Chapter 5: A Distraction with Red Lips and a Sharp Tongue

~Sebastian’s POV~

The second the jet touches down at Teterboro, I already know Lucas is going to be a problem.

He’s leaning against the black SUV waiting on the tarmac looking like he owns the damn world, sleeves pushed up, grinning like the bastard he is. The late afternoon sun catches in his dark hair, and the wicked glint in his eyes tells me he’s about to be insufferable.

I barely step off the plane before he’s pushing off the car with a lazy smirk.

“L.A. treated you well, I take it?” His voice drips with amusement as he sizes me up, as I got closer.“Tell me, did you at least fuck someone interesting this time, or was it the usual silicone obsessed, daddy issues crowd?”

I shoot him a bored look, step past him, and slide into the backseat without a word.

Lucas laughs, like the asshole he is, before sliding in next to me. “Ah, so it was the usual. Jesus, man. You’ve got to do better. I keep telling you, you need a real challenge. Someone who’ll make you sweat, keep you on your toes. Maybe a little crazy, but the good kind, you know, the kind that makes you regret it but then has you crawling back for more.”

I pull my phone out, skimming through emails, ignoring him.

Lucas kicks his feet up on the seat across from us, arms spread like he doesn’t have a care in the world. “Then again, that’s not your thing, is it? No attachments. No drama. Just a quick fuck, and then you’re out before the bed even cools.” He pauses, then narrows his eyes at me, sharp, assessing. “You seem off. What happened? Someone finally left you with blue balls?”

I scoff, still focused on my screen. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Oh, but you are distracted.” Lucas’ smirk deepens, tapping a finger against his temple like he’s onto something. “Your dick’s had more action than Wall Street this year, yet you’re sitting here all broody. Who was she?”

No one.

Because that is the truth.

Because she is a woman who should already be forgotten.

Except she isn’t.

I close my eyes briefly, and fuck I see her.

The perfect curve of her lips, soft and full, slightly parted in anger. The fire in her blue eyes. The way she’d stood toe-to-toe with me, unyielding, instead of melting like every other woman.

I open my eyes and exhale sharply, pushing her from my thoughts.

“See?” Lucas snaps his fingers. “That. That right there. Who the fuck is she?”

“No one,” I bite out. “Drop it.”

Lucas raises his hands in surrender, but his smirk remains. “Sure, sure. Whatever you say. But if a woman actually managed to shake your ice cold ass, I’d love to meet her. Hell, she might be my new favorite person.”

I shake my head, staring out the window as the city skyline comes into view. I don’t do complications.

And she screams complication.

We arrive at the venue for the meeting and Harrington is exactly what I expect a self important bastard in his late fifties, dressed in a three piece suit that probably costs less than my watch but carries himself like he owns the goddamn city. He sits across from me in the dimly lit private dining room of the restaurant swirling his whiskey like he has all the time in the world.

I don’t.

“This deal is a long term play,” he says, his voice smooth but laced with the kind of arrogance that comes from being surrounded by yes men for too long. “Patience will yield higher returns than immediate action.”

I lean back, swirling my own drink, watching him. “Patience is for men who don’t know how to execute.”

Harrington’s lips twitch. “And aggression is for men who don’t know how to sustain power.”

Across from me, Lucas raises a brow, but I don’t take the bait. I know what he’s doing. Dragging this out, trying to get me to agree to terms that benefit him more than me.

I place my glass down, slow, deliberate. “Your offer is weak.”

Harrington’s jaw tightens. “It’s strategic.”

“It’s bullshit.”

His nostrils flare slightly, and for the first time, his smooth exterior cracks. “I don’t do business with men who fail to see the bigger picture.”

“And I don’t do business with men who overestimate their fucking leverage,” I counter.

Tension thickens, the air charged with the weight of two powerful men refusing to yield.

Then the waiter walks by, sliding a fresh drink onto the table.

A glass of iced tea.

It shouldn’t mean shit. It’s a goddamn drink. But the sight of it yanks me back too fast, too strong.

Her voice, sharp and biting.

Her eyes, challenging me.

The way she stood there, chest rising and falling in barely contained fury.

Fucking hell.

I grip my whiskey glass, irritation flaring through my veins.

She’s in my head.

I blink, shifting my focus back to Harrington. “I don’t think this is going to work out.”

Harrington’s brows furrow. “You’re walking away?”

“Seems that way.” I push back my chair, standing, adjusting the cuffs of my shirt. “I don’t waste my time on deals that don’t meet my standards.”

Harrington opens his mouth, but I don’t wait to hear whatever desperate attempt he’s about to throw at me.

Lucas stands as well, amusement flickering in his eyes. “Well, that was fun.”

As we step out into the main area of the restaurant, Lucas leans in. “So, uh… not like you to walk away from a deal that still had room to negotiate.”

I say nothing, jaw tight.

Lucas lets out a low whistle. “Oh, this is gold. You’re seriously distracted, aren’t you?”

I shoot him a look. “We’re going to the bar.”

Lucas grins, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “Now that’s more like it. Let’s get you laid before whatever voodoo this mystery woman put on you gets any stronger.”

I don’t argue.

Because maybe he’s right.

Maybe I need to bury myself in someone—hard, fast, deep.

Fuck the lingering thoughts. Fuck the goddamn distraction.

I need a woman beneath me, legs spread, begging, moaning my name until nothing else exists.

Anything to erase the face of a woman who shouldn’t be haunting my fucking mind in the first place.