Chapter Eighteen #2
“Lucas, you need to keep this one. She belongs with us,” Marcus said.
“I’m working on it.” Lucas smiled at me, and my heart melted.
“Enough work talk.” Emma clapped her hands.
“What would you like to talk about?” Asher asked.
“I’d like to know more about Valerie,” Josh said. “How did you become a forensic accountant?”
All eyes turned to me. I swallowed. Being in the spotlight wasn’t my favorite thing.
“Valerie has always liked numbers,” Lucas said, slipping his arm over the back of my chair and giving my shoulders a squeeze.
“I was a math geek in high school.” Not that it wasn’t true. Numbers didn’t lie, and I’d had enough lies as a child.
“Lucas mentioned you met at a company welcome party. Was he a party boy?” Miles commented.
“Hey.” Lucas glared at Miles. “I’m not a party boy.”
I laughed long and hard and was about to stop but noticed Lucas glaring at me, and my laughter started all over again. Finally sobering up, I said, “Lucas finished his MBA in record time. Of course, he was a couple of years ahead of me in college. A lot of the professors talked about him.”
“You never mentioned the professors talking about me.”
“I wasn’t about to inflate your ego.”
“So, you met at a work party and…” Asher leaned forward.
I smiled as the memory played out. “We did. I was a nervous mess, but Lucas came up to me and introduced himself. I knew who he was, and the others followed his lead. Including several of the other accountants, some of whom asked me out.”
Lucas frowned as everyone else burst out laughing.
“I’d found the prettiest woman in the room. I had no idea my co-workers were trying to poach on my territory.”
My heart fluttered at his words. “No one poached me.” I lowered my voice. “You’re so sweet to call me pretty.”
Lucas’ arm tightened around my shoulders. “You are beautiful,” he said, his voice gentle. “I was a fool not to see what I had in you, but now I do.” He leaned closer. “I’m not letting you go again.”
I could barely breathe. While his voice was soft, the others could still hear him.
“Another one of us has bit the dust,” Marcus said.
I froze. What did Marcus mean?
“Don’t be an ass.” Cassie slapped Marcus’ arm.
“It’s too early for that kind of talk,” Emma commented.
“I’m missing something.”
Miles leaned back in his chair. “Marcus is saying Lucas is going the same way he and Asher went. Falling for a woman they work with.”
“What?” I shook my head.
Lucas cupped my chin and turned my head to face him. Sincerity was etched in his expression. “I mean it. I was foolish once, but never again. Now tell them about your accounting class with Professor Zimmerman.”
I groaned but appreciated Lucas changing the subject. “That man had it out for us students.” I began relating how the professor treated his students.
The night went quickly. I hadn’t realized how much I needed this. While the people where I normally worked were nice, none of us spent time together outside of work.
It was after ten when we finally left the pub. Fatigue weighed me down; it had been a long week. We all walked to the garage together, then went our separate ways. Lucas walked me to my car.
“I’ll follow you home, so wait until I pull up behind you,” he told me.
“I’m perfectly okay.” Sometimes his protectiveness was a little much even if we did live in the same area.
“I know you are.” He cupped my cheek, and I leaned into his palm. “It’s late, and I will make sure you’re safe.”
I wanted to say more but didn’t. This was a side of Lucas that had always been there, even when we were together before.
The protector. “All right.” Was I giving in?
Maybe, but I knew it would make Lucas feel better to make sure I got home safely.
If he was happy, I was happy. It was a little thing to do.
“Good girl.” He brushed a kiss over my lips, then walked away.
I leaned against my vehicle. His soft words twisted my insides into a knot of desire. With a sigh, I climbed into my car and waited until I saw Lucas’ vehicle before I backed out. There was something comforting seeing his headlights behind me as we drove.
At my house, I pulled into the driveway, and he pulled in behind me. Before I could open my door, he was there waiting.
“You didn’t have to park and get out.”
“I did.” He cupped my elbow as we walked up to the house. I unlocked the door, the beeping of the alarm reminding me to turn it off.
“I’m glad there’s an alarm system.”
“I like it.” As a woman alone, it gave me an extra level of security, especially since I didn’t have a dog. Placing my purse on the hook, I turned to him. Lucas shut the door behind him, and all my emotions hit me at once.
He was in my house. Did he expect me to ask him to stay?
Yes! My heart screamed. My nerves tingled.
Was I ready for this step? Another yes from my heart, but I wasn’t convinced yet.
While we hadn’t said much about our actions at Rustic today, my body remembered.
Hell, the images Lucas had created with his descriptions were burned into my brain.
Lucas enfolded me into his embrace. I leaned against him, enjoying being in his arms.
“Would you like to spend time together tomorrow?” he asked.
“That would be nice.” I barely stopped myself from rolling my eyes at my words. Why did I feel like I was eighteen again, and the high school quarterback just asked me to prom.
“Can you be ready at ten?”
“For what?”
“A surprise.”
Lucas had a mischievous grin on his face. What was he planning? “I need to know how to dress.”
“Casual.” His arms tightened around me.
Heat flooded me. I looped my arms around his neck. “I can do that.” Shifting my stance, I rubbed my body against his.
“Behave.” He swatted my ass.
“That’s not going to make me behave.” It only increased the heat running through me.
Lucas shook his head. “Tomorrow.” He took my lips in a hard kiss before he pushed me away. “Sleep well.” He opened the door and slipped out.
I stood there stunned. He’d walked away?
“Lock up and set the alarm,” he said through the door.
“Bossy man,” I shouted but turned the dead bolt.
“You have no idea. Night, sweetheart.”
His footsteps sounded heavy on the wooden stairs, and I leaned against the door, my lips now tingling along with my body.
The Lucas I saw today at Rustic was more forceful than before, but tonight he’d been tender and understanding. Would I ever figure him out? Maybe one of these days, but not tonight. I wanted to savor the feelings running through me and hold them close. Lucas made me feel like a real woman.