Lucas

Lucas

“How much longer do you think we have to stay?” I mutter out of the side of my mouth to Van while keeping a pleasant smile in place.

“Half hour?” he asks back.

“Done,” I agree as my eyes move over the crowd.

“I’m going to hit up the hors d’oeuvres,” Van grumbles to me. “It’s the only reason I came.”

He hates these things and moaned about it the entire time he was driving us here tonight. He’s my temporary roommate for now and seems pretty chill, but he can be kind of an a-hole at times.

My eyes move from Van’s retreating back to sweep the room, and that’s when I see her.

Going back to that statistical improbability about getting laid, I’ll clarify that only holds true if the woman is single, as I don’t mess with married ladies. I see no ring on her finger, which is the first place I look, then I take a moment to appreciate everything else I’m seeing.

She’s tall and lithe, walking gracefully my way, but she’s not looking directly at me. She has long, curly fiery-red hair, and her ice-blue eyes are looking a bit distressed.

I turn my head to look over my shoulder, but the only thing behind me is the Acrocanthosaurus. That dinosaur isn’t going anywhere, so I look back to her. When she’s three feet away, her gaze sweeps to me briefly and I get a polite smile.

Then to my surprise she walks up to the exhibit, which sits raised on a tiled dais, and pulls up the skirt of her black evening gown. It’s simple but form fitting with thin straps, exposing light freckles spread across her shoulders. They match the ones over her nose and forehead. I’m not normally a freckle dude, but her skin is like creamy porcelain and her facial features are damn near perfect. She’s the type of woman who doesn’t need makeup. Her face alone is the beauty, the freckles only enhancing it.

Yes, she pulls her skirt up to her knees, and without any hesitation steps up onto the tiled dais. She side-steps through some fake foliage that’s added to give an idea of the terrain that this dinosaur once roamed and stops in front of the back left leg. With her brows furrowed, she squats with her legs primly angled to the side and reaches a hand out, rubbing her index finger along one of the bones.

Very interesting.

She’s totally hot and so very interesting. I figure she’s supposed to be fondling the dino bones, or she’s a nut case and will be hauled out of here soon, but I’ll enjoy the view until then.

Before I can contemplate it further, though, she stands up and walks back through the foliage to the edge of the dais and looks directly at me. “Help a girl down?”

I take the hand she’s holding out to me as she pulls her dress up a bit in preparation to step off.

“Absolutely,” I say as I present my hand to her gallantly.

Her resulting smile is actually a little flirty as she quips, “My hero.”

One seriously high and spiked heel comes down onto the industrial carpet that runs through the building, followed by the other, and as soon as she’s stable, I contemplate letting her hand go. But as I said before, she’s totally hot, most likely single, and very interesting indeed.

“I’m Lucas Fournier. I’m here on behalf of the Cold Fury.”

Her hand squeezes mine as she inclines her head. “I actually know who you are, Mr. Fournier. I’m Stephanie Frazier.”

Still holding her fine-boned hand with the softest skin, I ask, “And you were molesting that dinosaur because . . . ?”

Stephanie’s laugh is bold and infectious as she tips her head back, making her flame-colored curls spill farther down her back. When she looks back to me with sparkling eyes, she says, “I thought I saw a nick.”

My eyes cut over to the skeleton and back to her in confusion. “Nick?”

“I’m the director of acquisitions,” she says, still holding on to my hand. “Well, I’ve recently been promoted to the director position due to some unfortunate scandal the previous director was embroiled in. But, whatever . . . Part of my job is to make sure all our specimens are in good shape and perfect order at all times after they’re put in place.”

Fascinating about her job, I guess, but more interested in something else. “What was the scandal?”

She steps in closer to me, looks around the room quickly, and whispers as she brings her eyes back. “A sex scandal.”

I feign shock as I whisper back, “You’re kidding.”

She shakes her head and smiles at me mischievously. “The rumor is he had a penchant for cross dressing as well as for sleeping with some of the other staff’s wives.”

Okay, that is sort of scandalous now that I think about it. And hilarious she just told me that. “You don’t think perhaps you shouldn’t be telling one of the benefactors about this, um, sex scandal, do you?”

Her cheeks turn pink, but she still looks sinfully playful as she smiles at me. “I suppose not . . . but I’m not really cut out for these types of events. Natural-born rebel and all.”

“Rebel?” I ask roguishly. “I’m liking the sound of this.”

“Well, I really shouldn’t have told you about the sex scandal,” she admits with a chagrined look as she removes her hand from mine. “You won’t repeat that, will you?”

“How about you tell me something scientific so I can legitimately say that’s what we talked about tonight if anyone asks.”

“Hmmmm,” she says as she looks up briefly, then her eyes go from playful to serious when they return. “Did you know that North Carolina is the only state where all four major gemstones—and that would be emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and diamonds—have been discovered?”

“I absolutely did not know that,” I say seriously, then I turn it playful again, because honestly, that’s where the most fun is. “Would you like to get out of here and go get a drink together?”

Stephanie blinks once in surprise, and then she appraises me. Her eyes are gorgeous, a light blue that looks like that sheen of blue you see deep inside of Arctic icebergs, and yet it doesn’t make her look icy. In fact, her eyes actually have a sizzling quality to them or maybe it’s just the hair the color of molten lava spilling all around that gives a warm effect.

“A drink?” she asks, not really to clarify, but more of a contemplation for herself to see if it’s something that would interest her.

“Sure,” I say with an easygoing shrug. “There’s a lot of great bars downtown.”

“Okay,” she says gamely. “A drink. Meaning one. I have to be at work super early tomorrow to make sure all of this party stuff is gone and this exhibit is show quality for when the doors open.”

“I have an early practice,” I tell her nonchalantly. “So I have to be in top shape tomorrow as well.”

“Then let me make some goodbyes and get my purse. Give me fifteen minutes.”

I watch her rear the entire time she walks away, knowing that even though she said one drink, this night isn’t going to be over early. Like I said . . . near statistical impossibility for me not to get laid.

When she’s out of sight, I pull out my phone and shoot a text to Max, Jules, and Van in case I don’t see them before Stephanie gets back.