Rejection wasn’t something Lukas knew how to deal with. He’d never met a woman he hadn’t been able to charm. Hell, he’d hardly ever met a woman who didn’t like him.

He plunged the toilet brush into the now clean bowl and scrubbed away stains that were no longer there. The brush definitely took the brunt of his frustration.

Star fit both those bills perfectly. He’d seen the regret wash over her face the night before, after he’d kissed her, even though she’d been the one to initiate it. He didn’t know what the hell he’d been thinking, trying to comfort her. It was just instinctual. It hadn’t even been sexual. It was just one person trying to make the other feel better after one long, trying day in a string of many.

Until she’d kissed him.

That had changed everything. Lukas went from zero to sixty in half a second flat. His body responded far too eagerly to Star, a natural born seductress if he’d ever seen one. He’d responded like any full blooded male would. The strange part was that she’d kissed him back. That kiss hadn’t been about comfort. It hadn’t been about forgetting. No, it had been the kiss of a woman with as desperate a need as he had.

Why then had she said it was a mistake? Because they worked together? Lukas had the sinking feeling it went far beyond that to the very reason she’d spent so much time trying to avoid him in the first place.

He damn well wasn’t going to let that keep happening. The thing about Lukas Millar was that he tackled a problem head on. That’s why all his opponents dreaded facing him in court. He could be tenacious when he set his mind to it. He’d spent the entire night tossing and turning, thinking about that kiss. His body has been in the worst physical pain of his life, made worse for the fact that he knew he couldn’t do a damn thing about it. Even bringing himself relief wouldn’t have helped at all. He knew he had to do something about it and that something came in the form of a beautiful dark haired, green eyed witch who just happened, for the time being, to be his boss.

After scrubbing bathrooms, instead of heading to the kitchens for a round of dish duty, Lukas walked to the back office where he had a feeling Star was hiding out.

He spotted her in her tiny office, sitting behind that beat-up desk of hers. He rapped lightly on the open door and she glanced up. She looked anything but pleased to see him. Lukas did what he already sensed she didn’t want him to do and closed the door behind him.

“Look,” he said as he pulled out a seat in front of her desk. The chair was old and stained and looked about to crumble. He wondered if it would even hold him up. “About last night- I wanted to talk about what happened.”

“Nothing happened.” Jade eyes that were hard as actual rock stared back at him. “Nothing. At. All.”

Lukas ran a hand over his short blonde hair. “Okay, if that’s how you want to play it then I guess nothing happened.”

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” It was clear then, from the rigid set of her shoulders and the granite mask that was her face that Star could be as rigid and unmoving as a cliff face. Damn, it was hot as hell.

Lukas doubted she meant to be anything even close to sexual and he forced down his rising desire. He couldn’t stop his body from reacting but he could hide it from her. Even he was annoyed with himself at that point. He couldn’t remember the last time he hadn’t been fully in control of his own body or even his emotions.

“Well then, if I didn’t come here to talk about last night, I came to talk about dish duty.”

“Oh?” Star raised one perfectly manicured dark brow.

“I don’t want to do them anymore. At least not all day, every day.”

“What then do you propose?” Star waited, that brow still raised. It seemed almost like she was making fun of him. Normally Lukas would have jumped down someone’s throat, but her mocking reaction only served to further intrigue him.

“I’m not sure exactly. I just know that I have skills that are being wasted here just cleaning.”

Star actually smiled after a moment of contemplation. Lukas thought they were starting to get somewhere but when she spoke she dashed his hopes. “What skills would those be exactly?” Star asked in a too sweet, sugary tone that made the hair on the back of Lukas’ arms stand on end. “Drunk driving? Womanizing? Cheating? Escorts? Getting crooks off scot free to roam the street and steal from innocent people again?”

Okay. So she’d clearly done her research. “Excuse me?” Lukas spluttered. His hand clenched into a tight fist at his side but he was careful to uncurl his fingers after a second, before Star noticed just how irritated he was. There was no way she could know some of those things. His online profile only went so far.

“You heard me, I think. Or should I shout it so the rest of the staff and all of our guests can hear as well? Although I do think it would sour breakfast for more than just one person.”

Lukas slowly shook his head. “Look…” he let out a long exhale. “I know I’ve done some things in my life that weren’t right. Things that I’m not proud of. The drinking and driving, certainly. I could try and explain myself but I know that there isn’t anything to say about that. It was wrong. Period. As to the others… I’m a man. I’ve made mistakes. I might not always have treated people right but they knew what they were signing up for.”

“Oh. So that’s it. You’re a man and they knew all about you. That clearly must give you license then to act whatever way you see fit.”

“Not that it’s any of your business,” even though I want it to be… “But yes, everyone I have ever gone out with knows right from the start that I’m not looking for anything more than just a good time. I always made that clear. I know some people wanted more than that, but that was their problem. I never made myself out to be a saint. I never pretended to be something I wasn’t.”

Star blinked, clearly surprised at that information, though she covered her shock quickly.

“Oh. I get it.” Lukas crossed his arms as though to ward off the evil she clearly thought he was. “You know someone who dated me. Someone that was clearly hurt by me. Probably one of those women I just said wanted something more from me than I could give.” She stared at him blankly. Lukas cleaned forward in the rickety chair. “Do you play poker?”

Long lashed lowered and raised quickly. “What?”

“Poker?”

“No. Of course not.”

“You should. You have an excellent poker face.”

“I do not…”

Lukas almost laughed at her nervous spluttering. Okay, so maybe she didn’t. It was clear where they stood. Or at least, where Star stood and what she thought of him. The well had already been poisoned. Damn if I don’t want to drink from it anyway.

“We’ll agree to disagree then. Tell your friend that I’m sorry. Really. I never meant to hurt anyone. It truly isn’t my fault that some people can’t stick to an agreement.”

“You mean guard themselves from falling in love?”

He shrugged, though for some reason, hearing that word drop from her delicious mouth made his heart pound wildly. It wasn’t a feeling he was comfortable with and this time he shifted uncomfortably in the chair. It squealed in protest at his movement. “I suppose if that’s how they felt then yes, from falling in love.”

Star’s eyes swept away from his face to the closed door, as though she wished he would just leave. The room closed in around him and he suddenly wanted to leave as badly as she wished he would. He couldn’t though. He was damn sick of washing and drying dishes for days on end. He still had another two and a half months that she could turn into a living purgatory if she wanted to. If you let her.

“So what’s it going to be? Are you going to let me do more than just dishes?”

Star’s eyes flew back to his face. Her stare burned into him as she considered his request. “I don’t have any lawyering that needs to be done around here. I’m afraid whatever talent you might think you have is going to continue to be wasted. However, if you want to, you can help Cassie serve dinner. I would like you to continue helping Jed with maintenance in the morning, which means cleaning bathrooms. You can do the breakfast dishes after and help with food prep after that. If you do a good job serving dinner then maybe there is something more you can do.”

“Something more?”

“I just don’t know what that would be yet.”

Lukas felt like he’d won a small victory. He wasn’t sure how far he could push Star but he wanted to know. In truth, even if she decided to get angry with him, he enjoyed seeing her rise to the baiting.

“You said my law skills are going to have to keep being wasted but I wouldn’t count last night as a waste of them. Not really. I just helped you understand what you needed to know. There’s much more than that, I know. If you would like me to help you with it, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Star’s lips curled into a sardonic smile. “I know just what kind of help you’re offering. The day I accept any offer from you again is the day I see you selfless enough to serve others. I mean really serve. That way I would know you’ve changed entirely.”

“Don’t doubt that it could work. I happen to love a challenge.”

“Oh I don’t doubt it but this is one you won’t win. I don’t know you at all Lukas Millar, but I know your type.”

He rose from the chair. “You think so, don’t you? We’ll see. If I can genuinely prove that I’ve changed by caring for the people who come here, then you have to go out with me. A date. A real date, not just a help me with my legal issues deal.”

Star giggled. She slapped a hand over her mouth but she couldn’t keep her shoulders from shaking. Lukas failed to see what was so funny. He stood frozen, towering over her desk like a hulking giant.

“I’m sorry,” Star said between snorts of laughter. “Actually I’m not. That’s just so funny…”

Lukas rolled his eyes. He stalked over to the door and placed his hand on the doorknob. He was about to open it but he turned. Star was still laughing silently to herself. “You can laugh if you want, but don’t forget, last night it was you who kissed me.”