Mr. Black's Proposal (Part One: A Billionaire Erotic Romance) (5 page)

“I hope not,” I said, sipping water to cool off my temper. This was Lacey’s big night to show off her boyfriend. I wasn’t going to ruin that by jumping across the table to mash Belle’s face into the butter dish.

Yet.

“You said you’ve been expanding?” Lucas asked. His voice was low, and for a moment I imagined what it would feel like to hear him whispering to me while he fucked me from behind, his mouth against my ear— No. He was off-limits. I’d already seen him with not one, but
two
other women. That alone was enough to tell me that going after Lucas Black was a Bad Idea. I put on a polite smile and answered.

“We’re thinking of opening another store, or maybe just renting out some warehouse space,” I said. “The coffee shops we bake for are asking for more cupcakes, and the new custom cakes lines are doing well.”

“That’s how we met,” Jake interjected. “Lacey was delivering a cake for Steph for my birthday party.”

“Oh?” Lucas asked. “I don’t think I saw it.”

Lacey’s cheeks turned pink.

“It—ah, it didn’t make it out to the main party,” Jake said. I looked at Lacey for an explanation, but she was shaking her head and I didn’t want to press it. It sounded like an interesting story. Oh well. I would have to get it out of her later.

“When she was seven, Steph wanted to be the most famous baker in New York,” Andy said. “Do you want to know what she did one Christmas?”

“What?”

“Oh, Andy, don’t tell this story.” I put my face in my hands. He always had to tell this story.

“It’s fine, sis,” he said, laughing. “She was just starting to learn how to bake with Mom, and so she decided to make Christmas cinnamon buns all on her own. As the dutiful young brother, of course, I was her assistant.”

“You were the worst assistant,” I corrected.

“I do not dispute that,” Andy said, holding up a finger. “And that was why, when she told me to put in a scoop of yeast, I scooped up a
handful
of yeast and threw it in there.”

“We went to watch a cartoon while the dough rose,” I said, taking over telling the story. If I was going to be embarrassed, I was going to be part of the joke. “You see where this is going.”

Lacey laughed, knowing
exactly
where the story was going. She’d heard this tale multiple times when she came over to our family gatherings. It was a staple of the Hart household.

Lucas, though, was staring at me like I was the most interesting person he’d ever met. It made me feel uncomfortable, especially in front of his date. Belle was steaming out of her ears.

Andy jumped back into the story.

“And by the time we got back—”

“The dough was everywhere!” I said, getting into the storytelling. “It had risen up over the bowl and spilled all over the table. We tried to scrape it up, but it was all over the wrapping paper, ribbons, tape—it was on everything!”

“Mom was so mad,” Andy said. Jake looked over at me in sympathy.

“Ugh!” I said, throwing up my hands in mock frustration. “Just be glad you don’t have a brother!”

I knew immediately I’d said something wrong. Every person at the table tensed up, and Belle turned to Jake.

Oh, shit. Jake Carville. I’d forgotten. His brother had been in that apartment fire when he was young. My face burned red once I realized what I had said right in front of him.

“Oh,” I stammered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“That’s perfectly alright.” Jake said. God bless him, he smiled at me like it was nothing, but I knew I had pricked him in a sore spot. Belle was looking at me with a triumphant expression, like I’d just tripped at the end of a marathon, right before the finish line.

A buzzing rose in my ear. I’d fucked it up. Lacey wouldn’t even look at me. God, I’d fucked up so bad.

The rock star friend made a joke that everybody laughed at, so I laughed along. But in my mind, I was still replaying the stupid, insensitive comment I’d made. I couldn’t look up at Lucas, even though I felt his eyes burning on me. I couldn’t look up at Belle. I sipped my water and pretended that nothing had happened, wishing all the while that I could sink into the floor and disappear forever.

None of you fit in here.

Well, Belle was right about one thing. I didn’t fit in. I couldn’t even make it through dinner without making a completely inappropriate remark.

Somehow, I managed to make it through the end of dinner without saying anything else. I avoided meeting Belle’s eyes, and I kept my own gaze trained completely on the food in front of me. When the servants brought out my cupcakes, I smiled and nodded at all the kind compliments people gave, but I didn’t look up. I couldn’t look up.

Because I knew if I looked up, he would be sitting right there in front of me, looking back.

We were about to leave when Lucas cornered me by the door. I swept my eyes over the room but didn’t see Belle.

“Stephanie,” he said.

God. My name coming off of his tongue made my body tense up in the worst way.

“I want to see you again,” he said in a low voice.

“M—me?” I squeaked out.

His arm was braced up against the wall, flexing so that his muscles were nearly bursting from his dress shirt. I tried to avoid looking down at that spot of bare chest just under his collarbone. I tried to avoid his brilliant blue eyes. There was nowhere else to look. I cast my eyes down to his shoes. Big shoes. I bet he had a big— “Yes,” he said.

“Are you serious?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Uh, you don’t seem like a
serious
kind of guy.”

He cocked his head at me as though he didn’t understand me.

“When do you have any free time?”

I coughed. That was a funny question. Free time? I had negative free time. All of my free time was spent working on the business.

“I’ll… I’ll have to check,” I said.

“Please do. Here’s my number.”

He handed me a business card. As he slipped it into my hand, he caught my upper arm with his other hand. I gulped as his eyes locked directly on mine. His fingers stroked my bare skin and flames of desire burst through my body.

I didn’t want to want him. He was a rake, a jerk, a playboy. But he acted like he wanted me, and despite knowing intellectually that he was bad for me, I couldn’t stop the ache that ran through my body at his touch.

“I look forward to hearing from you,” he said.

“Yeah. Um. Nice to meet you,” I said clumsily.

“It was lovely to meet you, Stephanie,” he said.

At that moment, I caught the sight of Belle coming back into the main room. Lucas noticed my eyes darting over. He stepped back, his gaze still burning my face.

“Call me soon,” he said. He turned and made the rest of his goodbyes to Andy and Lacey.

As we made our way through the elevator door, a hand tapped at my shoulder. I knew who it was even before I turned around. Belle’s icy stare made it clear what she was thinking, but she hissed a single word at me as the elevator doors closed.

One word. It was enough to chill all of the heat that Lucas’s touch had brought to my body. One word.

“Don’t.”

Chapter Four

Lucas

The only way to get Steph out of my head was to kill all of my thoughts. And the way I normally did that was by lifting as much weight as I could. The soreness of my muscles drove out any possibility of thinking.

My phone rang. It was my mom. I debated letting it go to voicemail, but I knew she would just keep calling and calling until I picked up. Anyway, I didn’t think I could do another squat if my life depended on it.

As the bar clanged down on the cage, I realized that I’d been way overdoing it. Every part of my body screamed out with pain. I answered the phone with a wince.

“Lucas, my dear.”

“Hi, mom!” I tried to put a cheerful voice on. Whenever my mom smelled something negative, she would pounce on it.

“Are you planning my party?” she asked.

“I sure am. We’re going to do it at my place, is that okay?”

“Of course. I wanted to invite a few other people, if that’s alright.”

“Sure,” I said.

Inwardly, I groaned. When we ‘d first talked about it, my mom had wanted two of her best friends to come over for the party so they could see where I lived. Of course, that was her secret code for
showing me off
. All of her nosy friends tossed around their children’s achievements like currency.

The two best friends had turned into “three, maybe four” and then “maybe a half dozen”. At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if she turned up at my doorstep with half an army of older women demanding to know how successful I was and when I was going to get married.

As if on cue, she turned the conversation to my love life.

“Lucas, I was just talking with one of my friends about you. When are you going to settle down?”

“Mom…”

“I know, I know. I need to let you do what you want.”

“You know I’m just waiting for the right girl.”

It was the line I said every time, and every time it was a lie. But this time, Steph’s face popped into my mind.

It was ridiculous, I knew that. I’d only met her twice. But I couldn’t get her out of my thoughts. If I was going to marry someone, I thought, it wouldn’t be any of the simpering supermodels who preened in front of my mom. It was like they thought if they could win her heart, they would win mine. But Steph was… different.

“Are you alright?”

There was concern in her voice, and I knew where concern led to. I shut down that line of questioning quickly.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine, mom.”

“Honey, please let me know if the birthday party is going to be too much for you. I can always find somewhere else.”

I bit my tongue to keep from responding to her passive aggressive jab. Since I was young, she’d been pulling this kind of crap. I wasn’t going to take the bait, though.

“No, of course not, mom.”

It was then that I had my great idea. Well, maybe not a great idea. At least, Steph might not think it was great. But it was an inspired idea.

“You’re going to love what I have in store for you,” I said to my mom.

“What is it?”

“It’s a surprise,” I said. “Gotta go, okay? Love you!”

My mind was working like crazy. It was a crazy idea, anyway. I knew it would work. At the very least, it was a way to see her again.

Now what could I say to Steph to convince her to bake cupcakes for my mom’s birthday party?

I went to the cupcake store later that afternoon.

It was a stupid idea, I knew that. But I needed to see Steph again, and now I had an excuse.

“I’m throwing a party,” I said, as soon as I walked in.

Steph brushed her blond hair over her shoulder. I could tell she was nervous. It was cute, but I didn’t want to make her nervous. Not yet, anyway. There would be plenty of time for that later.

Now, though, I just had to get her to agree to come and bake a few cupcakes for my mom.

“Hi Lucas,” she said, clearing her throat. I could almost see her mental defenses coming up like a chain link fence in front of her. I smiled broadly and spread one hand on the counter.

“Good to see you again,” I said. God, she was sexy. Her blond hair framed her face. She had delicate eyebrows, a cute upturned nose, and the most kissable lips I’d ever seen. I wanted to take her into my arms and— “Yes. So. I’m throwing a party,” I repeated, trying to take my mind off of the sexy woman standing in front of me.
Play it off smooth.

“Oh?”

“And I need somebody to cater it. I need a cake, and some cupcakes. Jake said you did his birthday party, and it went well.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. Would you like the job?”

“You don’t really want me to cater a party for you, do you?”

She leaned over the counter, daring me to look at her cleavage. I resisted, but only barely. That purple dress she’d worn to Jake’s party had been more revealing than even I could have hoped for. And this one was even more tempting. I knew that as soon as I looked down at those luscious curves, my cock would be harder than steel. No. I couldn’t overplay my hand.

Not with this girl.

“Why not?” I asked.

“I’m pretty sure your girlfriend hates me.”

There it is.

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Fine. Whatever you call her.”

Ugh. Belle. I should have known that bringing her along to Jake’s would result in a trainwreck. Strike one.

“She’s Jake’s friend.”

“The other girl you brought in here didn’t like me either.”