Back in the kitchen, I found myself hovering. I should have taken my wine and retreated to my room or something. Or, really, I should have tossed Lucas out on his ass. Yet instead, I found myself lurking in the kitchen and straining my ears to listen in on what they were talking about.
As badly as I wanted to tell myself I was just trying to protect Seph, I couldn't deny the fact that I wanted to know if he was flirting with her. Was he leading my little sister on? If he was, I'd kill him. No one messed around with her heart and lived.
But part of me was really, really hoping it actually was the innocent study session Seph was making it out to be. I wanted Lucas not to be a douchebag. I had enough of those in my life already.
For the most part, they kept their voices low enough that I couldn't make out the words. Every time Seph giggled, though, I tensed up with anger and... something else.
After about fifteen minutes and a couple of sips of wine, I forced myself to go into my room and change out of my skintight black jeans and formfitting black bodysuit. When I returned to the kitchen in a pair of yoga pants and loose tank top, I found Lucas pouring himself a glass of water at the sink.
Gritting my teeth, I slid back onto the barstool, where I'd left my wine, and opened my laptop, which I'd grabbed from my room.
Lucas turned the tap off, then leaned his ass against the counter as he took a long sip from his glass. Fucker.
Ignoring him, I raised my own glass to my lips and took a mouthful of the light, fruity sangiovese I'd chosen. I placed my glass down again, and Lucas leaned over the island to pick it up.
My gaze flicked up, catching on his as he brought my wine glass to his mouth and drank from it. Holy fuck, that was sexy. It shouldn't have been, but somehow my mouth went dry and my panties went... well... not dry.
"Mmm," he hummed, licking his lips way too damn sexually. "What's that one?"
I drew a deep breath, rolling his seemingly innocent question around my brain. I knew full well what he was doing, though—reminding me how I'd introduced him to barolo last time he'd been in my kitchen.
"Sangiovese," I replied, my voice low so Seph didn't come running to save Lucas from her big bad sister.
He took another sip, his eyes still locked on mine. "It's delicious."
I gave him a cool smile. "I'll be sure to send you a bottle when you're of legal drinking age."
He gave a soft laugh, placing my glass back down and running his hand through his hair. The move was so calculated, tugging his loose Shadow Prep shirt up and showing off those mouthwatering lower abs.
"What are you doing here, Lucas?" I asked in a near whisper. "The fuck do you think you're going to achieve by leading my sister on?"
His gaze flicked over my shoulder in the direction of the living room, then he leaned his elbows on the counter opposite me. His shirt was rolled up to the elbows, revealing those strongly muscled forearms, and his eyes were intense.
"I'm not leading her on, Hayden," he whispered back, his tone earnest. "I've made it crystal clear that I'm not interested in being anything more than friends with her. She's just not hearing me."
I huffed. That did sound like Seph, especially with how much she'd gone on and on about Lucas all week.
"Trust me," he continued, his low voice full of sincerity, "I would never mess anyone around like that. But when she asked me to come over after school and work on our project..." He gave a shrug as if to say, what's a guy to do?
I shook my head slowly, astounded at his tenacity after I'd all but ghosted him all week. "Lucas..." I said his name on a tired exhale and trailed off when his fingers wove together with mine on the countertop. His touch was pure electricity, and I swallowed the protests I'd been about to make.
"I needed to see you again," he murmured. "You're all I can think about. That kiss in your office the other night... I know you want me too."
I couldn't even deny that fact.
"Lucas?" Seph called out, and I jerked my hand free of his a split second before she came into view. "Oh. I wondered what was taking you so long..." She gave me a hard glare, and I just met her gaze with bored eyes as I took a sip of my wine.
Lucas's eyes flicked to my mouth as I rested the glass between my lips, then he straightened up and gave Seph a bland, friendly smile. "I just got caught up talking to your sister," he told her with a small shrug. "Sorry I kept you waiting."
"Uh..." Seph's suspicious gaze bounced between the two of us, and my stomach twisted with guilt. Then she gave him a bright smile and batted her lashes a couple of times. "No worries. I hope she was being polite." Her hard look told me she didn't for a second believe I’d been remotely polite, but whatever. I'd rather she think I was threatening him than the truth.
"Of course," Lucas replied with a sly smirk in my direction. "Actually, she was just offering to drive me home so you're not late to that dinner thing. I think my place is on the other side of town."
He was guessing, I could tell, but he was also right. It was an easy enough guess, considering how the wealth of Shadow Grove was split up into distinct neighborhoods.
Seph looked stunned for a moment, giving me a confused frown. "Oh. Uh... that's nice of you, Dare."
I gave her a tight smile in return. "Yep." Because I couldn't exactly call Lucas out for lying, could I? Not if I didn't want my sister to find out Lucas and I were more than friendly already.
"We should probably finish this project then," she said to him, jerking her thumb toward the living room.
Lucas just picked up his glass of water and followed her. Not before he shot me a mischievous wink, though. Goddamn, he was trouble.
21
Seph and Lucas probably spent another half an hour on their homework, and I forced myself to stay in the kitchen and not send Seph to Demi's early on some bullshit excuse.
Zed called me during that time, letting me know that the SGPD had been making a nuisance of themselves in several of our venues tonight, spot-checking IDs of patrons—no one's idea of a good time—and questioning the bar staff about whether they knew about any illegal activity within the premises.
Not a single one of my employees would ever rat out the Timberwolves, but it didn't make the whole thing any less irritating.
"We need to get our hold back on them," I told Zed when he finished his verbal report. "It's becoming inconvenient to have the cops working for someone else."
He grunted a sound of agreement. "No shit. Life was a hell of a lot easier a year ago when they could simply be paid to look the other way."
"It's a challenge to my authority, Zed," I muttered, picking at a hole in the hem of my tank top. "Sooner or later, people will start noticing. Then we're going to be back at square one, defending what's ours against greedy bastards looking to expand."
He let out a sigh on the other end of the phone. "Agreed. So what do we do?"
I chewed the edge of my nail, thinking about his question. "Grab one of them and make him squeal. One of the higher-ups that used to take payouts from Charon, preferably. There's no way those slimebuckets suddenly turned into model citizens."