Chapter 36: Chapter 36

“Evita, can you take one last walk for us so that I can get a better look at the material?”

Yolanda glared at Lucas who stared transfixed by the tanned and gorgeous Brazilian model who’d already taken three runway passes in front of Lucas wearing nothing but a skimpy black bikini.

“Evita, we’re done with you. Thank you,” she snapped, a little shocked by the venom she heard in her voice. Apparently she wasn’t the only one as she glanced around the room to see designer Leonora Vatrelli wearing a stunned expression, along with Evita. The only person who didn’t look surprised was Lucas. He sat there wearing a self-satisfied smirk which she ached to slap off his face.

They were now on their third and final designer for the day, the third and final time she’d had to sit through a collection showing where he openly flirted with the stunning models while he basically ignored her.

She was jealous. Plain and simple. Just last night she’d told Lucas to get lost, so she shouldn’t have been upset by his distance, but she was.

And she was furious with herself for the envy she felt, and more importantly, for letting it show.

“I seem to be feeling unwell so I think I will go.” She said, shooting to her feet. “Leonora I will let Lucas finish up on my behalf.” She had never done this. She had never been so unprofessional in her entire life. As if remembering who she was, she flashed the designer a small smile. “We are delighted to have you joining the team of designers at Dafina.

You really are an amazing designer and your work is stunning,” she said

graciously before turning her attention to Lucas who stood beside her, his eyes full of concern.

“I’ll meet you back at the hotel,” she said quickly as she hastily tripped out of the small boutique with all of the grace of a one year old learning how to walk for the first time. She heard Lucas call her name, but she didn’t stop, she didn’t even turn around as she rushed outside to Las Vegas Boulevard. Within seconds she was hopping into a cab and tearing out of there to the Bellagio where she could nurse her wounded ego and bury her humiliation in the comfort of her private room.

*

He felt like an asshole as he stood on the other side of Yolanda’s door. He’d openly flirted with a few of the models today, hoping it would piss her off. Although, extremely childish, his actions had been harmless, his only goal being to prove to Yolanda that what they’d shared hadn’t been just nothing. And certainly not something to chalk up to a

wild, drunken Vegas night and just forget.

He’d expected to get a rise out of her, maybe incite her temper.

What he never expected was to see the wounded look in her eyes before she sprinted out of there as fast as her legs could carry her. He’d felt as if a knife was being twisted into his gut. In that moment he’d made a final decision about what would happen next between them. Enough of the games. They were too old to be playing them anyway.

Blowing out a long ragged breath, he steeled himself for the onslaught of her anger as he raised his fist and knocked on her door. He deserved her fury. If she’d deliberately flirted with another man to make him jealous, he’d be pissed too.

He heard the door click as she unlocked it and he opened his mouth, wanting his first words to be those of an apology, but his words instantly stuck in his throat when the door swung open.

She stood there wrapped in a white velour towel with crystal droplets of water clinging to her satiny skin and her honey brown hair, hanging in loose wet waves to her bare shoulders.

“Lucas. What are you doing here?”

He crinkled his brow as he frowned. “You didn’t even know it was me at the door. Is this how you open the door for strangers?” He said, as he raked his gaze over her.

“I thought you were housekeeping,” she snapped, her eyes narrowing to tiny slits.

“Yeah, well, I’m not.” He couldn’t believe she would open the door in nothing but a towel and dripping wet even if it was housekeeping. In the back of his mind, he realized his reaction was a little irrational, but

Yolanda had a way of raising his protective urges. “May I come in?” She

seemed to hesitate so he added. “I need to go over tomorrow’s schedule with you,” he lied. He had no idea what was on the tomorrow’s agenda,

and he didn’t care. All he cared about was getting inside Yolanda’s room so that he could figure out what was going on inside her head.

“Sure, just give me a second to put something on.” She stepped aside to allow him entrance before she turned toward the bathroom.

Lust churned in his belly as he let his gaze trace the outline of her round ass and her long, silky legs as she walked away from him. Letting out a low groan, he dropped down into a nearby chair and tried to erase the vision of Yolanda’s long smooth legs wrapped around his neck, as he gripped her ass and road her voluptuous body all the way to paradise.

As if on cue, the object of his lustful fantasies chose that moment to saunter out of the bathroom, wearing a white terry cloth robe. He wanted to tell her that was only slightly more acceptable than the towel as his eyes drank in the sight of her creamy brown flesh peeking out from the V in the robe.

“About tomorrow. There are only two designers on the list so I—” “Before we get to tomorrow, I want to talk about today.” He

interrupted.

Although she tried to hide it, he saw a tiny spark of awareness leap in her gaze, before she quickly masked it.

“I was tired, that’s all.”

Standing to his feet, he crossed the room and stopped in front her. “So you weren’t jealous?”

“Jealous? For what?” She said quickly, too quickly for him to believe she hadn’t been jealous.

“I thought maybe you rushed out of there because you were upset with me for flirting with some of the models.”

She shrugged as she waved her hand in dismissal. “That’s ridiculous,” she scoffed. “Of course I wasn’t jealous.”

“And you expect me to believe that?” He asked in a hushed voice as he stepped closer.

“Look Lucas, you can believe what you want but—”

Her next words died in her throat when he reached out and dragged her against him. With one arm around her waist, he ran his free hand across her face, as his fingers gently stroked her luscious mouth.

“I apologize for trying to make you jealous. I did it to prove a point after what you said last night, but that’s still no excuse. My actions were childish and stupid, and I’m sorry,” he said softly.

She stood there her eyes wide with surprise and he wondered if it was his words of apology or the intimate way that he now touched her that had her in such a state of shock.

Tugging her closer, he held her body firmly against him as he dipped his voice to a low whisper. “I just wanted to clear the air. I don’t want you to have any doubt that it’s you I want.”

He knew she wanted to say something, probably even protest, but he never gave her the chance when he lowered his head to press his lips against hers.