Chasing Forever (The Forever Series #1)(19)
She looked down and saw the white lace of bra was on display for everyone in the bar. A string of curse words floated through her mind.
“Not your problem,” Regan answered. “See you later.”
As she walked past him, he grabbed her arm, his eyes intense and determined. “Stop by my office in the morning before you start working. I need to talk to you.”
“All right,” she answered after staring at him for a few long seconds. The heated tone in his voice confused her. What had she done? What did Lucas want?
Chapter Nine
At six-thirty the next morning, Lucas sat in his office waiting for Regan. He knew she would be there any minute. After her first day, she matched her work hours to his schedule. Regan always liked to compete, and he suspected she wanted to show him she could work as hard as him. She didn’t have to convince him. He already knew that.
He’d spent over a week avoiding her, and it worked just fine and completely in accordance to his plan. He communicated by email, voicemail, or text unless it was absolutely unavoidable to speak with her in person. He didn’t argue with her. He absolutely refused to reference their past together. He avoided thinking about touching her lips, her hair, her long toned legs or any other part of her body.
For the most part, his mind behaved and followed the plan. She finished all of her work on schedule with hardly any questions, and he couldn’t complain about the finished product either. They never argued and he rarely referenced the past. He only thought about touching her when he was in his house alone without the ability to do anything about it, but after seeing her out last night, he didn’t want to avoid her any longer. Seeing Regan with someone else shouldn’t have bothered him, but it did. When he thought about Regan, he remembered all the ways they were great together and in his mind, she would always be his. She was meant to be his, but his stupidity and Olivia’s sadistic plan ruined everything.
He heard a light knock on his door.
“Regan, come in.” When she sat down in the chair across from his desk, he handed her a drink from the coffee shop in the lobby. “Double shot cappuccino and one raw sugar, right?”
“Yes. Thanks,” she answered, eyeing the drink with a mixture of longing and distaste.
He tried to hide his smile. She didn’t like that he remembered her drink preference, but she wouldn’t reject it either.
“I thought you worked on Thursday nights,” he commented as he organized some papers on his desk. He shouldn’t pry, but he didn’t like the idea of her leaving work at five every Thursday for a date. He could deal with another job. After all, law school was expensive, but he didn’t want to think about her with another guy.
“I do.” Regan folded her arms across her chest. “My shift ends at nine-thirty.”
“Thursday is work night and date night?”
Regan’s lips thinned in anger. “Sometimes. Are you implying my second job or my social life is a problem? Because I’ve finished all my work in a timely manner and you haven’t complained once.”
“No. I don’t have any complaints about your work or your work ethic.” Lucas shook his head. “I was making conversation, trying to get to know you. I didn’t mean to imply anything.”
Regan unfolded her arms and removed the lid from the cup of cappuccino. “Okay.”
Lucas exhaled. “We’ve hired a company to appraise the value of the mines in the Jennings case next week. Richard and Jack want us to take a look at the site and make sure everything is in order before that happens.”
“When do you leave?” Regan lifted the cup to her lips to blow on her drink.
“We leave next Wednesday,” Lucas answered distractedly, unable to take his eyes off her pouty red lips. Damn. Those lips still drove him crazy.
Regan set her yellow notepad on his desk and started taking notes. “Would you like me to do any research for your trip?”
“Our trip.”
Regan’s hand froze and she looked up from her notepad. “By our, I assume you mean you and Richard, not you and me, right?”
Lucas chuckled. “No, I mean you and me.”
Regan rapidly tapped her pen against her notepad. “Why?”
Lucas stood up, and walked to his door to close it. “For starters, it would be a great experience for you. Jack will be there, which will give you more client experience and exposure, but most importantly, I’ll need your help.” It wasn’t entirely true. Richard had mentioned the possibly of sending Regan with him last week because she had impressed him and Lucas suspected the firm planned to make her an offer at the end of the summer contingent on her passing the bar exam. Originally he objected, but now he liked the idea of spending two days with Regan in a mountain town.
Regan eyed the closed door. “I don’t know. I have to work next Thursday night, and I don’t want to give them a reason to replace me. I’ll need the extra income during the school year. Textbooks are expensive.”
“It’s just one shift and you have plenty of notice to find someone to cover for you. Besides, if you want the partners to offer you an associate position, you have to demonstrate that you’re a team player, that you’re willing to go the extra mile.” Lucas smiled and leaned against the wall, crossing his ankles.