Chapter 4: That's a Wonderful Cologne

In the low light, Claire's sharp, elegant features looked almost too striking to be real.

Her smile was sweet, deliberate the kind that hooked a gaze and refused to let go.

Her eyes narrowed just slightly, the corner of her mouth curling with a hint of mystery that practically dared someone to come closer and figure her out.

There was something in that smile that defied easy description.

Beneath the black bodycon skirt, her long legs crossed at the knee, and she watched him with a look that danced somewhere between playful and dangerous.

Lucas narrowed his eyes, his focus locking onto her.

Noticing she was still watching him, he let a smirk slip through.

Claire caught it immediately. The ice was cracking.

Is he finally biting?

After a long stretch of silence, Lucas took a slow drag from his cigarette, glanced her way, and curled his lips into something almost inviting. Then he crooked one long finger, beckoning her over.

That wicked little smile caught Claire off guard for a second.

He was somehow even more attractive smiling than he'd been stone-faced. Unfairly attractive.

Pleased that he'd made the first move, she rose, crossed the room with an easy sway in her step, and settled in beside him.

The men in his booth all perked up the moment she arrived a gorgeous woman appearing out of nowhere had a way of doing that. Their eyes flicked between her and Lucas with obvious interest.

Claire's long black hair spilled over her shoulder, tracing the line of her pale throat down to her collarbone, and she looked at Lucas with eyes that seemed built for exactly this kind of moment.

"Hi. I'm Claire."

Her perfume drifted between them Yves Saint Laurent, something cool and floral with a whisper of lavender underneath.

Her voice came out sweet with just enough rasp to make it interesting.

When he didn't answer right away, she tried again. "And you? What should I call you?"

Lucas exhaled another slow stream of smoke, stubbed the cigarette out, and let the silence stretch just long enough to be deliberate.

"Lucas."

One word. Barely that. Claire thought to herself, amused. Even his own name is rationed out like it costs him something.

She leaned in closer, voice dipping into something softer. "Lucas. I like that."

Her hair brushed against his jaw as she moved, carrying that faint trace of perfume with it.

A pretty voice, a good scent, and everything else she was clearly putting on display Claire refused to believe he was immune to all of it.

Lucas's gaze slid over her, unreadable, dark as still water. A slow, knowing smile pulled at his mouth. He reached out, tipped her chin up with two fingers, and spoke, his voice low and deliberate.

"What exactly are you after?"

A chill ran through Claire he'd seen straight through her but instead of backing off, she found it almost funny.

She looped her arms around his neck instead, leaning into his face with a teasing pout. "After? Nothing. I just think you're gorgeous and wanted to say hello."

Lucas studied her, half-smiling, saying nothing.

One of the men beside them laughed. "Come on, Kane, she's practically handing herself to you. You gonna let that go to waste?"

The rest of the table joined in with knowing chuckles.

Claire settled further against him, letting her fingers trail lightly over the hard line of his chest, watching his face carefully for any crack in that composure.

He smells even better than I do, she thought. I need to know what that is.

"Your cologne," she said finally, tilting her face up toward his jaw. "What is it? It's incredible."

She let her cheek rest briefly against his chest as she said it.

Lucas's smile deepened, glancing down at the woman currently draped over him.

"Custom blend. You can't buy it anywhere."

Custom. Claire filed that away. This man had real money behind him.

She trailed her fingers over his chest again, feigning innocent curiosity.

"Is that right?" A small pause. "So if I can't buy it... would you give me a bottle?"

Lucas found himself genuinely entertained by this one throwing herself into his lap within five minutes of meeting him, and now angling for gifts already.

Is this the new playbook for gold diggers these days?