Watching them like this, I can picture them together.Lucky is doing most of the talking, his trademark smirk in place, while Sterling sips on champagne.
All of a sudden, his gaze shifts, meeting mine in an instant, holding as Lucky leans in to say something in his ear.Sterling licks his lips, and I flush from head to toe.
I have to know.
I stride over, my pulse racing, letting the tart taste of the cocktail fuel me.
“Ask, and she will appear,” Lucky says, pulling me in for a kiss that makes my knees weak.
“Let her breathe, Lachlan.”
Lucky complies, looking a little smug.“Couldn’t help myself.”
Sterling unbuttons his jacket with one hand.It’s effortlessly charming.“I think you could, if you were properly motivated.”
I have no idea what is happening right now, but if it gets any hotter in here, I’ll catch on fire.
Maybe I should go, and I would, except Sterling turns those endless blue eyes on me, dark enough to be the night sky itself, and my legs won’t move.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you here tonight.You usually hate these things.”
“Still do,” he replies, proving nothing has changed.“I came because I knew you’d be here.”
“I …” When the rest of my words dry up, I swallow the ash with my drink.Come on, confidence.“Here I thought, you were only here because you were working.”
His eyes cut across the floor, tracking someone or something intensely.
“Wait, are you working right now?”
Sterling says nothing, but as he slides one hand into his pocket, I catch it—the slightest flicker of a smile.
He is.He’s working.I knew it.
“Claire Westlin has been particularly difficult to get an interview with.In my experience, that’s an indication of fear.”
I find the airline COO a few feet away, alone with an empty glass.She’s tall and statuesque, with an air of detachment, but Sterling’s wrong.
“She doesn’t want to talk to you because you’re intimidating, not because she’s hiding something.Lucky, go talk to her; show him he’s being ridiculous.”
Lucky smiles at Sterling while kissing my cheek.“Happy to.”
We both watch him walk over.
“Does he always do what you tell him?”Sterling asks, his voice low.
“Yes, he’s good like that.”
“I remember.”
A shiver rolls down my spine.
“What about you, Mia?Are you good?Would you do what I told you?”
It’s getting difficult to breathe.My pulse is fluttering in my throat.
Yes, my heart whispers.
My body agrees.
