The Hunt for Summer (NSC Industries) (29 page)

“No, in fact scratch
that, I’ll pick some up on my way home instead.”

God damn it Lucas!
What the hell is wrong with you?

She swallowed and
nodded but kept her eyes trained on her tablet. “Is that all?” she asked and I
noticed the tightness in her voice but she swallowed again and looked up at me
with a smile plastered to her beautiful face.

I nodded simply. She
nodded in return then scurried out of my office and I knew she was hiding how
upset she was from me.

“You fucking prick,
Hunt.”

I couldn’t seem to
stop myself saying stuff to hurt her, but if I was honest, I was doing it in
attempt to rid her from my system.

It had been two
weeks since I had last seen her but she had been in my head for every damn second
of those two weeks and I was desperate to move on.

The way she had
sobbed over that… that
bastard
. It was unbelievable. How the hell, after
everything, she could mourn a man that had hurt her beyond comprehension was
just… damn fucking insane and I had actually wondered how she could even love
me after grieving for a man that would have seen me six foot under; along with
already putting her husband there.

I sighed when I
realised she hadn’t poured my coffee. “Re… Miss Summers. Coffee.”

She wasn’t that
efficient after all.

Chapter 33

Layla

Why the hell had I
said yes to Nate? Because it was a good regular income Lay, that’s why.

This was torture,
utter, utter agony and when he had asked for flowers for Erica, I think the
last remaining piece of my heart dropped into my lungs.

It hadn’t taken him
long to move on. I thought I had actually meant more to him than that, but
obviously he wasn’t as into me as he’d declared.

Then again, thinking
about it, his loving statements had been professed during our passionate
embraces.

He was just another
typical male; whisper words of love and grin whilst they open their legs.

Bloody stupid Lay,
bloody stupid.

Well, you know what
Layla Summers, you can do better girl and it’s time to show Mr Lucas fucking
Hunt exactly what he’s swapping for Erica bloody Tartness.

“Re… Miss Summers.
Coffee.” he shouted and I stood, inched my skirt a little over my hips and
smiled to myself as I swayed into his office.

I sauntered past him
and smirked when I realised I hadn’t taken his little tiny stupid espresso cup
from the cupboard. What a shame I had to bend to get in the cupboard.

So I bent, at the
waist, straight over. Oops, my skirt lifted up my thighs and gave him a glimpse
of my stocking tops.

Oh dear, how
unprofessional.

I scrunched up my
face as I heard a slight whimper from behind me and stood up, slowly smoothing
my skirt over my hips.

You are one wicked
woman Layla Summers.

I placed the minute,
don’t even bother, cup under the spout and pressed the button. Why he couldn’t
do this simple task was beyond me, but then again, he was of the male variety
so that explained everything.

As I waited for his
coffee to splutter out I approached his window and turned to Lucas. I had to
swallow back the laugh at his pale face as he eyed me curiously. “Ooh, it’s
really warm in here.”

 I huffed out a
breath as I grabbed the front of my blouse and wafted it, making sure my
nipples had the full effect of the cool air coming through the window.

I sank my teeth into
my bottom lip when Lucas dropped his gaze to my breasts and I sneakily pulled
the material taught against my breasts, showing him just how cool the air was
on my sensitive little nipples.

His own teeth sank
into his lip and he shifted slightly in his chair.

I decided to leave
him to suffer for a while as I swayed back over to the coffee and I slipped the
top button of my blouse open before I made my way over to Lucas.

“There you are, Mr
Hunt” I smiled as I bent forward to place his cup down and gave him an eyeful
down my open shirt.

Tart!

Dirty Tart.

Hell, yes!

***

“I’m off now Mr
Hunt.” I said through the intercom, not wanting to see the disgust he held for
me again.

It had been on his
face all day, his feelings for me had been sketched plainly on his face and I
could read every single thought that had filtered through his mind.

‘How could she
love a bastard like that?’

‘Sick bitch,
grieving for a monster’

‘Should never
have gone near the whore’

“Yeah.” Was all he
said. I rolled my eyes as I stood and slipped on my jacket then jumped when
Josh, the internal runner, scurried up to me with a huge, and I mean huge,
bunch of flowers.

I eyed him
questionably and he grinned his super white toothy smile at me. “For you, Miss
Summers” he declared as he passed them to me.

My brows pulled
together in confusion and my heart skipped as a small smile curved my lips and
I risked a quick glance in Lucas’s office.

Was this his
apology? Did he really still want me?

Josh raised a brow
at me. “If you open the card you’ll find out” he smirked as if he had read my
mind.

I smiled at him as I
slipped the card from the envelope.

Lay,

Think it’s about
time we got together.

I miss you honey.

Please ring me.

Tristan xxx

My heart sank. Not
Lucas after all then. I should have known really.

I smiled at Josh
“Just a friend. Do we have vases here?”

He nodded and
disappeared before returning with a wide clear glass urn full of water, needing
a large container, the urn was perfect and I quickly arranged the flowers and
placed them on the desk.

The red roses that
were included in the display reminded me of Ry. When he had first pursued me at
school he had placed a red rose on my desk every day for three weeks until I
relented and accepted his date.

I stroked a soft
petal and a small smile lifted my lips at the memory, before the pain sank in
again and I pushed it down my throat, forcing it back as I had done every day
since he died.

Josh gave my
expression a peculiar look and I smiled through my wet eyes. “I’m good.”

He tipped his head
at me and his face softened “Don’t usually see that expression from a woman
who’s just received a bunch like that.”

“I know,” I sighed
heavily “Just thoughts, that’s all.”

He winked cheekily
and skipped off back down the long corridor.

I picked up my heart
and ventured down the corridor, slowly and achingly. My life was falling to
pieces. I had lost Ry, lost a man who had loved me to the death, lost the man I
loved with more than just my heart and my best friend had been acting seriously
weird for the past week.

Anything else God
had forgotten to throw at me this month?

I pressed the button
on the elevator and as it arrived I realised I’d forgotten my bag. “Holy Hell”
I sighed as I spun round and ventured back down to my desk.

As I walked down the
corridor I could see Lucas at my desk and my brow furrowed as I watched him.

What was he doing?

My furrowed brow
lifted high when I watched him snip the heads off my flowers, one by one. The
way he snapped those scissors showed every inch of his enjoyment as he cut off
each bloom.

I leant against the
wall and continued to observe his behaviour.

He must have gone
crazy. No other explanation for it really.

I stood silent until
he had snipped off the last head and I saw his shoulders heave as he pulled in
a contented sigh.

“Feel better?”

He spun round so
quickly he had to palm the desk to stop himself from falling over.

His jaw dropped and
his throat bobbed manically as he swallowed.

“Uhh… hay fever.” He
declared suddenly and I pursed my lips and nodded slowly.

“Ahh, I see” I answered
as I made my way across the floor and picked up my bag from under the desk.

I didn’t say
anything else, my silence was sufferance enough as he regarded me warily.

As I got a third of
the way down the corridor he shouted something I didn’t catch and I turned back
to him. “Sorry, what?”

“Who… who are they
from?”

I did an excellent
job of hiding the satisfied smirk from my lips. “A friend” I answered vaguely
as I turned again and this time made it into the elevator successfully.

I couldn’t hold back
the grin as it travelled all the way down the 49 floors with me.

***

My Darkest Days
‘Porn Star dancing’
was blasting from
the speaker in my end of the room as I twisted around the pole. I had played
the upbeat song, hoping to lighten my mood but so far my heart was not with me.

William approached
and winked at me as I placed a foot on the floor and smiled at him. “Willow,
why don’t you call it a night? You’ve been spinning that bloody pole for three
hours with a face that’s frightening the clients.”

I grimaced and
picked up my water, downing a large mouthful before I apologised to my boss.
“I’m sorry William. I can’t seem to get into it tonight.”

He shook his head
gratuitously “It’s all good, Willow. It’s quiet tonight anyway.”

I smiled my thanks
and headed down to the dressing room to change.

“You fucking Skank…”
Puss hissed as she held Misty by the throat against the wall.

“Whoa, what the
hell?” I shouted as I ran over to a steaming Puss and grabbed her arm.

She twisted round
and punched me square in the cheek bone. “Fuck!” I spat as I palmed my cheek.

She stared at me and
screwed up her face before throwing her keys at the wall and stormed out,
swearing like a sailor as she exited.

“You okay, Mist?” I
asked, still gobsmacked at Puss’s behaviour.

She strolled over to
me and tilted my head back to observe my cheek. “She’s finally lost it. Wait
here.”

I watched her depart
the room and slumped into the chair.

The whole world was
going mad, completely cuckoo crazy. I shrugged when I realised I was one of those
people.

I sighed and shook
my head whilst I started to strip out of my dancing gear. The door opened and
Misty walked back in with William behind her.

I was used to being
nude in front of William, the man was my boss and he ran an exclusive adult club,
he’d seen all lady parts a million times over.

“You okay, Willow?”
he asked as he touched my chin and grimaced at the bruise that was beginning to
develop.

“I’m fine William,
its Puss I’m worried about.”

He sighed and nodded
sadly, “She’s having a few problems at the moment. Try and not take it to heart
girls” he explained.

I snorted as I
pulled on my shirt, tucking it into the waistband of my skirt, “I haven’t taken
it to heart William; I took it on the bloody cheekbone.”

He grinned cheekily
then shook his head and disappeared as Misty held an ice-pack to my face.
“That’s gonna go black sugar, keep the ice on it.”

“Wonderful,” I
cringed “we have a huge executive meeting tomorrow and I’m gonna look like I’ve
done ten rounds with Mike Tyson.”

She sucked on her
lips and cringed for me “Elbow on the table, cheek in the hand. Works every
time, sugar.” She advised and I laughed.

Oh yeah, that would
look really professional. Lucas would eat me alive.

Hopefully.

Chapter 34

Lucas