Chasing Forever (The Forever Series #1)(2)
“You first.” Lucas motioned for her to go into the hallway.
“Nice meeting you, Regan. Let me know if you have any questions,” Mrs. Langston interjected as she turned and walked in the opposite direction. Her steps were hurried as if she couldn’t escape them fast enough. Regan wished she could escape with her. The miles and years that had passed since she’d last seen Lucas weren’t near enough in her opinion.
“You too and thank you for your time, Mrs. Langston,” Regan called after her.
Following Lucas down the hall, she listened as he politely pointed out the lunchroom, the library, and the offices of some colleagues. Stopping outside an interior office slightly larger and no less stuffy than a storage closet, Lucas motioned for her to go inside. She stepped past him, carefully ensuring she didn’t brush against him.
Lucas leaned against the black metal doorframe. “This is your office for the summer. I had my secretary, Annabelle, assemble a detailed summary of my caseload. You’ll find it in the inbox on the corner of your desk. Spend the day familiarizing yourself with the details of each case, and we can reconvene in my office tomorrow morning to discuss your role for the summer. If you have any questions before then, ask Annabelle. She is amazingly efficient. I couldn’t do this job without her.”
“Okay,” she replied as she ran her finger along the length of the light maple desk. The office wasn’t glamorous, with its patterned gray carpet and stark white walls, but at least she had an office. In some of the smaller firms, she knew the summer associates shared an office or sat in a cubicle with the staff.
“Annabelle can help you get your computer passwords set up. Her extension is 114.”
Sliding into a black leather chair, Regan tapped her fingers on the desk trying to ignore the uncomfortable silence in the small office caused by a strange mixture of wariness and combustible nervousness. “Well, thanks for the tour.”
Pushing away from the doorframe, Lucas walked toward her desk, bracing his hands on either side of the sharp corner across from her. His enigmatic eyes stared her down and she refused to blink even though her hands twisted in her skirt to keep from fidgeting. She wouldn’t allow him to intimidate her.
To distract herself from his piercing stare, she catalogued the differences the previous six years had wrought. The last traces of his boyish face were gone, replaced with clean-shaven sharp angles. His wavy brown hair had always been an inch or two too long, but now it was well-trimmed and elegantly styled. Gone were the dark, low slung jeans and t-shirts. Today he wore an expensively styled suit that stretched across his still impressive shoulders complemented perfectly with a merlot colored tie. Six years ago he was impressive. Now he was wickedly sexy. Too bad he was a complete and total *.
“So, how is the Professor these days?” he asked, a patronizing smile playing at the corner of his lips.
She forced her face into a blank stare, void of emotion even though the mere sight of him irritated her more than she thought possible. “Still lecturing. How’s Olivia?”
Lucas’s eyes narrowed, then he smiled that superior smile of his, and she struggled against the overwhelming desire to throw the black pencil holder perched on the corner of her desk at his face. Maybe it would add some character to his flawlessly sculpted features. After all, a shallow person should be thankful for the addition of character even if it were physical rather than emotional. Instead, she took a deep breath, pushed the hair from her eyes, and painted a frozen grin on her face.
Lucas stood up and folded his arms across his chest. “She’s great.”
“Good to know.”
Lucas nodded, then walked out of her office without another word, leaving her feeling wounded and vulnerable. Honestly, she could have lived her entire life without seeing Lucas Evanston again. Now she had to face three months of seeing his face at least five or more days a week.
Overwhelmed with the sensation of long-buried emotions bubbling to the surface, she rested her head on the desk. Just when Regan thought things had finally started to look promising, he walked back into to her life. She remembered the first time she laid her eyes on him as if it happened yesterday. If someone told her what the future held, she would’ve turned around and walked right out the door and saved herself the agony. Then again, if they didn’t meet at that party on that particular day, something told her they would have met some other way. Fate can be cruel like that, slowly and inexorably molding and shaping life regardless of any dreams to the contrary.
Chapter Two
Six years, three months, and four days ago...
Her hands chilled from the crisp late September wind, Regan rubbed them together as she walked into a fraternity house, the name of which she couldn’t remember. Sigma something, she thought. She located the house by the street name and the loud music pulsing out of the windows and doors.
Surrounded by at least a hundred co-eds, Regan gazed through a haze-filled room at the people drinking themselves into oblivion. Instead of feeling like part of the crowd, she felt conspicuously alone and on display. At the moment, she regretted insisting she would meet her friends at the party rather than joining them in their pre-party activities. Trying to suppress the anxiety coursing through her veins, threatening to send her right back out the door, she slowly walked into the house desperately seeking a familiar face.