Page 44 of Falling for the Maverick

“Who in your family is opposed to you seeing me?” Lucas asked.

Michelle knew she had to be truthful with Lucas because she wanted him to be prepared in case someone other than her grandmother knew that she had been seeing him. “My brother.”

“Which brother, Michelle? You happen to have four of them.”

“Aaron.”

Lucas ran a hand over his face. “I figured it would be him because he was glaring at me during the wedding reception. Well, Aaron isn’t the only family member who doesn’t want us together.”

She stared, completely baffled by his statement. “Who else, Lucas?”

“Ethan.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Your brother, Ethan?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” she questioned.

“Because we’ve always done things together, and he’s afraid that he’s going to lose his wingman if I get involved with you. That I would go from dating you to having kids with you.”

“That’s crazy! Look at my brother. Shane and Josh Aventura have been friends since childhood, and when he got involved with Remi Hawkins nothing changed. He and Josh still hang out together whenever they can.”

“But isn’t Remi Josh’s wife’s cousin?”

“That has nothing to do with Shane and Josh’s friendship.”

“So, what are you saying, Michelle? That we should ignore our brothers’ opinions and just do our thing?”

“I can’t believe that I’m saying this, but I’m willing to wait until the end of the month to stop this asinine charade. That is if you still want to see me.”

“Of course I want to continue to see you. What makes you think I don’t?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you’re doing it because you felt guilty about kissing me the night of the pumpkin spice crawl.”

“I may have kissed you, but you also kissed me back.”

“Oh, now you’re blaming me for your lack of restraint?” she asked.

“No, babe. I’m just saying if you hadn’t kissed me back, we wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation. I would’ve walked away with happy memories of how much I enjoyed tasting your sweet cinnamon-spiced lips.”

The long, black lashes that shadowed Michelle’s cheeks flew up. Lucas had no way of knowing that she’d relived that kiss repeatedly in her head later that night and for many more nights after that. Every nerve in her body had been ignited when Lucas pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. She’d hung on to his strong neck and never wanted to let go, wishing she could be in his embrace for eternity. Like Gustav Klimt’s painting The Kiss, which symbolized love, passion, intimacy and connection.

“But you didn’t walk away, Lucas.”

“And I’m glad I didn’t because I enjoy every second, minute and hour I have with you.”

She smiled. “Careful, cowboy. Or we’ll find ourselves falling for each other.”

“Heaven forbid!” he said with mock seriousness.

“We just have to make it to the end of the month.”

A beat passed, before Lucas said, “Yes. The end of the month.”

Michelle felt as if she’d overcome an emotional hurdle. If he was willing to wait until the end of the month, then so was she. That was more than enough time to ascertain whether they would continue to see each other or call it quits. If the latter, they could part as friends with no strings attached. As for right now, if she were completely honest with herself, Michelle knew she wanted to sleep with Lucas, but it appeared it was a line he wasn’t willing to cross. That was okay. Once that line was crossed, there would be no turning back for either of them.

To distract herself from her lustful thoughts, she took another mouthful of her barbecued beef ribs. “I really like this restaurant, and the food is incredible,” she said, swallowing a bite.