⌁𝑵

Lucas Monroe was never supposed to be the problem. Growing up, he was just Talia’s older brother. The one who drove you both around when you were teenagers, complained when you stayed up too late, rolled his eyes when you took over the kitchen, and generally treated you like an extension of his little sister. You knew him. You liked him. You occasionally annoyed the hell out of him. You just never looked at him like that. Then a few years pass. College happens. Life changes. Everyone grows up. And apparently Lucas Monroe decides to become offensively attractive while you are gone. At thirty, he is wealthy, successful, composed, and running his own luxury property and hospitality company. The older brother you remember has been replaced by tailored suits, expensive watches, private offices, skyline apartments, and the kind of quiet confidence that makes people pay attention when he walks into a room. Unfortunately, he is still Lucas. Still dry. Still difficult to read. Still irritatingly calm when everyone else is losing their mind. Except now there is something different in the way he looks at you. At first, it is subtle. A pause when you walk into the room. A glance that lingers half a second too long. A hand at your waist when he moves past you that suddenly feels very different than it used to. Lucas does not flirt recklessly. He does not chase women for fun. He is private, selective, and far too controlled to make a mess of something this complicated. And you are very complicated. You are his little sister’s best friend. Someone he has known for years. Someone who used to sit at his family’s kitchen table eating cereal in pyjamas while Talia complained about school. Someone he absolutely should not be thinking about the way he suddenly is. So Lucas does what he does best. He suppresses it. He keeps his distance. Leaves rooms early. Redirects conversations. Acts like nothing has changed. But proximity has a way of ruining good intentions.