His dark brown hair is slightly damp, as though he’s just gotten out of the shower or been rained on. Since it’s clear today, my money’s on the shower. A dark gray button-down shirt and black slacks add an austere harshness to his presence.
He smells fresh and clean with a hint of soap, and my heart picks up its tempo as liquid warmth pulses through me. I don’t understand why something as ordinary as soap can smell so incredible on him…and turn me on. My hands curl into fists so I don’t do something stupid
like bury my nose into the crook of his neck and inhale.
Drew cocks his head. “Do we know you?” The tone is mild, but there’s something underneath that isn’t.
“You don’t.” Standing behind me, Lucas rests his hand on my nape, and my entire body prickles with needle-sharp awareness. “But Ava does, and I say she won’t be going to England or anywhere else with you.”
Drew stands up, his eyes on Lucas. “Ava, are you actually friends with this person?”
How I want to say, “No, throw him out,” but I know better. Lucas isn’t the type to just let people boss—or toss—him around, and he has means and connections. Google says that his half-sister is on a first-name basis with the ambassador of Japan and often entertains equally important people. He could probably get all of us deported just for embarrassing him.
“I knew him back in the States,” I say neutrally.
Drew narrows his eyes. Hostility is positively pouring off him. “Is that so?”
Lucas arches the eyebrow, then dismisses Drew like he’s a candy wrapper. “Ava, we didn’t finish our earlier conversation.”
Is he serious? I’m about to tell him there’s no way we can continue the conversation unless I have a lobotomy, but his hand tenses around the back of my neck. Not forcefully enough to hurt, but enough to admonish.
“We can either talk here or someplace more private.”
I sigh. “More private.”
“Good choice,” he murmurs so only I can hear him. The hand slides down to my back, creating a trail of fire.
I get up. “Drew, I have to go. Tell Bennie I’ll see him at home.”
“Ava, pet.” He’s still looking daggers at Lucas. “You needn’t talk to anybody you don’t want.”
“It’s all right.” I give him a quick hug, feeling Lucas’s scorching gaze on us. “I’ll see you later, Drew.”
Chapter Nine
Lucas
Taxis are everywhere in Japan. I hail one and instruct the driver to take us to the luxury hotel the Centurion Concierge booked for this impromptu stay. I can sense Ava glaring at me in the twilight of the cab’s backseat.
“I said someplace private, not your hotel room.” Her voice is low but no less forceful for it.
“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to.” I give her a cool stare. “I never did anything you didn’t beg for.”
Her cheeks flush. “Because you never told me the truth.”
“Ava.”
She glances at the driver. “Not right now.”
“He won’t understand.”
She snorts. “Some drivers speak English surprisingly well.”
I frown. That may be true; our cabbie understood me when I told him where to go. I have no desire to give somebody an earful of our history. Making the tabloid headlines is Elliot’s hobby, not mine.
The lights from the night streets illuminate her profile. I wouldn’t say she’s classically beautiful. Her nose is a little bit too upturned and her chin is a little too pointed, with a hint of the stubbornness that rivals that of a singularly cantankerous mule. But somehow her features come together to create an arresting façade. Her eyelids are at half-mast now, mostly hidden by the long lashes. Although there’s tightness in her mouth, her bee-stung lips look so damn soft. I run my thumb along the side of my index finger, wishing it was her lower lip I was touching instead.
With a considerable effort I tear my gaze from her face.