I chuckled and shook my head. “Exaggerate much?”
She smiled and shrugged.
Ask her what she wants to order in. “I have a last minute work thing there tomorrow night. Want to go with me?” What the actual fuck, man? I almost winced at the voice screaming at me in my head. Yeah, that was stupid.
She hadn’t returned to her spot tucked into my chest. Her head was still up and she was studying me.
“As your date?” she asked cautiously.
Tread carefully. “Well, no. I can’t have you as my date.”
Her green eyes began to cloud with a dark emotion. Way to go, now get your foot out of your mouth.
I went on quickly, “Obviously, I’m not going to take any date. If I did, it would, of course, be you. I can’t go alone, though, not with this crowd anyway.”
Her face warned me of an impending storm, a riot of feelings I couldn’t quite nail down.
She raised an eyebrow. “So, you want to take me, but you can’t?”
Ah. No wonder, I wasn’t being very clear. I smiled, certain she’d be happy when I explained I’d still be taking her with me. “I wouldn’t have invited you if I didn’t intend to take you, sweetheart. You’ll accompany me as my step-sister. A sibling is always an acceptable substitute for a date.”
The dark emotions in her eyes turned into a full-blown black cloud and she jumped off my lap. Rounding on me, she slammed her fists onto her hips. Let’s be clear, I was doing my very best to pay attention, but when her large tits were bouncing at eye level because she was breathing heavy, it was impossible for me to keep from drifting to thoughts of sex. I was a man. She’s got fucking amazing tits. Not my fault. Case closed.
Apparently, Jade was not aware of this ruling because she snapped her fingers in front of my eyes and yelled, “My eyes are up here, jackass.”
I dragged my gaze up to her fiery green one, blazing with hurt and anger. I reared back a little at the intensity.
“You want to take me, the woman who is pregnant with your baby, to a work function and introduce me as your step-sister?” she shrilled.
Shifting uncomfortably, I grumbled, “Well, when you say it like that.”
“How would you say it, Lucas?”
I sighed, “I want to be with you, Jade. Out in the open. This dinner gets us one step closer to making that possible. It would be better if I took a date, but I can get away with bringing my new-found family member.”
She was still fuming, so I smiled and gently grasped her wrist, bringing her back to my lap. She reluctantly obliged and I wrapped my arms around her.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. Will you please come with me?”
Chapter 9
Jade
I shouldn’t have let Lucas off the hook so easily. I was a strong woman, one who’d proven she was able to stand on her own two feet. Yet, I crumbled anytime it came to him. Self-control was a thing of the past whenever I was near him. It had been from the first moment we’d met. Clothes flew off my body at the drop of a hat and yes seemed to be the only word I was capable of saying. He’d practically called me a gold-digger and I let him take me on a desk without a single word of apology. Then he told me I couldn’t go to his elegant business dinner as his date, even though we’d spent an amazing afternoon together after learning I was pregnant with his baby. My response should have been heck no, but instead I’d said yes, gone out the next day, bought a fancy dress, and got my hair, makeup and nails done.
I’d wanted to look my best, even if I was only attending the dinner as Lucas’s step-sister and not his date. Judging by the look on his face as I walked down the stairs, it was well worth all the effort. Before my foot hit the bottom step, he was moving towards me.
“Are you sure you want to have dinner out with my boring board members instead of a night home alone with me?” His question was said in a teasing tone, but the intense look in his eyes was anything but a joke. The way his fingers gripped my hips as he pulled me closer made me think he might toss me over his shoulder and carry me up to his bedroom. When I was flush against him, the feel of his hardened length told me exactly how we’d end up spending the night if I said I wanted to stay home.
I could always wear the dress another night. “Let’s—“
My answer was drowned out by the sound of my growling stomach. The anti-nausea medication was working its magic, and I was starving.
“That sounds like a resounding yes for dinner,” Lucas said with a chuckle.
I grumbled a little as he led me to the car. I hadn’t really gotten a vote, but apparently the sex marathon idea was out and a steak dinner was in. Or maybe I’d get lucky and I could have both. The night was still young after all.