His Friends
Lucas stood with his arms crossed in front of him as he stood next to the black Rolls Royce.
He was still dressed in the clothes he had worn earlier for his meeting, only, this time he had discarded the suit jacket.
I could not decide which was even more difficult to resist. The sight of my boyfriend in a sexy three-piece, neatly shaven beard and hair arrayed to perfection or him in in his waistcoat with his sleeves rolled up, and a few buttons popped down enough to reveal a dusting of hair on his chest, his hair in a disheveled state that made me crave running my hand through it and not to forget that smile that made me weak in my knees every time.
I could not decide. But take it from me, resisting Lucas Maxwell was not only a waste of your time, but it was also damn torture.
Swallowing hard, I willed myself to do my best sexy strut to him and not launch right into his arms as I ached to.
"Hey," I whispered in a soft tone, halting a few inches from him
"Hey Muffin," his hand shot out and grasped my hand, yanking me into him so hard, I had not time to register when our lips collided. "Is it weird that I'm thinking of ditching dinner and having my dinner right here?"
"Considering the number of security cameras in this mansion, I think it is," I murmured against his lips, trying to catch my breath. "We don't want to get sued for inappropriate exhibitions now do we?"
"I'm sure the amount my family pays every staff member here covers for such.
.." he paused to catch my lower lip between his teeth, as his fingers trailed over my collar bone and down to my cleavage, before grazing over my nipple.
Did I forget to mention I could not have any underwear with this dress?
"...indiscretion. I'm not sure I'll make it through dinner," he kissed me again, this time letting his free hand roam to the bare skin of my back and his fiery kiss linger down my throat.
"Then I guess the dress served its purpose,"
"No shit, it did."
I giggled as he nibbled on my ear softly, "You're so fucking sexy Chris. And now you're right here in my arms, right where you fucking belong."
His words made me feel like I had the world slipping from under my feet and I swayed right into his arms, letting him hold me because I could not trust my legs to not give out any second.
"We should get going," I whispered, even though my body wanted to do anything except leave his firm possessive hold right now.
"We should," he gave a devious smile before adding, "the sooner we leave, the sooner we can get back so I can make you scream to the world how much you're mine."
I shivered lightly and I could only hope Lucas thought it was from the wind picking up, not from the anticipation that wracked through me at his words. He enclosed his hands in mine and led me to the passenger seat, pulling the door open for me.
Lucas slid into his seat behind the wheel, with one hand navigating the way, he took my other hand and brought it to his lips, leaving a soft kiss. "'Are you ready?"
With my head and body in a jittery mess from Lucas's lips and hands all over me, it was literally impossible for me to make any coherent speech, so I gave a brief nod.
We arrived for dinner at a high-toned Italian restaurant, a twenty-minute drive from the Villa and somewhere at the heart of the city.
The waiter led us to our table, which was not surprisingly at a more private location, and Lucas placed a warm hand on the small of my back that did more than enough to ease some of the tension building up in my chest.
I had always had a hard time meeting new people, maybe that was why Celine and I were so compatible. Maybe I would get through dinner better if I stopped thinking about the many ways I could ruin the evening by being nervous.
We were led to an eight-person table on the rooftop of the restaurant.
It gave an intimate feeling with decorative lamps lighting up the way through the glistening darkness of the evening.
There were also decorative bowls with votive candles lit inside and drapes separating each table from the next, offering a sense of privacy without obstructing the view of the sea ahead.
It was not hard to figure which of the booths hosted Lucas's friends.
At the longest table—an eight-person table—sat three men and one woman who I imagined to be no more than twenty years old.
I wondered for a moment whose partner she was, but that thought had no room to stick around long because it was easily replaced by thoughts of how each of them looked like they were ripped right off the front page of a Vogue magazine cover.
I sucked in a deep breath as our footsteps announced our presence, and all the heads at the table swiveled to us.
Before I had met Lucas it was safe to say I had never met such attractive humans before.
The three men rose to their feet and can I just say, Oh my fucking God?
I found myself wondering if had actually lived all twenty-three years of my life on the same earth as these men and had never met them even once.
But then again, there was the high possibility that they were not from this earth at all because, Goddamn.
They had faces that would make angels weep and gods go to war, chiseled cheeks sharp enough cut glass, and don't even get me started on how I knew I would look no more than a lost toddler standing next to any of them.
"My man!" the first man spoke, as he pushed his chair back.
He was the tallest among them and even though the white button-down he had on, I could see the trail of his tattoos leading from his wrist up to his neck.
He was hot but gave off a terrifying vibe like he had a deadly edge behind those hazel eyes.
Lucas let his hand drop from my waist briefly and gave him a manly hug, along with a pat on his shoulder.
"Hi," the woman at the table said to me, beckoning on to me to join her with a small wave.
I would have found the strength to refuse, but her smile was just as charming and as it was inviting.
She must have sensed my apprehension and as she got to her feet and strutted over to me.
She had the grace of a model, all poised even in the high heels she sported.
She held out a well-manicured hand to me, "You must be Christine, I'm Nicole. "
"Um, yeah," I said blinking as I tried to articulate my confusion. I had never met this woman before yet she clearly knew me. "But you can call me Chris."
The first man Lucas had spoken to came around the table and wrapped an arm around Nicole, I could guess he was here with her, "So we finally get to meet the famous Chris." he held one large tattooed hand out as he spoke.
"Finally?" I took his hand, eyes darting back to Lucas. Gosh, I was so terrible at this.
"Well you know Lucas here" he nodded to Lucas who was speaking to the two other men, "has only told us about you a thousand times." A small blush crept up my cheeks, even though it was not the first time my reputation had preceded me thanks to Lucas.
"It's nice to meet you too...?"
"Adrian and this is my wife," he gestured to the woman wrapped in his arms, "Nicole."
"Oh My God is she here?" a feminine voice, dripped in excitement spoke behind up. I swiveled on my heels to see two other ladies heading in our direction. How many people were coming to dinner exactly? Right, eight seats for eight people.
"Hi," I said, offering a small smile to the two women who were clearly dazzled by my presence.
I was just as dazzled as them too, it was like everyone that walked into here needed a caution sign saying, "Warning!
Content it too hot to handle," taped to their foreheads because they were literally all too hot to handle.
The hottest of them all though was mine and as if on cue he flashed me one of his dazzling smiles from across the table followed by a wink which I could translate to mean "You got this," and somehow that kept me from tumbling over in my nervous state.
"Oh, she's just as beautiful as I imagined," the woman cooed again, placing a hand on her cheek, somehow she reminded me of Lilian.
"Marylyn, you're frightening her," the more reserved woman spoke, turning to me with a small smile, "I'm Alisa, I apologize for being a tad late," she lowered her voice, sending a mock glare to Marylyn and said, "lady emergency, but I'm so glad you could make it for dinner."
"I'm glad I could make it, except, I didn't know Lucas had so many friends." I blurted nervously.
"Oh no we're not his friends per se," Marylyn chuckled, "we're the wives."
I gaped at her in surprise, "What?!"
"Marylyn," Alisa whined her name, and gave me an apologetic smile, "What she means is, I'm Drey's wife and she's married to Mathew."
"Oh!" I sighed in relief. "that's great."
"Come on," Nicole said, taking my hand and tugging me along, "dinner will be here any minute."
I was thankful when Lucas appeared at my side, helping me pull my seat out before he took a seat next to me. Just like us, the others sat, each next to their partner.
The man who I assumed to be Drey, sat next to Alisa, Marylyn next to Mathew. Adrian was seated next to Nicole, whose seat fell right next to my other side.
A sense of relief and belonging flushed through me as Lucas placed a hand on my knee, kneading softly. He leaned into a whisper, "how are you feeling?"
"A little overwhelmed, but in a good way," I said, my voice low, before offering him a reassuring smile. The warm reception I had received from Lucas's friends was enough tp get me to relax and if I worried about whether or not I would fit on or if they would like me or not, I had my answer now.
"Do you want some wine, it helps with the nerves,"
"Okay."
Lucas rang a bell I had not noticed on the table and a waiter scurried in barely a second later. He ordered a bottle of some wine, clearly Italian from the name I had not bothered trying to memorize.
"So Chris," Drey spoke first, "how was your flight here, not too tiring I hope."
Oh, it was tiring alright. Tiring in the I got fucked till my limbs gave out on me kinda way.
My cheeks flushed at the reminder of how we'd christened every corner in our cabinet/ bedroom on our way here.
But I had a good feeling Drey did not want me to get into that detail.
"Not at all, I was too excited to feel tired. "
"Good for you, I still feel jetlagged," Adrian said. "How are my two favorite twins?"
"Good—most of the time," I added with a light chuckle. "So you all are friends with Lucas?" I asked, gesturing to the three men.
"Yup," Mathew nodded, "we're like the three musketeers, except we're five."
I looked around the table, trying to articulate my confusion just as the waiter strolled in with a tray of the wine Lucas had ordered and eight flutes. I voiced my question after he poured each of us a glass and left with the menu.
"Five?"
"Alexis," Lucas answered, "he had business back in France and could not make it tonight."
"Or, he has sworn himself to the single men's club and does not want to be coerced to change his mind," Mathew said, taking a slow sip from his glass.
"Okay," I nodded slowly, even though I did not know what that meant.
"So Christine," Alisa started, but I briefly interrupted.
"Please just call me Chris."
"Okay, Chris, I want to hear more about you, and the twins," she shot Lucas a glare, "I've been dying to meet them, but somebody won't let me."
Lucas chuckled at her mock annoyance, "don't look at me like that, your husband knows the way to San Diego."
"I'm sure we can all meet them now that we're all here in Milan."
"Yeah, that's possible," Aisa nodded, "but I still want to hear about you."
I shrugged, swirling my wine in my glass, "Well there's not much to tell,"
"There's plenty to tell," Lucas said, raising his brows at me and earning a glare from me. "you know there is."
"Well we're curious to know," Drey chipped in, "because my friend here, went from being completely blind to anything in a skirt to talking nonstop about a certain Christine."
"I don't talk about her nonstop," Lucas countered defensively.
"You do." the chorus sounded from all three men, Drey, Adrian, and Mathew.
He turned to me with a sheepish grin, and mouthed, "I don't"
Drey continued, "So we'd like to hear from the horse's mouth, about this amazing woman that turned him into someone else, in a completely good way."
"Well for starters, I grew up in foster care...it was hell."
Marylyn nodded in agreement, "Tell me about it."
I filled the group in on my background and how C and I left the home.
Then my life after that and what it was like being Abby and Aiden's nanny for the last five months.
Alisa seemed to be obsessed with kids and occasionally, I could see her smile sadly when I talked about Abby and Aiden.
I wondered why she didn't have any kids seeing as she clearly had a thing for kids, but I was in no place to question or even judge the fact.
Apparently, everyone at the table seemed to be familiar with my relationship with Sarah, not a surprise seeing as most media outlets talked about it for days.
The thought that I was sisters with that woman still made blood rush through my ears and I shoved my drink in my mouth to stop me from puking at the thought of the witch.
I hated the nasty stain just the thoughts of her left in my mind.
Thankfully, the waiters walked in at the right time to save me from having to talk about it any further. They laid out the first course of our meal, steaks, and shrimps with a side serving of some roasted peas.
I took a small bite of the shrimp, swirling it in my mouth and getting used to the buttery taste, before I spoke again, "So I'm dying to know how you all became friends."
"We all met at different times through our years in college," Lucas explained, nodding to each man as he spoke, "I met Drey in my first year, Alexis and Mathew in my second year, and Adrian here, I met on the day I graduated. He saved my ass."
"You know that's not true," Adrian said with a laugh.
Nicole leaned in to whisper, "he's just being modest."
We spent the rest of dinner going about a round of questions, aimed at better acquainting with each other and it went all well until it was time for our second course of dinner.
Okay, it had started much earlier, after a few bites off from my plate, decided I would be giving up on it.
It was not the taste per se, it had a great taste and smell too, but for some reason, it just did not settle right with me.
So for most of that course, I just pushed my meal around and forced a smile when Lucas asked if I was okay.
This time though, when he placed a hand on my knee and asked what was wrong, I could not hold it back. "I don't feel so good," I said, trailing my thumb over my collarbone and clearing my throat softly.
"I'm sorry if my friend's overwhelmed you with those many questions," he cupped my cheeks and ran his thumb over my bottom lip.
"No no," I said, almost breathily, "It's not that. I think it's...it's the food," I reached for a glass of water but that only sped up my reaction to whatever was happening to me and I felt like I was going to topple over and vomit any second.
"Are you okay?" Nicole placed a hand in my arm, watching me in concern. The conversation at the table skidded to a halt as everyone turned to me, their worry apparent in their faces. I already felt terrible for being the center of everyone's attention again and this time not in a good way.
"No, what was in the first meal served?" I questioned like anyone at the table would have the answer to that. In my hazed state, I heard someone say, "Garlic." maybe Lucas, he was the one frantically checking the menu.
Shit! I had been so busy without conversation at the table that I had completely forgotten to tell the waiter about my allergy to Garlic before we had placed our order. With a small groan, I clutched my aching stomach, throwing my head back, "I think I'm going vomit."