Lucian smiled in the kiss, his little vixen pulling him closer and trying to deepen the kiss which should have been innocent and fleeting. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, wrapping him up in the fresh scent which reminded him of his body wash. He placed his hand on the back of her head and brushed his tongue against hers, a little moan followed.
His driver was probably highly uncomfortable right now.
He pulled away from her, chuckling at the little whine which followed. She opened her eyes and stared at him, dazed and a little out of breath.
"Have a nice day, Dawn."
She looked surprised due to him calling her by her name. His lips tugged up to a smirk, it was quite entertaining to see her out of sorts like that. She tried messing with him a little yet her plan backfired. She replied with a shaky voice, her cheeks flustered and her eyes still dazed.
"You too."
With trembling fingers, the woman opened the door and left the car. He chuckled watching her walk away on shaky legs. He didn't mean to tease her like that but she made him do it. She tried to play around when she knew he had to head to the office. His assistant did urge him to come to the office as soon as possible. He was prepared to enter a scene of chaos yet when he arrived at the office ten minutes later he was greeted by the sight of his playful cousin sitting behind Scarlett's desk while his assistant was propped on her desk with her back toward him.
"Good morning, Lucy!" His cousin sang.
God, he was too fucking cheerful for an early morning at the office. The massive grin which followed told him he was in trouble.
"How did you get past Noah?" Lucian demanded to know.
"Don't be like that, I actually know you're happy to see me." His cousin got to his feet, he didn't like how the man's fingers brushed over Scarlett's arm as he passed her, "I do always brighten up your day, don't I?"
As Scarlett got to her feet and turned to look at him he didn't see any discomfort in her eyes. She looked amused by the situation. His cousin must have charmed his way to her good side. Damn his brother and cousin for getting so friendly with the woman who just started working at their company. Scarlett proved to be decent at her job and he wasn't looking forward to replacing her if things got out of hand due to their little games. He was sure he wouldn't get so lucky with a third assistant. He stepped back when his cousin suddenly appeared before him, his hands resting on his shoulders. He was confused when the man tucked on his collar.
"Would you look at that." His cousin stepped back, folded his arms across his chest while a smug look covered his annoying face, "Did you have a little kitty cat over tonight?"
Lucian rolled his eyes, staring at the ceiling in exasperation.
"You did." His cousin sounded ecstatic about him getting laid, "Tell me all about it." His cousin demanded, leaving Scarlett behind as he placed his arm around Lucian's shoulder and walked with him to his office.
It was better that way.
His cousin was known to leave broken hearts left and right. He didn't need him to add Scarlett to the list. It was best to keep the man away from the temptress. As they entered his office his cousin took a seat in the chair before his desk while he closed the door to give them some privacy. Lucian straightened his tie and jacket and made his way to his desk chair.
"So are you going to tell me why you're here."
"Noah is in a meeting."
Lucian sat down in his chair, not trying to hide his annoyance, "Great so I'm stuck with you."
"Don't be like that." His cousin grinned, "Do tell me about the woman who left her mark on you."
"You're never going to shut up about it, are you?"
His cousin leaned forward, "You know it."
"Fine." It was better to get this over with so his cousin could be on his way again, "It was the woman from the bar."
The man frowned, amusement fading from his clear blue eyes, "You honestly don't know what a one-night-stand I do you, Lucy? You were supposed to take the woman home, have a little fun and then never see her again. Did she win your heart over?"
He wouldn't say that he fell for her but he did enjoy spending time with her. She was kind and she did know how to please him. Her little teasing moment in his car earlier did make him want to take her. He had enough self-control to know it wasn't the time nor place. Dawn was definitely someone who he didn't mind to spend some time with.
"She didn't."
His cousin looked so pleased to hear that, "Yes, Lucian. You shouldn't settle for less."
"Dawn is a lovely woman." Lucian protested.
His cousin brushed it off, "Yeah, I get it. It's you being nice again. You're going to get hurt if you let so many people in. You should be more like Noah."
He knew Noah was more guarded, he rarely got dragged into troublesome situations because people just knew not to mess with the man with the charming smile. It might not be a bad idea to be more guarded.
"Let's leave that for a second." His cousin got so serious in a split second he almost got whiplash, "Your mom is an evil mastermind."
"That's already been taken care of." He told the guy who came over because he was worried but hid it with jokes. His cousin was actually a nice guy too but he knew when you lowered your guard in their world people would tear you to pieces.
Even your own family apparently.
It didn't look like his cousin quite believed him, "Been taken care of how?"
"I can't share that right now, dear cousin."
His cousin pointed at him, "You're such a tease."
Lucian laughed, knowing his cousin got confused with how funny he thought that was. It was a little inside joke though. His mind wondered instantly to the real tease outside his office. She deserved to win the award for that.
"The tease is right outside my office."
"Oh, I know. She's trouble."
"She's professional though."
His cousin got to his feet and slammed his hands on his desk, "No changing the subject. What are you going to do about your meddling mother? Because she made sure that Noah and I are not coming over to the beach house. She wants to trap you there."
"Scarlett is coming with me to the beach house." He finally told his cousin.
"What?"
"It was Noah's idea actually. I've talked to Scarlett about it and she agreed to help me."
"Just like that?" His cousin sat back down in his chair.
He eyed the door worried that Scarlett would enter his office. He should know better though, Scarlett was decent at her job and wouldn't just burst through those doors. Noah could learn a thing or two from her. His brother was their financial director yet he was rude and entered his office just whenever he wanted without a care in the world.
"I do need to compensate her."
"Obviously." His cousin glanced over his shoulder, eying the door, "So you two got that covered then?" He asked.
"We got it handled."
"If not-" His cousin flickered his clear blue eyes back at him, "Then give me a call and I'll show up and save you both. You know your mom won't question me if I do that. She will question Noah if he shows up despite her telling him not to come over this weekend."
Lucian wasn't happy with his mother at the moment but surely things would fall in place again after this weekend trip to hell.
"I appreciate it, Michael."
He grinned, "See, I can be nice too."
He knew Michael was a nice guy who hid that quite well from the rest of the world. He couldn't keep chatting away with his cousin even though they were having a great time. He needed to get some work done.
"We should get together after the weekend and catch up."
Michael agreed, "You think your brother can join us?"
Lucian wasn't sure. The little girls were attached to their father. They tested his patience all the time but at the end of the day, they were daddy's little girls. He knew Noah enjoyed it more by spending time with his little family. Then again sometimes he needed to get out of the house to clear his head and de-stress a little. He could give Kim a call and ask her to help out.
"I could talk to Kim."
"Little Kimmi would agree."
"Probably."
Michael got out of his chair, "I'll leave you to it then."
Lucian narrowed his eyes on his cousin, "Don't you dare flirt with my assistant. Walk straight past her and let her do her job."
Michael chuckled, "Worried I'll steal your assistant away."
He didn't even hide his concerns, "Yes."
His cousin looked taken back by that, "I-I'll leave her alone then."
Michael left his office on a good note. He did enjoy his cousin's company and he did look forward to spending some time with Noah and Michael. It would be like the old days before Noah got married and had three kids. He flickered his eyes to his laptop and started it up. When he was going through his emails Scarlett peeked into his office.
"You need anything, Mister Starr?"
"I'm good." He gestured for her to enter his office, "Do you have time to meet up with me tomorrow after work?" He asked, "I want to go through our plan. Maybe we can do dinner after work?"
"Sounds good." She didn't hesitate at all.
"Did Michael bother you?"
He knew his cousin was a man of his word, they all were but he was still worried. He didn't like the idea of Scarlett leaving him when he already depended on her quite a lot. It was insane since he did not like her at all when he first met her. This woman must practice magic there was no other reason as to why she won him over like that.
"Your cousin is a gentleman. A bit of a jokester." She laughed, "But I like that about him. He is different from you and your brother."
"Yeah he is full of life but he can't leave the ladies alone. I don't want you to get pulled in by him because Michael never promises women anything. I don't want you to get hurt."
And leave me. But he didn't say that part.
She smiled, "I know I don't look like it but I do know when to stay away from trouble and that man is definitely trouble. Well, romantically that is."
She kept doing and saying things which made him like her even more but then she ruined it by behaving quite the same like his cousin.
"But it must run in the family."
He was a little confused and probably showed it.
She giggled, gesturing to her neck, "You might need makeup to cover that up." She smiled at him, turned on her heels and left his office with the famous hip sway.
He unconsciously brushed his fingers over the spot she gestured to. Damn his little vixen and putting her claim on him like that. He couldn't meet up with his business associates with a fucking hickey on his neck. He wasn't a teenager. He probably did need to resort to makeup to cover up the marks. He wasn't looking forward to asking Scarlett for help. She mentioned it because she knew he would ask her and feel embarrassed about it.
And the award goes to Scarlett Archer. Goddess of teasing.