Soledad was watching him out of the corner of her eye but Luke ignored her. He knew she was expecting an explanation about what had happened the previous day but the hangover was preventing him from paying her much mind.

The housekeeper knew better than to question him when he was suffering anyway and as he lounged about the living room, nursing a cold coffee and willing the throbbing in his head to subside, he wondered if he’d made a mistake inviting Meredith for lunch.

Since he’d developed the plan to accept the offer to take his rightful inheritance, he hadn’t done it with a clear mind. For all he knew, he’d wake up in two days, regretting his decision and recant.

Not if it’s for Rachel. She deserves this.

Still, he couldn’t deny that he was already having second thoughts about what he’d agreed to do.

I haven’t agreed to anything. Yet.

Despite his aching form, he could not help but feel a rush of excitement in his loins at the thought of seeing Meredith Maddox again.

She had seemed almost desperate for him to take over Vaughan Industries and Luke was far too schooled not to realize that she must have been promised something big to make it happen. He wondered how far she would go to ensure that he did take it.

“Do you want me to get you some business clothes?” Soledad asked and Luke raised his eyes upward.

“For what?” he laughed. “I’m comfy,”

“Don’t you have somewhere to be soon?” the maid nudged. “I heard you on the phone earlier.”

Luke brushed aside his irritation at being eavesdropped upon and shrugged.

“You heard wrong.”

Her mouth parted slightly as if she wanted to say something else but she seemed to change her mind and she spun out of the living room, shaking her head, muttering something in Spanish which Luke did not try to decipher. It wasn’t important—he got the gist of the sentiment.

She thinks I’m losing it.

Not that Luke could blame her. He certainly gave her reason to believe as much.

But that was not one of those times. No, that day, he knew exactly what he was doing and he reached for his laptop, noting the time as he opened the Google Chrome browser.

11:36 a.m.

The town car he’d sent for Meredith would already be on route to her offices downtown.

This is going to be interesting, Luke thought smugly.

Meredith stared at him, a combination of anger and interest painted on her face.

“Did I get our lines crossed somehow?” she asked and Luke shrugged, spinning away from the door.

“I don’t think so,” he replied, sauntering back into his condo. The door began to close but through his peripheral vision, he saw Meredith’s foot shoot out and catch it before it slammed in her face.

“When you said let’s meet for lunch, I wasn’t expecting to come here,” she muttered.

“You can go if you want. The car’s still downstairs.”

She didn’t respond, but Luke could feel her following behind him, her eyes seeming to bore into his back. He hadn’t bothered to change out of his casual jeans and fitted t-shirt.

Would I feel her eyes boring into me if I had been wearing a business suit? He wondered. It was a moot point now, wasn’t it?

That’s legal jargon isn’t it? Moot point?

Luke sauntered into the living room and flopped carelessly onto the sofa as Meredith joined him.

“I guess this means we’re not going out?” she chirped but her eyes were flashing with mild annoyance.

“I never promised to take you out,” Luke replied. “I offered lunch.”

A bemused expression touched her face.

“Are you cooking?” she asked, and inexplicably, Luke felt a spark of annoyance.

“You think I can’t cook?” he demanded, wondering why he was so defensive over the question. An instant look of contrition touched Meredith’s face.

“I have no idea what you can do,” she replied quickly as though she sensed that she had struck a nerve. “I just figured that you would have someone to do that for you—like your friend who was here yesterday.”

“I can fend just fine for myself,” Luke replied lazily. “But I do prefer the convenience of having things done for me. Lucky for me, I can afford such things.”

He nodded toward the sofa.

“Are you going to stand there or are you going to come in and have a seat?”

“I’m having déjà vu,” Meredith muttered and Luke saw that she hadn’t meant to say the words aloud. It brought a smile to his face.

“If all goes well,” he told her magnanimously, “you’ll leave a lot happier today than you did yesterday.”

His words were laced with sexual innuendo but if Meredith understood them, she did not comment.

Instead, she turned her eyes away to focus on the candle centerpiece on the coffee table as though it was the most interesting item she could find to look at in the room.

“Seriously, sit down. Lunch will be here soon,” Luke grunted in exasperation. “I really did call you here to eat.”

Grudgingly, she raised her eyes upward to meet his gaze and sighed, stepping in to perch across from him on the sofa. Her cheeks seemed very pink and Luke knew that whatever attraction it was he felt toward her was more than mutual.

“Do you own proper clothes?” Meredith asked and her complexion turned from rosy to crimson.

“Does my attire make you uncomfortable, Meredith?” he asked, leaning forward. His ass slid toward the front of the loveseat and he grinned at her lazily. To his surprise, she met his gaze coolly.

“Why do I get the distinct impression that’s what your intention is?” she retorted. “Why did you call me here, Luke?”

He was slightly taken aback by the question. He wasn’t accustomed to being spoken to so directly but for the first time, Meredith met his stare unwaveringly.

“Are you still looking for someone to take over Vaughan Industries?” he asked and she exhaled.

“I think you know the answer to that.”

“I might be interested in the position after all,” he told her and Luke watched her face light up. “But there are some conditions.”

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“What kind of conditions?”

He smiled and rose from his seat, turning his back to her to look out the balcony window toward the city skyline.

“That depends on how badly you want me to take the company.”

He turned and stepped back, surprised to find Meredith standing directly behind him. She cocked her head to the side and stared up at him, an almost indecipherable expression on her face but the feeling radiating from her was something that Luke knew well.

“I can’t force you to do anything you don’t want,” she murmured, drawing closer to him and Luke’s pulse quickened at her nearness. “But you brought me here for something, didn’t you?”

Temporarily unable to speak, Luke could only nod, watching as she closed the half-step between them, gently splaying her hands over his chest. His nipples grew hard at her touch and Meredith’s eyes raked over his front, as she bit down on her plump lower lip.

“Is this why you called me here?” she murmured, her breath hot against his skin but all the same, shocks of electricity fizzled along the smooth bronze of his arms. “To strike a deal of sorts?”

Her mouth and sharp little teeth grazed along his shoulder and Luke felt an unexpected shiver course through him as Mer’s hands slid around his broad waist and cupped his firm ass, her head ducking back to look up at him.

The combination of the heat burning from her gaze and the pressure mounting in his crotch was proving to have a heady effect on Luke.

Without warning, he whirled her around, pinning her to the glass of the balcony doors and Meredith gasped in shock at the abrupt movement.

“Why do I feel like you’re projecting?” he hissed in her ear, the tantalizing smell of her coconut and vanilla shampoo filling his nostrils. “Maybe you came here with a deal of your own.”

He licked and sucked at the exposed flesh of her neck and felt her tremble as he ruthlessly yanked up her pencil skirt, his strong fingers digging into the warm flesh of her buttocks.

A rush of blood surged through his shaft and he mercilessly pressed himself against her, half-expecting Meredith to cry out and stop him.

But she didn’t and her hands reached out to spread against the glass as easily as her cheeks did against his steel rod which poked a near-hole through his worn jeans.

One hand skilfully dropped the lace thong around her perfectly proportioned hips while the other reached to grab a fistful of hair at the nape of her neck. The sensation of her increased pulse only served to drive him higher, his fingers looping up between her thighs to feel her already drenched core.

“Oh, god,” she gasped, his palm squeezing harder and his teeth sank into the tender flesh of her neck, relishing the moan she gave.

Her back arched forcefully and the head of his cock pressed against her with such force, he wasn’t even sure he would need to slip off his underwear before taking her.

His index finger located the pulsating nub of her clit and slowly he worked it in small circles, feeling Meredith tense and sigh against him.

“Is this what you came for?” he demanded, his tongue lapping over the lines of her ear. “Is this what you wanted all along?”

“I-I don’t know,” she breathed, but his words sent a gush along his hand. His sack tightened, her quivering form bringing him to the point of no return.

Not that Meredith was trying to end it. She pushed against him, deliberately this time and his hand closed around her throat.

“Ah, ah, ah,” he chided, “I’ll take you when I’m good and ready.” But that didn’t stop her from bucking back, moaning in short protests against the pressure on her throat.

Fuck, who am I kidding? He wondered and before he could stop himself, his jeans were ripped open and his shaft was sliding up inside her suctioning wetness.

“Ah!” she gasped, feeling the brute strength of his unyielding cock. Against the glass he pounded into her, the pane rattling against the frame with such intensity, it was a small miracle they did not end up in a pile of glass shards.

Not that it would have stopped Luke, not in his present state of mind. He was overwhelmed by desire for this blonde who had stormed into his life, rousing old memories that he had wanted to forsake and bringing with it all the anger he’d tried to bury in all other aspects of his life.

He wasn’t sure if his thrusts were motivated by desire or vengeance, but the one thing Luke did know for certain was that he had never wanted someone as badly as he wanted the luscious, gasping woman pinned against him.

“Come for me,” he ordered and on command, with a small gasp of surprise, she did as she was told. He felt her core grip his cock, spasm after spasm rocking through her body. “Good girl.”

He barely managed to get the words out before his own load spurted forth and filled her hotly. Luke groaned and shuddered violently, his full weight against her, one hand gripping her hip and the other braced against the glass to keep himself from falling.

Gradually, their breathing slowed.

“Fuck, that was good,” Luke muttered under his breath. “What the hell am I going to do with you.”

Meredith knew he didn’t expect a response to the rhetorical question. She wouldn’t be surprised if he hadn’t even realized that he’d spoken out loud.

He pushed off the wall suddenly and adjusted his jeans.

Through his peripheral vision, Luke watched Meredith peel herself off the doors and adjust her skirt, a slightly dazed expression on her face.

She parted her lips to say something but before she could, a knock on the door announced the arrival of lunch.

“Hold on,” Luke told her over his shoulder as he turned his back to her.

He hurried toward the front door, his heartrate still elevated as he opened the door for the delivery guy.

“Hey,” the man said, doing a double take when he looked at Luke’s half-naked body. He grabbed the delivery and pressed a generous tip into the boy’s hand before closing the door almost in his face.

When he returned to the living room, Meredith had managed to pull herself together enough to snatch her briefcase off the floor and haphazardly fix her clothing, but the elegant chignon was now a loose bun, the blonde tendrils falling over her flushed face.

Luke blinked as she moved toward the door.

“Where are you going?” he demanded. She froze as if she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“Back to work,” she replied, trying to keep the neutral tone to her voice, but Luke heard the uncertainty.

“I thought that’s why you were here,” he replied, stalking into the dining room. He placed the paper bags on the mahogany wood and began to remove the steaming dishes from inside as Meredith stared after him silently.

“Do you like Thai?” he asked. “This pad Thai is the best in the city.”

When she didn’t respond, Luke turned and looked at her curiously.

“No?”

“We both know I didn’t come here for lunch, Luke.” The exasperation in her words was almost tangible. “You don’t have to feed me.”

“I don’t have to do anything,” Luke replied, heading into the kitchen for plates. “If I didn’t want to feed you, I wouldn’t have ordered enough to feed you.”

He padded back out to the dining room and laid a pair of square red and black dinner plates on the table top before pulling out a chair for her to sit. She eyed him warily but slowly dropped her briefcase to the ground and sat where he indicated.

Before he could push the chair in, he leaned down and dropped a hot kiss on the base of her neck.

Meredith squeaked in surprise and whipped her head around to look at him in shock.

“What?” Luke asked innocently. “You’ve got a very sensitive neck.”

He watched as she struggled through a rolodex of responses before settling on a grunt.

“You never answered my question,” he told her, sliding into a seat across the table from her.

“Which one was that?”

“Do you like Thai?”

“I’m not a philistine,” she quipped and Luke had to laugh.

She’s smart. A smart ass but smart too. This will be fun.

“Go ahead,” Luke urged, suddenly eager to see her eat. She nodded and heaped up her plate with food as he watched, a small smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.

How did I know she wouldn’t be shy?

“So,” she said, reaching for a fork. “What’s your proposition? Assuming you actually have one.”

“I have one,” Luke assured her, leaning over to help himself.

“I’m listening.”

He finished piling his plate and drew out the moment, his eyes gleaming as he considered his next words carefully.

“I’ll take over the company as Carter expected,” he said. “In one week.”

Confusion colored her face and she slowly put the utensil down.

“You need to get your affairs in order?” she asked. “You can sign the paperwork now and—”

“It’s got nothing to do with my affairs. It has to do with you.”

The look of ease which had only just touched her peaches and cream complexion waned.

“What about me?”

“I want you to spend a week with me,” he told her, shoving a forkful of green curry into his mouth.

“Spend a week…what does that even mean?” Meredith asked suspiciously.

“I think you know exactly what it means,” he replied nonchalantly. “You’ll be at my beck and booty call for a week and then I’ll sign on whatever dotted line you want.”

Indignation flared on her face, but the spark of intrigue was impossible to hide so she lowered her eyes.

“That’s an indecent proposal.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Luke conceded. “But something tells me that you’re not opposed to it. I don’t know what you were offered to get me to agree to accepting this inheritance, but I’m willing to bet that you want it more than I want anything to do with that bastard’s legacy.”

She visibly swallowed and her eyes darted to the side.

Bingo, he said to himself.

“I’m your lawyer,” she mumbled almost inaudibly. “It would be unethical.”

He snorted.

“First of all, you’re not my lawyer. You were Carter’s lawyer. Secondly, how did it become unethical in the past fifteen minutes?”

She jerked her head up and glared at him. Anther blast of heat shot to his crotch.

This was going to be his consolation prize to having to deal with his dead father’s businesses. Obviously whatever Meredith had been offered was big. Big enough to encourage her to forget the impropriety of his caveat. Or maybe she wanted the same thing he did – him back inside her, again and again.

“One week?” she asked, pretending to think about it. “And then you’ll sign? No matter what?”

“One week and then I’ll see you at board meetings or whenever I have to,” he promised, licking the peanut sauce off his lips.

“How do I know you won’t go back on your word?” Meredith asked. Luke shrugged and grinned.

“You don’t.”

Their eyes locked and Meredith was the first to look away.

“One week,” she muttered again. “And that’s it.”

The heat inside Luke was almost burning him, something that had nothing to do with the chilis in the curry.

“Shall we fuck on it?” he asked crudely, rising and holding out his hand in invitation. She could clearly see the bulge in his pants and a matching heat flared in her eyes.

Meredith’s front teeth sank into her lower lip, her pupils dilating as she drank him in.

“Yes,” she breathed and Luke laughed smugly, but before he could take a step, she held up her hand.

“After I eat,” she continued, reaching for her fork again and dropping her eyes. He chuckled with amusement and decided to give her this one small win. Lord knew, she wasn’t going to be the boss for the next week. He sank back into the chair with a nod of his head.

She’s going to need all the energy she can get, he thought, his eyes fixed on her as he, too, dug back into his food.