“Libby? Libby Chastain?”
I glance up, surprised to hear someone with an American accent who knows my name, and even more surprised to find it’s a very tall, very handsome man standing there looking down at me.
It’s obvious that he’s very fit in that expertly tailored suit he has on, and his blond hair and green eyes are eye catching in the best way. Just behind him is a woman dressed all in red, and she doesn’t look pleased at the interruption.
“Um. Yes?” I say, head tipped to one side. There is something familiar about him, but I can’t put my finger on it.
Then he grins, and it’s cocky and just a little condescending, and I remember.
“Ian Black?” I ask.
His grin widens. “I didn’t think you’d remember me,” he admits.
I haven’t seen him in probably a decade. He was my brother’s friend in college, the two of them playing together on the school’s lacrosse team. Sometimes he’d come home with Darren for a weekend or a short holiday break, and my parents always took pity on him and the fact that his parents often traveled for work over the holidays, leaving him on his own.
They thought he was such a nice boy because he knew how to charm them, but Darren always confided in me that Ian was a complete player. Always had a different girlfriend or fuck buddy, and plenty of other girls waiting in the wings to step in when it was time for a new one.
Darren was always very insistent that I stay away from him, but Ian and I had shared a few talks and late-night pints of ice cream when he would stay at the house. Nothing more than that, of course.
I was just a high school kid to him, but I thought he was funny and incredibly handsome.
He’s still handsome, standing there looking like he stepped off the page of some fashion magazine and decided to come have a late dinner.
“I remember,” I say, smiling back. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m on vacation for a few weeks,” he says. “Just seeing the sights, you know how it is.”
“Sure,” I reply, nodding like I have any idea how that is.
“What about you?”
“Oh, just work,” I say. “I work for Huffington Smith, and they have an office in Paris.”
His eyebrows go up, impressed. “Wow. You’ve come a long way from being Darren’s kid sister sitting at the kitchen table in your SpongeBob pajamas.”
Of course, he remembers that.
Lucien is looking back and forth between us with interest, but Ian’s date looks less than pleased.
She folds her arms and gives me a look that would definitely have set me on fire if she had that power. I just look away from her and back up to Ian.
I’d gone to a few of my brother’s lacrosse games back in the day, and Ian was a capable player, for sure. I remember him; all athletic and skilled, and sixteen-year-old Libby had crushed hard.
But he was my brother’s friend, a college boy with a bright future ahead of him, surely, and therefore off limits. I could only imagine what my parents would have said if they’d known he’d seen me in SpongeBob pajamas.
We’re both a long way from that now, clearly, and I can’t take my eyes off of him. All of that boyish charm he’d had at nineteen is still there in the sparkle in his eyes and the warmth of his smile.
And judging from the woman behind him who’s now glaring at me, he still has no problem with the ladies.
“Well,” I say. “I should let you get back to your date.” I nod my head at her, and he turns around, almost looking surprised to see her standing there.
She gives him a sarcastic little wave, and he smiles at her. “Ah, Simone, don’t look at me like that. She’s an old friend I haven’t seen in years.”
“And she clearly has a date of her own,” Simone snaps in a thick accent.
“Oh, don’t mind me,” Lucien says, grinning. “We’re just co-workers.” He winks at me, and I want to stab him with my fork.
Ian spares him a glance, but then his eyes travel back to me. “It was good to see you,” he says, his voice warm and sincere. “Tell Darren we should catch up sometime.”
“Sure,” I reply with a smile, trying not to feel disappointed. Of course he wants to talk to Darren. They were friends, after all, and I was just his annoying little sister. “I’ll do that. Have a good night.”
I give Simone a sweet smile which she scoffs at as she turns to march over to their table.
Ian watches her go and then smiles at me one more time. “You too, Libby,” he says before following her.
When I look back to Lucien, he’s grinning widely and the urge to stab him makes itself known again.
“Stop looking at me like that,” I demand, reaching for my water glass and wishing I’d ordered something stronger.
“I don’t know what you mean. Old friend of yours?”
“Old friend of my brother’s,” I clarify. “I haven’t seen him in years.”
“I see,” he says, resting an elbow on the table and his chin in his hand. “You seem happy to see him now, though.”
“Lucien, can you not? For like five minutes, can you just not?”
He just laughs, and we manage to get through the rest of the meal without me strangling him.
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VENGEFUL ROYALS | A DARK COLLEGE BULLY ROMANCE: HEIRS OF HAVOC Page 21
