LUCI (The Naughty Ones Book 2) (91 page)

My phone buzzed, waking me from a little catnap. I opened my eyes and Grant was propped up on his elbow, watching me.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” he said as he ran a finger between my breasts.

“How long have you been watching me?”

“Not long.”

“Liar.” I touched his face lightly, a slow smile touching my lips. “I can read you like a book.”

“Can you?”

He kissed me softly, but then my phone buzzed again. I sighed as I pulled away from him, reaching over the side of the bed to drag the phone out of my jeans pocket.

It was my dad.

I climbed out of bed, snagging his shirt with the tip of my finger as I headed for the door.

“Don’t leave me,” Grant called after me.

“Not going anywhere,” I said with a soft smile as I dragged the proper icon across the screen of my phone to answer the call.

“What’s going on, Daddy?”

“We need to talk about the sale.”

I closed my eyes, leaning against the wall just outside Grant’s bedroom door.

“What about it?”

“I’d rather talk in person.”

“Well, I’m out of the office for the rest of the day.”

“Where are you?”

“On site,” I said, lying to my dad for the first time in…I didn’t know how long. Maybe as far back as when Grant was last in my life.

Ironic.

“We’ll talk in the morning, then.”

“Are you close to making a deal?”

“We have three solid offers. But I think one is ideal. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

He disconnected as I snuggled in Grant’s shirt, pulling it tight around my shoulders. He smelled different, if that were possible. A different cologne, I think. But there was something familiar under the sandalwood and cedar scents. Something that made my senses stand up and take notice.

I glanced at the screen of my phone and realized I had an hour before I had to go meet Angela and her boyfriend. I wasn’t terribly excited about the prospect, but it might be good to get out and be social. Better than going to a bar and drinking far too much of a drink I wasn’t accustomed to. But there was a huge part of me that would rather stay here with Grant.

I went back into the room and he was sitting on the edge of the bed, his pants back on.

“What are you doing?”

“I didn’t realize how late it was. I have a meeting in twenty minutes.”

“Oh.” I slid out of his shirt and held it out to him, allowing it to dangle on the tip of my finger. “I guess you’ll need this.”

He looked at me, his eyes moving slowly over my nakedness. “You’re not making this easy.”

“Am I supposed to?”

He growled as he launched himself from the bed and tackled me, pushing me back against the wall, his hands moving over everything he could possibly reach. I slid a leg up over his hip, tugging him close as I pressed my nakedness against the rough fabric of his jeans. His mouth found mine and we might have devoured each other if it were at all possible.

“You drive me insane,” he whispered hoarsely against my ear.

“You make it so easy.”

He laughed as he pulled back so he could see my face. “Funny, too.”

I shrugged. “We aim to please.”

“That is not a problem.”

He bent and drew a nipple into his mouth. I ran my fingers through his hair, tugging him closer to me as a heavy sigh slipped from between my lips. But then I pushed him away and slipped out of his reach.

“Hey!”

I picked up my jeans and slipped them on, hopping a little as I tugged them up over my hips.

“You’re not the only one who has somewhere to go.”

“But you started this.”

“And I’m ending it.”

He leaned back against the wall, watching me through hooded eyes. “Cruel woman.”

“Always leave them wanting more. That’s what my daddy always says.”

He shook his head. “I doubt this was what he meant.”

“I don’t know about that.”

I slid my bra on and tugged my shirt over my head. “Now I know where you live, I might come around again.”

“Oh, you will.”

“So confident.”

“There’s no one like me out there, Addie. You won’t be able to resist.”

I sat on the edge of the bed to tug my boots on. Then I looked over at him, a soft smile slowly slipping over my lips. “Cocky much?”

He shrugged as he pushed away from the wall and came over to me, shoving me back against the mattress.

“You love it,” he said, his voice husky from need. “You want me more than you’ll ever admit.”

“What if I do?”

“Then you’ll be back. Every night.”

My eyebrows rose. “And what about you? What would you do if I didn’t come back?”

“You’ll come, baby. Over and over and over…”

He flicked his eyebrows and I saw the teasing light in his eyes. I slapped his shoulder, but he caught my wrists and pinned me to the mattress. His kiss was just as eager and demanding as it had ever been. Hot. I almost thought about staying. But then my phone buzzed again and reality began to creep in.

“I’ve got to go,” I said when he came up for air.

“I’ll see you,” he said softly, running his hand over my face before rolling away and allowing me my freedom. I didn’t look back because I didn’t want to see if he was watching me. I imagined he was. I imagined he was still lying on the bed, his eyes stuck on me. I didn’t want to believe he’d forgotten me the moment I was out of his reach. So I didn’t look.

***

I took the time to shower when I reached my condo, though I was a little saddened to have his scent washed free of my skin. Then I shimmied into a tight little black dress and twisted my hair into a casual knot at the back of my head to hide the fact that it was still fairly wet.

Angela waved enthusiastically as I walked into the restaurant. I walked over to her table and she practically bounced out of her seat, a huge smile on her face.

“I’m so glad you’re the first to arrive,” she said, throwing her arms around me. “I am so nervous.”

“Why?”

“His brother,” she said, looking at me like I should have put two and two together already. “He’s the only family Kevin has and he wants to introduce me.” She led the way to the table and gestured for me to sit. “What if he doesn’t like me?”

“I’m sure he will, Angela. Everyone loves you.”

She blushed, her blond hair falling forward in that way she had when she was truly embarrassed. “I hope so. But not everyone is as generous as you.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. I just took her hand and squeezed it.

I ordered a glass of white wine and talked Angela into having one of those fruity drinks with the umbrellas in them. But before she took a single sip, a young man with dark hair and startling blue eyes walked into the restaurant. There was something so familiar about him…and then his face lit up and he waved enthusiastically as he headed toward our table. For a brief second, I thought there was some mistake. But then Angela bounced out of her chair and rushed to him like they were lovers estranged by war.

This must be Kevin.

“Addison!”

His excitement was a little overwhelming. The way he stared at me was like we’d been good friends for years and had simply lost contact for some reason. I stood and he gave me a hug that only a little brother might offer.

“I feel like I know you, what with everything Angela’s told me about you.”

What do you say to that? I never knew what to say. I flashed a glance at Angela, but she was staring so hard at this young man that I don’t even think she remembered that I was there.

“Good things, I hope,” I said somewhat lamely.

“Of course, of course. Angela adores you.”

He gestured for me to sit. I moved over one spot, allowing him to take the chair beside Angela. They were almost sickening, the way he pulled out her chair for her, the way she stared up at him like he was the only man in the room. And then he sat and she immediately stole his hand and lay her head on his shoulder. I felt like an intruder just sitting at the same table with them.

“I have to apologize for my brother,” Kevin said. “He called and said an afternoon meeting ran late, so he’s going to be another twenty minutes or so.”

“Too bad,” Angela said, but I could see relief flash across her face.

I picked up my wine glass and took a sip. The waiter wandered by and took Kevin’s drink order. Silence settled heavy over the table.

“Are you from the Houston area, Kevin?” I asked.

“Yes, actually,” he said. “I was born here. But I’ve been in California for the past ten years and just recently came back.”

“Really? Why’d you come back?”

He shrugged. “I was offered a pediatric residency.”

“You’re a doctor?”

“I am.”

Angela sat up a little. “He treated my niece in the ER a couple of months ago when she fell and hit her head. That’s how we met.”

“Impressive.”

“Almost didn’t happen,” he said as he glanced over his shoulder, clearly watching for his brother. “He’d kill me if he knew I was telling you this, but the only reason I’ve come as far as I have is because of my brother.”

“What do you mean?” Angela asked, laying her head back on his shoulder.

Kevin dropped a kiss on the top of her head, then focused on me.

“My mom died when I was fifteen. My brother had just graduated high school, but he took care of me, badgered me about getting good grades in school, and helped me get a scholarship to UCLA.”

“That’s generous,” I said, playing with my wine glass and thinking about Grant. Despite having taken a shower, I thought I could still smell him on my fingers, my hands. I thought I could feel him against my shoulder even though each time I reached up, there was nothing there. I didn’t really care about Kevin’s story. I wanted to go back to Grant’s and get lost in what we’d been doing earlier.

“And then I got sick,” Kevin said.

Angela sat up again, her eyes bright. “He had cancer,” she announced.

That pulled me out of my own thoughts a little. “What kind?”

“Leukemia,” he said. “I needed chemotherapy, but I didn’t have insurance at the time. The school provided some health care, but they weren’t equipped for that. They helped me apply for state assistance, but they wouldn’t cover the experimental drug that my doctors decided I really needed. And then, like some sort of superhero, my brother shows up with the cash I needed to get the drug. I fully believe that’s the only reason I’m still here.”

“That’s why he went into medicine,” Angela announced, beaming as she stared at him like he was some sort of angel fallen from heaven.

“Sounds like he really loves you,” I said, my comment meant as much for Angela as for Kevin. Anyone who loved his brother that much couldn’t help but love the girl his brother loved.

Angela snuggled against Kevin again as he shrugged.

“I like to think so. We’re really the only family either of us has.”

I picked up my wine thinking that Angela might like to change that way of thinking. And then I found myself remembering something Grant had said. He’d once told me that family was everything and that when we got married, we would be everything to each other. I’d readily agreed because he had already been everything to me. We were supposed to be each other’s family because Grant had no one and my daddy would never approve of our marriage. We would have been completely on our own, and we were okay with that, because we were both so incredibly young and naïve that we didn’t realize what it was we were doing. At least we had a leg up on other young couples, though. I had a trust fund that my dad couldn’t have taken away, even if he’d wanted to, because it came from my mother’s estate and he had no control over it.

Lucky us, huh?

“Your brother lives in Houston, too?”

“He just moved back,” Kevin said. “He’s always wanted to come back to Texas, but he was busy making a name for himself in the tech industry.”

Angela seemed impressed by that. “As in Silicon Valley and all that stuff?”

Kevin nodded. “He had some money left over after my treatments were all paid for, so he invested it in a new tech company that made a sort of knockoff of the Apple tablet. You might have heard of them. The Taurus Tablet?”

It was my turn to sit up a little straighter. “Seriously? I have like three of those.”

Kevin smiled. “He’d be pleased to hear that.”

“He still owns the company?’

“No. He sold his shares a couple of months ago. He said he wants to get into some other sort of business now.”

I nodded slowly, thinking this date might not be such a bad thing if it had taken place a few days earlier. But with Grant back in town…

Kevin glanced at his watch. “He should be here soon.”