Chasing Forever Read online

  “As much as I like those pants, why don’t you take them off so I can really feel you?”

  “Did I ever tell you I really like the way you think?” Grinning, he stood up, kicked off his shoes, the rest of his clothes and then hovered over her fully naked and erect.

  “No,” she said, absently running her fingers down his chest, taking the time to properly explore each and every valley, groove, and indention of this perfectly sculpted male. “May I?” she asked, pointing at his erection.

  “I’m all yours,” he said, his searing amber eyes burning into her soul, challenging her.

  ***

  Lucas nearly jumped when he felt her lips press against his chest, slowly drifting lower and lower, each movement punctuated by a flash of her fiery green eyes. She didn’t have a clue how sexy she was. She’d been driving him crazy from the instant he walked in the door and saw her in that dress that made her look like goddess, teasing him with every movement.

  And then she bent her head licking dangerously close but so far from where he wanted her mouth the most. Her long auburn hair fell forward blocking his view, and he nearly growled. “Move your hair. I want to watch you,” he said, his voice thick with desire.

  Shifting away from him, her lips curled into a faintly suggestive smile as she pulled her green dress over her head.

  “No bra,” he said, gazing at her exposed breasts, itching to feel them against the palms of his hands and in his mouth.

  “I thought you’d like that.”

  “Come here,” he said.

  “Not yet. It’s your turn.” Shaking her head, she reached forward wrapping her hand around his shaft, moving up and down. “I still haven’t tasted this,” she whispered, bending forward, her eyes never leaving his as she licked the tip. Slowly, she took him into her warm mouth until he could almost feel the back of her throat.

  Shit. He didn’t think he could last, and she’d barely touched him. He buried his hands in her long silky hair as he watched her wet mouth glide back and forth, stroking and teasing him. If her pouty cupid’s bow drove him crazy before, the sight it wrapped of around him, sucking, kissing and inflaming him, blew his mind. “That’s…” His groan interrupted the flow of curse words disjointedly running through his mind.

  Her hands roamed along his backside pulling him closer, torturing him until he thought he might combust. Fucking amazing. He couldn’t stop himself from rocking into her mouth as his breath became irregular and choppy.

  “No more,” he said, pushing her away. He was so close to exploding, but he wanted to be inside her when he did because it had been days since he’d been wrapped in her incredible heat, and he was desperate to feel that connection with her again.

  “I don’t have a condom. Do you?” she asked as he pushed her backwards and slid off her panties.

  “Yes.” More than one actually, but he didn’t want to tell her that. He didn’t want her to believe this was just about sex because it was much more than that. He wanted to take her to dinner and have fun, and he hoped, not expected, they would end up in bed, but when she answered the door he couldn’t wait until after dinner to have her. Reaching into the pocket of his pants, he placed one on the couch beside her head. “Maybe we should stock some here because I plan on doing this a lot.”

  She laughed as he lowered himself between her legs. “Cocky much?”

  He captured her mouth with his as his hands wandered aimlessly over her body, finally cupping her breasts and teasing and flicking them until she arched into him. “Just honest,” he murmured, pulling his mouth away from hers.

  He tore open the wrapper and rolled it down, her smoldering green eyes boring into him.

  Gently, he lifted her hips and slid into her and she cried out, her wet heat squeezing him. Her hips rocked against his as she wrapped her legs around him. Steadily, he thrust in and out of her as his skin slid against hers with every movement. Then, he moved more rapidly, needing to be deeper to remind her with his body that she was his.

  When they were together, he loved that they could ignore the past, Martin and Black, the complications of work, his family, her dad, and Olivia. It was just the two of them. They were completely in tune, and it was mind-blowing—unforgettable, just like Regan.

  She tilted her hips toward him greedily, moaning, so close he could feel her clenching around him. Finally, she cried out digging her nails into his back, her entire body convulsing, and he couldn’t hold back no matter how much he wanted. He thrust into her a few more times, his breathing becoming sporadic before he exploded, clenching his teeth with the force of it.

  Panting, he dropped his forehead against hers, pushing her beautiful auburn hair away from her face so he could see the gentle curve of her jaw line and her gorgeous eyes. He could stay like this all night, memorizing every inch of her until each detail was burned into his mind and imprinted on his soul. She was it for him. She had been for a long time.

  He kissed her cheek and then nuzzled into her neck, inhaling her scent. “Are you hungry?”

  “A little,” she admitted, trailing her fingers gently up and down his arms.

  God that felt good. “We missed our reservation. I could call and see if they still have a table for us.”

  “No, lets order from someplace that delivers. I don’t feel like going out anymore, especially now that my hair is a mess.”

  He ran his fingers through her hair, and goose bumps erupted on her arms. He smiled. He loved how responsive she was to his touch. “I think you still look amazing, even if it is in a recently tumbled sort of way.”

  “Crazy hair and smeared makeup. You like that look.”

  “On you…” He smiled. “I’d like anything.”

  ***

  Two and a half hours later, Lucas leaned against the doorjamb to her apartment, rubbing his finger across her swollen lower lip.

  “Are you sure you can’t stay?”

  “As much as I would love to, we both have to work early, and I have a feeling neither of us would get enough sleep if I stayed.”

  She nodded. Of course she agreed with him, but after rolling around on the couch and having some of the best conversation ever over Chinese food, she was reluctant to be alone, or more aptly put, without him. “Tonight was great,” she said, smiling as she leaned against him.

  He lowered his head and kissed her soft lips. “When are we going out again?”

  “I have to work on Thursday, so how about Friday after work?”

  “I can’t. I’m meeting Drew for drinks. Saturday?”

  “Sure.” Her stomach twisted at the mention of Saturday. She still felt guilty about canceling on Parker. She hurt him, but there wasn’t anything she could do now except apologize again and she planned to do that on Thursday at work. She still wanted his friendship because she didn’t have many friends, just piles of acquaintances—and now Lucas.

  “Regan, what’s wrong?”

  She pushed her tangled hair away from her face. “I was thinking about Parker. I think I ruined our friendship.”

  “Maybe, but it’s hard to be friends with someone who wants more. It was probably for the best. I’m not comfortable with you hanging out with a guy that wants to get in your pants.” He tipped her chin up so she could see his face. “Or any guy for that matter.”

  “So is this an exclusive thing?” She wanted him to spell it out for her, so there weren’t any misunderstandings. There’d been too many six years ago.

  He frowned. “Of course we’re exclusive. I don’t want you to be with anyone else.”

  “What about you? This has to be a two way street.” She hated the neediness in her voice, but she wanted him to make the promise. They never talked about their relationship in detail six years ago. She didn’t want to assume anything this time. If they couldn’t tell people about their relationship, she needed to understand the rules at a minimum.

  He twisted her hair around his finger. “Regan, I’m confused. I don’t know where this is coming from. I�
��m not interested in anyone else right now. I want this with you…only you. I’m not interested in a casual thing with you.”

  Her heart pounded in her chest and she looked down at her bare feet, intensely studying her deep red nail polish. “Okay, so no Parker, no Olivia, and no whoever else.” She cringed. As much as she didn’t want to, she couldn’t stop herself from asking.

  “Look at me,” he demanded as he tipped her chin up. “Stop bringing up Olivia. She’s not a factor. We still talk on occasion, but I won’t do that if it bothers you.”

  “You’d really do that for me?” she asked timidly. She hated that she couldn’t be as firm about Olivia as he was about Parker. For some reason, that woman—whose name she could hardly say—evoked an equal measure of hatred and insecurity so deep inside her that she reverted to the pathetic girl she was six years ago.

  “Yes.” He bent his head until his mouth connected with hers. “That and a lot more,” he whispered against her lips before drawing her into another heated kiss.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  When Regan walked into her office on Thursday morning she wanted to turn around and leave. She had a pile of cases to read for the Motion for Summary Judgment Lucas wanted her to finish by Monday morning for a lease dispute over the legal description of the property. Yes, very exciting stuff. On top of the daunting pile of work, she was secretly dreading seeing Parker that night at the restaurant. If she were lucky, they could go back to being friends and pretend as if nothing happened.

  “What do you mean you’ve been spending time with him?” her mom asked over the phone.

  She’d broken down and called her mom when she decided she couldn’t face reading about leasehold interests for one more minute. Regan had shut the door to her office, hoping no one would enter without knocking. She’d been delaying telling her mom about Lucas, but she needed to come clean. She hated keeping things from her mom, especially something as big as letting Lucas back in her life.

  “We’ve gone out a few times, and we decided to try to work things out between us.” She hesitated, not sure how to explain her abrupt change of heart. Hell, she didn’t understand it herself. “He apologized and explained his side of the story.”

  The silence on the phone spoke volumes of her mother’s disapproval. She chewed on the side of her nail and then quickly dropped her hand into her lap.

  “Do you think you can trust him—I mean really trust him?” her mom finally asked.

  That was the million-dollar question. She wanted to trust him, but at the same time, she instinctually wanted to guard part of her heart so it wouldn’t be shattered if it ended badly. “It’s complicated,” she answered.

  “No, it’s not. You either trust him, or you don’t. If you don’t, you’re wasting his time and yours. Half-measures don’t work.”

  “After everything that happened in college, I haven’t been able to trust anyone enough to go on more than a date or two. Now he’s back in my life, and I can’t help thinking it’s for a reason.” Regan leaned back in her chair. “Maybe I need closure.”

  “What about your job? I can’t imagine the firm would approve of your relationship.”

  “We’re going to wait until my summer associate position ends, and then when things cool down, we’ll make it official.”

  “So, you’re basically having a secret affair with your boss?”

  She cringed. That wasn’t exactly a favorable description of her behavior, and it stung even more coming from her mom. “No. Not a secret affair. We’re just acknowledging the facts. Mainly, he’s my boss for the summer, and we’d like to keep our relationship to ourselves until our circumstances change.”

  “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  So did she. “It’ll be fine. I’m not nineteen anymore.”

  Right then her phone buzzed, and she pulled it away from her ear to check the incoming text. It was from Lucas.

  Meet me in the building lobby in 30 minutes.

  Thirty minutes later, per Lucas’s instructions, she stepped off the elevator with her purse over her shoulder. She paused, scanning the lobby for Lucas. He was standing near the floor to ceiling glass windows, with his back to her and his hands in his pockets. He looked incredibly sexy in his custom navy suit, and for a moment, she stopped to appreciate the picture he made. He slid back the cuff of his shirt to check the time.

  “I’m not late,” she said, walking toward him.

  He turned around, flashing his devilish smile, dimples included. “Not yet.”

  “So what’s with the secret meeting?” she asked. She wanted to kiss him and touch him. Seeing him every day and having to monitor every look and every touch was harder than she thought. She wished the summer were over.

  Lucas pushed the glass door open. “Follow me.”

  She followed him as he turned right and then when he reached the end of the block, he held out his hand. Smiling, she threaded her fingers through his. “Now are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

  “I thought we’d get some fresh air. You know, take a few laps around the block. I know how much you hate that Summary Judgment Motion you’re working on.”

  “No, it’s not too bad.”

  He laughed and shook his head.

  “Okay, it’s pretty dull,” she admitted.

  They stopped at a crosswalk. “Do you remember our first date?” he asked.

  “This time or six years ago?” she asked, not sure she liked where this was going. She didn’t want to remember the past.

  “Six years ago,” he said quickly.

  “You mean brunch?”

  “Yes. You probably don’t realize this, but after I dropped you off at your dorm that night, I barely slept. I’d met a beautiful, funny woman at a party I didn’t want to be at, and I couldn’t wait to see her the next morning.”

  “Okay,” she said weakly. She could hardly sleep that night either, but she didn’t think she wanted to relive that night because it was…tainted.

  “And you didn’t disappoint me. I actually called my mom that day and told her I’d met the perfect girl.” He squeezed her hand. “I thought I could take you to brunch today, and I could have a new ending for that perfect date with the perfect girl.” He stopped in front of a small building with a black and white striped awning and pushed a piece of hair away from her face. “One that doesn’t end with hurt feelings, deceit, or misunderstandings.”

  Regan looked down at her shoes. She was speechless.

  When she didn’t say anything for a few moments, he tipped up her chin. “Did I disappoint you? Maybe the idea sounded better in my head than in reality.”

  She pulled his head down to hers and brushed a soft kiss across his lips. He was systematically breaking down all her barriers leaving her more open and exposed than she’d been six years ago. “I love it.”

  He flashed his King of the Panty Droppers smile, the one that had slain her heart from the day she met him at that fraternity party years ago. “Good. I’ll think of a way for you to show your gratitude later.”

  Her eyes narrowed in feigned anger, but she couldn’t completely suppress the smile curling up the corners of her mouth. “Only if brunch is as delicious as it smells.”

  “You can count on it.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Lucas nervously checked his watch. Shit. He was running late. Olivia would be irate, and he really needed her to be rational tonight because once she got into a mood, there was no pulling her out of it.

  Despite the fact he intended to push Olivia out of his life once and for all tonight, Lucas felt guilty not disclosing this with Regan. She wouldn’t like it one bit, but he promised her a new beginning and to do that, he needed Olivia out of his life for good.

  Briefly, he considered breaking the news to Olivia over the phone, but he knew she would never believe he was serious if he didn’t do it in person. They’d been friends since they were kids and the friendship between their families made ignoring each other dif
ficult, which had stopped him from pushing her out of his life in the past. When he thought about his childhood, he couldn’t remember a major event without her. They went to the same schools, the same summer camps, and the same vacations. She even followed him to college.

  He rubbed his temples. He’d majorly fucked up everything in college. He crossed the line with Olivia beyond friendship and now the waters were so muddied their friendship was always on edge and wrought with tension. The first time he’d hooked up with her, he promised he’d never do it again. He didn’t want a serious relationship with her and given their history, indulging in a friends-with-benefits relationship was beyond stupid. Too bad he ignored his promise repeatedly and then he met Regan, and he knew he’d never touch Olivia again, and he hadn’t, even after he allowed Regan to walk out of his life.

  He wanted Regan more than anything. After tonight, he could concentrate on his future, and he hoped it included her. He may have to see Olivia at a few family events in the future, but that didn’t mean he had to acknowledge her.

  Grabbing his keys off the console table, he left to pick up Olivia.

  “Hey, Liv,” he said, walking into her apartment. Looking around, he realized everything about the place suited her personality, cold but beautiful. She’d decorated her living room with a white leather sofa, low and sleek, with two royal blue velvet club chairs, and a chrome and glass coffee table. The walls were white, and the hardwood floors were nearly black.

  “Lucas.” She smiled, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek, her spicy peach scent engulfing him. A kiss on the cheek had been their standard ritual for the past five years, but now it seemed too intimate and personal. “I can’t believe you missed my birthday last week.”