“Rose is the way to make Dave pay. She’s his baby sister. You remember how he was always bragging about her.”
“Again,” Rafe pointed out, “years ago.”
“Family doesn’t change.”
“Amen to that,” Sean muttered, then shrugged when Lucas stared at him. “Fine. Happy trails. Good luck on seducing then losing the lucky woman.”
“Damn it, Sean…”
“Why be mad at him?” Rafe countered. “It’s exactly what you’re doing.”
“Yeah?” Lucas met Rafe’s stare and didn’t give an inch. “And I seem to remember a guy whose plan was to topple the cookie queen into bed and then explain to her how all King men weren’t jerks. Where were all your high standards then, Rafe?”
A flash of anger crossed Rafe’s face at being reminded of how he’d tried to trick Katie when he first met her. But a second or two later, he said simply, “Yeah, you’re right, and I almost lost her because of that stupid plan. You might want to think about that.”
“Difference there is, I don’t want to keep Rose,” Lucas said. Not forever, anyway. But he wasn’t in any hurry to send her on her way, either.
He scowled to himself at that thought. For a week now, Rose had been in his home every evening. They worked together in the kitchen. They talked, laughed and never once had either one of them brought up that staggering kiss they’d shared.
But it was there. Unsaid. Simmering in the air between them.
“Well, that makes it okay then,” Rafe muttered.
“Yeah, were you planning on marrying Katie when you guys met? I don’t think so.” Lucas set his glass down and walked across the room to stand in front of Rafe. “I’m going to make sure Dave understands what stealing from a King means. And you’re not going to talk me out of it.”
“See?” Sean asked. “This is why I gave up trying to reason with either of you.”
“Stay out of it, Sean,” Lucas warned.
“Why the hell should I?” He stood up, too, and gave Lucas a hard stare. “You’re not the only one Dave Clancy screwed. All three of us own the company. All three of us took a hit when he worked us over. But you are the only one acting like an ass about it.”
Lucas bit down on his temper. Arguing with Rafe and Sean was pointless. They’d never understand why this was important to him. How could they? The three of them hadn’t grown up together—none of Ben King’s sons had—except for the summers all of them spent with Ben every year. And when those idyllic summers were over, Lucas went home to a woman who was constantly trusting the wrong men, only to have them break her heart.
Lucas had grown up with betrayal. He’d watched it happen to his mother over and over again and had finally realized that the only thing that really mattered in life was trust. Being able to trust those closest to you was priceless.
And no matter how angry he might be with his brothers, or them with him, he knew that they would be there for him, no matter what. For a man like Lucas, that was a gift beyond anything he could imagine.
The Kings stood together. No matter what.
It wasn’t until two nights later that Rose appeared at Lucas’s house. He saw her pull into the driveway and fought down a rush of expectation that he didn’t want to either feel or acknowledge.
But it was damned hard to deny that he’d missed her. He hadn’t seen her until now because she’d had standing cooking lessons to honor. She hadn’t said with whom. It hadn’t been with Kathy Robertson next door, though, and knowing that, Lucas had tortured himself, wondering if she was alone with some other guy. Cooking. Laughing. Talking.
Which was ridiculous, he knew. Why the hell should he care if she was at another man’s house, spending time alone with him? She didn’t belong to Lucas. They weren’t a damn couple. She was, simply, a handy weapon he was preparing to wield.
And yet, he looked out the window and watched her lean into that silly van of hers with the skillet on the roof. His gaze locked on the curve of her behind and his groin tightened painfully. The ache of wanting her was stronger than ever.
Which should only help with the seduction plans, right?
When she straightened up and headed for the house, Lucas walked to the front door. He opened it and stood on the porch, waiting for her as she neared. “Hi.”
“Hi, yourself,” he said, coming down the steps to take the heavy, cast-iron frying pan from her. “Why are you bringing your own pans? I’ve got plenty here.”
“Ah, but you don’t have a cast-iron skillet, and tonight, we need one.”
They were stopped beneath the front porch light. Out on Pacific Coast Highway, cars streamed by, and on the sidewalk, a solitary woman walked a poodle so small it hardly qualified as a real dog.
But the rest of the world might as well have dropped away for all Lucas cared. His gaze was fixed only on Rose. Her eyes were bright, her lips curved into a smile and her long blond hair was loose around her shoulders. It was the first time he’d seen that thick mass free of the ponytail she usually wore and his hands itched to touch it. He wanted to wrap her hair around his hand and pull her in tight for a long, slow, deep kiss that would make the first one they’d shared look like a peck on the cheek.
He took a deep breath of the cold night air to try to dispel some of the heat charging through him. She got to him so fast and so completely, it kept catching him off guard, filling his mind with images that were designed to tempt and taunt him. Her scent drifted to him, and Lucas’s body hardened to the point of pain. In another minute, he’d be lucky to be able to walk to the kitchen.
If he wasn’t careful, he might end up caught in his own trap. So to prove he was still in charge here, he pushed aside the urges rising within and forced himself to ask, “What are you planning for tonight, anyway?”
She looked a little startled at his gruff tone and he warned himself to dial it back. A second later, she edged past him into the house and headed for the kitchen without answering his question.
He knew what his plans would entail, but he didn’t think she’d agree. At least, not yet. But soon, he promised himself as he turned and followed her into the house. His gaze locked on her retreating form, he repeated that vow silently.
Very soon.
“It’s a surprise,” she called back over her shoulder.
Lucas winced as he walked after her. He’d had enough surprises already, up to and including just how deeply he was being drawn into this little payback scheme. Many more surprises—without a little relief—and he’d be permanently in pain.