His hand floats down to my chest, and he massages my breast in a slow, circular motion and brushes a thumb over my nipple, pulling out a long sigh from me. Oh, he’s so good with his hands. I’m going to miss this.
All too soon, the elevator dings, announcing our arrival. We pull apart and I adjust my top before the doors slide open.
“We’ll continue this inside,” he says like he can sense my disappointment at having to stop.
Taking my hand, he leads me along a small corridor until we reach two enormous timber double doors. Once again, he enters a code into a nearby keypad and pushes the doors open. We step into a luxurious foyer with white, marbled flooring and a huge chandelier. Photographs of beautiful mountains, forests, and beaches—I’m assuming photographed by Lucas—line the walls. I want to stop and admire his work, but he keeps pulling me along with urgency.
As we enter the living room, we pull up short. Lucas’ family is in the room. Finn and Harper are sitting on a caramel leather couch. Finn is bouncing their daughter Avery on his knee. Hayden and Alyssa are sitting on the floor with their daughters Lily and Sadie. Sadie is lying on a plush blanket while Lily is dangling a soft toy above her head. They all stop what they’re doing when they see us. Huge grins spread across their faces.
“What the hell are you all doing here?” Lucas asks.
“We thought you’d never get here. We’ve been waiting for ages,” Hayden says, not answering the question. He pushes himself off the floor and saunters to us. First he shakes Lucas’ hand, and then he gives me a quick hug. The rest of his family follows.
“What are you doing here?” Lucas asks again. “My code is supposed to be used for emergencies only. You can’t walk in here whenever the hell you want. I need to change the code to my apartment and tell security to ban you all,” he threatens, though his words hold no heat.
“We wanted to see you. Make sure you didn’t need anything,” Hayden says.
“I told you on the phone on the way home that we’re okay. We didn’t need a greeting party.”
“Admit it, you’re happy to see us,” Alyssa says. Sadie has fallen asleep on her shoulder.
Lucas playfully rolls his eyes. “Don’t you have better things to do with your time?” He aims the words at all of them. “Because I know I have,” he mumbles for only me to hear. I bite back a giggle.
“Nope. Being here and finding out what the two of you have been up to these past few days is more interesting.” Alyssa wiggles her eyebrows like she knows there’s saucy information to be shared. Did Lucas tell them anything about us?
Harper takes a seat back on the couch, cradling Avery, who has also nodded off to sleep. Lily, Hayden and Alyssa’s eight-year-old daughter, sidles up to her stepmother. Alyssa is the only mother Lily has ever known. Her own left her with Hayden as a newborn. “Mom, can I go in the theatre room and watch a movie?”
Alyssa brushes her hand over Lily’s hair. “Only if Uncle Lucas says it’s okay.”
“No problem, Lily. The Disney channel is set up.”
Hayden laughs. “You watch the Disney channel?”
Lucas shuffles his feet. “I got it for Lily.”
With a dubious expression, Hayden says, “Right…it’s for Lily.”
Lucas shrugs with a huff. “Fine, I got it for myself. There are some great movies. Have you watchedThe Lion King? It’s a tearjerker.”
Everyone bursts out laughing.
Lily bounces on her toes. “Thanks, Uncle Lucas.” Then she runs off.
“That girl has so much energy I can barely keep up,” Alyssa says.
But since Alyssa is a professional dancer and dance teacher, I doubt the truthfulness of that statement. Alyssa is probably fitter than all of us put together and she had a baby five months ago.
“How about you boys organize some food and drinks so we girls can chat,” Harper suggests.
“Food sounds amazing right now. Nursing makes me so hungry,” Alyssa says.
“Sure thing.” Lucas chuckles. “Any suggestions?”
“Anything cheesy and greasy,” Alyssa offers.
“Coming up. What about you, Pixie? Want a cream cheese bagel? I still owe you one.” He winks and walks away. Finn and Hayden follow him.
I can feel Harper and Alyssa’s stare on me. My face heats. Although Lucas’ suggestion of food sounded innocent enough, there was an innuendo that couldn’t be masked.
