Cheater (Curious Liaisons 1)

Liar. My heart thudded.

I had adored him once. Past tense. And even then it was a high school crush.

This. This is why they always tell you during all those health-class talks to never have sex. Men only complicated things. One minute you’re a happy single female living in downtown Seattle, the next, you’re lying to your family and planning a fake engagement while behind their back you’re hoping to date the doctor who saw your parts! Ugh, ever since seeing Satan again I was going insane.

“Avery?” She sniffled. “Are you still there?”

“Yeah.” Unfortunately. “Tonight, dinner, it’ll be great.”

“Okay.”

Thank God Kayla was reasonable. Sort of. She was the nice daughter, the one who never did anything wrong and looked weird in red lipstick. She was the girl next door.

Perfect.

“Seven?” At least she wasn’t yelling anymore. Or crying.

“Great.” Shaking, I hung up and looked up to see a gorgeous redhead who could have been someone in my family. She grinned down at me and announced, “I’m Chelsea.” Her shoulders bounced up and down as if she had so much energy it was impossible for her to be still. “You know, Lucas Thorn’s Wednesday.”

I glared. “Of course you are.” Did everyone have to full-name him? It just reminded me of everything I wanted to forget.

She didn’t seem to mind that I was pissed.

In fact, I was 99 percent sure that if I peered around the desk, I’d see a rainbow shooting out of her ass while little unicorns danced next to her in a circle singing “Kumbaya.”

“You can just wait in his office,” I said in a flat tone.

Her perfect straight teeth nearly sparkled as she scampered on her feet and marched into his office without me needing to point the way.

She’d been there before.

In his office.

How many times, I wondered, had he bent her over that desk. I leaned back in my chair and watched as she comfortably sat on the leather couch and pulled out her cell.

She moved out of view, so I leaned back farther.

“Something interesting, I hope?” Lucas’s voice made my feet jerk up, causing my chair to fall backward.

Make that two embarrassing situations in one day.

I was on a serious roll when it came to Lucas Thorn.

Ah, now I was doing it too. Full-naming him.

Feet in the air, I let out an “oomph” before managing to get on my hands and knees and then look up at the most perfect male specimen God had ever cursed.

“Thorn.” I cursed his name. As per usual. And grabbed his outstretched hand as he helped me to my wobbly feet.

With a smirk, he thrust a paper bag against my chest and leaned in. “I got you a milk shake too.”

“Brings all the boys to the yard,” I joked, riffing on the song.

“Funny because word on the street is that your yard’s been closed . . .”

I gulped. “Chelsea’s nice.”

His smile faded, and he took a step back. “Yeah, yeah, she is.”

“She’s in your office. On your couch. Texting Barney.”

“Huh?”

“She’s superpeppy and kind of loud.”

“You would be too if I was about to rip your clothes from your body.”

My mouth dropped open.

So did his.

And then he ran a hand down his neck. “Sorry, that was uncalled for.”

“Nooooo,” I teased. “I’m just going to sit here and eat and not watch you cheat on your Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, alright?”

“Right.” He didn’t move.

I ignored him and started pulling the food from the bag.

I knew Lucas well enough to be aware that he wanted to say something else, but I couldn’t handle any more conversation.

When Chelsea left an hour later, her hair didn’t look mussed, and her skirt was on straight. I’d expected it to be backward or at least ripped.

I couldn’t help it—my eyes greedily searched for any part of her that looked like Lucas had marked it. But I got nothing.

I was still staring when the elevator doors closed.

“Curious?” Lucas asked from behind me.

Straightening my shoulders, I refused to look at him and pretended to check my email. “Let me guess. You kiss her, she moans, she screams out your name, you both get your rocks off in less than a half hour—because, let’s be honest, you seem to like efficiency—and you send her on her way with a nice slap on the ass.”

His dark chuckle infuriated me.

Rage was good.

Anger kept me safe.

It solidified the wall between us.

He walked away.

At least I thought it was safe—thought that he’d left.

But the devil reappeared and dropped something onto my desk.

It was a gold envelope.

I peeked down at it, then shoved it to the side of the table with my pen. “What’s that?”

His muscled forearms pressed against the desk, and he shrugged his massive shoulders. “Open it.”

I just loved surprises, which Lucas of course knew.

So I tore into the envelope like it was my birthday and nearly cried when I saw what he’d given me.

“I know money is tight, and as far as apologies go, this is the only way I can think of to make sure you eat tonight—and maybe then you’ll offer me a little bit of forgiveness for the gynecologist episode.”

I smiled up at him. “This is my favorite restaurant.”

“I’m aware.”

“They have steak.”

“Other foods too, but yes.” He chuckled. “Leave early, go eat, order whatever you want.”

“This gift certificate is for three hundred dollars.”

“Yup.”

“Lucas, that’s enough food for like four really good meals.”

“Yup.”

“You’re feeding me!” I yelled.

He looked around and then down at me, his eyes twinkling. “You had a man with surprisingly large hands stick God knows what between your legs—it’s the least I can do.”

Tears welled in my eyes. He was being so nice. And it was confusing. And I both hated and loved him for it.

I don’t think I realized how stressed I was over the whole fake engagement scenario and the prospect of meeting up with Kayla until that moment. “Thank you.”

Before I could stop myself, I stood and reached across the desk, then kissed him on the cheek.

His skin was scruffy, deliciously warm.

He swallowed slowly, his eyes locking with mine in a hazy blur of desire. “Have fun.”

“Why don’t you come with me? I mean, later this week or . . .”

He backed away, his smile gone. “I have to meet with Chelsea tonight, and the rest of my week is booked.”

“Oh.” Rejection sucked. I was in deep. Maybe I’d always been that way with Lucas, maybe I just never realized how deep until now. Regardless, the realization stung, and my pride was taking a whopping hit as he backed away farther, cursed, and then went to his office, slamming the door behind him.

One step forward. A moment when he showed me he was actually a decent human worth saving. Worth loving.

Ten giant steps back.

Chapter Twenty-Four

AVERY

I figured I may as well use the gift card Lucas gave me for dinner that night—it wasn’t like I had any extra money to spare, and I still had a little less than a week before I’d receive my first paycheck.

And my options for three meals a day were slowly turning into cold cereal or oatmeal or whatever was in the funky-smelling box in the back of the fridge.

Just how long could I keep Chinese takeout before eating it would kill me?

I braced myself and stopped in front of Lowell’s. It was a Seattle staple and boasted everything from oysters to steak, salmon, clams . . . Well, you get the point—it had meat