Lucky Girl (Lucky Alphas Book 2)
By: Mallory CroweWell, that had gone terribly. She fell back on the bed and wrapped her arms around herself, clutching the towel to her chest tightly. What a clusterfuck. It wasn’t as if she’d ever gone to him asking for money or even for a reference. He might be her crazy rich friend, but she had never once taken advantage of him. The fact that she was helping him was purely a favor. She didn’t owe him anything; for him to act as if she did just because they were friends was ridiculous.
While she was stewing in her own anger, there was a knock on her door. She knew it was well past ten o’clock at night and there’d be no reason for housekeeping to be there. Which meant she could probably guess who was outside right now.
Groaning as she got off the bed, Harper clutched the towel tightly as she pulled open the door as far as the chain would allow. “What a surprise,” she deadpanned as she looked out at Lucas.
“I can see you’re expecting me. Why else would you just be wearing a towel?” He looked her up and down approvingly.
She contorted her body away from the opening of the door, making sure all the important bits were covered.
“I told you to come back when you knew something, and this is way too soon for you to have found out any useful information.”
“Useful is relative.”
“Maybe, but since I’m the jury in this instance, relative is what I want it to be.”
“Fair enough. So what do you want to know, Harper Sloan? You’re a thirty-three-year-old feminist who forced her way on the football team in Birdsville, Ohio?”
She frowned and cocked her head. “Did you really only go with things that Wade told you?”
“I could’ve brought up the dishonorably discharged part, but that seemed like it would be a little bit too personal.”
She sucked in a breath. She didn’t think it was possible that he’d find that out, and the fact that he’d done it so quickly caught her off guard. “Did Wade tell you that? Does he know?”
Lucas raised a brow. “No, Wade was surprisingly tight-lipped about you. So are your parents, for that matter. I had to bring in a few other contacts to find out the truth about you. For someone so focused on her privacy, it’s surprising that you even sent me off on this little side mission.”
“Consider it a job interview.”
“But a job interview I passed, right?”
She really wanted to say no, but she was a little bit impressed. As much as she didn’t want to care about Wade being upset with her, he had asked that she work with this guy. And really, despite him being a little annoying, it couldn’t be that bad to have an extra pair of eyes and ears working with her. She knew she could be headstrong and stubborn, but she tried her best not to be stupid about these sorts of things. Refusing good help, especially on someone else’s dime, was stupid no matter what way she looked at it. She shook her head as she pushed the door closed. She could hear Lucas start to protest as she slipped the chain free and opened the door again, this time wide enough for him to walk through.
“Come on in. It’s time for us to talk.”
A cocky grin spread across his face as he stepped past the threshold. Great. He wasn’t even a gracious winner. How on earth had Wade thought this would be a good idea?
“I like the towel look.” Lucas pushed the door shut with a little kick of his foot. “Easy access is always sexy.”
“Not as easy as you might think,” she muttered as she slid the chain back in place before turning to sit on the one armchair provided by the motel. That left Lucas with the option of sitting on the bed or standing.
“Wow, you’re really sticking with that towel look. I don’t mind waiting if you want to change.”
“I think it’s important for us to learn about each other. For starters, you should know that I’m not very modest. Quite frankly, I could be sitting here naked and I wouldn’t mind. You can look at my tits and my ass all you want to—that doesn’t mean you’re ever going to touch them.”
“That sounds like a much more boring option. For both of us.”
Harper didn’t directly respond to that, but she also didn’t take off her towel for him either. “Another thing you should know about me is that I’m not used to working on a team. I recognize that I won’t be the easiest person to work with, but I will try my best. If not for you, then for Wade.”
