Page 33 of Sweet Spot

“You think I’m a monster now,” he said, almost matter-of-fact.

“Not at all,” I said truthfully. “I wish I put Ritchie in the emergency room,” I said, finding myself laughing with Lukas. “Trust me, I’ve spent many nights fantasizing about getting back at him – at all of them, really. All my friends from home said that I owed any success I had to Ritchie. That I couldn’t have done anything without him and that I’d never succeed by myself in this city. So sometimes I think I’m only this hungry for success because I want revenge. I couldn’t put Ritchie in the ER like you did to Cam,” I smirked, “so at the very least, I’d like to prove him wrong by doing well for myself. I just can’t stand when assholes get to go on in life thinking they’re right. I need the record set straight. You know?”

“Oh, I know,” Lukas smiled. “And if it helps your craving for justice, you’ll be happy to hear that I bought Cam out of the company about a month ago. I offered him a ridiculous chunk of cash so he’d sign the contract without thinking. He didn’t realize till it was too late that I’d fucked him over beyond repair,” he said, handing me a fork and nodding at the omelet on my plate. “Don’t let it get cold.”

I stared. “Are you going to tell me exactly what he did? I feel like you’re leaving out a lot of details here.”

“I am. Now eat.”

I squinted as I took a bite of the omelet but my eyes popped back open when I felt the silkiness that glided over my tongue. “These are eggs?” I didn’t mean to say it aloud but I did. I stared back down at my plate as Lukas laughed. “Where did you learn how to cook like this?”

“My grandmother. Grandma Elodie.”

“She’s a chef?”

“No. Just French,” Lukas said with a faint smile. “She made us do her mise en place and watch nothing but Jacques Pepin growing up.”

“You and Tess?”

He paused. “Yes.”

I frowned, vaguely remembering something he’d said before that piqued my interest.

“Was it just you and Tess growing up?” I asked.

Mouths, I recalled. Plural. He said he’d gone into business with Cam because he had “mouths to feed.” I was curious about that detail before and I was even more curious now. But taking another bite, I blinked up to find Lukas ignoring me as he scrubbed the pan in the sink. And just like that I was distracted again. It was hard not to be. He was like a vision from any housewife’s dream – tall, ripped and half-naked while doing my dishes. God, I could get used to this, I thought. But I quickly corrected myself. Nope. You can’t. Take a mental snapshot and move on with your life, I decided.

Though instead of taking a mental snapshot, I took an actual one with my phone.

“Saw that,” Lukas said, still washing. He grinned when he looked up to catch me blushing. “I’ll let you keep it under one condition.”

“What?”

“You let me see you again.” Lukas faced me as he dried his hands. “And before that smart mouth tries to make a joke, I mean see you as in take you out, not pass you by in the hall.”

My shoulders fell. “Lukas. I told you I have a lot to do today. And every day.”

“And I told you I work in real estate. I have every connection you could dream of and I can help you with whatever you need.”

“No.” My heartbeat quickened. “I don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Mix business with pleasure. That’s my rule.”

“Fine. Then don’t. Get your work done today and let me come over at night to take you anywhere you want.” Lukas said earnestly. I watched as he dried my pan, set it back and wiped up the water around the sink. “We can do dinner and drinks. Or we can catch a game. I get box seats anywhere.”

I swallowed. “It’s tempting, Lukas,” I said, backing up as he stepped forward. “But my entire career is banking on this meeting, and it happens in only four days,” I said, shuddering just from saying it aloud. “So whether or not I want to see you is irrelevant because the truth is I can’t afford to. I have a pitch to write and I’ve already spent the past few days being completely distracted.”

“Fair enough.” Lukas nodded. “But how about after your meeting? What happens when it’s over?”

I thought about it. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I considered that I might actually have an investor by then. I might have my official budget for the store I’d been dreaming of opening for years. I shook my head. “I don’t know,” I said quietly. “I can’t even think about it yet. It makes me unbelievably nervous.”

Lukas smiled as he watched me chew on my lip. “Alright. Then here’s my pitch to you – I’ll leave you alone till you’re done with your meeting. I won’t knock on your door once. I won’t text or call. I won’t have a single guest over so you can have your guaranteed peace and quiet. But once the next four days are over, we renegotiate our contact agreement because I want to see you and I already know that feeling’s not going away anytime soon,” he said. When I refused to meet his eye, he tipped my chin up to face that sexy grin of his. “Deal?”

Damn it. Why was it so fucking impossible to resist him when he was already touching me?

“Fine,” I caved, breathing out in frustration at myself. “But if you break the deal and I screw this meeting up, Lukas, I’ll put you in the emergency room.”