by LJ Baker
“Hello, Ms. Mitchell.” Luc came up beside them and slipped a hand over Amanda’s back. She immediately struggled out of his hold and moved a few feet over.
“Hello, Mr. Morningstar. How are you this evening?”
She was back to the professionalism. Not that Luc didn’t appreciate a human who knew how to act like a professional, he certainly had his moments for demanding such behavior. But Amanda was different. She was too business-like with him. He was starting to have difficulty seeing how he was supposed to get closer to her, to get her to relax a little, and Luc never had that trouble with women before.
Her friend practically hummed with nervous anticipation. He was clearly waiting for her to introduce them, but Amanda was oblivious. Luc figured he’d better make the connection before her friend imploded right in front of them.
“Lucifer Morningstar.” Luc held his hand out to the male and waited for him to acknowledge the invitation to actually touch him.
“Great to meet you. Toby. I mean, I’m Toby. Amanda’s guy. Roommate. I mean, I’m Amanda’s roommate.” He clasped Luc’s hand, much too hard, and shook vigorously. “It’s great to meet you. I said that. I mean, great place. Is it true you have orgies upstairs? Oh my God. Did I say that out loud? I did, didn’t I? I, uh, I’m going to shut up now.”
Amanda’s eyes widened in horror as she watched the exchange, then pulled Toby off Luc. “I think he’s had a few too many appletinis. We’ll just leave you alone now.”
“You’re not bothering me at all. I’m looking forward to getting to know my new associate and her friend.” This time Luc put his arm around Toby and led him along toward the VIP lounge. “I think you both will be more comfortable in here.”
“We cannot afford this.” Toby glanced around the room like a little kid in a candy store. “No, way. Way, out of our league.”
“It’s on the house.” Luc sat on one of the overstuffed couches and motioned for Toby to join him. Maybe if he ignored Amanda altogether, she would loosen up a bit.
Amanda stood, drink in hand, and looked around with narrowed eyes. Luc thought for sure she was going to come up with some excuse why they couldn’t stay, instead, she sat next to Toby and sipped her drink. Luc figured, in any other situation, she’d have been out of there. But she was trying to get Luc to sign her contract and do business with her, so chances were, she was still in professional mode.
“So did you two come out for fun, or to check out the clientele?” Luc motioned to a woman in a tiny black outfit that barely covered her naughty bits, to refill his drink. She whisked his glass away and had a new one to him faster than seemed possible.
“Maybe a little of both.” Amanda gulped down the rest of her drink and another was placed in her hand. She looked around, trying to figure out how it happened, but Luc pulled her attention back to him.
“My associate finished going over your numbers. I think we probably have some working figures for you to go over. You busy tomorrow? Noonish?”
She took a long pull off her drink and swallowed hard before answering. “ Yeah, I can do that.”
She didn’t know that he’d told the numbers guy to ensure the papers were complete by morning. He wasn’t going to waste any more time of his month with Amanda. He had no clue what this girl was about, but he was ready to find out. He was also ready to get her to loosen up so he could see exactly what was under that crop top of hers.
As if she could read his mind, she crossed her arms over her chest and turned to look in the opposite direction. Toby started going on about the sexy atmosphere and commenting on all the eligible men out on the dance floor, But Amanda wasn’t paying attention to him. She was lost in thought and Luc was almost tempted to peek inside her head and see what it was about.
Almost.
He would play by the rules as much as possible. Harley would give him too much shit if she caught him breaking them by using his devil powers, as she called them.
“So, Toby, what is it you do when you’re not escorting lovely ladies to clubs in the evening?”
Toby swung his head from Amanda to Luc and back again. “Oh, no. We aren’t together. We’re just, uh, roommates.”
“Yes. I did realize that.” Luc chuckled. He knew the moment he laid eyes on Toby, or more, the moment he noticed the way Toby’s eyes were all over him, that Amanda wasn’t his type.
“Oh, good.”
Luc raised a brow at him, waiting his response to his previous question.
“I, uh, work at a small video game software company.”
“So you create games?”
“Yeah, I’m part of a team that does. Nothing big though. At least not yet.”
“Impressive. I think you’d get along well with my brother, Azrael. He spends far too much time playing video games.”
“Is he single?” Toby immediately turned red and slapped his hand over his mouth. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that out loud. I apologize for my lack of filter tonight.”
“It’s fine.” Luc laughed and doubted Toby had much of a filter any other night either. “He is very single, probably always will be. I can’t imagine Az settling down with any one person.”
Toby turned to face Luc and propped his elbow on his knee. “Hmm so he’s single. Now the real question, does he like boys or girls?”
“You’d have to ask him. He tends to change his mind a lot.” Luc motioned for the girl in the short skirt to bring Toby and him another drink. “I’d love to hear more about these video games.”
“We should probably get going.” Amanda interrupted and tried to pull Toby up to stand. “Don’t you have to be up early for work?”
It was just past eleven and even Cinderella stayed out later than that. It was clear she was trying to get away from Luc, he just wasn’t sure why. Part of him wanted to come right out and ask her, but he knew that was a bad idea.
“Not really.” Toby resisted, gripping the seat cushion to avoid her pulling him to his feet. “I’m working with Miguel on that background thing. It’s no big deal. He likes to take over everything anyway.”
“It’s early still,” Luc said. “Surely you can stay a little longer?”
One more hard yank and Amanda had Toby on his feet. “I’m tired. I’m sure we’ll be back again.”
“Like tomorrow.” Luc stood with them.
“Maybe not that soon.”
“I thought we agreed around noon?” Luc narrowed his eyes and her cheeks pinked under the purple lights.
“Oh. Right, about the contract. Yes, I’ll be there.” She started to pull Toby away, then turned and looked back at Luc. “Thanks for the drinks. Your club is great.”
“Yes, great.” Toby spun around in a circle. Amanda had to hold his arm to keep him steady.
“You’re very welcome. Anytime you come in, just see me, or Harley, and we’ll set you both up.”
“In the VIP section?” Toby reached out a hand for Luc, but Amanda pulled him back a step.
“Of course.” Luc chuckled and smiled.
“Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
And with that, she hurried away.
CHAPTER FOUR
“I don’t see why we couldn’t have stayed out later last night.” Toby slumped into a kitchen chair and sipped off the tea Amanda handed him. He scrunched up his nose and pushed it aside.
“Uh, because you were drunk and hitting on my new work associate.”
“I wasn’t drunk.”
“Yes, you were.”
“Okay, fine I was a little drunk. So what? I didn’t drink any more than you did.”
“I know. You’re a lightweight. Shouldn’t you get ready for work?” Amanda looked over Toby. He was pale and sweaty. She hoped he wasn’t going to puke.
Toby shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe I’ll come with you instead.”
“Oh no you won’t.” Amanda filled her mug with coffee and took a few bites off the toast that sat untouched in front of Toby.
“Why not?” He swatted at
her until she dropped the toast back onto his plate. “And why do you get coffee and I get this nasty-ass tea?”
“I drank my tea, and because I’m trying to build a working relationship with him. I can’t do that if you’re hanging all over him.”
“I was not hanging on him. He was telling me about his hot brother.”
“I don’t recall him saying his brother was hot. Because, eww, who says that about their brother?”
“It was implied. Look at him. My God, he is… delectable.” Toby’s stomach gurgled, loud.
Amanda shook her head and dropped her chin to her chest. “You are insufferable.”
“Tell me you don’t think it’s true.”
“I don’t think it’s true.”
“You’re a dirty little liar.”
She was. At least her body knew the truth, but her mind was going to keep ignoring the guy and how he looked. She was most definitely going to ignore the way her body betrayed her when he was around. Maybe even that wasn’t true since she’d had a sex dream about him last night, but she’d never tell Toby that. He’d never let her forget it. It didn’t matter anyway. She wasn’t going to sleep with Luc. It didn’t matter that he was smoking hot, or that he was clearly interested in her. She had other things to focus her attention on.
Amanda snatched the rest of Toby’s toast and shoved the whole thing in her mouth. “How come you never make me breakfast anymore?”
“Because I’m not your slave. You think you can change the subject, but I’m smarter than that. Even with this hangover.”
Amanda snorted. “Hangover. What a lightweight.”
“Mandy, why don’t you give the guy a chance? He’s clearly into you. And I know for a fact that your girly parts aren’t completely dead when you’re near him.”
“We aren’t having this conversation. My dried up vagina is none of your business.”
She’d spoke just as Toby took a gulp off the coffee he’d went ahead and poured himself, and he snorted it up his nose, then onto the table. So worth it.
“You know, if you’d tell me why you seem to have a complete aversion to all things sexual, I could stop harassing you. Are you sure you’re not asexual?”
“I’m sure. And I don’t have an aversion to sex. I’m focused on my business right now. I’m sure you can understand. When you and the guys were still working out of your parents basement, trying to get the video game thing off the ground, I bet you made that your top priority.”
“Uh, no. Not when it came to men who look like Lucifer Morningstar. That ass would take all my attention any day.”
“You are fucked in the head. You do know that, right?”
“Sometimes I feel sorry for you.” Toby gulped down the rest of his coffee and dragged himself from the chair. “Are you sure I can’t come along?”
“Definitely not.”
“Okay, but you’re taking me back to that club this weekend. Then you can’t drag me away with some lame excuse that we have to get up early, or anything.”
“Just go to work.”
Amanda finished her coffee, and the crusts from Toby’s toast, and went to her room to get herself ready. She wasn’t looking forward to seeing Luc again. She repeated her last thought in her mind. Yet still, her stomach twisted and fluttered. Again, her body betrayed her.
And it was too early to start drinking.
At least when she had work to do.
After a quick shower and towel drying of her hair, she threw on some clothes and grabbed her wallet. Even if she might want to, she couldn’t avoid Luc. And she definitely wanted to. At least that was what she was going to continue to tell herself.
The whole drive to the club, Amanda’s mind raced with random thoughts. She turned on the radio and tried to sing along to drown out the voices in her head, but nothing worked. Finally she just shut it off and continued on in silence.
When she pulled up in front of the club, a wave of nausea hit her. Nerves weren’t her thing. She was cool, confident, detached. But something about this guy twisted her around, made her feel things she didn’t want to feel.
“Hey.”
The face outside her window made her jump and smack her forehead into the glass.
“What the—”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Harley had her car door opened before Amanda could protest and she was helping her onto the sidewalk. “Luc asked me to meet you out here and show you where to park. But it’s probably easier if I just park it for you. Just go ahead in.”
Amanda was about to tell her she could park her own damn car, but Harley was behind the wheel and zipping around the corner before she could open her mouth. She stood there looking at the empty spot her car was seconds before, when the door to the club opened behind her.
“Amanda?”
She spun around to find what Toby would certainly call a blond god, standing behind her with a smile eerily similar to Luc’s.
“Yes. And you are?”
“I’m Azrael, Az for short, Luc’s brother. He asked me to show you in. He got stuck on a call that is taking way too long.” He held the door open and motioned for her to come inside. For a split second, she considered turning around and walking away. Forget the contract. Forget her car. Forget whatever was making her feel sick to her stomach.
She knew if she walked in that door, somehow, her life would never be the same. That was when she knew she should walk away. But she didn’t. Instead, she took a deep breath and walked inside.
It wasn’t like she’d been making the best decisions lately.
***
She was sitting at the bar doing shots with Az. Her blond hair fell in soft waves down the middle of her back. She was smiling, laughing, relaxed. All things she wasn’t when she was around Luc. If she snubbed him again today, he was going to start wondering if Harley made the wrong choice.
Candis was looking better and better all the time.
How could he be expected to even get to know her, much less find out if she was his soul mate, if she tensed up and closed herself off every time he got within ten feet of her. Luc was starting to think she would never give him a chance. Okay, so he was being dramatic. It had only been a few days, but he’d been so excited to get started on the new month, that her indifference was killing his vibe.
“Hey brother.” Az waved a hand in Luc’s direction to motion him over. Immediately, Amanda’s smile fell and she downed the shot in her hand.
Luc thought about not going over. He could fake a business emergency and get out of there. It wouldn’t get him any closer to the goal here, but it was starting to hurt his ego every time she refused to look at him, or wrapped her arms around her body like a protective blanket. She really had no interest in him whatsoever. The thought was insane.
Harley glared at him from behind the bar and he knew he’d have to go over there. He took a deep breath, forced a smile to his face, and sauntered over in his typical relaxed fashion.
“Hello ladies.”
Az cleared his throat.
“How are we today?” Luc sat next to Az, keeping some distance between him and Amanda.
“This girl is great, bro. Have you been hiding her from me?” Az grabbed the bottle of tequila from Harley and poured the next round of shots.
“It seems you’ve managed to find her all on your own, little brother.” Luc waited for Az to pass him a tequila shot and he downed it in one gulp.
“Are you sure you two are brothers?” Amanda smiled and slapped her hand on Az’s thigh. She apparently didn’t have an aversion to all men. Just Luc.
“Yep. One hundred percent, full blood, brothers.” Az tipped his shot back and slammed the glass down on the bar. “We may not be alike on the surface, but we have a lot in common.”
Well that much was true, though Luc would never admit that out loud.
Finally, she lifted her eyes in Luc’s direction and made contact. “So, do we have a finalized contract?”
That was all she cared about. She wanted
to sign that stupid paper and get the hell out of there. He could feel the buzz coming off of her. She wanted to bolt. Luc understood the feeling.
“We have a working contract. I would feel more comfortable if we could go over things and make sure it’s something you’re completely comfortable with as well.” Luc wanted to take a few swigs straight off the tequila bottle, but he had better manners than that. Az would have went for it. Maybe he needed to be more like Az with this one. Maybe then she’d at least look at him.
“Sure. Of course.” Amanda finished the shot in front of her, nodded at Harley and Az, and got up to follow Luc in back, to the office.
Luc took one last look over the empty shot glasses that had been in front of Amanda. She wasn’t a big woman. He wasn’t sure how such a tiny person could consume so much alcohol and still walk straight.
Az winked at Luc behind her back as they headed for the office, but Luc ignored the idiot. He was positive that absolutely nothing was going to happen other than some business deals.
“Nice office.” Amanda looked around the room and sat on the edge of the desk. It was better than being formal and taking the chair, but he’d have much preferred to see her sprawled out on the sofa across the room. Naked.
“Thank you. I like nice things.” It was a stupid thing to say, but she didn’t roll her eyes or laugh like he expected her to.
“Don’t we all. I guess that’s why this business is so important to me.” Amanda smiled, with eye contact, for a brief moment, then dropped her eyes away again.
“It’s impressive at your age to have gotten so far. That’s why I wanted to make sure you got a fair deal here. We all have to start off somewhere and we all need a break.” At least that was true for the humans. Luc had things a bit easier to start off, but she didn’t need to know that. In fact, the rules of the game prohibited it.
“I appreciate that, really I do. I might not totally get why you’d give me a better deal than I asked for, at your expense, but I do appreciate it.”
“It’s not a problem. I’m glad to help.”