Mr. Black's Proposal (Part One: A Billionaire Erotic Romance) Read Free

here, Lucas— “Um, no,” I stuttered. “I mean, yes. I mean, I—uh—I think she called you, um, L-Lucas?”
    This was not going well.
    “Yes,” the man said, and his mouth turned into a tease of a smile. “Lucas Black. I just opened up an office nearby, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other more often.”
    My lips parted. My mouth was dry. Was he hitting on me? No. Of course he wasn’t hitting on me. He was just being friendly.
    And normally I could do friendly. Normally, I could do conversation. But Lucas was abnormally handsome, and he was leaning over the counter, and oh God, how much of his chest could you see with that top button undone— “We offer, um, group discounts,” I said, reaching for anything in my grasp to say.
    Way to go with the customer service, Steph. You’re recovering so well from this.
    “And a loyalty—here, let me get you a loyalty card.” I scrambled behind the counter for the business cards I’d ordered the week before. “I mean, they’re here. Here they are. It’s, um, it’s buy nine, get the tenth one free.”
    Lucas Black. He wasn’t the kind of guy who needed a discount on anything, let alone a three dollar cupcake. What was I even thinking? I held out the pink and green card with a desperately anxious smile.
    But he took it. His fingers brushed mine as I passed him the card. Before I could pull away, he was holding my wrist in a loose but firm grip.
    I froze. His thumb ran down to my palm, turning my hand over. It was spattered with flour, and there was pink frosting underneath my nails.
    He looked down at my hand like he was a palm reader trying to tell my future. There was something in his face now that I couldn’t put my finger on. An opening, something soft in his expression as he touched my palm.
    “You make all of your cupcakes by hand?” he asked.
    “Yes.”
    “How long have you been doing this?”
    Now his fingers were touching my wrist gently, pressing down with a pressure so light it felt almost like a caress. My pulse jumped under his fingertips.
    I didn’t know why he was holding my hand. My eyes darted to the door. Where was the woman he’d been with?
    He squeezed my hand and my attention came back to him. Right. His question.
    “We’ve, um, we’ve been open for two years,” I said.
    “Is it your passion?”
    God. That word in his mouth. It made my legs weaken. But it was also too far. Over the line. So far over that it snapped something inside of me that said this was a very, very bad idea.
    “Yes,” I said, gathering my strength with a breath. I stood up straighter, ready to take my hand away. But still he held my wrist, caressing my palm with the pad of his thumb. As I looked down at his strong arm, his shirtsleeves pushed back slightly, a flash of fear passed through me. Who was this guy?
    Don’t let him get under your skin. That’s what he wants. Stay calm. Stay cool.
    He wasn’t hitting on me, not really. He was one of those flashy businessmen just looking for more female attention. Was he even going to pay for that cupcake? Or had he just come back in here to taunt me?
    He leaned even closer. I could smell his cologne, pine and vanilla. God, he smelled delicious.
    “I bet you’re wild,” Lucas whispered. “I’d like to tame you.”
    The spell broke. My eyes refocused onto his mouth. So stern. So possessive. So utterly, impossibly, wrong.
    “ Tame me ? You’d like to tame me?!”
    I jerked my hand away from his. He let me break away from his grip.
    “I’m not a pet,” I snapped. “You can’t tame me .”
    There was a flicker of hurt in his eyes.
    “Now wait one moment—”
    “Isn’t your girlfriend waiting for you outside?” I asked. My hands planted on my hips in mute accusation.
    Something changed in his expression—his eyelashes fluttered once, then his jaw steeled. I had seen something—almost seen it—but then he blinked and it was gone.
    Immediately I regretted what I’d said. He wasn’t wearing a