56. Kian

56

KIAN

D espite Lorelei's insistence that she's not staying, she doesn't make much of an attempt to leave my apartment.

After our little session on my desk, she disappears to make the most of my bathroom and all her new hair products.

When she emerges over an hour later, she's dressed and looking more like the Lorelei I've come to know. I'm sure she's about to announce that she's heading home, or more so to Tate's. But as soon as she sees that I'm preparing lunch, she hops up onto one of the stools at my kitchen counter and watches me work.

"Hungry, Temptress?" I ask, taking in her freshly curled hair.

I've no idea what she's done with all those products, but it looks really fucking good.

"Like you wouldn't believe," she says, her eyes dropping to my still-naked chest.

Sure, I could have put a shirt on at any point in the last few hours, but why should I when I know she isn't going to be able to resist checking me out?

"Oh, I would. Did you like my office?"

Her cheeks blaze red. "Wonderful. I'm sure you…come to very good conclusions in there."

I smirk. "None better than today."

She shakes her head.

"Coffee?" I offer. I'd already made her one and left it on the nightstand while she was showering, but I already know she's going to want more.

"I can make it," she says, hopping down and making her way to my machine.

And just like that, the dynamic between us changes again as we work together in my kitchen like…like a real couple.

"What?" she asks when she catches me watching her instead of tending to our lunch.

"Nothing. You just…look right at home here."

"Don't get used to it. Getting you a coffee regularly at work is one thing; I'm not extending those privileges to your personal life."

"What about if I pay you in orgasms?"

Her chin drops at my suggestion.

"I can see you considering it."

"I am not. I?—"

"Tell me that someone else has made you come harder than me?" I ask confidently. Although I must admit, I brace myself, ready for her attack.

She knows how violently I react to the thought of her with other men. She often uses it when she wants to make a point. This would be the perfect time to poke that particular button of mine.

But to my surprise, she goes with the truth. "I can't."

The widest smile spreads across my lips, and I puff my chest out like an asshole.

"Knew it."

She shakes her head before returning to her seat with both of our coffees, seeing as I'm nearly done with our sandwiches.

"Here you go," I say, sliding a plate in front of her.

"Money, good looks, a passable personality, can cook. You really have it all, huh?"

"You forgot smart and fucks like a god."

"Silly me," she mutters as she lifts her sandwich to her mouth and takes a bite. "Mmm, that's good," she mumbles. "So, what do you usually do on a Saturday?"

"Usually, I hit the gym first thing. Then I might do some work or spend the afternoon with family."

"Friends?" she asks.

"I've got a few, yeah. Nothing like what you have with Tate, though." I rub the back of my neck, nervous about my next confession. "My brothers are my ride and die. Always have been."

"Aw, that's cute."

"I'm not cute, Lorelei."

"You can be, every now and then. Not very often, though."

"I never really connected with anyone else. Not on that kind of level, anyway."

"I get it. What Tate and I have is special. Sisters from different misters."

"Is your father as bad as hers?"

Lorelei freezes. It's not a surprise; she gets hella awkward every time family or her former years are brought up.

I want to know, though. I want to learn more about her and why she is the way she is, and I think that her past holds the key to a lot of that.

"I don't know who my father is," she confesses after a few silent seconds.

"Oh, okay. So there's a good chance he could be worse, then. Probably for the best you don't know him."

"Yeah," she muses, deep in thought, letting me know that this is a subject she's thought about a lot over the years.

"What about your mom?"

"Do we have to do this?" she asks, abandoning her sandwich on her plate as if she's just totally lost her appetite.

"No, we don't have to. I was just curious about your life before becoming an employee at Callahan Enterprises."

She hangs her head and lets out a long sigh.

"My life was shit until the day I started at college and met Tate. Nothing before that day—aside from my brothers being born—is worthy of being discussed. I try not to think about it, let alone talk about it."

"Okay," I state before biting my sandwich.

She looks over and narrows her eyes in suspicion.

"Okay? That's it?"

"Yeah. Why? Is that the wrong answer?"

"N-no. I just…I wasn't expecting you to drop it that easily."

"You'll tell me when you're ready," I reply confidently.

"Okay, so afternoon with family, and then the evening on a date with a celebrity or socialite?"

"I might attend an event?—"

"With said date," Lorelei adds bitterly.

Joy lights me up inside that she gets just as jealous as I do.

"I don't date every weekend. And sometimes I go to events alone."

"Bullshit," she coughs, making me chuckle.

"No, really. Sometimes I can't deal with the bullshit of having someone else to worry about."

"Lovely," she mutters.

"I don't need to tell you that most of them are hard work and demanding."

"Demanding?" she asks, raising her brows. "I've no idea how you cope, dealing with someone demanding."

"Okay, yeah. Laugh it up."

"Just saying," she mutters, pulling a piece of cheese from inside her sandwich.

"I'm tired of the bullshit. I want…honestly, I don't know what I want. A change, I guess. Something less…superficial."

"Are you trying to tell me that you're ready for a grown-up relationship?"

"Maybe. No. Yes. I don't know."

She studies me for a beat before continuing to dissect her sandwich and eat the contents.

"I know everyone looks at the lives we live and thinks we have it all. And on the face of it, sure, we do. But the money, the careers, the…fame...it's not always worth it."

"I get that." I glance at her. "Okay, I'm learning that now by getting to know you."

"I know what you used to think of me. You made it more than clear."

"It was a naive stereotype I wish I could take back."

"Is that why you're scared to talk about your past? Because you think I'll put you in a box?"

She shrugs, not as quick to respond now that I've turned this back around on her.

"Maybe."

"I don't care about your past, or what happened before we met, Lorelei. I just want to know how it made you…well, you."

"My past…it…it made me the independent, fierce woman that I am today. It taught me my worth and what I should and shouldn't put up with from other people. Men, specifically."

"Good. That's good. You shouldn't settle for any less than you deserve."

"Like fake dating a millionaire."

"I quirk a brow. Millionaire?"

She drops her eyes to the counter. "I don't care about your money, Kian."

"I know you don't, and I love that about you. You're not interested in me for any of the same reasons any of the others ever have been."

"Who says I'm interested at all?"

"The wet patch on my desk and your scent on my fingers sure say a lot."

"You're a nightmare."

"So, what did you want to do with your Saturday?" I ask, hoping like hell she doesn't ask me to take her somewhere and not bring her back.

"Not really feeling like doing anything."

"Netflix and chill?" I ask.

"Have you ever asked anyone to do that before?"

"Nope."

"And you know what it means?"

"Of course I do. Why the hell do you think I'm asking."

"What did you want to watch?"

"Don't give a shit. I don't watch TV. I just want the chill part."

"You don't watch TV?"

"Not really, no."

Horrified, she lists a whole host of shows, most of which I've heard of but never seen.

"You can keep going, if you like, but the answer will stay the same. I'll watch football if I can't go to Kieran's game, and the highlights, maybe. But that's about it."

"And yet," she looks over her shoulder, "you have a bazillion-inch TV."

"It's not a bazillion inches," I argue.

"Whatever. It's stupidly big considering it's never on."

"Football is killer on it."

"Well, that's okay then."

"Speaking of TV. Did your brother play last night?"

"No. Thankfully, they're on a bye week. Kieran is at home again tomorrow, right?"

"Yep. We're going."

She rears back.

"We are?"

"You enjoyed it last week, didn't you?"

"Y-yeah, but?—"

"Tate's going," I add as a way of convincing her.

"Shit, Tate," she says, hopping up from her stool and sprinting toward my bedroom.

"Is that a yes to the game?" I call after her with a laugh.

B y the time Lorelei returns after her long-ass call with her best friend, I'm on the couch with Netflix on, waiting for her to join me.

"Tell me you have been scrolling for something to watch the whole time I was gone," she says before flopping down on the couch beside me.

"Nope," I say, holding up my cell. "Been working and waiting. Your choice."

"Only because you have no idea what anything is?"

"I'm aware…of some of it. I just didn't want to watch something you've seen before."

"Sure."

Snatching the remote from beside me, she scrolls through the recently released list and selects some docuseries.

"Why this one?"

"Haven't seen it. Tate said it's good. Plus, something tells me that we're not going to be fully focused, and I don't want to ruin something I do want to watch."

"Not going to be focused? I thought you were still in denial about this," I say, gesturing between us.

"What's a few more days of enjoying ourselves? Monday will be here before we know it."

A wide smile spreads across my face.

"We get to fuck more?" I ask simply.

"Depends on how much you annoy me."

"As if you'd say no."

"I might," she argues. "Now shush, I want to watch this."

"You pretty much just told me that you didn't."

"Yeah, well, I want to at least try before you distract me with your filthy ways."

"You love my filthy ways."

"Maybe, maybe not."

Throwing my cell to the other end of the couch, I reach for Lorelei instead, tugging her beside me so we can snuggle up together as the opening credits come to an end.

"I'm experiencing a lot of firsts with you, Temptress."

I can't see her, but something tells me that she's smiling. I know that I am.

With my arm locked around her waist and her body tucked up against mine, we embark on my first Netflix series.

Despite her not believing we'd actually watch, it's really interesting and I find myself sucked in after only fifteen minutes. I'm not sure Lorelei can say the same though, because sometime before the first episode is done, her breathing evens out and her body relaxes even more.

Lifting my head, I press a kiss on her shoulder and whisper, "I like having you here a little too much, Temptress."