Chasing Forever (The Forever Series #1)(18)

“Regan?”

She knew that voice. Setting her glass on the burled walnut counter, she turned her head.

“Lucas?” Her voice was a little more unsettled than she liked, every nerve ending in her body on high alert. Why did he still have that power over her?

His gaze moved to Parker and then back to her. “Now I see why you stopped responding to my emails.”

Annoyed by his insinuation, the muscles in her back tensed. “It’s almost eleven at night. I didn’t think you’d mind. I think I’ve earned a little personal time.”

Parker put his hand on Regan’s thigh and squeezed. “Do you two work together?”

She flinched, then smiled almost immediately to cover her reaction. She wanted to forcibly remove Parker’s hand from her leg or at the very least glare at him, but she wouldn’t do it, not with Lucas standing there, his eyes taking in every movement, every gesture. “Parker, this is Lucas Evanston, my mentor for the summer at Martin and Black.”

Parker leaned forward and shook Lucas’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Lucas responded, tilting his head in her direction, studying her intently. He looked pointedly at Parker’s hand still resting on her thigh. “How do you know Regan?”

“We go to law school together.”

“Really? She’s never mentioned you.” Lucas stuffed his hands into the pockets of his tailored gray pants. The same tailored gray pants that had the bad habit of emphasizing every angle and contour of his athletic build—not that she noticed.

“I wouldn’t think so considering she just started working with you a couple weeks ago, and you are her boss.”

Regan cleared her throat as she slowly stirred her drink with a short red straw. This conversation was rapidly accelerating into the uncomfortable zone. She didn’t understand Lucas’s interest in her relationship with Parker. And she didn’t understand Parker’s sudden possessive behavior. He always seemed so relaxed. It was as if she’d stepped in the middle of some testosterone, chest beating, I’m-cooler-than-you contest.

“Why are you here?” she asked Lucas.

“I meet Drew here once a week for drinks.” Lucas took a drink of his beer. “You remember Drew, right? He went to college with us.”

Regan cocked her head to the side pretending to jog her memory. Of course she remembered Drew. Drew was the * who sent her to Lucas’s room that day, the last day she saw Lucas. The day she officially became a total laughing stock. “Um, maybe. I’m not sure.”

“Wait,” Parker interrupted. “You went to college together?” Parker’s gaze moved back and forth between them.

“Yes,” Lucas responded. “We—”

“Just briefly,” Regan interrupted. “We hardly knew each other. I transferred after my first semester.” She didn’t like the direction of this conversation one bit. Once she left Texas, she never breathed a word of what happened between her and Lucas, not to her closest friends, not to her dad. Only her mom knew what happened and as far as she knew, her mom never shared it with anyone. Regan had made up some excuse about needing a change of scenery and switching her major. She refused to relive the whole thing in front of Parker tonight or any other night.

Lucas’s eyes narrowed in silent rebuttal of her words. “Actually—”

Hell no. He better not contradict her. “I need to go to the bathroom.” Frantic, she jumped up from her barstool intending to disrupt the conversation before Lucas opened his big f*cking mouth and vomited their regrettable history in front of Parker.

Unfortunately, she caught the edge of her heel on the brass foot rail of her barstool, and flew forward right into Lucas’s chest and his nearly full glass of beer. Lucas instantly wrapped his arm around her waist, forcing her face into his firm chest.

Do not inhale, she instructed herself.

And then she felt it. Cold beer dripped down the front of her white dress shirt and she winced. “Fucking awesome,” she mumbled as she tried to untangle her foot from the foot rail without touching any part of Lucas other than those parts of him that were already pressed against her. Could she be more of an idiot? Nope.

Lucas laughed as he ran his arm up and down the length of her back before he released her. He tipped her chin up and smiled wickedly. “I think I remember another time when your shirt became a party casualty.”

Regan rolled her eyes and stepped back. She knew exactly what he was referring to, but she wouldn’t dignify his comment with an answer. She’d never admit that she remembered that night. Instead, she pointed at the stack of cocktail napkins as she held her shirt away from her body with her other hand. “Napkin, please.”

Parker grabbed a stack of napkins and handed them to her. “I’ll walk you home. It’s late and you only wanted to stay an hour.”

Regan nodded as she patted at her shirt. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Parker dropped some money on the counter for their drinks. She had promised Parker she would pay tonight, but she wouldn’t object now. She wanted to get the hell out of this bar and away from Lucas.

Smiling, Parker grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together. “Let’s go.”

“I’m sorry about the drink,” Lucas said, pointing at her shirt, a big fat grin on his face.