Seduce (Beautiful Rose 0.50)

“Go,” he ordered her. She glanced at me, her eyes full of regret. I nodded—she didn’t need to say anything to me. I got it. I knew she was feeling like crap because I felt the same way. She walked out, Luke right behind her. He turned back to me.

“I’ll be back to sort you out later,” Luke muttered. He left before I could respond. This had gone about as badly as it could have. Luke was probably never going to talk to me again, except to rip my head off, and God knows what her parents would to do when they found out. I could imagine her father throwing a few punches. Fuck. Her parents and my dad knew each other. If they found out about this, they would definitely tell my father and he would kill me.

I threw my phone on the kitchen counter. Reaching for a cup, I filled it with black coffee. On top of all this I still had a mountain of work to get through. At least I didn’t have to go to the office now, not that I could concentrate much anyway.

***

Three hours later, I had my presentation sorted and everything set for my meeting with Delenski next week. I’d been surprised by how much I’d managed to get done, and even more surprised that Luke hadn’t returned yet to ‘sort me out’. I leaned forward and grabbed my laptop. The only thing I hadn’t done was research this guy’s daughter. Lisbeth Delenski. I typed her name into Google and clicked on image search.

Holy .Fucking. Shit.

She was stunning. I felt bad even thinking that so soon after what had happened with Belle, but this girl was supermodel stunning. I’m sure more than ninety percent of her was cosmetically enhanced, but fuck me. Her long blonde hair fell down to her waist, big boobs, tanned, and curvy.

My cock was growing just looking at her picture. I slammed the laptop shut, feeling guilty that a picture of another woman had gotten me aroused.

At least entertaining Lisbeth would keep my mind off Belle, though I’m not sure she would agree with that. I didn’t want to sleep with Lisbeth, but I was smart enough to realize that even if I did, the only way it would be happening was if Belle agreed on a threesome.

Chapter Sixteen

“Falcon! Open up!” Luke banged on the front door, sounding as angry as he had a few hours ago. I stood up. It crossed my mind to pretend I wasn’t home, but if he was angry enough I didn’t doubt that he would kick the door in.

He walked right in without waiting for an invitation. I followed him over to the sofa, sitting in the armchair opposite. I waited for him to speak. He was pissed, but more than that, he was hurt.

This was everything I wanted to avoid.

“Belle told me she’s in love with you,” he said calmly. My ears pricked up. This was news to me. She loved me? Wow. Luke scowled at me.

“Get that fucking grin off your face, Falcon. What the hell are you playing at here? Of all the women you can have, why her?”

“Because she’s the only woman—”

“Girl,” Luke interrupted patronizingly.

“Fuck Luke, she’s eighteen! She’s not a girl, she’s a woman.” I yelled. “She’s the only woman who has ever made me feel anything other than a hard-on. I know what you think, but it’s not like that. How long have you known me? Have you ever seen me with the same woman for longer than a day?”

“How long have you been seeing each other? Since that dinner at our house last month?”

“Before that. Honestly, I had no idea of her age, or that she was Sally’s sister in the beginning.” Luke looked semi-convinced, like I almost had him. I tried again. “What can I do to make you see this is not just me being me?”

“Um, stay away from her?” he said sarcastically.

I shook my head. “I don’t know if I can do that. She’s eighteen man, she’s an adult who can make her own decisions,” I said. Luke’s jaw clenched as I spoke. He knew I was right.

“I didn’t tell her parents,” he said quietly.

“You didn’t?” I said, surprised. “Why?”

“Because Belle begged me not to.” He cursed, running his hand through his hair. “Fuck, Jack, I don’t know what to do here.” He turned to me. “Her father would kill you. You know that, right? No matter how old Belle is, he will rip your fucking head off.”

“I know.”

“Then why?” he asked. “Why not just go back to the casual sleeping around? The Jack we all know and love.”

I sighed. “Do you know why I did that, Luke? All the sleeping around? Because I hate my life. The drinking, the sex—it wasn’t because I liked it, it was because that’s all there was for me. Then I met Belle.” We sat there, neither of us saying anything for what felt like hours. In reality, it was about four minutes before I stood up, unable to take it any longer. I paced the length of the living room, my hands shoved in my pockets.

“Look, my life growing up was a mess. That’s no excuse for how I’ve treated women in the past, but I promise you, Belle is different. She is amazing, funny, smart, and she gets me. She understands me like nobody I’ve ever met.” I shook my head, not sure of what else I could say.

“You better not hurt her,” Luke muttered.