Toxic Chemistry

Chapter 5

Total mancave.

He lived in a total mancave.

He paused in front of the wide gates to input a code on a panel. The gates swung open and he drove in.

The first thing I noticed was the open space. He had a very large land.

Then I saw the pool. It was very wide. Very clear. And very green,like his eyes.

Then I saw the house. Talk about jaw dropping.

It was an open two story house made with white marble that was very generous with it's balcony.

I unclipped my helmet shaking out my hair and trailed behind him as he made his way into the house.

There was a set of three sofas on the patio with a side table that held different basketball magazines.

Not far from the sofas there was a large C shaped couch with a coffee table.

He opened the sliding glass doors and I walked into more white.

There was a large chandelier at the center of the room and a white L shaped couch.

A large white flat screen tv took up a huge chunk of the wall.

There was a spiraling glass stairs leading upstairs.

The kitchen was separated from the living room by a slight step-just 5 inches high.

There was a glass door that lead to what looked like the guest bedroom.

I felt eyes on me and turned to see Luke staring at me. He made a slight hand gesture "make yourself at home. I need to make a call"

I nodded as he dropped his keys on the glass table and he took the stairs two at a time before he disappeared upstairs.

I sank down on the plush couch and lifted my leg to remove my boots. I've never felt comfortable wearing shoes around the house.

It makes my feet itchy-I blame it on nana,she raised me to believe walking inside the house with shoes on is wrong and stuffy.

'Why walk around with shoes on clean floor Neil?. Only cold rich people does that. Promise me no matter how rich you get you won't be like that' she had said.

Oh nana.

Shoes in hand i stood up-loving the feel of the cool marble in my feet- and padded softly to the guest room.

I opened the sliding doors and sighed with pleasure.

The room was also made with white marble floor.

The gold curtains of the ceiling to floor glass window was drawn back gracing me with a view of the backyard where I could see a basketball court.

The bed was queen sized with the covers turned down and plush pillows. There was a huge black and white chandelier above the bed to match the bed's black headboard and white sheet.

In the center of the room was a thick white rug.

I dropped my boots beside the door and draped my jacket on the back of a white chair.

I made my way to the bathroom in the adjoining room to wash off my makeup in the sink.

Once I was done I pulled my hair up in a loose messy bun and walked out.

I was conscious of the fact that the crop top I was wearing exposed my belly button but there was nothing to be done about it.

Lucas was on a conference call when I made my way to the living room.

I hesitated,not sure if I should interrupt but he looked up and waved me over.

I went to him and sat tentatively beside him.

"She's here Gracie" he said to his laptop and a woman with brown hair popped out.

She had the most beautiful grey eyes and the glasses she was wearing only enhanced it.

Who the hell was she? I thought seething with an unreasonable anger and why the hell was she wearing a baggy t-shirt.

Oh my God!. Was it Luke's?.

She stared at me for a moment then gave me a dazzling smile "Hey there Neil!. I'm Grace Jenkins but you can call me Gracie. I'm Luke's agent. Nice piercing by the way. I love it!!"

I was taken aback. She was so bubbly and cheerful. Too cheerful for 9 pm in the night.

"Err. Thanks Gracie"

"You're welcome!. Did Luke fill you in?!"

"Fill me in...?" I was confused.

She rolled her eyes muttering something underneath her breath.

"We are formulating a plan to get the press off your back" she said out loud.

I perked up at that. Thank God.

"What's the plan?"

She took in a deep breath "The reason they're attacking you is because they think you guys are dating..."

"Which we're not" Lucas cut in.

Gracie rolled her eyes again "Let me talk dude. Anyways the plan-which is not much of a plan- is to let them know you're not dating. Convince them you're friends"

I nodded "how do we do that?"

She grinned "you hang out as friends,do things friends do and at the same time you go on dates with other people"

I nodded but then a thought occurred to me.

"I'm only here for my bestfriend's wedding,after that I'm back to Taylor's groove. I don't have time to do friendly things or go on dates"

Gracie facepalmed "LUCAS VINCENCTO McCAMPBELL!!"

"I forgot to tell her ok!. Geez you know I hate being called that"

"Tell me what?"

He cleared his throat "I'm Christian's best man"

My jaw dropped "what??"

He rolled his eyes at me "come on,how do you think I knew where you were last night? And why else do you think I was able to bring you with me?. You may not know but Christian has guards watching you,Zoe and Ava. The only reason I was able to touch you at all is because they know and trust me"

Oh. Now I feel stupid.

"So the plan is you'll be portrayed as friends who met through their bestfriends. I talked to Grayson and um..." Gracie blushed averting her eyes.

"He agreed to take you to the wedding and also to take you out occasionally"

"Ok" I nodded.

"Good" she grinned again. She's either smiling or grinning. How can somebody be that happy?.

Then she yawned loudly "I don't know about you guys but I'm beat"

Lucas smirked "Grayson wore you out uhn?"

Gracie blushed again "Good night" she deadpanned and the screen went blank.

I turned to Lucas and I realizedjust how close we were. His gaze dropped to my lips and I darted my tongue out nervously.

I jolted back when I felt his warm hands on my belly button.

"Nice piercing. When did you get it?"

I licked my lips again and his eyes darkened "um...when my nana died"

His gaze met mine "I'm sorry"

"It was four years ago" I said

"Still."

I yawned loudly making Lucas grin.

"You've had quite a day,you must be exhausted"

"I am" I admitted still not comfortable about the fact that my whole life is now on the Internet.

"Don't let me disturb you then" he stood up "good night"

Our eyes met. Held.

"Good night" I said.

Then I also stood up and made my way to the guest bedroom.

**

I stretched languidly with a yawn and burrowed deeper into the bed. It was so soft. So warm and cozy.

I opened my eyes to see someone had drawn the curtain over the window. Did Lucas come in here?

I stood up and shivered deliciously at the blast of cool air that greeted me. I drew back the curtains and saw it was drizzling.

The glass must be soundproof cause I couldn't hear anything.

I saw a male figure doing push-ups on the wet grass and stepped closer to the glass for a better view.

The figure stood up,his back to me. He was only wearing basketball shorts. He turned slightly and I recognized who it was with a jolt.

Lucas.

He stretched and his back muscles rippled. There were droplets of water trailing down his body-probably a mixture of rain water and sweat.

He pushed his legs apart hands going behind his head and dropped in a squat.

God damn. My mouth watered at the sight. I lifted my hand to my lips to make sure I wasn't drooling.

I watched him do 100 squats,I knew I should move but I couldn't. I was captivated.

Then he stood up and turned around. Our eyes met.

He stood still staring at me and I didn't move either. I couldn't. I was busy checking him out. How many years of workout does it take to get 8 packs?.

Then he lifted his hand and waved. I jolted back,immediately drawing the curtains together with a snap.

Then I realized the gravity of what just happened. Lucas had caught me ogling him. While I was in only my underwear.

Crap.