Divided Interests Read online

  A creaking sound came from behind me. Oh my goodness. The ghost was coming for me! I turned and swung the bat, making contact with something hard.

  “Ouch! What in the fuck!”

  I dropped the bat, stunned. That wasn’t a woman’s voice. “Lucas?” I said, desperately trying to find the light switch. When I flicked it on, Lucas was bent over, moaning in pain.

  “Oh my God! Oh my God! I hit you with the bat! I’m so sorry! Are you bleeding?”

  He stood up, his expression dazed and confused. “What’s going on?”

  “Wait, did I hit you?”

  “No, a cat scratched the living shit out of my chest when you hit the damn doorframe. By the way, you just missed hitting me with that thing, you freak.”

  From behind me there was a meow. I turned to find Oreo sitting on the table, cleaning herself. She looked up, and I swore she smirked at Lucas. I was going to really like this cat, I had decided, and hoped she didn’t belong to anyone.

  “The cat jumped on you?”

  He sighed as he rubbed his chest.

  “Yes. You probably scared her.”

  His voice sounded like he was talking slower. Like it took him a bit of concentration to speak.

  “Why are you walking around in the dark with a baseball bat, Paige?”

  “I heard a noise. When I came down here, I saw a shadow in the corner right there. It’s okay, though. I think it was just Mary.”

  “Mary? Who the hell is Mary?”

  “Mary, the ghost.”

  He blinked at me, repeatedly. A blank look on his face. “Wait, you really think the house is haunted?”

  I laughed. “I don’t think, I know. William told me it was. Apparently, there was a family who lived in a cabin that was almost in the same exact spot as the house. Their youngest daughter Mary was riding on her horse and tried to jump a small fence. She fell and got hurt. She laid in her room for weeks, not able to wake up. Then she caught a fever and died. William said she can’t cross over because she’s waiting for her fiancé to come back home for her.”

  Lucas shook his head and then leaned against the counter, almost like he was exhausted. Then he scrubbed his hands down his face and mumbled something about things not going to be easy now.

  “Wait a minute, where were you coming from when the cat clawed you? Did you go out?”

  “Yeah. Milo invited me out with a few guys. We were supposed to go out last night but ended up doing it tonight. We grabbed some beer at the brewery and just hung out and talked. Back to the more pressing details, you’re not afraid of the house being haunted?”

  I laughed. “No. Why, are you?”

  He glared at me. “No.”

  His response was quick and sharp. Then he let his gaze wander down my body like he had this morning.

  “Son-of-a-bitch, you’re wearing those pajamas again.”

  With a quick look down at my clothes, I smiled before peeking back up at him. “Yes, because they are my pajamas, and it’s the middle of the night.”

  His eyes looked down my body greedily this time, and it instantly gave me goosebumps. This time I wasn’t scared; I was turned on. The way he was looking at me warmed all the important parts.

  I felt my nipples tighten as his gaze heated up. He licked his lips and then smirked as he said, “What about me? Are you afraid of me?”

  With a scoff, I replied, “Why would I be afraid of you, Lucas?”

  He took a few steps toward me. I took a few away until I was backed up against the counter.

  When he stopped in front of me, I smelled a hint of alcohol. His eyes looked clear, but he was certainly acting a bit tipsy.

  “How much did you have to drink?” I asked, assuming that’s why he’d been talking slowly a few moments ago.

  He smiled, and it made my stomach dip. It was his sexy, carefree smile. The one he didn’t give often, but when he did, it made my insides clench with anticipation. The silky fabric of my shirt rubbed against my hard nipples and I had to force myself not to move.

  “A lot.”

  “Really?” I asked. But he must have, because sober Lucas wouldn’t be looking at me like this. Sober Lucas wanted me gone, like yesterday.

  He looked down at my mouth and licked his lips once again. I swallowed hard and went to speak, but he spoke first. And what he said nearly made my knees give out.

  “I want to touch you.”

  “Um…”

  Yes. That was my response. Um.

  What in the living hell?

  Then I heard my response, and instantly wanted to swallow myself whole and disappear. “Where?”

  Dear Lord. Where? Paige, you are so out of practice. Now is the time to stop this nonsense. He is drunk and probably thinks you’re Bianca.

  “Is that a yes?” he asked, his words ever-so-slightly slurred. Was he drunk from alcohol or desire? I couldn’t deny I wanted it to be from desire.

  Say no. Say no. He thinks you are someone else, and he is clearly drunk.

  When I didn’t say anything, Lucas rubbed his thumb over my hardened nipple. I gasped, then pressed my mouth in a tight line.

  “Christ, Paige. You’re so fucking sexy.”

  Sooo, clearly he knows it’s me and not his ex. Okay. Now, I really need to stop this.

  “Thank you?”

  I closed my eyes and groaned inwardly. It had come out like a damn question. I had meant to say, ‘Lucas, stop touching me. You’re drunk. Go to bed.’ Instead, when he pinched my nipple, I moaned in utter delight because it felt damn good. And I was horny. And Lucas was standing in front of me looking utterly delicious, and my mind couldn’t think straight around him.

  “You like that?” he asked before dipping his head down and pressing his mouth to mine.

  For a moment, I stood there, shocked. Lucas was kissing me…while pinching my nipple. And sweet mother of God, it felt really good. Really, really good.

  I put my hands on his chest and tried to will myself to push him away. Instead, I grabbed at his shirt and pulled him closer. He groaned and grabbed my leg, pulling it up so he could push his hard dick into my core.

  Gasping at the feel of him there, I slid my hands up his chest and pushed them into his hair. God, I’d forgotten what an amazing kisser he was. How lost in him I could get.

  He moved his hips, and I could confirm that he was indeed, not average. He pushed harder against me, and I snapped back to reality because sober Lucas would not be doing this. I knew that much. There was no way in hell. He acted like he couldn’t stand to be around me most of the time. I needed to stop this before things went too far. Drunk regrets are the worst kind of regrets.

  I broke the kiss, but he was still pushing against my core. Even in the darkness, I could see the desire in his eyes. Yeah, he was drunk.

  “Stop,” I whispered.

  Lucas instantly stopped. He looked into my eyes and didn’t say a word. Stumbling back, he stared at the ground.

  “You’ve been drinking, Lucas, and don’t know what you’re doing. If you were sober, you wouldn’t even have looked twice at me as you headed to your bedroom.”

  He brought his gaze back to meet mine. I wanted to be able to read his expression, but his eyes were void of all emotion, a drunken haze covering their usual luster. He swayed from side to side.

  “You should go to bed,” I said, looking down the hall that led to the master bedroom.

  “Is that what you want?” he asked. Suddenly he seemed perfectly fine.

  I nodded, but didn’t speak, because it wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to feel his hands on my body again. His tongue dancing with mine. His hard dick inside me.

  My hand came up to my mouth to stop me from saying anything more, and for a moment, he looked like he was going to speak. Then something on his face changed. He almost looked…mad?

  He laughed. “Damn, well, okay then. Goodnight.”

  I watched as he made his way down the hall. After steadying my breathing, I took a quick look around t
he kitchen and made sure all the windows and doors were locked. I heard a loud crash from Lucas’s room. With him drunk, I couldn’t just walk away and ignore it. I made my way to his bedroom. A random thought occurred. Had he driven his dad’s old truck while he had been drinking? I was totally going to lay into him for driving while drinking. I knocked on the door to his bedroom.

  “Lucas?”

  His bedroom door hadn’t been shut all the way, and it pushed open just enough for me to walk inside. I stepped into the bedroom and quietly called his name. I didn’t want to scare the hell out of him if the sound I heard was nothing. The shower was going and the door to the bathroom was wide open. All I could see was steam coming out of the doorway.

  “Shoot, what if he freaking fell?” I whispered. Part of me wanted to leave him there for what he had just done to me. The other part, the part that still cared slightly for him, knew I couldn’t. He hadn’t seemed all that drunk, but he had always been able to handle alcohol much better than me.

  I tiptoed to the bathroom and was about to call out his name when I heard moaning. I froze. My heart instantly hammered in my chest.

  “Oh God. Yeah, faster.”

  I looked behind me and then around the room like an idiot. Had he brought a girl home and was having sex with her in the shower? How in the world had I missed a woman coming into my own house?

  What an asshole! He was just coming on to me! Ugh! Men.

  I turned to leave, then froze when I heard my name.

  “Paige.”

  My heart dropped. He had said it in such a desperate, wanting manner. I swallowed hard and looked back into the bathroom.

  “That’s it, baby. Faster.”

  After picking my jaw off the floor, I peeked farther into the bathroom. Since the door was open, the mirror wasn’t fogged yet, and I had the perfect view of Lucas standing in the glass shower, one hand on the wall, the other jacking himself off.

  “Fuck. Faster. Paige, I’m going to come, baby.”

  My mind was telling me to turn and leave. This was wrong. I was invading Lucas’s privacy. But holy hell, he was calling out my name as he made himself come. In the shower. Drunk or not, it was hot, and my heart almost hammered out of my chest. My hands covered my mouth as I watched him fall over the edge. It was the hottest thing I’d ever seen, and I couldn’t tear my eyes from him.

  His body trembled as he came down from his orgasm. Then he let out a frustrated groan, pounded his fist against the tile wall and said, “That woman is going to fucking be the death of me.”

  I turned and rushed out of his room, down the hall, and then raced up the steps as quietly as I could. Oreo was hot on my trail.

  Once I got into my room, I shut and locked the door, then turned and leaned against it. I was completely out of breath and my pulse was racing. I’d never in my life felt my heart beat so hard in my chest. It drummed so loudly in my ears that it scared me for a quick moment.

  The vision of Lucas making himself come while saying my name replayed over and over in my mind. It wasn’t Bianca he was fantasizing about. It was me.

  Me! Holy mother of Jesus. How drunk had he been?

  I looked at my new cat. “I don’t know what to do with this information, Oreo.”

  She meowed.

  “What? What are you saying to me?”

  Another meow.

  “No. No. He was drunk. That’s all. He can’t even stand to be around me. Or, at least that was the case yesterday. He’s been so nice today, but I know it’s all a game. He’s playing me to get me out of the house. And tonight, he was drinking. He saw me in my skimpy PJs, and he acted like any man would. That’s it. That explains it. Men are…men. Plain and simple. He got turned on, played with my nipple and kissed me. Then I said no, he needed to release his…horniness or whatever, and that’s it. Simple as that. Doesn’t mean anything.”

  Oreo stared at me. “You agree, right?”

  This time she decided to keep her thoughts to herself.

  I rolled my eyes and decided I needed to push this out of my head and deal with it tomorrow. “Whatever. I’ll talk to Jen about it in the morning.”

  Pushing away tonight’s turn of events was easier said than done, and it wasn’t until four in the morning when I finally felt myself drift off to sleep.

  Jen stared at me, her mouth gaping, eyes wide. She went to speak, then snapped her mouth shut. Then tried again.

  Oreo rubbed my legs as I stood in the kitchen, patiently waiting for my friend to figure out how to use her words. The same kitchen that Lucas had touched me and kissed me in. By the time I had gotten up and come down this morning, Lucas had left. He’d left a note on the table saying he was going into Austin for work and would be back in a few hours. I had silently thanked God I didn’t see him because I had no idea how in the hell I would face him after last night. Did he remember anything? Remember touching me? Kissing me? Asking me if I was sure I wanted him to stop? Did he remember the shower? Him coming while he called out my name?

  Lord, I’m in a pickle. A freaking gigantic pickle.

  “He…nipple?”

  I nodded as I chewed on my lip.

  “Kissed you?”

  “Yep.”

  “Then the shower?”

  Another nod. “Do you see why I’m freaking out here? This is all your fault!”

  “My fault!” she gasped.

  “Yes! You told me to wear my sexiest pajamas. ‘Put your hair in pigtails! It will drive him nuts’ you said.”

  She covered her mouth and had the nerve to laugh.

  “Well, to be fair, it appears it did drive him nuts because he came on to you.”

  “When he was drunk! That doesn’t count.”

  “It doesn’t sound like he was that drunk if he could take care of business in the shower.”

  I sighed.

  Jen took a drink of her sweet tea and then took in a deep breath. “Okay, so what are you going to do about it?”

  “Nothing.”

  Her eyes widened. “Nothing? You’re going to pretend it didn’t happen? What if he remembers it?”

  I shrugged. “If he feels like he needs to talk about what happened, then he can approach me.”

  With narrowed eyes, she tilted her head to regard me. “You said you pushed him away when he kissed you.”

  “That’s right. I did.” I felt rather proud of myself. Lord knows my body wanted to be ravaged by the man in that moment, but I had stayed strong.

  “But he asked you if you were sure you wanted him to go to bed. How long after the kiss did you push him away?”

  I swallowed hard, then hoped like hell I was hiding my instant guilt.

  “Does it matter?”

  She leaned in closer and stared into my eyes. “Oh my gawd! You kissed him back!”

  I didn’t say anything.

  When she jumped up and down, I rolled my eyes. “You totally kissed him back. You didn’t tell me the whole truth. Spill it, Paige. Right now!”

  I sighed. “Ugh! Fine! When he kissed me, I placed my hands on his chest to push him away, but I sort of pulled him closer.”

  She gasped and sat down. Placing her chin in her hand, she said, “You whore! Go on!”

  I smiled slightly. “Well, I might have gotten caught up in the kiss because I slid my hands up to his hair.”

  She wiggled her brows. “Then what happened?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Liar.”

  I buried my face in my hands and moaned. “Shit! Fine! He lifted my leg and sort of, you know.”

  She smirked. “No, I don’t know. You’re going to have to explain this one to me, Paige. Heck, here’s a napkin and a pen, draw me a picture if you have to.”

  With a roll of my eyes, I exhaled, then told her. “Fine, he started grinding against me.”

  “Holy shit! Was he hard?”

  My face heated. “Yes. But it was for like thirty seconds and I came to my senses. I told him to stop, and he instantly did.”


  Jen held up her hands. “Wait. He stopped like right that instant, the moment you said stop.”

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  Her mouth dropped open and something in her eyes lit on fire. “He wasn’t drunk.”

  I laughed. “Yes, he was.”

  She shook her head. “No, he wasn’t.”

  “Jen, I watched him stumble. He smelled like alcohol. He swayed on his feet after we broke apart. A sober Lucas would not have said he wanted to touch me, then proceed to grind himself against me.”

  A knowing smile appeared on her face. “Then why did he leave at the crack ass of dawn? If he had been that drunk, he’d have dragged his ass out of bed and sat in here with aspirin and a cup of coffee. Instead, he gets up early and jets off to Austin? I’m not buying it.”

  “So just because he stopped when I told him to, it means he wasn’t drunk? Even drunk, I think Lucas would still respect when a woman tells him to stop.”

  “Sure, he would, after he nipped on your neck, or placed kisses along your jaw line, asking you if you were really sure you wanted him to stop. But you said stop, and he instantly stopped. He used the alcohol as an excuse to touch you, Paige.”

  I gulped down the breath that seemed to be stuck in my throat.

  “But…but he even admitted to drinking.”

  “So? Did he drive home last night? You and I both know Lucas wouldn’t have driven if he didn’t have his wits about him. Milo wouldn’t let him.”

  “His eyes looked glassy,” I said weakly.

  “From lust. He immediately went to his shower and jacked off, with you as the fantasy playing in his head. He wants you.” She said the last three words seductively.

  I rolled my eyes again. “No way. I’m not buying it.”

  The front door opened, and Jen and I both froze.

  “He’s home!” I whisper-shouted.

  “Act normal,” Jen advised, whispering herself.

  “So, I told Gene about your window problem. He can totally recommend someone.”

  Confusion swirled in my head. “What?” I asked, staring at my friend like she’d lost her mind.