t w e n t y f o u r
? I know they say there's greener grass
For me, it's never about that
The second I get bored, I switch it up
Makin' bad decisions based on temporary thoughts ?
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"Mr. Durant will see you now." A blonde-haired woman, whom I assumed to be Eli's assistant, approached us with a smile.
"Which one?" Kyle grunted rather rudely.
I bit my lip at his tone, trying my best to ignore the way his fingers flexed around my knee as a way to offset his annoyance.
When Kyle and I first sat down in the waiting room, I was overly confident about the plan. But, as time went on and I began to overthink, my leg started to shake again.
Kyle, who was almost expecting this to happen, wasted no time placing his hand on top of my knee, and as much as I hate to admit it, my heart fluttered at the gesture.
A faint blush spread across the woman's face as she cleared her throat. "Eli, sir."
I slowly rose to my feet, inhaling sharply.
"Ethan will be with you momentarily, Mr. Rodriguez."
My eyes strained to read the tiny print written across the woman's name tag. "Thank you . . . Samantha."
She nodded. "If you'll please follow me, I'll show you to Mr. Durant's office."
Kyle's gaze burned a hole into my back as I followed behind Samantha. From his stare alone, I could read his thoughts:
Keep your cool and don't fuck this up.
Samantha came to a stop at the end of the hall, and my eyes followed the point of her finger as she gestured towards one of the doors on the left side of the hallway. "That's his office. Make sure to knock before you enter."
She left me alone after that, and I took a moment to hype myself up.
You can do this, Lilac.
This is just like Ocean's Eleven . . . minus the heist part.
The thought of this made me smirk, and in a matter of seconds, my anxiety vanished into thin air.
When I approached the door that had 'CEO' printed on it, front and center, I flipped my hair over my shoulder.
Let's do this.
"Guess you should take that sign down, huh?" I announced while barging into the room. "You know, since this company doesn't exist anymore?"
Eli dropped his pen onto the surface of his desk, flinching in his chair.
"Guess Kyle still hasn't gotten around to house training you yet, huh?" he bit back, his smile smug.
Eli and I have never met, yet with the way we're coming at each other, you'd think we've been enemies for years.
"Speaking of, where is my dear old friend?" he quipped.
"Oh, he's having a much less friendly chat with your brother," I hummed. "So you're stuck with me, unfortunately."
Deciding to make myself more comfortable, I slung my purse on top of his desk and plopped down on one of his accent chairs. "Let's get down to it, shall we?"
Eli's lips tugged upward as he eyed me curiously.
"I'm rather impressed, Miss. Reynolds. I didn't peg you as the negotiating type," he said, leaning back in his chair.
I scoffed. "Oh, I'm not negotiating anything. I'm here to ask you for a favor."
Eli's eyes narrowed at this, and my body began to buzz as I propped my elbows up on the arms of my chair. I then slowly leaned forward until I was sure that my cleavage was on full display.
A small smile made its way onto my face at Eli's sudden change in attitude. He stole a glance at my chest before he dragged his eyes back up to my face.
Perfect.
"And that would be?" he asked coolly.
"Go on a date with me."
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"This is a genius plan," I confessed as Kyle opened the front door for me.
We had just made it back to his estate, and it was only a matter of time before our plan went into full effect.
"I didn't graduate from Harvard for nothing," Kyle retorted while sliding off his shoes. "Top of my class at that."
"Says the man who thought that Apple Jacks was a type of liquor," I said, bracing myself against the wall so I could take off my heels.
He let out a dismissive scoff. "It has Jack in the name, so why wouldn't it be?"
"Your privilege is showing," I laughed, only to cover it up with a cough after I realized how comfortable we've gotten with each other.
Almost too comfortable.
"So, how are we going to get Mrs. Durant to the restaurant?" I quickly switched the topic before Kyle reached the same realization.
"Quinn," was the only thing he said before he turned around on his heel and disappeared down the hallway leading to his office.
Letting out a sigh, I went up to my room to change into some comfortable clothes. When I came back downstairs and wandered into the kitchen, I stopped short upon seeing a familiar figure standing in front of the fridge.
"Justin!" I shrieked, running up to him so that I could jump on his back. "You're still here!"
"Bon après-midi, princesse," he chuckled. "How did everything go at the office?"
Since he needed both hands to grab his food, I wrapped my legs and arms around his waist and neck to make sure I didn't fall. "Would you believe that all I had to do to get him to agree was flash him my tits?"
"Ugh, men," he spat in disgust while reaching out to close the refrigerator. "Such dogs."
I sighed dramatically. "I know, right?"
I opened my mouth to say something else, but the sight of his snack rendered me speechless.
I pretended to gag as I slowly slid off his back. "Suddenly, I'm not so happy to see you anymore."
Justin spread a bit of tuna across a Ritz cracker, feigning hurt. "You don't like tuna?!"
I covered my nose, stepping away from him.
"No, it's disgusting."
As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew I'd made a mistake.
His eyes lit up, and in a flash, he was charging at me.
"Get the hell away from me!" I screeched while running around to the other side of the island.
Either Justin was hard of hearing, or he just really liked the idea of torturing me because he ignored my request entirely.
I ran down the hallway and ducked around a corner, trying in vain to escape him.
"Sweetcheeks, come here!" he taunted from somewhere in the house.
I fought to keep quiet as the sound of footsteps made their way in my direction. I backed into the living room before letting out a scream at the sight of Justin running into the room at lightning speed.
His sudden appearance caused me to stumble backward, and I would've fallen had a strong pair of arms not wrapped themselves around my waist to keep me from toppling over.
The vibrations from Kyle's voice rattled against my back as he spoke. "What's going on in here?"
Justin greeted his twin with a sickeningly sweet smile. "Well hello, little brother!"
Kyle immediately shut him down. "Cut the bullshit, Justin. What's going on?" he huffed, releasing me from his hold.
Justin eyed the motion, clocking our proximity.
"Oh, nothing. I'm just having a bit of fun harassing your employee," he explained. "If you can even call her that," he added, mumbling this bit to himself.
I gnawed at the inside of my cheek, watching as he took a bite out of his cracker and chewed on it thoughtfully. "Although I do have a piece of information that I think you'll love. A little birdie told me that Ashlynn is back in town."
Kyle's delayed response conveyed his shock. "Really?"
I couldn't help but ask who Ashlynn is since Justin had this look on his face that told me to speak my mind.
"Kyle's demented ex-girlfriend." His answer was so casual you'd think he just told me what the weather was outside.
"Okay . . ?" This sounded like a personal issue that I didn't need to be involved in.
"Yeah, he totally hates her, but you'd never know it. I don't know what spell she cast to make him lose his everlasting mind whenever he's around her, but it worked."
Justin continued talking without a filter.
"You should probably check and see if she left some rose quartz under your pillow or some shit. Those things are no joke, man, trust me."
Kyle reached around me to slap his brother upside his head. "Shut up, and go finish your snack in the kitchen."
Justin let out a small whine, but he nevertheless turned to leave the room.
"Au revoir, tourtereaux," he called out over his shoulder, snickering to himself.
Kyle shook his head at his brother's ignorance before his eyes settled on my lingering figure.
I was hesitant to leave since I felt like we needed to talk about what was going to happen tonight.
"So . . ." I began lamely.
Kyle's lips twitched as he sat down on the arm of the loveseat.
"I actually have to kiss that two-timing bastard?" I asked.
He wasted no time correcting me. "No, he has to kiss you."
My lips twisted in apprehension. "How am I supposed to make him do that?"
Kyle shook his head as if that was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard me say.
"Trust me, it won't be a problem," he muttered.
We sat in silence for a few minutes before the chimes from the grandfather clock cut through the air.
Six hours until my dinner date with Eli.
Kyle's face remained emotionless as he looked up at me.
"Are you ready to have dinner with the devil?"
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