Talia Nassar

That sneaky butt!

Amusement flies to my lips as the new building's office floor plan stares back at me from my phone's screen. I shake my head and throw my phone down on the bed in my hotel room. Of course, I should have expected Lucas to mess with me.

In hindsight, having the first pick of an office in the new building was too good to be true. But today makes it difficult to catch things like that. I'm floating like a balloon, untouched by gravity, and unable to have thoughts colored with anything besides rose.

As I continue getting dressed for Tucker's birthday party, I try to think through clever ways to get back at Lucas. Yet the task proves impossible as my mind keeps going back to the amazing day I've been having.

While I would never admit this out loud to anyone, golf turned out to be a lot more fun than expected. We ended up playing the full course, talking about life and just having a good time. By the end of it, my stomach hurt from laughing so hard. Afterwards we had lunch together and talked about what felt like everything under the sun. I learned more about Lucas' family, his upbringing, and about his friends. And I shared similar things with him, including stuff that I don't normally share with anyone. I even confessed how lonely it has felt being President of McAvoy until he came along. We could not stop talking. It's like a dam has exploded and an endless stream of water is now pouring out.

All throughout our conversations today I couldn't get the images of Lucas' biceps bulging each time he took a swing of the club. That man was born to play golf and he looks damn good doing it.

In the late afternoon we forced ourselves to talk through strategy and how to win Tucker over. We have one shot tonight at his birthday party, and we can't go back home having two seasoned professionals fail.

Lucas will focus on relationship-building and I will cite my stats on why crypto is not a good option for Tucker. All we need is five to ten minutes and some quiet area at the party to be able to talk.

A knock at the door pulls me from my thoughts and forces a flutter of activity in my stomach. Lucas' room is just down the hall, and it has only been about an hour since we parted ways to get ready for the party. The thought of seeing him again is spurring way too many pleasant things to happen in my body.

I take a deep breath and take one last look at myself in the mirror. I'm wearing my black corset mini dress that hugs my curves tightly with long mesh sleeves. When I chose the dress I wondered if Lucas would like it, but then quickly chided myself, saying it didn't matter. Yet now, with the immediacy of seeing him again, I'm back to hoping he would. I grab my clutch and open the door. Tingles are already moving up and down my body.

His head draws back and eyes grow wide as he scans my figure. "Holy fuck, Talia."

Heat floods to my cheeks. I push him back and out of my door frame into the hallway, closing the door behind me. He staggers back as his eyes continue to graze my figure, briefly resting on my cleavage.

I take a moment to notice how he looks as well and the nerves firing throughout my body agree with his exact sentiment. He's wearing dark gray slacks and a black button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to reveal tan forearms chorded with veins.

"Fuck, Tal, we may not make it to this party with you looking like that," he says in a low voice as he steps closer and places a hand on my waist.

I'm heating up but quickly place a hand on his chest before he can get any closer. "No, none of that. You're in big trouble, Lucas."

He tilts his head with a confused look on his face and my grin grows. "Wh-" He pauses, realization dawning on him before he laughs and takes a step back. "You finally saw the floor plan, huh?"

I flick my hair back and walk past him toward the elevator. "Yes, and I don't like being tricked."

He follows me like a puppy and my heart tightens. "Aww c'mon. You had fun though didn't you?" he says as we step into the elevator.

I cross my arms after hitting the button for the lobby. "That's beside the point."

He grabs the sides of my arms and leans down. The blue of his eyes twinkle like the water of an ocean you can't look away from. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

"I'll think about it."

Lucas smirks and leans in closer to my ear. "How about I show you how sorry I am later tonight? With my tongue."

My breathing hitches and my heart races as I picture Lucas going down on me again.

"It's been too long since I tasted you," he whispers.

All of the oxygen in the elevator has vanished with Lucas' words. My mind starts to spin as I try to catch my breath. Yet a little voice in my head travels through to my senses, alerting me I need to keep myself together. When the elevator dings for the lobby, it's as if it splashes fresh water on my face. I push him off of me and smile before saying, "I'll think about it." I walk out to the hotel lobby.

Lucas' chuckle lands in my ears and I smile wider. His hand meets the small of my back as we file out of the hotel.

I hope we'll be able to stay focused and win Tucker over tonight. Lucas' little touches on the walk over to the nightclub are already too distracting. We can't lose sight of our goal.

Finally, after some playful chatting and too much buzzing in my body for being sober, we make it to the entrance of the club where a horde of people are waiting to enter. I scan the bustling area and find another entrance with a much shorter line and a red carpet. "Let's try getting in there," I say as I motion over to the burly bouncer who's glancing at a clipboard.

"Names?" the man asks after we reach him.

"Talia Nassar and Lucas Handler." I hand the man my ID.

He scans his sheets for a moment before nodding. "Ms. Nassar, you are free to go in." He glances back at his clipboard and flips through the pages again. "It doesn't look like we have a Lucas Handler on here."

"What? Do you mind checking again? Derek added us both to the list."

The bouncer sighs, and checks again. "Nope. You're not on here. Next guest." He motions for the man behind Lucas to step forward.

Lucas furrows his brows and for a moment I do too. But then it hits me. I couldn't have planned it better myself. "Well, well, well. I guess I'll have to win Tucker over all by myself."

"Tal, you better get me in."

I glance at my nails, bringing them up to my face for a quick check, before setting them down. "Hmm, I'll have to think about it. Maybe you can use the time alone to think about how you're going to get me my own office in the new building." I smirk and a hint of amusement paints Lucas' lips through his frown.

"Don't you dare leave me out here." His voice is gruff and for a moment I wonder if he's annoyed.

"Bye, Lucas. Have fun figuring this one out," I say as innocently as I can.

I turn on my heels and make my way into the nightclub without waiting for Lucas to respond. As soon as I step into the large space filled with people, my senses heighten. The space is opulent with a huge, modern chandelier hanging from the center and multiple floors filled to the brim with people. Music, laughter, and chatter blast from every corner along with the occasional drift of the air conditioning. A DJ yells for the crowd to make some noise and the people go wild.

Finding Tucker and Derek through this is going to be like finding a needle in a haystack. Should I have pushed the bouncer to let Lucas in? I quickly shake the thought away. He's probably going to smooth talk his way in any second now. Besides, I'm used to doing things on my own. As much as it's been a fun day being with him, I have work to do and can do without distractions. I need to make millions for my company.

Still. Should I be doing this without Lucas? Things are going well with him and we seem to have found some sort of rhythm working together. Ugh, stop, Talia. You got this. You don't need anyone.

After walking through various spaces, I spot Tucker in one of the balcony seating areas with five stunning, model-like women next to him. The women look like they're hanging over every one of his words with their animated reactions to him and open body language. Tucker is still in his zip-up hoodie and jeans and looks slightly inebriated which would either make this task easy or difficult.

I stride over to him and flip my hair behind my shoulder as I bring out my widest smile. "Happy birthday, Tucker!"

The heads of all five women immediately shoot toward me.

I keep my back straight and chin held high. "Do you have a second to chat?" I yell over the music.

Tucker leans back in his seat, slurping on his drink. "No business tonight. Only fun."

Ugh. Of course he's going to be difficult.

"Oh, of course. But I think you'll find what I have to say a lot of fun. I'd say doubling your assets counts as some fun, right?"

My stomach flips when a hand meets the small of my back. Lucas is here! Yet, it instantly settles when I turn to find Derek standing next to me.

"You should listen to her, Tucker. Just five minutes," Derek says before turning to me and giving me a cheek-to-cheek air kiss. "Talia, I'm glad you could make it. You look stunning."

"Thank you." I turn back to Tucker who starts to groan.

Yet the kid stops and straightens his back as soon as a young female server, who barely looks eighteen, comes by to collect the empty glasses. He clears his throat, eyeing the server, before saying louder than necessary, "Right. We need to talk important business things. Strategy. Investments. World-leading stuff."

"R-right," I say, slightly confused as to why he changed his mind all of a sudden.

Derek leads Tucker and I to a couch on the other side of the room and we all sit down, with me in the middle. I face Tucker and dive into the spiel I prepared. Tucker nods throughout, but I can't tell if he's listening or just drunk and trying to listen.

"Anything else I can say to convince you?" I ask once I exhaust all of my stats.

Tucker scrunches his nose. "Listen, thanks for coming. I'll admit you make a very compelling argument." He shakes his head. "But sorry to waste your time. I've already made up my mind. I'm going with a local company that invests in crypto."

My stomach drops. "But,-"

"No, lady, stop! You seriously can't say anything to convince me." He huffs before standing up. "Now can I go, Derek?"

My head shoots to the other man beside me who looks like a defeated father. He nods and Tucker swiftly walks away.

"What the fuck, Derek?" I turn to face him. That went disastrously and Derek didn't say a single fucking thing to back me.

"He just needs time. He'll come around."

"Right. 'I've made up my mind,' sounds very open," I respond sarcastically and cross my arms. "Also, you forgot to add Lucas to the entry list. Can you make sure he gets in while I go try to salvage whatever that was?" I scowl.

"Oh, he wasn't? Hmm." He smiles and I make a face before he continues. "Are you and him a thing?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business."

Derek laughs, likely thinking I'm flirting with him when it's the furthest thing from my mind. Sure, he's handsome, and maybe I would have dabbled in some flirtation if it were a different time. But Derek is annoying, kind of like clanging chimes in the wind, easily swayed by whatever came his way. Plus, he's not Lucas.

"You like to play hard to get, huh?"

"I would appreciate it if we kept things professional. While I'm flattered, I'm not interested."

"I think you'll be plenty interested in me, Gorgeous. Dance with me." Derek leans in closer and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, filling me with nausea.

Before I can respond, a deep voice sends a rush of heat over my skin. "There you are, baby. I've been looking everywhere for you."