did know how to kiss like Cassanova. This wasn’t a cold peck to satisfy the masses. It wasn’t an act. He wasn’t good enough at that.
No this was something more.
Our tongues tangled and heat flared between us from my simmering anger to something hotter. His smell, his taste, the warm pressure of his mouth on mine. Desire crackled between us, alive and palpable, threatening to seize the moment. With the last shred of my anger and self-consciousness at the crowd looking on, I nudged him away.
He gave me the slightest bit of resistance, so I had to push a little harder. And I could see in his eyes the second our mouths parted that he wasn’t ready for it to be over. Our gazes held and locked and even if it had been an amazing kiss, I still hadn’t forgotten that I was pissed at him.
And I was frankly getting tired of having to kiss him for others’ amusement and satisfaction. Newlyweds did it all the time, yadda yadda yadda. But we weren’t your average newlyweds and unlike average newlyweds, we never got to kiss unless it was for show or to make a point to onlookers. It was frustrating, in more ways than one.
My cheeks were still heated, but whether from anger, embarrassment or that kiss, I couldn’t say. Probably a clever and confusing stew of all of the above. My eyes narrowed at him again, putting extra venom into this glare. He fully pulled back then, and I immediately felt relief due to the distance between us—both physically and emotionally. I could always count on Lucas to keep his emotional distance, after all.
Thank goodness for that failsafe.
It wasn’t that I didn’t trust myself enough. Hardly. But it was always good to have a backup. Lucas’s reserve, his gift for keeping people at a distance, was our ace-in-the-hole. I couldn’t have picked a better person to pull off this scheme with. Even if I had done it on the spur of the moment and completely subconsciously.
But still, his reserve had aided him in keeping almost everything about his personal life from me. And that was annoying.
It would have been useful to know that the Van Den Parents were richer than God. And apparently foreign royalty? What. The. Hell.
Lucas’s parents—or, as I should start thinking of them, my mother- and father-in-law—started to mingle in the crowd and the large group broke up into clumps. Soon every stranger known to mankind who shared even the tiniest micron of DNA with Lucas was welcoming me into the Van Den Richfucks fold. I pretended I was like Princess Diana, with a pasted-on smile and gracious handshake. At least I hoped to hide the internal screaming and the fact that I wanted out of this damn place toute de suite.
A familiar-looking tall, willowy blonde woman in her mid-thirties approached, a big smile on her face. Beside her was a fairly good-looking younger man who held both their drinks while she shook my hand.
I’d seen her before but I couldn’t place where I knew her from. My mind immediately started racing to remember where and in what context.
“Hi there! I’m Lindsay Walker, Lucas’s cousin on his mom’s side. You look really familiar to me. You work at Draco, don’t you?”
That’s where I’d seen her! I wanted to say she was Adam’s friend or… maybe Jordan’s? Or both?
I nodded, tucking a loose strand behind my ear and suddenly wishing I’d worn it up in a messy bun. But that probably would have garnered disapproval from all the foreign royalty present.
Suddenly I recalled where I knew Lindsay from. “Yeah. We’ve definitely met. Wasn’t it at the VR demo last year? Not too long before the company went public. You’re a friend of Adam’s, if I remember correctly.”
She smiled and darted an enigmatic look at Lucas, who, unsurprisingly, stone-faced it. Wait, hadn’t Mia said something about her and Adam dating a long time ago? I couldn’t even picture that if I tried.
“Lucas, here, owes me for that little favor.” She shot him a teasing smile.
He blew out a breath but didn’t seem offended. “I earned that job on my own.”
She winked. “Of course you did. But I made the introductions. Just remember me when you’re a world-famous game designer.”
He rolled his eyes.
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. I guess that’s so true,” I said with my own snarky smile at Lucas. He seemed far more irritated with me than with Lindsay.