Chapter 4
Lucy
I hadn’t been able to concentrate at all during this dinner. It was my second date with Lorne Mitchell, a Manhattan psychiatrist. Everything had been going great, except that my mind kept wandering to whether I should stop by The Rusty Nail after.
That was certainly not a good sign for Lorne.
My date put his fork down. “Is everything okay? You look like you’re not enjoying the food.”
“Oh no. Everything is perfect. Sorry. My mind is on…one of my clients,” I lied. “I have a hard time not taking work home with me.”
“I get it. We have that in common, I think. My patients get in my head a lot, too.”
This was the first time I’d been out with someone who was also in the mental-health field. I’d hoped that commonality would make things more interesting, but any small bit of chemistry between Lorne and me had fizzled since our first date.
All I could think about was what Tucker had said to me the last time we were together. “Let me know what body part you decide you want to see. Ball’s in your court. I’ll be waiting.”
The pathetic thing was, I still couldn’t be sure whether Tucker was serious or not.
And even if he was, it still didn’t imply that he wanted a serious relationship.
I couldn’t risk my friendship with Maggie for a quick tryst with her brother.
Her brother! Oh my God. How would she even react to that?
I really needed to forget what Tucker said.
But that was easier said than done.
After I parted ways with my date, I decided to stop by the bar.
Tonight’s dating event was likely wrapping up, and I told myself I was going to check in with Maggie.
But deep down, I knew what had really brought me here was the possibility of seeing Tucker.
Maybe seeing him tonight would give me some clarity.
Unfortunately, when I entered, an attractive girl had leaned in to flirt with him over the bar. Of course. This was Tucker’s life—a hot bartender who probably took women home left and right. Women closer to his age and not four years older. Women who weren’t his sister’s best friend.
After using the bathroom, I decided to sneak out without saying anything to him.
On the drive home, I felt dumb for having stopped at the bar. It felt desperate.
Back at my place, I washed off all my makeup and changed into some comfortable clothes. Just as I was about to turn on the TV and escape into a show, there was a knock at the door.
I opened it and was surprised to find Tucker standing there. It was only ten, and the bar shouldn’t have closed yet.
My breath hitched. “What are you doing here?”
His eyes traveled down to my breasts. I’d taken my bra off.
“Why did you leave the bar?” he asked, walking past me and into my house.
“You saw me?”
“Yeah. I saw you leave the bathroom and walk right out the door.”
“I came to say hello to you, but you seemed…busy.”
“Busy because I was working and talking to a patron, like I do every night? You made the wrong assumption.”
“How are you even here, and not there? You’re not closed yet.”
“I had someone cover for me, Lucy. I’m the boss. I can leave whenever I want.”
“You left early to come talk to me?”
“Didn’t you leave the bar early, too, when you came to talk to me?” His eyes veered downward again, and I covered myself with my arms.
“You just ended my peepshow,” he said, his voice a growl.
I cleared my throat. “Yeah, well, I’d be wearing a bra if I’d known you were coming by.”
“If you answering the door with no bra is what I get for stopping by unannounced, I might plan more impromptu visits.” He winked. “I’m kidding.” He muttered, “Sort of.”
I lowered my arms and walked over to grab my hoodie draped over the back of a chair. “I did want to see you,” I admitted as I zipped it up.
“Did it have something to do with a certain decision I asked you to make the last time we were together?”
My body tingled at the mere thought of his naked body. “I’m confused about what to do with you.”
“I have an idea of what you can do with me.”
I rolled my eyes. “I can’t tell if you’re serious. But even if you are, I need more than just, you know…” As much as it seemed I did want that with him.
He cocked his head. “You think I’m only after one thing?”
“That’s one of my fears when it comes to you.”
“I’m sorry if I spooked you by being forward. That’s just my personality.”
I raised a brow. “So you do this with everyone?”
“No. Not at all. But if I want something, I try to make that clear. Not sure how I can be any clearer.”
“Okay then. I’m not looking for a relationship that’s purely physical.”
“You’re not looking for fucking amazing sex with someone who has the utmost respect for you?” He inched closer.
My body was on fire as I looked down at his strong, tattooed arms. Despite the arousal burning through me, I managed to say, “I’m not just looking for sex.”
“And what makes you think that’s all I want?”
“I don’t know. I just assumed—”
The doorbell rang.
“Shit,” I muttered.
Tucker’s eyes narrowed. “Who’s that?”
I peeked out the window to see Maggie’s car outside. “It’s your sister,” I said, heading toward the door.
“Fuck.”
I opened. “Hey.” I let out a shaky breath as I ran a hand through my hair. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see how your date went, since I was on my way home.” She noticed Tucker. “What are you doing here?”
Tucker looked over at me and proceeded to lie. “I followed Lucy home from the bar to make sure she was okay because I noticed this weird dude leave right after her. I got paranoid that maybe he was following her.”
“Oh shit. That’s scary.” She turned to me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I exhaled. “False alarm.”
“Unfortunately, it’s another weird dude she has to be more concerned about…” He winked at me.
“Huh?” Maggie looked confused.
I shot daggers at Tucker.
“Wait. Why were you at the bar tonight, Lucy? I thought you were on a date with Mr. Side-Part. Lorne?”
“I was. I stopped by after.”
Maggie frowned. “The date was a dud?”
“Yeah, kind of. Lorne is a great guy. But I wasn’t into him. We used all our spark on the first date.”
“Darn it. I was sure he was the one.” She sighed. “Well, once again I’m gonna have to work even harder to find you a match.”
I looked over at Tucker and noticed his sullen expression. “I’ll have my marker ready,” he said with a sigh.