by Sabrina Sol
Evernight Publishing ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2015 Sabrina Sol
ISBN: 978-1-77233-559-0
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: Audrey Bobak
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
To Nikki Prince
For loving this story first
HER SWEET SEDUCTION
Romance on the Go TM
Sabrina Sol
Copyright © 2015
Chapter One
Every girl should have a Lucas Day at least once in her life. And when I say have, I mean screw, of course.
He’s the ultimate bad boy—the devil in your ear tempting you to do things you shouldn’t. Things like him.
“Fuck, you’re always so tight.” Lucas grunts from behind me.
He has a way with words, doesn’t he? Anyway, I met him when I started working over the summer at his dad’s pizza place. We’ve been together for almost a year now. Well, technically, we’re not really a couple. Guys like him don’t date girls like me for real. We just like to screw when I’m home from college.
Lucas is picking up speed and his breaths are turning into gasps. He’s close now. Damn. I’ve been so wrapped up in my head that my own orgasm is at least two car lengths behind. Damn.
As if sensing my delay, Lucas reaches around and squeezes my breasts. Ah, yes. That feels good. He rubs my nipples until they form into thick, stiff peaks. His pressure is just right because he knows what he’s doing and, now, I guess, he knows me.
So I moan, giving him the signal to move his hand down my body. He pulls me closer against his hard stomach and I can’t help but be impressed with his ability to balance us both on the couch in the restaurant’s back office. I grip the wooden armrest as hard as I can as Lucas thrusts into me from behind. I close my eyes and imagine what we must look like as our two slickened bodies slam together over and over again. And that’s when my climax begins to build. And just when I think it’s still going to be another minute or so, my body vibrates all over with wave after wave of beautiful pleasure. Lucas yells out behind me. I smile.
Later, when we’re both dressed and I’m ready to head out the door, he surprises me by grabbing my hand and pulling me back to him. He lowers his head and kisses me with such tenderness that I have to tell myself to start breathing again.
“That was amazing,” he whispers after our lips break apart. “You’re amazing.”
His smile is so genuine it both warms and breaks my heart. I realize at that moment that I love him. I love Lucas Day.
But I don’t tell him. Instead I try to be cool, unaffected, and say, “You’re not too bad yourself.”
And just like that, the bad boy comes out. “Whatever, Anna. You know how fucking good that was. Good luck trying not to think about it—or me—the next time your boyfriend is inside you.”
I sigh heavily. “See you tomorrow, Lucas.”
I leave the restaurant, determined not to think about him or the fact I’ve somehow managed to fall in love with the bastard. Of course, that’s all I can think about as I unlock my car door. Didn’t I promise myself last summer this was only going to be about sex?
That’s why I’ve let him continue thinking that I have a boyfriend back at college. For some reason he’d made that assumption on his own and when I noticed him starting to get interested, I didn’t correct him. Anyway, I know he needs to believe it. It will give him permission to eventually break things off.
See, that’s what happens when you fall for bad boys. They make you want to be bad girls.
At least I’m not a cheater. Just a liar.
And the biggest lie of all was telling myself I could handle Lucas Day.
Celina continued reading the rest of the first chapter of her newest release Lie to Me, for a few more minutes. When she was done, she counted to five before looking up from the page. She told herself to smile and scanned the crowd of unfamiliar faces. And right before that old queasy feeling known as self-doubt bubbled in her gut like bad clams, thundering applause mixed with some hoots and hollers washed it all away.
She genuinely smiled then and tried so damn hard not to weep.
No way was she going to be the crazy author whose emotional breakdown was caught on camera and would eventually be trending on Twitter tomorrow.
Celina had done readings before. And usually she had her shit more together than this. But this book was different. This book was the story of her heart. The one she feared writing but did anyway. And with every word she’d read, she’d bared her soul all over again.
“Thank you San Diego,” May, her publicist, said to the crowd. “Ms. Luna will now sign print copies of her book. Make sure to also stop by our swag table to pick up some fun bookmarks, magnets and lip balms. Please form a line over here on the right and we’ll get started.”
May handed her a bottle of water and ushered her to a table already stacked with copies of Lie to Me. The first person walked up to the table and she went right into “author” mode. Meeting readers was one of her most favorite things about being a published writer. She loved answering their questions and hearing their ideas for her next book. Before long, she’d forgotten all about her nerves.
That was her first mistake of the night.
She’d just turned to May to ask for another pen when she heard a familiar deep voice. A voice which sent tingles dancing down her neck.
“That Lucas guy is kind of a dick in the beginning, isn’t he?”
Celina slowly turned her head toward the smooth voice and saw none other than the cloudy, blue eyes of Luke Anderssen staring her down. Her heart dropped liked a rock straight to her red peep-toe heels, and her chest threatened to collapse in on itself.
He looked good. Chingao! He looked sexy. Double chingao!
He was probably waiting for her to say something.
“Luke,” she finally announced.
“It’s good to see you again, Celina.” He grinned and slid a book in front of her. “It’s for my sister. She really wanted to be here, but something came up. Can you make it out to her?”
It took a few more seconds before her mind registered what he was saying. She nodded and put on her best smile. “Yes, of course. How is Erica?” she asked after opening the book to the first blank page.
“She’s great. Mom’s great. We’re all great.”
Celina focused on her pen as she scrawled a quick note and signed her name. “That’s, um, great?”
Really? Did she really just say that?
Such. A. Dork.
But then he laughed, so she did, too, and her uneasiness at seeing him again lessened. Handing the book back to him, she added, “Thanks for coming, Luke. It means a lot.” Their fingers brushed and the memory of his touch on other parts of her body rushed back.
Tingles. Goose bumps. Flutters. The works.
He smiled and took a step back. And just when she thought he’d walk away from her forever, he leaned back. “Say, can I buy you a cup of coffee when you’re done? They have a cafe upstairs. We could hang out for a little and catch up.”
Her mind screamed no. But when it came to Luke, her head was always the last thing she listened to.
She noticed she’d been tapping her pen nonstop against the table. “Sure, that
sounds nice,” she told him and set the pen down. “Give me about fifteen more minutes. Oh, but I don’t drink coffee. Can you get me a tea instead?”
And with a wink that melted her into a puddle of silly schoolgirl swooning, he said, “You can have anything you want, Celina. Anything at all.”
Chapter Two
“Sácame de aquí,” she muttered. But no one could get her out of this except for her.
Celina looked at the back of Luke’s head as he sat in the corner of the bookstore’s café and then glanced at the elevator that had just brought her up to the second floor. She mulled her escape. The doors hadn’t closed yet. Perhaps it was a sign? She could just get back in, walk out of the store and try to forget that she ever saw him.
She’d been successful at pushing thoughts of him aside while she finished signing books and chatted with readers. But as the elevator climbed to take her to him, so did her nerves.
Once that elevator closed, so did her window of opportunity to rethink this mini-reunion.
There’s nothing to rethink. You know you want to know what he’s been doing the last ten years.
Not because she really cared, of course. But perhaps catching up with Luke could help her finish writing the sequel to Lie to Me. That’s because the story of Lucas and Anna was mostly the story of Luke and Celina. They’d met right before she started college when she was hired to work part-time over the summer in his family’s San Diego chocolate shop. She’d been in lust with him from day one, but it wasn’t until the following summer that he finally noticed her and they started having sex. She held no illusions about what he wanted from her and she’d been content with the way things were. That is until she realized one day that she was in love with him. Instead of being a grownup about it, she’d quit the job and went back to school. Last she heard, he’d left to New York to be a stockbroker as he’d always planned to do when they were together.
Book two, already tentatively titled Tell Me No Lies, was supposed to be more of Anna’s story and how she had moved on and ended up falling in love with someone new. But while the first book was loosely based on real events, the sequel was turning out to be all fantasy—inspired by the “what ifs” that had randomly interrupted Celina’s thoughts while driving or invaded her restless dreams for more than a decade. She’d only written a few chapters, but she was already stuck.
Perhaps running into Luke had been a gift from her muse?
It’s just tea and coffee. That’s all. No big deal.
Celina took a deep breath and headed toward him.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. That took a little longer than I thought,” she said as she arrived at the table and took a seat across from him.
“No problem. I figured it might be a while. That’s why I had them hold your tea until you got here.” He motioned to the girl behind the counter.
A simple yet thoughtful gesture. She’d barely sat down and he was already surprising her. Her stomach fluttered.
Slow your roll, missy. All he did was keep your tea hot. It’s not like he rescued a puppy from a burning building.
“So, no coffee, huh? I remember when you used to guzzle that stuff.”
It was true. One of the reasons why she’d started working at the Anderssen’s shop was open access to the espresso machine—a perk she’d taken advantage of multiple times a day. Yep, coffee and sex had pretty much been her entire life back when she was with Luke. Today, her life was totally different and it was all because of one special person.
“I quit cold turkey when I got pregnant,” she said without thinking.
The surly girl from the counter arrived with her tea, giving Celina time to kick herself under the table. She hadn’t seen Luke in more than a decade and the first two things she tells him about herself is that she doesn’t drink coffee and, oh yeah, she’s a mom. The Goth-wannabe left them alone to stew in awkward silence. She was still thinking of how to follow up her bombshell when Luke chuckled.
“Well, that’s new….”
She sipped her ridiculously hot tea, trying not to let it show she’d just burned her tongue. Luke drank from his cup and waited for the rest of the story.
“Her name is Zoey and she’s five,” she explained. “I try to keep her out of my public author life so not many people know about her besides my family and very close friends. I’m a very protective mama bear.” She couldn’t help but smile at the thought of her beautiful daughter. Her little girl was smart and precocious. She was Celina’s entire world.
Luke nodded slowly as he set down his cup. “And Zoey’s dad?”
Ah, the inevitable question. Neighbors, teachers, other dads at the playground—it seemed everyone wanted to know where in the world was Zoey’s father. The answer depended on who asked. It was either a solemn response of “He died,” for those she deemed too nosey. Or a vague “He’s not here right now,” for those she deemed too creepy.
For Luke, she decided she would tell the truth. Finally. “I have no idea where Zoey’s dad is. We never married and he decided a long time ago that he’d rather play nightclubs with his band than raise a daughter.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. It must be hard doing the parenting thing on your own.”
She shrugged. “It was in the beginning. I even came close to moving back in with my parents. Luckily, I found a great group of friends back in San Francisco who helped me through those rough patches. And now, we’re doing a lot better.”
“I’m glad to hear it. You deserve to be happy, Celina.”
“Thanks. And what about you? Married? Kids?”
He smiled and shrugged. “Nope. Not yet.”
To learn that Luke had never married, did something to her insides. He once told her that he liked being single because relationships were messy and complicated. Guess, he’d really meant it.
She was about to ask him what he was doing in San Diego when he said, “So I just need to tell you, that for what it’s worth, I’m really impressed.”
“By what?”
“By all of this,” he raised his hands in the air. “You’re doing exactly what you wanted to do. You’re a very talented writer.”
“Please. You’re just saying that.”
“Actually, I’m not. I read your book. How else would I know that Lucas character was such a jerk?”
Another surprise. Now, she felt a twinge of guilt. “About that…”
“I guess it takes a jerk to know a jerk, right?”
“No, of course not.”
“It’s okay, Celina. It is. I admit it stung at first when I started recognizing some similarities. And I think I get now why you lied about having a boyfriend back in college. Despite all of that, I still really enjoyed the story.”
“You did?”
“Oh, yeah. Especially all the sex scenes.” His wicked grin burned her hotter than her tea had. A familiar gush of desire spread throughout her body, threatening to capture her in its dangerous web of reckless inhibition. No more caring about choosing her words carefully or analyzing the meaning behind his. Luke was flirting with her and she wanted to flirt right back. Sure, their relationship hadn’t been ideal. But he was still the best lover she’d ever had.
“Well, we were pretty good at the sex stuff,” she admitted.
“Yes. Yes, we were,” he said, his voice low and serious. A knowing glance passed between them—they were both remembering just how good it had been.
Heat raced to her face, while her heart pumped wildly in her chest.
Careful, Celina.
Not trusting the words that would come out of her mouth at that point, she took another sip. The tea was cooling, but she wasn’t. Especially when Luke was looking at her that way.
He leaned on the table and crossed his arms. “So why did we break up again?”
The question came out of nowhere. Did she really want to go down this dangerous road with him?
Remember, it’s just book research.
“Break up? Um, I think you have to be t
ogether in the first place in order to break up.” She hoped she sounded nonchalant.
“Fine. So why did we stop having sex again?”
“Brittany What’s Her Name.”
“Who?”
“Seriously? You don’t remember her?” How could he not?
“Maybe. Now that you mention it...”
“Well, she was one of the reasons, anyway.”
He raised his eyebrow.
“It doesn’t matter now. We had fun for a while and then we didn’t. Truth is, I’m surprised you even remembered my name.”
“Why wouldn’t I? I saw you almost every day for three summers in a row.”
“True. But you didn’t really see me until we started having sex. It’s okay, Luke. I know I was just another hookup. I’m not saying it like it was a bad thing. I’m just saying how it was.”
“You were more than just a hookup, Celina.”
As if his eyes were magnets, he pulled her gaze to him. The old her probably would’ve giggled like an idiot or touched his hand. But the years away from him had given her the strength she needed now to look away.
She needed to lighten the mood. “You’re just saying that because you’re trying to get into my pants for old time’s sake,” she said, trying to sound like she was teasing him. “It’s not going to work, you know.”
He shrugged, the joke seemed to roll off him like a dead fish. The conversation was getting way too personal … and more serious than she wanted or was prepared for. Time to change the subject.
“So, how’s the stockbroker business?”
He smiled slowly and sat back in his chair. And just when she thought he was going to go on and on about his luxurious and fast-paced lifestyle in New York City, he dropped a bombshell of his own.
“Hell if I know. I quit a few years ago to take over the chocolate shop.”
