Cheater (Curious Liaisons, #1)(70)

He smelled nice too. He wore only enough cologne to give you a little bit of a tease, which of course made you want to lean in more and take another good sniff.

Oh good, so now I was daydreaming about sniffing him. That was not healthy for my sanity, not at all.

I think the worst part of the day, so far, was that it was just lunchtime. I couldn’t escape—I was at my desk, after all—and the bastard ordered Thai food, then proceeded to eat it in the lobby.

Directly across from me.

As slowly as humanly possible.

While licking his lips with that . . . tongue.

“You hungry?” he asked.

“Nope.” My stomach growled in protest. The heart might want what it wants, but the stomach? It wanted Thai food, and it was completely willing to tell the heart to shut the hell up so it could get fed.

“You sure?” The man just wouldn’t leave it alone!

“I’ve got a protein bar.” My stomach growled in irritation. Chill, stomach. I’m not exactly thrilled about the chewy concoction I found in my desk either.

“Because I ordered extra.”

Stand your ground, Avery! You will not fall to his charms again because of food.

“Hey, you like peanut sauce, don’t you?”

I jerked to attention, and my eyes widened, mouth watering. “Nope.”

“Oh, because I’m just going to throw it out, so—”

“No!” I wailed and charged toward him, ready to save the peanut sauce and sacrifice my body if necessary.

I tripped over my own feet, stumbled against the chair, and barely grabbed the peanut sauce from his hands before he dropped it into the trash can.

“Someone should hold out a piece of bacon and time your sprints,” he joked.

I glowered down at his perfect face and stupid chest and sexy smile—and I prayed for all his teeth to fall out, except for one. Because then I could call him Toothclops—like a Cyclops of teeth!

Clearly, my blood sugar was dipping.

“Avery”—his eyes pleaded with me—“sit.”

“I’ll stand.”

“Fine.” He handed me a carton of pad Thai and a fork.

“Fine,” I repeated like a six-year-old.

He sighed.

We ate in silence.

I stood, moaned, made a few whimpering noises, and nearly licked the box. Lucas sat and watched me.

Normally, I would care about having food on my face.

But today wasn’t normal.

Nope, today was the day that a Friday came in on a Thursday and reminded me why sleeping with Lucas Thorn was a bad life choice.

“Nothing happened.”

“Not my business.”

“I broke it off with her.”

This, this intrigued me. “I’m sure you’ll find a replacement soon enough, you always do.”

“Funny, since I’ve met you, I’ve done nothing but lose girls.”

“I’m not interviewing potential whores for you, Thorn. I don’t give a rat’s ass that you kiss like a god. I will not be sucked in”—I fidgeted with my hands—“again.”

“Not even for a hamburger?”

“STOP BRIBING ME WITH FOOD!”

“STOP ACCUSING ME OF CHEATING!”

We were chest to chest. How did that happen? Again?

He grabbed my hand and tugged me into his office, slamming the door behind us and causing the blinds to slam against the windows—all before his mouth was on mine.

He tasted like peanut sauce.

So I licked.

Because that’s what starving women do when they’re placed in a situation like that!

Low blood sugar.

Bad choices.

Thai food.

And Lucas Thorn.

Nobody had a right to taste that good after having lunch—it wasn’t fair. I ran my hands over his cheeks, and currents of desire washed over me as his mesmerizing eyes searched mine. He sighed. “I didn’t kiss her.”

“She kissed you?” I hated how weak my voice sounded. “You know it doesn’t matter.”

“It matters.” He gave my body a little shake. “Believe me, it matters.”

Sighing, I tried to pull away, but he locked his arms around me, and I was powerless. “Today may be Thursday, but tomorrow’s Friday.”

“And I’m never seeing Nadia again.”

I tried to calm my racing pulse.

“And you don’t have a Saturday anymore either. Should we hold auditions at the homeless shelter?”

He slapped me on the ass. Hard. “Why do you have to be so difficult?”

“Me? Difficult? Why all you have to do is feed me, and I’m calm, cool, and collected—while also being sexy and downright aloof when I want to be.”

His eyes raked me over before he silenced me with another kiss and released me. “This isn’t over.”

“This?” I hid my shaking hands behind my back. “Thorn, there isn’t anything to be over. Remember—one day?”

“I owe you a burger tonight.”

“It’s just a meal, breaking bread—not sex, Thorn. Get your mind out of the gutter.”

“If you wouldn’t wear such a tight skirt, my brain wouldn’t be functioning at such a dirty level, Avery Bug.”