The Unwilling Executive

by Miranda P. Charles

  Gosh, it was probably wishful thinking on her part, but he looked like he wanted to kiss her. Unbidden, she licked her lips. They were getting dry and she was having a hard time breathing.

  Lucas let out a gushy breath. “Let’s go?”

  She nodded, forcing herself to act relaxed as she got up. “I need to go to the ladies’ first.”

  “Sure. I’ll wait for you outside.”

  Jade pulled out her phone and called Cassie.

  “I won’t be home for dinner tonight, Cass.”

  “Oh, won’t you? I was just talking to Lexie. She wants to have a girls’ night in tonight. Erin wants to cook, so we’re doing it at their place. Lexie said she went to your desk but didn’t find you there. And you weren’t picking up your phone.”

  “I’m not in the office anymore. I’m going to have dinner with someone. You’ll never guess who.”

  “Who?”

  “Lucas Renner.”

  “No way! How did that happen?”

  “I’ll tell you all about it later. But we just had drinks at the pub with one of his friends. Then he asked if I wanted to continue our conversation over dinner.”

  “Wow. That’s exciting. Well, don’t come home regretting that you’ve held yourself back again,” Cassie said. “Get some more alcohol in you, then flirt, flirt, flirt without worrying if he’ll respond back in kind. I dare you to.”

  “I’ll try, Cass,” she said, nervous excitement stirring in her tummy.

  “That’s not the answer I’m looking for, Jade. When you say ‘I’ll try’ you know you’re giving yourself an excuse to fail.”

  Jade sighed. Cassie had a point. How many times had she regretted being too cautious with men she liked? And how many times had she hoped for new opportunities to be bolder and fearless when it came to going for what she wanted?

  Yes, tonight was the night she’d start shedding her old skin. The Jade who was fearful and insecure when it came to relationships belonged to the past. Tonight, she’d let her hair down and enjoy herself the way she’d always wanted.

  “Okay. I’ll flirt like there’s no tomorrow.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Lucas stood outside the pub entrance, making sure he was hidden from the view of anyone coming out of the Bilton Machineries building or looking out of its windows. The last thing he wanted was for Thomas or his trusted henchmen to see him hanging around there.

  He still regretted his actions of three months ago when, in a fit of anger, he’d called Thomas and told him to stop harassing his mother. And now, because of that rash decision, Thomas was galvanised into action. Lucas was sure that whatever Thomas was concocting, it was to counter the threat he’d made to Thomas. So now Ruby’s reputation and well-being were on the line.

  His gut twisted as memories of the first time he’d directly spoken to his biological father came rushing back...

  *

  Lucas took deep breaths while he was put on hold, waiting for the man he’d never spoken to all his life to answer his call.

  “Thomas Bilton,” came a bark.

  “Mr. Bilton, this is Lucas Renner,” he said in a steady voice. “I’m Ruby Renner’s son.”

  “Yes? What can I do for you?”

  Lucas smirked. While Thomas’ words were accommodating, his tone was anything but.

  “I don’t want to take up too much of your time, Mr. Bilton. I just want to ask you to stop sending your people to bother my mother. I’m sure you’ve been told that I intercepted the last man you sent to intimidate her.”

  “What are you talking about?” Thomas asked.

  Just as Lucas had expected, Thomas was denying it.

  “Sir, I didn’t call you to cause any trouble,” he said with calmness he didn’t feel. “I’ve read a certain news article recently, and I’m sure that spooked you. I guarantee you that my mother and I will continue to keep silent about your affair and her pregnancy thirty years ago. There’s no need to scare and upset her.”

  “I don’t know what you mean, Mr. Renner,” Thomas said after a pause.

  Lucas winced at the salutation. “Mr. Bilton, you can save your words,” he said, anger creeping into his voice. “We both know the truth. But like I said, you don’t have to worry. Both my mother and I will continue to hide the fact that I’m your son—”

  “What? My son? Are you insane? You are not my son, Mr. Renner,” Thomas said in a menacing tone. “So what is this really about? Did you call to scam me for money? If so, you’ve targeted the wrong person.”

  Lucas felt heat rise within him. He knew damn well why Thomas sounded so fucking confident. It was time to burst his bubble.

  “I am not after your money, Mr. Bilton,” he spat out. “I just want you to leave Ruby Renner alone. But I see you like playing hardball. Well, you know what? You’re threatening the wrong person. I’m sure you thought my mother didn’t have a copy of the paternity test you took. Guess what? She does. And I do, too. Now, I don’t have any desire whatsoever to take it out of its hiding place, because I don’t want to have anything to do with you. But if you don’t stop sending your henchmen to keep on intimidating my mother, I’ll happily pull it out for the world—and your wife’s family—to see. You wouldn’t want that, would you, Mr. Bilton? So I’ll say this again. Leave. My. Mother. Alone.”

  He hung up, hoping the old man got the message. And praying his mum wouldn’t know about this call. She’d be terribly distressed.

  *

  Lucas was startled by a hand on his arm, and found Jade smiling at him.

  “Hey, you look so deep in thought there,” she teased.

  “Just thinking about something,” he responded, his lips curving at the sight of her.

  “Shall we go?”

  “Yes,” he answered, taking her hand and leading her away from the Bilton Machineries building. The thought of spending a few hours with Jade made him feel better already.

  “Hey, isn’t the International Motor Show on this week?” Jade asked.

  “It is. Unfortunately, I’ll have to miss it. It finishes on Sunday and I leave tomorrow.”

  “Do you want to go tonight? It’s your only chance to see it.”

  “No. I’d rather have dinner with you.”

  Jade gave him a happy smile that made his heart beat faster. “I meant we could go, if you want.”

  His brows lifted. “You want to go?”

  “Yeah. I’ve always gone with my brother Jerry. But he doesn’t have time this year.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Jade nodded eagerly.

  He grinned. “Let’s go then.”

  *

  Lucas shook his head as Jade took a bite of her burger.

  “What?” Jade asked.

  “I wanted to take you to a nice restaurant tonight. Not to another food court,” he said, gesturing to the busy Motor Show dining area.

  “Well, then, you still owe me that dinner,” she said with that sultry but bashful smile of hers.

  “Yes, I do,” he said with a grin, staring at her beautiful face. He couldn’t remember anyone else giving him a smile with such potency. It was... compelling.

  “Aren’t you gonna finish your food?” Jade asked. “You want to have enough time to visit all the exhibits, don’t you?”

  He laughed. On the way here, he’d found out that the car of Jade’s dreams was on display tonight—the latest top-of-the-line BMW sports coupe.

  “I’m starting to think I’ve died and gone to heaven that my date tonight is as excited as I am to walk around and check out cars,” he said.

  Jade giggled. “Maybe I’m the one who’s died and gone to heaven that my date tonight took me to the Motor Show to see my dream car.”

  “Well, we better eat fast so you can start ogling that BMW,” he teased.

  “And that’s all I could ever do,” she said with a theatrical sigh. “Alas, it can never be mine.”

  “You never know.”

  “Yeah, I might win Lotto,” she said sarc
astically. “Anyway, is there anything specific you’d like to see tonight?”

  “No. I’d love to check ’em all out. I like seeing how the new models from different manufacturers compare. And I love chatting with the staff who man the exhibits. I ask them curly questions to see if they know their stuff or if they’re just full of bull.”

  “Oh, I’d love to see you do that. We better hurry then. We don’t have much time.”

  Lucas grinned. Yes, he had died and gone to heaven.

  *****

  Lucas followed Jade to her door. She was so cute when she invited him up. She’d seemed almost embarrassed, but she’d quickly recovered and had smiled in that captivating way of hers.

  He didn’t want the night to end yet. He was enjoying every minute of his time with Jade. And frankly, he was looking forward to ending up in bed with her.

  Except that he hadn’t told her yet about his Mr. Fuck King title. If this had been a ‘normal’ date for him, he would already have inserted it in their conversation by now.

  The title served a great purpose. It never failed to get the ‘serious’ ones scurrying away without his having to explain that he was only interested in no-strings. He’d never had females accusing him of misleading conduct when they knew about that label.

  But every time he tried to mention it to Jade, he had a hard time breathing and his gut churned. His body seemed to be rebelling at the idea of Jade knowing about it.

  Well, maybe he didn’t have to mention it at all.

  It was a stupid, juvenile title anyway. Apart from one useful function, being Mr. Fuck King was meaningless to him. It had been fun trying to wrestle it away from Connor because of the friendly rivalry they’d had back when they were working together. That was all.

  So why should Jade have to know about it? No point in that, was there?

  His breathing eased, and he relaxed again.

  He’d just find another way to let her know he didn’t do relationships... some other time.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Jade’s hand was clammy as she opened her door. She was proud of herself for keeping her poise, though. It had been ages since she’d invited a date to her place.

  After they’d left the pub, she’d ordered herself to ignore her too-cautious, over-analytical side. And this was the result of not holding herself back. She was alone in her apartment with an incredibly sexy man.

  Was Lucas wondering if she might be interested in sex with him tonight? She’d flirted enough all through their evening that she wouldn’t be surprised—or offended—if he were thinking it.

  But she’d never slept with a man on a first date. In fact, apart from the two guys she’d agreed to go to bed with years ago, she’d refused to have sex until... well, until her date had got so frustrated from waiting that he’d lost all interest.

  Problem was, the more she liked someone, the more she tended to hold out. Her fear that the man might lose interest after sex kept her from relaxing and letting go. Sadly, the guys had always ended up thinking she was just stringing them along. One had even accused her of being frigid.

  She couldn’t help it. Her first two sexual partners, both of whom she’d been totally infatuated with, had dumped her after just one night. The second one had even promptly cheated on her with a girl she’d considered a friend. When confronted, he’d said they just weren’t compatible in bed. Devastating.

  She knew it was her irrational fear of the same thing happening again that stopped her from moving forward with men she liked. But damn it, she was ready to burst past that relationship-destroying anxiety with the right guy. She’d been waiting for the opportunity. Unfortunately, the ‘right man’ didn’t turn up in her life every day.

  But here was one with her tonight. Lucas truly piqued her interest and, surprisingly, got her libido stirring readily. While she hadn’t known him long, she felt comfortable with him already.

  She so didn’t want to muck up this chance to get to know him better—including physically. Except that she wasn’t sure what she should do now that they were standing in the middle of her living room.

  “Nice place,” Lucas commented.

  “Thanks. So do you want coffee or tea? Or wine, perhaps? I think we have a bottle of white in the fridge.”

  “Did you say we?”

  “Yes. One of my best friends, Cassandra, lives here too. But she’s with the other girls tonight and probably won’t be home at all.”

  “That’s good to know,” Lucas said with a lopsided grin.

  She blushed. Great. Now Lucas must surely think she was after sex.

  “When my best friends and I get together at one of our places on a Friday or Saturday, we tend to just sleep over. That’s why I’m not expecting Cassie to come home from a girls’ night in,” she explained.

  “Were you supposed to join them, then?”

  “Tonight’s girlie thing was unplanned. And you’d already asked me out to dinner when I found out,” she said with a smile.

  “Hope they didn’t mind that I took you away from them.”

  “No. Not at all. So what would you like to drink?”

  “Wine, please. But only if you’ll have a glass with me.”

  “Sure.”

  Jade went to the kitchen, pressing her hand against her tummy and willing for the butterflies to settle. “Relax, Jade. And just go with the flow,” she said under her breath.

  *

  “So which is your favourite country to visit?” Jade asked Lucas. She was so relaxed that she was sitting casually on the couch with one of her legs tucked under her as she faced him. Good thing she’d worn a flared skirt today.

  “I have many favourites,” he answered. “But nothing beats coming home to Australia. When my friend Connor quit the Formula One team, I couldn’t understand his motivations. I wondered why he gave up the lifestyle of being able to travel the world doing work he loves. But I get it now. After almost seven years of touring, I’m kinda tired of all the travelling. I think I’m ready for a new challenge.”

  “Change is good,” she said, watching Lucas top up their glasses. “I was devastated when I was told I was being retrenched from my old job. I worked there for four years and enjoyed it. But—”

  Jade stopped herself just in time. She almost forgot that Lucas had something against her new boss.

  “Is Bilton treating you good so far?” he asked casually.

  She nodded, taking a sip.

  “Glad to hear.”

  She smiled at him. “I can’t really talk about my work with you, can I? Just like I can’t be fully open with it to your mum?”

  “Hey, just because Bilton and I have bad blood between us doesn’t mean I’m against his employees,” Lucas said with a grin, playfully bumping his leg against her bent knee—and letting the connection linger.

  “That’s good to know,” she said before taking a deep breath. That little contact was enough to make her breathing shallow.

  Lucas stared at her and she felt her cheeks burn. She bet he could tell how he was affecting her.

  “So it really doesn’t bother you when we talk about my boss?” she babbled.

  “Well, I would prefer that we don’t talk about him,” Lucas said.

  “Of course.”

  “And what I’d really prefer to do right now is kiss you.”

  “Oh,” she said, biting her lip to stop herself from smiling too widely. It would be embarrassing to be so uncool.

  “What would you like to do now, Jade?” Lucas asked, his tone sensual as he ran a knuckle on her cheek.

  “Maybe you should just kiss me to see if that’s what I’d like to do or not,” she said teasingly, hoping that sounded sexy.

  His lips curved. “Great idea.”

  He took her glass from her and placed it on the table. Then he leaned over and kissed her. Slowly and sweetly. It was nice. Very nice.

  “So do you like this?” Lucas murmured.

  “Yes,” she breathed.

  “What abou
t this?” His tongue swept across her bottom lip before it went inside her mouth.

  She gasped, her arms snaking around his neck. Before she knew it she was lying on the couch with Lucas on top of her. And, geez, they were devouring each other’s mouths.

  They kissed for a long moment—she had no idea how long. But it must have been a good length of time as she was starting to feel discomfort with the way his body was pinning her. She tried to move her hips to find a better position. Lucas moaned and gave her some room by lifting himself off her without breaking the delicious contact of their lips. Gladly, she shifted, then felt Lucas pressing on her again... with him settled between her parted legs.

  How the hell did that happen? She didn’t mean to reposition them like this.

  Or did she?

  “Jade,” Lucas said with a low moan, his lips travelling to her neck. Something hard ground against the apex between her legs. He was aroused.

  But was she really ready for this?

  “Lucas...” she said hesitantly, pushing against his chest.

  He lifted his head to look at her.

  “I just want you to know I don’t do sex on the first date.”

  He inhaled sharply and gave her a patient smile. “Okay,” he said and started to get up.

  She curved her legs around his, stilling him. “I don’t mind making out though,” she said bravely.

  Surprise flashed on his face before he groaned. “You’re gonna drive me crazy, aren’t you?”

  “If you don’t want to—”

  She was silenced by Lucas’ mouth back on hers, hot and seductive. Gosh, he really was an excellent kisser.

  “How far can we go?” he asked as he kissed her throat.

  “I don’t know,” she said truthfully. “I’ll tell you when we get there.”

  He let out a low chuckle as he caressed her leg, increasing the friction between their hips.

  She moaned, mindlessly arching against him.

  “Am I allowed to do this?” Lucas ran his hand on the side of her body, then cupped a breast, kneading gently.

  “Uh-hmm,” was her response. But her clothes were in the way.

  As if reading her mind, Lucas’ fingers played with the top button of her blouse. “Can I undo these?”