Page 56 of Empowered
“You have no idea what you’re getting into here, kid,” Lucas said, never once taking his blue eyes off Sarah’s shocked face. “This woman is nothing but trouble.”
“Um…”
Lucas barely glanced at the younger man before moving to sit on him. The guy took the hint. Within two more seconds, Sarah’s would-be prince scrambled off the stool and took his chances elsewhere.
Sarah wanted to say something. Anything. Yell at him. Scream in his face. Tell him to mind his own fucking business for once in his God thrice-damned life. But she was too busy making sense of the evening to immediately lash out at him. Ah, yes, there was his bodyguard now, hovering a few paces behind them, keeping watch over the increasingly drunk patrons.He didn’t… he did, didn’t he?Sarah didn’t have to ask what was going on to realize Lucas had sent word for nobody to mess with his woman. That’s why everyone was willing to talk to her until they recognized her.“That’s Blackbourne’s girl,”the room practically screamed.“Touch her and he’ll kick your ass. You don’t mess with another man’s woman, no matter how much she makes you think she wants you. Maybe she does, man, but you don’t fucking dare.”
So she did have a sign hanging over her head. A sign that said“Property of Lucas Blackbourne. Fuck only if you want to lose your life.”
Sarah swallowed the rage building in her throat. “The fuck are you doing here?”
He leaned against the counter, his bespoke suit fitting so well on his broad body that Sarah would become enthralled if she didn’t watch herself.Remember, we hate this guy.Easy enough to think when the man wasn’t in the room with her. But when Lucas Blackbourne put up that protective shield around them, the only thing Sarah could think about was how much she wanted to curl up in his arms and listen to his heart beat in his strong chest.
No. He was a liar. A cheater. The type of man she wanted to stay far away from outside of one-night stands she refused to regret.
“I should ask you the same thing.” His voice was obnoxiously soft. It was the kind of tone Nigel would take with her, not the voice of a man who wanted to bang her brains out. “What are you doing, Sarah?”
“None of your damn business. Leave me the hell alone.”
The bartender approached to ask if Lucas wanted something to drink. He shook his head so curtly that the woman had no choice but to retreat to the other side of the bar for the remainder of the private conversation. “I’m in town because of you. I heard you were heading up this way and knew you were coming here to make mistakes.”
“So what if I am?” Sarah snapped. “I’m not yours. I do as I please.”
“You sure do, Angel.”
He was fucking with her, wasn’t he? He would. He recognized Sarah in her Angel persona. Knew what it meant, what she intended. She was dressed to kill and looking for hot sex. Not with him, no. He didn’t get this anymore. He lost the privilege of hooking up with SarahorAngel when he tried to get into her head instead of her body.I can’t forget him standing there, practically naked, saying he wassorry. What kind of narcissist pulled that bullshit? A man named Lucas Blackbourne, that was who.
“Don’t call me that.”
“Would you rather I call you Sarah in a place like this?”
‘No. Don’t call me anything.”
“I have to call you something. You don’t seem like the kind of woman who wants to be called baby.”
“Rather stick a knife in my ear.” Sarah secured her wallet in her coat pocket and attempted to slip away. A stiff hand covertly grabbed her arm and held her in place.
“Spare me a few minutes. We need to talk.”
Oh, sure. They needed to talk. About many things, Sarah supposed. Like how he had a kid he never thought to tell her about. But no. He wanted to talk aboutherlife, didn’t he? Or maybe “talk” about how everything was a huge misunderstanding and she simply needed to give him another chance. Is that what he wanted?I bet he’d love that. Asshole.
“Go to hell.”
“Suppose I deserve that.” Even so, he did not relent his grip on her. “I went poking into things I shouldn’t have. To be fair, I didn’t expect to find something as… intense as that.”
“Yeah, well, now you know. What are you going to do? Use that information to blackmail me into being your lover? Because it won’t work. I don’t care who you tell. Seriously. Tell the whole fucking world. I’m not going to let you hold that over my head.”
“Why in the world would I tell anyone?”
“Oh, I dunno. The fact that you didn’t have a problem with sticking your nose in my ass to begin with?”
“Like I said, I didn’t think it would be that dark.”
Dark.Because what Sarah needed was confirmation that her shit wasdark.
“Let’s not do this here. Let’s go somewhere else. Doesn’t have to be a hotel. We can go to a café, a restaurant…”
“Fuck you. I’m not going anywhere with you.” She looked down at his hand. “Let me go. I don’t care if your bodyguard bullied everyone into staying away from me. You can’t hold me hostage. I’m not your possession.”
