Page 77 of Lucas

“Oh really?” Rounding the desk, I plant myself toe-to-toe with him, close enough to feel the angry heat rolling off his body. Maybe he’s used to his minions cowering in fear, jumping to follow his every whim. But I’m not afraid of him. “What are you going to do, Lucas? Fire me? You don’t have the authority. I’m not beneath you, and I never will be.”

Something flares in his eyes, hot and hungry. “Never say never, Wifey.” His voice drops an octave, gravel and sin. “And if you end up beneath me, Ava... I promise you’ll never forget it.”

My pulse kicks into overdrive, but I refuse to let him see how much he affects me. How much I want exactly what he’s implying.

“You think you can solve everything with sexual innuendo, is that it?” I ask, holding my ground even as his nearness makes me dizzy. Makes me ache. “Flash that panty-dropping smile, stand close enough for me to smell your cologne, give me that look, and I’ll just fall in line?”

“What look?” he murmurs, dipping his head until his lips hover a breath from mine.

I don’t back down, even as my heart pounds a frenzied staccato against my ribs. Even as my body screams for his touch, his taste. I have to focus, have to make him understand.

“Some of the employees at Gant have been here twenty years. They’re loyal, they don’t know anything else. They have families to support and nowhere else to go. You want me to throw them to the wolves because it’s the easy solution? I won’t do it. Not until I’ve tried everything else. I can’t destroy this company because of my father’s mistakes.”

Lucas’s brow furrows, blue eyes searching mine. “Your father’s mistakes?”

“Yes,” I grit out, my breath sawing in and out of my lungs. My teeth worry at my lower lip, nerves scraped raw and exposed. “My father’s.”

Chapter Twenty

LUCAS

“Ava,” I whisper.

She’s within reach, and she could be mine. Those feisty lips, pink and plump, that body built for sin. Her round breasts strain against her thin shirt, and her curvy hips flare out from her tiny waist. Those angry green eyes flash with desire. I want to melt her under my arms, fuck her until her mouth can no longer insult me, only scream my name.

She’s the sexiest creature I’ve ever seen, and I can barely restrain myself.

Her lips part, and she pants, chest heaving. I’m certain she’s wet, that she needs release just as badly as I do right now. All this energy, if only it were channeled in the right direction.

“Ava,” I whisper again.

“What?” Her eyes are still furious, but her body tells mesomething else.

“I have a business proposal for you.” I step closer, leaving mere inches between us.

“If you want me to fire employees?—”

“A personal business proposal for you,” I correct.

She falls silent, her eyes scanning my face.

“I know you’re attracted to me.”

She shakes her head. “I’m not.”

“It’s okay. I know you hate me. It has nothing to do with our attraction. It’s purely physical. I’m drawn to you as well, and we’re both in a binding contract. Meaning we can’t fuck other people, and all this sexual energy between us is electrifying. We both need release.”

“I don’t need anything from you.”

I ignore her feeble protest and continue. “We both need sex. We’re both frustrated. You don’t want to spend the next two years like this. I’ll admit, I was sure spending two years without would be a breeze, but it’s proving harder than I thought, and we can solve this easily. Hate-sex.”

She tilts her head but says nothing.

“Sex. Just sex. Hot, rough, full of hatred like you love. No commitment, no feelings, no cuddling after. Just physical release.”

She stares at me, and I can see from her expression that her resolve is crumbling.

“I know you want it. I know that if I touch you now, you’ll be wet and ready. It’s okay. I feel it too.” I take one more step forward until I stand between her parted legs, my hips grazing hers but still not touching her. “But I promised I wouldn’t touch you, so if you want it, you’ll have to ask, Ava.”