“Is everything okay?”
Lukas let out a sigh. “Ash… is complicated.”
“You don’t have to tell me anything that’s personal.”
Lukas put his hand on my knee and gave it a gentle squeeze. A secret hope that he was always this tactile unfurled in my chest. I could count the number of hugs I got a year on one hand. I’d never admit it to Yvette, but her hugs were the highlight of my year.
“Ash made a pass at me the other day.”
“But he’s so young.” I tried to keep my eyes from turning into saucers, but I felt them widen anyway.
“Young, and not my type even if he were a more acceptable age. And he’s Leo’s brother.”
“Were you and Leo close?”
“We were family in all the ways that mattered. He kept Ash away from the industry, so I didn’t know him that well when Leo died. But he’s like my little brother.”
“Is he going to be okay?”
Lukas sighed again. “Yeah. He was mad that I was ignoring his texts. Not like he hadn’t been ignoring mine for the past few days or anything. But he’s still my personal assistant, and he had some things he needed to run by me.”
“I’m sorry you’re going through a rough patch with him. I’m sure things will smooth over soon.”
Lukas’s mouth twisted in a pained smile. “Three seconds into agreeing to go on a date with me and there’s already drama. Are you sure you want to go after all? My life can be a little crazy sometimes.”
“We’ll be a good pair then because my life seldom is.”
He squeezed my knee again with gentle pressure. “It’s all about balance.”
Heat flushed into my cheeks again as I gathered the courage to say what was on my mind. “So, how slow is slow?”
“We go on a date. We hold hands. We absolutely kiss again, and after that, we just take it moment by moment. Is that okay?”
“It’s more than okay. It’s perfect.”
EIGHTEEN
LUKAS
I hatedthat Ash was mad at me, but I also wasn’t about to let his tantrum run my life. His feelings were hurt, his ego bruised, but there was nothing I could do about that. Well, almost nothing. I still went ahead and scheduled the shoot with both Jax and Blue. Jax currently sat across from me at my kitchen table where I’d been sitting with my laptop as I cranked out some admin stuff while I tried to kill time before my date with Sawyer.
Sawyer was the first man who’d caught my interest in a long time. I’d spent the last couple of years behind the camera and out of the dating scene. Most of my exes were in the industry since while I was a performer, I’d found it hard to date men who weren’t. Either because of their hang ups, or my own.
“Out with it, Jax,” I said, finally closing my laptop and pushing it to the side.
He had walked in a few minutes ago and made himself at home. Poured himself a cup of coffee and scratched Lara while I worked and then sat down and waited.
“What’s the guy like?” Jax asked. “The one who got Asher so pissy and jealous.”
I leaned back and folded my arms over my chest. “That’s not what I expected you to ask.”
Jax took a sip of his coffee. “Well, you’ve been single for years. You don’t socialize beyond work-related tasks and then suddenly you have this new guy coming around all the time. And he’s not the talent. And then suddenly Asher is all bent out of shape because he saw the two of you kissing.”
On one level, I felt bad for Ash. He’d been through a lot in his life, and the past couple of years were no exception. But that didn’t stop me from rolling my eyes at the memory of his hissy fit.
“He did it to himself, you know. I’d specifically blocked out that segment of time for my meeting with Sawyer.”
“Meeting? You’ve never kissed me in our meetings.” Jax pretended to be offended, but I saw the twinkle in his eyes. He seemed genuinely happy for me, which was a nice switch from the vitriol that had been spewed at me by Ash.
