Cheater (Curious Liaisons, #1)(52)

“Curious?” Lucas asked from behind me.

Straightening my shoulders, I refused to look at him and pretended to check my email. “Let me guess. You kiss her, she moans, she screams out your name, you both get your rocks off in less than a half hour—because, let’s be honest, you seem to like efficiency—and you send her on her way with a nice slap on the ass.”

His dark chuckle infuriated me.

Rage was good.

Anger kept me safe.

It solidified the wall between us.

He walked away.

At least I thought it was safe—thought that he’d left.

But the devil reappeared and dropped something onto my desk.

It was a gold envelope.

I peeked down at it, then shoved it to the side of the table with my pen. “What’s that?”

His muscled forearms pressed against the desk, and he shrugged his massive shoulders. “Open it.”

I just loved surprises, which Lucas of course knew.

So I tore into the envelope like it was my birthday and nearly cried when I saw what he’d given me.

“I know money is tight, and as far as apologies go, this is the only way I can think of to make sure you eat tonight—and maybe then you’ll offer me a little bit of forgiveness for the gynecologist episode.”

I smiled up at him. “This is my favorite restaurant.”

“I’m aware.”

“They have steak.”

“Other foods too, but yes.” He chuckled. “Leave early, go eat, order whatever you want.”

“This gift certificate is for three hundred dollars.”

“Yup.”

“Lucas, that’s enough food for like four really good meals.”

“Yup.”

“You’re feeding me!” I yelled.

He looked around and then down at me, his eyes twinkling. “You had a man with surprisingly large hands stick God knows what between your legs—it’s the least I can do.”

Tears welled in my eyes. He was being so nice. And it was confusing. And I both hated and loved him for it.

I don’t think I realized how stressed I was over the whole fake engagement scenario and the prospect of meeting up with Kayla until that moment. “Thank you.”

Before I could stop myself, I stood and reached across the desk, then kissed him on the cheek.

His skin was scruffy, deliciously warm.

He swallowed slowly, his eyes locking with mine in a hazy blur of desire. “Have fun.”

“Why don’t you come with me? I mean, later this week or . . .”

He backed away, his smile gone. “I have to meet with Chelsea tonight, and the rest of my week is booked.”

“Oh.” Rejection sucked. I was in deep. Maybe I’d always been that way with Lucas, maybe I just never realized how deep until now. Regardless, the realization stung, and my pride was taking a whopping hit as he backed away farther, cursed, and then went to his office, slamming the door behind him.

One step forward. A moment when he showed me he was actually a decent human worth saving. Worth loving.

Ten giant steps back.





Chapter Twenty-Four


AVERY

I figured I may as well use the gift card Lucas gave me for dinner that night—it wasn’t like I had any extra money to spare, and I still had a little less than a week before I’d receive my first paycheck.

And my options for three meals a day were slowly turning into cold cereal or oatmeal or whatever was in the funky-smelling box in the back of the fridge.

Just how long could I keep Chinese takeout before eating it would kill me?

I braced myself and stopped in front of Lowell’s. It was a Seattle staple and boasted everything from oysters to steak, salmon, clams . . . Well, you get the point—it had meat and fish, and that’s all that really mattered.

Plus the prices weren’t totally ridiculous, so I could probably stretch the gift card—unless my sister decided to order two bottles of expensive wine and drink away her sorrows.

I pressed my hands down along my short black cocktail dress and checked my red lipstick using the camera on my phone.

Stalling.

I was stalling.

But Kayla was . . . Kayla. I loved her—she was an amazing teacher and an even more amazing sister. Growing up, I’d wanted to be just like her and even tried out for cheerleading because of her. After finding out I lacked the necessary coordination, I played sports instead, favoring headbands and basketball shorts over miniskirts and makeup.

I was the black sheep. The tomboy. Now that I was older I’d ditched the basketball shorts and giant T-shirts. But every time I saw Kayla or Brooke, I felt like that teenager again, the awkward girl with braces and no fashion sense who just wished she was as pretty and smart as they were. Even though I knew I wasn’t stupid, my sisters always had a way of making me feel that way when I was younger.

Kayla had never really done anything wrong, although she used to tease me a lot about my insecurities—often in front of Lucas. I pretended it didn’t bother me when she giggled and asked me if I even knew what lipstick was. But her words stung.

And now I had to face her like I’d somehow won this giant prize and lie about everything. I had to pretend Lucas was the greatest—and the real sucky part? He was. I saw greatness in him still, in the small moments he tried to hide from me. But he covered it with anger—and with cheating and unnecessary meanness that threatened to choke me.