LUCIEN: A Standalone Romance Read Online Free Page B

single breast.
    “Lucien,” I repeated, a little louder, a little less breathy arousal in my voice.
    When he still didn’t respond, I pressed my hand to his forehead and pushed him back enough so that I could scoot out from underneath him. I climbed to my feet and tugged at my dress, putting it to rights as I wished I had a sweater or something to pull on to cover my hardened nipples. It was embarrassing, the evidence of arousal on my body.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Jacob’s gone.”
    “So?”
    I twisted around and looked at him through slightly narrowed eyes. “There’s no point in putting on a show if the audience has left.”
    “I can think of a reason or two.”
    I ignored him in favor of picking up Jacob’s untouched wine glass and swallowing most of the liquid in one long gulp. The wine was good, just as he’d said it would be. But I was never one to stop and sip something just for the elegance of the moment. I took a breath, then finished the glass in another gulp.
    “You could stay the night,” Lucien said. “He’ll expect to see you over the breakfast table.”
    “I think not.”
    “I’m paying you quite well to be convincing, Miss Garcia.”
    I set the glass down very carefully, not giving in to the desire to shatter it. Then I turned and studied his charming smile, wondering if it really worked on most girls. You’d think they’d see through it, see the slimy jerk that existed just under the surface, the one who thought he could hire my father’s security firm and expect extra favors just because I was pretending to be his girlfriend so that I could get close to the people around him.
    Starting with his brother.
    “You’re paying me to provide security. And to find out who might be out to sell your corporate secrets. You’re not paying me to sleep with you.”
    “But you can’t tell me you weren’t enjoying yourself,” he said as he climbed to his feet, towering over me like Jack’s giant. “I can tell when a woman is enjoying what I have to offer.”
    “Yes, well, I’d have to be made of stone not to respond to a guy sticking his tongue down my throat. But that doesn’t mean you get any more out of this relationship than what we agreed to. Speaking of which, when do you want me to show up at your office?”
    “Tomorrow,” he said immediately. “No point in putting it off. I’ll leave word with security—”
    “No, don’t do that. I want to see what happens when I show up cold.”
    “To make sure the security guards aren’t breaking protocol?”
    The idea seemed to surprise him. It shouldn’t, if the things he’d told my father were true.
    “All right,” he said, somewhat reluctantly. “They should call upstairs, get permission from my assistant to allow you up. Try to get there about two o’clock. Jacob and I have a set of meetings that should take all morning, but we’ll probably be having lunch about then. I want him there when you show up.”
    “Okay.”
    “Do you want a ride?”
    “No. My father should be waiting down at the security gate.”
    I headed toward the front door, stepping through another archway into the marble foyer. He followed, his hand sliding over the small of my back. I stepped away, but he was a stubborn man. He just moved up behind me again, this time running his hand not just over my back, but along my hip, too.
    “Save it for tomorrow,” I said, taking hold of his wrist and pulling it away from me.
    He leaned close, his expensive cologne surrounding me in a masculine cloud.
    “You like the way I kiss. You admitted it.”
    “Doesn’t mean I want your hands all over me when we’re alone.”
    I ducked around him and slipped out the front door before he could say anything else.

Chapter 3
    Lucien
    Jacob was at the table, a newspaper spread out in front of him alongside his plate of toast and a poached egg. He was the only person I knew who still read the newspaper in its original form. Even our parents read it on iPads these