Chapter 9 I Can Smell It

• In one jerk, Lucas carried Eve on his shoulders. Eve screamed and punched his back over and over, begging him to put her down. But the blows she gave him didn’t seem to have any effect on his athletic body.
• He threw her onto the couch and quickly positioned himself on top of her, trapping her between his thighs and hands.
• Eve was on her back. Her breath caught as her eyes met Lucas’ darkened gaze.
• Unlike his sweet demeanor on the tourist island, he now scared her. It was as if Luke and Lucas were different people.
• “Please,” Eve sighed. “I’m-I’m sorry for leaving you. I didn’t mean to hurt your pride.”
• “Tell me,” he said, ignoring her apology. “Was our sex so bad that you left me?”
• His hand moved to her face. He traced the backs of his fingers along her cheek and slowly down her neck.
• Eve swallowed. Her throat felt hot, as did the skin where Lucas had touched her. “No,” she whispered. The tremble in her voice was crystal clear in the quiet room.
• There was no one on this floor but them. Seeing the level of security Eve had to go through to get to this office earlier, surely not just anyone could enter here.
• That meant no one would help her, even if she screamed for help.
• “Then why did you leave me? Hm?” Lucas’ hands traveled down Eve’s breast and stopped at the buttons of her blouse. He lingered, staring at them. Eve’s answer seemed to determine whether Lucas would undress her or not.
• “Because—“ Eve choked. “Because I don’t want to get involved with any relationship.”
• His eyes jerked back to her face. “You think I want to be involved in a relationship with you?”
• His question made her jaw clenched tightly.
• “What makes you think I want to be in a relationship with you?” he asked again.
• Eve shifted her gaze to the glass table beside them. “Because—because you were so nice to me that night. I... I didn’t want to hurt your heart.”
• To Eve’s surprise, Lucas bowed his head and growled with laughter. “Geneive Summers,” he muttered between his unrelenting laughs. “Now I know how innocent you are to have such thoughts.”
• “Excuse me?” hissed Eve. “You don’t know me at all, Mister Atwood. You can’t just pass judgment on me.”
• Lucas looked up, and took a breath, then when he looked back at Eve, his laughter had completely disappeared. He grabbed her chin, making her flinch with his quick movements.
• “I could know you if I wanted to,” he remarked with a calmness that made her hair stand on end. “Your name, where you live, job, family, close friends, even down to your favorite food and your childhood trauma.”
• He moved Eve’s face to the right and left as if looking for what flaws Eve had on her face. “And you need to know one thing, Eve,” he continued after he finished scrutinizing her face. “I was nice to you at the tourist island because you were a visitor there. You paid to have a great experience. I couldn’t let someone be treated badly, which will lead to the downfall of my business.”
• His hands moved further down and now he was gripping her bare thighs as the pencil skirt she was wearing was lifted. “And didn’t we both get what we wanted that night? I know you enjoyed it as much as I do.”
• Eve felt Lucas’ fingers digging into her core and she couldn’t help but feel a shiver run through her body. Her toes curled, and she bit her lower lip, trying to hold back a sigh.
• “I can smell it,” He whispered in her ear. “Your arousal.” Then, with great force, he created space between her legs, leaving them open for him. “And I know you’re already wet down there for me.”
• Eve tried to close her legs, but Lucas held her back with his feet. The weight of his body on her lower body kept her immobilized.
• His hand was getting closer to the place where her center throbbed violently. A small sigh escapes her lips as he brushes his fingertips against it.
• For a moment, she almost let herself get carried away by the temptation he offered. But when she saw the smirk of satisfaction on his lips, she realized that this was a mistake.
• She won’t let him think she is a woman with no pride, one that could easily melt by touch only. And what Lucas was doing to her now showed that he looked down on her.
• With all her might, Eve pushed Lucas until he fell on his butt on the other side of the couch. Then Eve quickly dragged her body to her feet. Her shoes were lying near Lucas, and she glanced at them for a moment. There was no way she was going to pick them up, so she left them there.
• “Mister Atwood,” she said with anger held behind her clenched teeth. “What happened that night was a mistake. We were both drunk, and I did something stupid.”
• “Something stupid?” Lucas’ mouth opened slightly and his eyes narrowed in disbelief. “Do you realize you just inflicted a new wound on my pride?”
• Eve stood up straight, gathering as much courage as she could. “Now we are not both drunk and we are civilized people. So please, stop your games and let me interview you. Isn’t that what you invited me here tonight for?”
• Lucas snorted a laugh as he looked away. He rubbed his jaw while running his tongue down the inside of his cheek. Then he looked up at Eve. “You know what? Forget about that interview. I have nothing to gain from the interview you’re about to do anyway, so why would I do it?”
• Her jaw slacked.
• Was he serious? He was mad at her for failing to ask for sex and then canceling this interview?
• Why did Eve feel like he was putting her as the bad guy in this scenario?
• “Get out,” he ordered in a lazy tone as he waved his hand towards the door, asking Eve to get out of his room.
• “Seriously?” hissed Eve, still not believing what was happening. “I don’t understand how you can be where you are now with such a nasty personality.”
• “Utter one more word from those lips and I’ll sue the company you work for, Miss Summers,” Lucas growled. “Now, get out.”
• Eve’s hands clenched at her sides. Damn billionaire. She wanted to point a middle finger at him and give him a piece of her mind. But she knew his threat about suing her company wasn’t a bluff.
• So she straightened her clothes and turned to leave.
• It was only when she got into the elevator and it was moving down that she realized she’d left her shoes in his office.