Devoured: A Novel(17)

How did I fail to notice what Kylie is to Lucas? Even though I’ve witnessed very few of their interactions with one another, it’s not like I’ve ever seen him treat her like anything other than his assistant.

I feel wretched for jumping to conclusions about her. I apologize, but she waves it away, grinning broadly. “Are you kidding me? You’re totally fine. You want to see real psycho assumptions, go and check out some of Lucas’s fan message boards. These people are devout fans, know exactly who I am, and still bash the hell out of me.”

I swallow hard. “Anything else I should know?”

Her tickled grin gradually gives way to a sheepish look. I’ve always hated looks like this because it never indicates something pleasant. Then she drops her head, rearranging the silverware in front of her. “I hate fondue. Like really, really loathe it.”

“Then why did you ask me to come here? We could’ve gone somewhere else. I’m not picky. I’m not . . .” But I am sweaty and nervous. I’m not so na?ve that I believe her shame face stems from a hatred of melted chocolate and cheese. No, Kylie’s withholding something else.

“Because you wouldn’t have come for him,” she whispers, pointing. I follow her fingers across the restaurant, to a smaller booth, to where Lucas is sitting.

My stomach pitches, and I cross my arms over it.

Why is he in this restaurant spreading his . . . ugh, rockstar charm? Why can’t I think or move or speak right now? The only thing I’m able to do besides hold my stomach and wish myself smaller is observe. Lucas beckons a pretty brunette waitress over to him, whispers something into her ear. She smiles down seductively at him, nods her head, and swishes her hair over her shoulder as she goes over to do his bidding.

He doesn’t spare her a second glance.

Now, he’s standing, walking toward my table. A scarlet haze stretches from the back of my skull and wriggles its way to the front of my face, making me unable to see straight for several seconds. That’s just how pissed I am at having been set up by Kylie and Lucas.

I’m still speechless, but now absolutely seething, when he comes back into focus.

He towers over me, his intense hazel eyes blazing into mine as he waits for a response.





CHAPTER FIVE





As soon as the sense of feeling reenters my lower body, I bolt up out of the booth. Since I’m so tall, my knees bump hard alongside the table. Wincing in pain and bowing over in humiliation, my vision pings back and forth between Lucas and his sister. In order for me to be successful in my escape, one of them is going to have to move out of the way. Kylie’s face is still downturned. She’s not able to see the glare I’m casting her way, but Lucas—

He’s standing a mere foot away, looking directly at me as he blocks my path out of the booth. He’s calm and gorgeous, amused and completely animal. Right now, he embodies everything I want and everything I fear.

I will be so much safer if I forget ever wanting him, and once I arrive home, this whole night in general.

“Please take me home,” I say to Kylie, accentuating every word. I’m livid that she tricked me into coming out just so Lucas could have dinner with me, just so he could more than likely try to convince me to go to bed with him afterward. But most importantly, I’m furious at myself for falling for it and being optimistic enough to hope that she really did have a solution to saving the house.

I feel like a complete fool.

“Kylie, please?” I whisper.

The few people sitting in the tables around us have pretty much given up on their meals and conversations. Now, they’re leaning in toward us hoping to get a glimpse of what’s going on. A lover’s quarrel, perhaps? Or a man who’s come to convince his girlfriend to come home because he thinks she’s spent too much time with her girlfriend?

I try to tell myself I don’t care what those people think of the situation because I’ll never see them again, but I only succeed in making myself more ashamed. I notice how flushed my hands are when I wring them together, wishing it was Lucas’s neck between them instead. Ugh, not very likely that will ever happen. I have better luck getting my wish that the floor will open up and swallow me whole.

“Sit down, Sienna,” Lucas orders me in a low tone. Shaking my head stubbornly, I drag in a deep inhale through my nose. I grip the leather back of the booth in one hand and the edge of the table in the other.

“Please move so I can leave.”