Page 25 of Yanked (Frenched 1.50)
She nodded, licking her blood red lips. “Is that why he kissed me last night?”
Wrath like I’d never felt exploded inside me, and I nearly struck her pretty face. But something about her expression as she said it was off—or maybe it was the way she licked her lips a second time as she waited for my reaction. She’s lying.
“Bullshit.” I lifted my chin.
Jessica shrugged. “If I’d known about you, maybe I wouldn’t have done it. But he obviously didn’t want to tell me he had a girlfriend. I wonder why that is.”
“Because he doesn’t want you to know about his private life!” I snapped. “Maybe he knows you’re crazy.”
“I’m not crazy.” She turned to assess her reflection once more. “I just didn’t want to play his perverted sex games.” She cocked her head to one side. “Although I think I’ve changed my mind about that. I might be ready to give them another try. I’ve decided I don’t need to get married anyway.” She smiled slyly at me over her shoulder. “And Lucas is such a good fuck.”
Fury roared through me with the force of a freight train. Rushing past her, I stormed out of the bathroom and back into the bar, my entire body shaking with rage. I wanted to get Lucas and get out of there as fast as possible.
“Hey, there you are.” Lucas looked relieved to see me. Had he been nervous about Jessica and I being alone together? Maybe because he was worried she’d tell me something? The image of them kissing in his bedroom popped into my mind.
No. It’s not true. She was lying.
But I needed to hear it from him.
“Lucas, I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well. Would you mind if we went back to our room?”
For a second I thought he might try to convince me to stay, but he must have noticed the change in my demeanor or perhaps he saw the way my hands were gripping my purse. “OK.” He stood and addressed his friends. “Sorry, guys. We’re gonna head up.”
While he pulled some cash from his wallet, I flashed an apologetic smile at the group. “Sorry. I’m just really tired. Long day. Traveling.” The look of pity on Andrea’s face told me she probably knew what my problem actually was, but I avoided making eye contact with her. “But it was very nice meeting you.”
As soon as the money was on the table, I grabbed Lucas’s hand and pulled him out of the bar and through the lobby, refusing to look in the direction of the bathroom. When we reached the elevators, I punched the Up button and crossed my arms in front of my chest.
“Mia, what’s wrong?” Lucas took me by the shoulders and searched my face for clues. “Hey. Are you OK? Did Jessica upset you?”
Tears filled my eyes and I shook my head, not wanting to have a breakdown in the hotel lobby. “I’ll tell you upstairs.”
His brow furrowed, but he didn’t press me. When the elevator doors opened, he guided me in with a hand on my back and kept it there. At the eighth floor, we got out and I walked ahead of him. The moment we were in the room, I whirled around.
“Did you kiss Jessica last night?”
“What? No!” Lucas turned on the lights, and his face was wrinkled in disgust.
“She said you did. She said you told her that you’ll always love her and you kissed her.”
Lucas closed his eyes and exhaled. “God. I can’t believe her.” He went over to the bed, unbuttoned his coat and sat down. “She was upset last night because she’d had a big fight with her sister, and she was crying about how she ruins all her relationships and no one loves her and she’s going to die alone. I was trying to make her feel better but she twists things all around. She always has.”
“Did you kiss her or not?”
“No! Maybe I gave her a little peck on the cheek, but I didn’t kiss her.”
“You kissed her cheek?” My voice rose in outrage, as if he’d just admitted to licking her ass.
“I kiss everyone on the cheek, Mia!”
I had to admit he did. When he greeted people he knew, he always kissed them on the cheeks—it was a French thing, and I usually loved it. But not when it came to Jessica.
“I was saying goodbye,” he went on. “She went to bed early and I met a friend for a beer down the street. I called you when I was walking home, remember?”
He had called me, and we’d talked and laughed and he hadn’t said one thing about the fact that she was sleeping in his bed at that very moment. Feeling smug and gleeful about my surprise visit, I’d gone to sleep so happy, never imagining that he had the bigger secret. I couldn’t let this go.
“What about saying you’ll always love her?”
Lucas exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “She asked me if I’d ever really loved her and I said yes. But I didn’t say I’ll always love her. Maybe once upon a time, I did, but you can’t hold that against me, Mia. We were together for three years. I said a lot of things.”
