.

  His lips collided with hers, and she groaned as his tongue swirled around hers. Every maddening stroke of his finger and tongue pulsed through her body until she whimpered with the overwhelming sensation threatening her sanity.

  Pulling her legs tightly around his waist, he lifted her from the counter, holding her with one arm while continuing to move inside her with the other.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, trying to push his shirt from his shoulders so she could see more of his beautiful, smooth skin. He had skin most women only dreamt of having—smooth, flawless, and naturally golden.

  “Looking for a bed.” He trailed kisses along her neck and jaw.

  “Too far,” she groaned.

  He paused. “Couch, then.”

  When he reached the edge of the couch, he lowered her onto the soft cream cushions. With his hands resting on the arm of the couch on either side of her head, he stepped between her legs and gave her one of the most singularly focused kisses of her life. As he leaned against her, she tumbled backwards onto her elbows, and he lowered himself between her legs, gasping as he thrust against her.