Chapter 15 Two Steps Forward, One Step Back #3
He only allowed her a second, afraid she’d pull away completely if he gave her any time to think about what they were doing.
His index finger went under her chin, lifting it to meet his lips again.
Every second their mouths were fused together, the kiss gained strength until he felt her hands clutching his shirt.
Tugging her braid, the rubber band at the tail came out in his hand and fell to the floor as he plunged his fingers through her hair, pulling the skeins free to let it fall to her shoulders.
His hips pressed forward, and he heard a whimper as his hard length came into contact with her belly. Pressure along his lower back and spine told him that her hands were clutching him closer, and if he wasn’t mistaken, he felt her shift her hips specifically into his cock.
Of course his phone chose that moment to vibrate in his back pocket. He intended to ignore it, but ever since the accident, he’d been hypersensitive to letting calls go to voicemail. He stepped back. “Damn. I have to get that. It could be Ezra.”
She nodded, holding her fingertips to her lips, as if to keep the feeling of his mouth on hers from dissipating. She appeared dazed and passion-hazed, her eyes cloudy from being swept away in the kiss. Her lips were puffy, definitely a sign that she’d been kissed, and kissed well.
Had he glanced at his screen, he wouldn’t have answered the call. But he was so mesmerized by the dazed and passion-hazed look in her eyes, he answered the phone without looking away from her. “Lucas Vaughn.”
“Hi, Lucas. Do you have a minute?”
Jess. Fuck. Why now?
The blissed-out expression on Elyxandre’s face disappeared quickly, as if hearing Jess’ voice coming from his phone was a bucket of ice water dousing her.
Damn, damn, damn. “If you’re quick. We’re headed out to check on the last two float-building sites.”
He mouthed an apology to Elyxandre, who shook her head and bent down to pick up the rubber band from the floor. Calling himself every kind of stupid, he watched her walk down the hall toward the bathroom.
“‘We’re’?” She paused. “I just saw Ezra pull into the Hendersons’ driveway, which is what made me think to call you.” He heard her intake of breath over the line. “Damn. Elyxandre’s there, isn’t she? I’m so sorry, Lucas.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. What do you need?”
“If you were alone with the super sexy school resource officer, there is definitely something to be sorry for. Is she right there? Can she hear me?”
“No, she’s not in the room. What do you need, Jess?”
“We’ve been playing phone tag since I stopped by on Monday, although I get the sense you’ve been dodging my calls. Please tell me it’s because the two of you have been secretly shacking up since Monday.”
He snorted. “Shacking up? I think you need to review what that phrase means. But no. We’ve not been hanging out. Not really.”
“I suppose being chaperoned by several hundred students each night doesn’t really lend itself to romance. So… since I’ve already interrupted, how’s it going?”
“We went to two float sites, came here for burgers, and now we’re going out to two more sites before calling it a night. It’s been fine. I should get going.”
“Lucas, don’t you dare hang up on me!”
Sighing, he moved the phone to his opposite ear and leaned back against the pass-through countertop. “Jess, please don’t make a big deal about this.”
“But it’s a very big deal,” she squealed. “Have you kissed her yet?”
His best friend had no boundaries, and he couldn’t help being amused by her, even if he was irritated with her poor timing. “There is something wrong with you. You know that, right?”
“So many things, but that’s beside the point. Your answer means yes. Oh my gosh! Please tell me you’re bringing her to the party on Sunday. Please, please, please!”
“Jess,” he began. “No. I told you. I’m spending Sunday with Ezra. That hasn’t changed since Monday.” He was so going to hell for that lie.
“But, Lucas, you couldn’t spare an hour or two for one Sunday? I’m dying to get to know her.”
“If you want to get to know her so bad, call her up and ask her to go for coffee.”
She squealed again, and he could almost envision her doing a little happy dance in her living room. Mentally, he smacked himself on the forehead. He’d just basically given her permission to interrogate Elyxandre. What was the matter with him?
Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Elyxandre appear down the hall, coming toward him. She’d used the time he’d been on the phone to put herself back together. The braid was too destroyed, obviously, so she settled for a high ponytail.
“I have to go, Jess. Have a good night.”
As he disconnected the call, he heard her yelling out, “Good luck!” to him.
Exasperated as he was at himself for ruining the moment by answering the phone, he was realistic enough to admit that if Jess hadn’t called, he wouldn’t have been able to avoid putting Elyxandre up on the counter and taking things as far as she’d let him.
He’d have made every effort to pull her shirt up and get his mouth on what he knew would be perfect breasts.
Or better, he’d have those pants around her knees and his mouth buried in the heat between her thighs.
He was also unhappy she interrupted for the exact same reasons. Doing either of those two things right now would probably have freaked Elyxandre out so badly that she’d retreat, and he’d lose any chance with her at all.
He watched her work to reapply her professional persona. Well. He wasn’t going to allow that.
“I’m sorry. I should have paid attention to who was calling.”
“It’s fine.”
He put his phone back in his pocket before moving closer. “Not to me, it wasn’t. I was enjoying the hell out of that. And you can’t lie to me. You were too.”
“Whether I enjoyed it or not, we shouldn’t have done that.”
Shit. Her armor was back in place.
“Yes, we very well should have. If I have my way, we’ll be doing it again.
” He took another step closer to her. “And again.” Another step so that their shoes were touching.
“And again.” His hands smoothed over the kinks in her hair on the side of her head that the braid left behind, then he leaned in to kiss her forehead.
“Come with us this weekend,” he murmured against her skin.
Her eyes widened with confusion. “Sundays are your time with your son. You said that time was sacred.”
Here came another half-truth that would be added to the reasons he’d go to hell, but he wasn’t about to tell her that Ezra had no intention of being at that park visit.
He didn’t need her to have any more reasons to avoid spending time with him than she already did.
“Sundays are my time to do the things that I want. Ninety percent of the time, Ezra’s with me.
I want to spend time with you, and he’ll be ecstatic if you join us. ”
“Lucas, I…”
“It’s a hike, Elyxandre. You can meet us there if you want. I won’t even hold your hand, although I would like for you to ride with us, and I would love to hold your hand. Ezra won’t say anything at school if that’s what’s holding you back.”
Indecision warred with desire. She wanted to say yes, he could tell.
“Obviously, I’m attracted to you, too, but…
I don’t know that I’m comfortable being involved with someone I work with again.
It went so badly the first time. And what happens if we don’t work out?
It will be so uncomfortable for both of us, and I don’t want to change jobs again. My friends are here.”
He took her hands in his and kissed one set of knuckles, then the other.
“Please, Elyxandre. Don’t close the door on us before we’ve even cracked it open.
Instead of imagining the worst, think about what we stand to gain if it goes well.
I understand that you’re nervous. You were burned badly, and I’m so sorry about that, but I’m not Knox. ”
He pulled her close and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. His free hand lightly gripped her chin and tilted it so she was forced to look him in the eyes.
Tentative arms wrapped around his waist. “I know you’re not,” she assured him. “I really do. You show me that in a hundred ways every day we work together. However, one dinner and a hot kiss can’t undo twenty years of trust issues, even if you had nothing to do with those things.”
“How about two dinners and a second hot kiss?” he teased.
She smiled and rolled her eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”
“If dinners and kisses are ridiculous, then I plead guilty.” He wiped the smile from his face and replaced it with earnestness.
“But seriously. I realize I don’t know all the details, but from what little you’ve told me, that asshole obviously felt threatened by you.
He didn’t appreciate being with a strong, independent woman.
Me? That’s exactly the kind of woman I want in my life.
“I can tell you, straight up, Elyxandre. I am not threatened by you. I want to watch you thrive, and I will do anything to help you make that happen. To support your choices and your goals. I am in awe of your independence. And it’s so fucking sexy to watch you be the strong woman that you are.
” He kissed her lips, then put his forehead to hers.
“I don’t want you to change a thing, or tell you what to be, or how to do things, because you do everything well and with confidence.
“When we first met, I knew you were something special. And that first work day? I told you that I knew I was going to like you. These past few weeks of working together have shown me just exactly how good a team we make.” He pulled her tight into his chest and tucked her under his chin.
“We’re a lot alike. We work long hours, and we make them count because it’s important to us that things get done right.
Both of us are committed to the students, and they’re as important to you as they are to me.
We care about the same things. Their safety. Their happiness. Their confidence.”
He pulled back, his hands gently holding her by the biceps.
“Please. Give us a shot. We can keep it quiet. I’m not saying secret because if someone asked me outright, I would refuse to hide us.
But we can both handle a professional relationship at work and a romantic one when not at work.
Don’t deny something you want for yourself just because it didn’t work with someone else. ”
She looked up at him, her teeth worrying her lip. He’d never seen her so vulnerable before.
She closed her eyes and hung her head. Fuck! She was going to hold to her refusal.
Then her head lifted up, just a hint of possible tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t want to take away time from your son.”
“El”—he watched her blush in pleasure at his shortened version of her name—“I told you, Sundays are my time to do what I want. And I want to spend time with you. In all of these years since my wife left, I’ve never wanted to sacrifice that time to anyone else. With you? It’s not a sacrifice.”
Her expression twisted. He could tell that she so wanted to believe him, but that she was afraid to.
Finally, she begged him, “Please, don’t hurt me, Lucas. Don’t be like Knox.”
He gathered her close, and if his hug was a little too tight, sue him. She was allowing herself to be vulnerable for him. No, for them. He would never take that for granted.
“I would never, Elyxandre.”