Page 55 of A Win-Win Situation

"Yeah?" he says, his arm wrapping around my waist as he tugs me closer to him, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. "I don’t like you much today either." I feel a shiver run down my spine as his breath tickles my ear. I push him away, but he only chuckles in response.

The car ride is quiet, and I feel the tension between us growing with every passing minute. This time however, there’s another type of tension mingling in the air as well.

I stare out the window, trying to distract myself from the uncomfortable situation. I’ve caught him glancing at me a few times, although I'm sure he has noticed my own glances as well. Until I impulsively blurt out, "We need a safeword."

What the hell am I saying?

Lucas turns to me with a raised eyebrow, looking intrigued by my sudden suggestion and amusement glimmers in his eyes before he adopts his usual stern gaze again.

"Continue."

"Let’s say we’re talking to someone and suddenly we don’t know what to say, we use the safeword for the other to jump in and save the situation."

"Wouldn’t it be obvious to know where to jump in?"

He has a point. If we’re next to each other, then we’ll probably know if the other is struggling.

I pause for a moment, thinking. "Okay, what about when you are talking to someone else and I need you? What then?"

"Okay, we can have a safeword if you need it. What do you want it to be?" he asks curiously.

Well, I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. I ponder for a moment, trying to come up with a suitable word. I want it to be something natural and discreet, like a fruit or something common.

After a brief pause, I smile as an idea comes to mind.

"How about 'pineapple?’" I casually suggest.

Lucas looks at me with furrowed eyebrows, an expression that I interpret as a silent "no."

"Okay, then what about 'ocean?’" I press on.

"Leora, we live on the French Riviera; the wordoceanwill pop up quite often." He states in a tone that makes me feel utterly ridiculous, but to my dismay, he has a point.

"Then you come up with one if you’re so smart," I say a little defensively, crossing my arms over my chest.

"How about 'coconut’?"

I scrunch my nose, considering his suggestion.

"You like 'coconut' but dislike 'pineapple’?"

He stays silent for a few beats, lost in thought, and I watch him. When he’s focused, he scrunches his forehead and a little wrinkle appears between his eyebrows. Before I can stop myself, my lips turn up. He’s adorable.

A knowing smirk spreads across his lips. He watches me, clearly happy with what he came up with.

"How about 'amaretto' then?" he suggests.

"Amaretto it is," I agree, rolling my eyes.

TWENTY-ONE

LUCAS

"Amaretto."

We arrived at Michel's lavish estate merely twenty minutes ago, and Leora has already downed two Mimosas and used our safeword about five times. I try to hide my chuckle every time because seeing her in a panic is one of the cutest things I've seen. Even cuter than her scrunching up her nose when she disagrees with something I’ve said. It’s a big problem because I’m still pissed off about our argument and I can’t go around thinking she’s cute. It doesn’t make sense. I need to remember her being annoying, loud, and stubborn.

Emphasis on the loud and stubborn.

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