Chapter 21
Lucas
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t unsee her in my mind. I had to get over Tessa—this fucking obsession that I’d developed for her. But something kept telling me that she wasn’t gone, that I would find her again, and that she was closer to me now more than ever…
I was a man falling without a safety net to catch him, and for some fucked up reason I’d do it all over again—just for her.
Tessa’s social status meant nothing to me. I didn’t see her as the influential and beloved actress that she was known for, and while I loved the attention of others, I didn’t want her for clout.
That night, she was just a woman who managed to capture my interest and clung to it for dear fucking life.
I spent the rest of this weekend avoiding both Brandi and Evie, hunkering down and waiting for Levi to show up and take his prize off my hands so I could go out on a leave of absence and find my own.
My brother had warned me about screwing around with Brandi—numerous times, and this was now my punishment for not listening to him. It wasn’t even romantic, we screwed in the bathroom for fuck sake. How she took that as anything more was beyond my comprehension.
The door to my office swung open with a violent force, smashing into the plaster wall before bouncing back and losing speed as it coasted toward the person who had essentially kicked it in.
“You know what, no. Fuck you, you don’t get to hide and avoid me that easily, especially when you’re so casually sitting behind the very same desk you bent and fucked me over only a week ago.” Classy Levi. Very fucking classy.
I rubbed my eyes with my fingers before slowly forcing myself to stand, mentally drained and trying my fucking hardest not to lash out at her. After all, she was mad at Levi, not me.
“Say something, you fucking prick,” Evie raised her voice in anger as she slammed the door shut with the back of her heel and charged across the space between us, raising a hand, ready to slap the shit out of me.
I snapped out a hand, gripping her wrist to stop the motion before forcing Evie’s back against the nearest wall, pinning her arm above her head. If she were smart, she’d leave the other hanging by her side.
“I’m not avoiding you, I’m—” At a loss for words, I slammed my fist into the wall, freeing my pent-up aggravation, nearly splitting my knuckles from the impact. Fuck you, Levi, for making me keep my mouth shut.
I took a deep cooling breath, inhaling Evie’s perfume in the process—and I just about choked. Not only did she have the same eyes, but she even smelled like the woman I’ve continuously dreamed of sharing my bed with.
Pure allurement controlling my actions, I lowered my head, leaning in closer to her neck for more, the tip of my nose grazing the sensitive spot right behind her ear.
She all too willingly tilted her head to the side, her pulse racing, beating against her soft skin and projecting her intoxicating scent even further. Evie’s lips parted as her eyes fluttered closed, and I lost all sense of self-restraint, needing a single godforsaken taste.
Lord help me, I know this isn’t what Levi meant by taking care of Evie while he was gone, but she's just so fucking enticing. And I knew that if he were here right now, he’d tell me to take her for myself.
The second my lips touched her skin, I was a goner—game fucking over.
I let go—to use her as my distraction, my reason to forget that I ever had someone worth waiting for. That heavy burden of understanding dawned on me as her flushed skin warmed mine.
My brother was right. I wasn’t going to find her, and I’d be fucking delusional to think that I ever would. But right here, right now, was a woman who could make me feel just the same as she did, even if I had to close my eyes and imagine.
We had always planned on sharing a wife, and our time was running out. I needed to trust in my brother’s judgment, and if he believed that Evie was the one, then who was I to change his mind? If anything, the least I could do was give her a chance to prove me wrong.
“Levi.” She breathed, and I nuzzled into the side of her neck, finding comfort in her sigh of relief as I slowly gave in to an open frame of mind.
“Call me Lucas.”
“Why would I do that?” Evie chuckled lightly, as if I were joking, her free hand trailing along the side of my neck, sending a shiver up my spine at the affectionate caress.
Aside from hiring her, I don’t know how long Levi had been sleeping around with Evie, but from the way she handled me, the playfulness, the tender touch. She had deep feelings rooted in my brother, and I was ready to see where she would take me.
“Because I want you to. Call it roleplay. Pretend I’m somebody else—your other boss. Whatever you need to make it work for tonight.”
I agreed not to tell her about us, and I would keep to that secret as I have this entire time, but I’ll be damned if I have to fuck this woman with my brother’s name on her lips.
“And if I don’t?” She seductively bit back a shallow moan, sinking her teeth into the side of her lower lip.
“Then I guess you’ll only get my hand for this evening, and I’m pretty sure you want to feel more than just that.”
I dipped my fingers under the band of her bikini, toying with the spandex fabric and teasing her as my nails dragged across her smooth skin. She nodded with a short whimper, and I drove my hand between her thighs, massaging her clit with my fingers before sliding one inside.
Evie’s breath quickened as I added a second, curling them against her walls and G-spot, while continuing to tease her clit with the pad of my thumb.
She dropped her head to the side before burying it under my chin and tilting it the rest of the way to press her lips into my shoulder, parting them and biting down just as Tessa had done before.
The intimate moment sent me over the edge, as I felt her body tighten around my fingers right before she came in my palm with a strangled cry, sinking her teeth even deeper into my skin.
The stark similarities were playing tricks on my mind, making me believe that she was her…
Fuck it. Holding myself back wasn’t doing either of us any favors, and I needed to find a release of my own for sanity’s sake.
“I hate to say this, but you’re taking the rest of the night off,” I murmured into her hair as I pulled Evie off the wall and held her close to my chest, breaths still labored and heavy.
“Wh-why?” Her voice was lazy, drunk on her orgasm.
“Because I’m not fucking you in this office. I’m taking you home to my bed.” And at this point, I had no intention of letting her out of my sight.
I may have lost one woman, but I’ll be damned if I lose a second.