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“I was just leaving. Thanks for lunch, Abby.” Roman nods in our direction and heads up to Maddie’s house toward his parked truck, not once looking back. I’m left watching him disappear from sight, knowing he saw my exchange with Lucas and unsure what he made of it all. Lucas wrenches me inside the cottage, and I stumble after him in a tangle limbs and pissed off.
“You didn’t have to behave like that,” I say to Lucas once inside the cool living room, tearing myself from his grip and straightening my clothes.
“Like what? I could see the townie was drooling all over you. Is this what you do on our break?” Arms folded over his trim chest, Lucas’ words are cold, and I look down guiltily. So now it’s my fault I didn’t play the break by his rules?
“I… you said… Lucas, you’re not being fair.” I try to explain myself, but it doesn’t matter. While I’m the type of lawyer who debates well in professional settings, in my personal relationships, I tend to let the people closest to me run roughshod all over my thoughts and feelings. Unfortunately, they are also the ones I have to work with, so I seem like a bumbling idiot half the time.
“Not being fair? Abigail, I worked myself to the bone for your dad, thinking about our future, and I come up here and find you ready to fuck around with some local nobody.” Shame prevails because, had Lucas been a day later, that might have been true, despite my efforts to reach him and properly end things.
“Lucas, you weren’t calling me or texting me back all this time. Who does that?” Communication only seems to work the way Lucas wanted it to and not when I needed it to.
“I. Was. Working,” he growls, stomping around like a toddler.
“Fine.” I can tell this conversation is going to go nowhere, and I’d really like for him to just get back in his car and leave. I doubt whatever we needed worked out in LA will get worked out here in Gold Beach. I look out the window and see a matching shiny BMW that looks similar to mine, but is a sporty sedan version.
“Nice car, Lucas.” His car looks funny and out of place next to Roman’s pickup truck.
“It came with the promotion, sweetheart.” Sneering we eye each other before he blows out a frustrated breath. “I guess I’m going to have to get my own bag,” he mutters, and I try to ignore the barb he’s directing toward Maddie’s inn. I don’t think it’s a good time to tell him Roman will get it and I hope that he doesn’t.
“Probably best.” I didn’t want Roman carrying his bag, because as soon as humanly possible, I was going to send Lucas back to LA.
“So who’s the lady at the house who wouldn’t tell me where you were this morning?” Lucas snorts with disgust, picking up and moving things around to make himself at home in my space. Claustrophobia sets in and I trail him, replacing things he’s moved without a care or thought.
“Maddie. She’s the owner of the B&B. I told her I was alone when you weren’t coming, so I bet she was just being protective. That’s all. We should probably sit down and talk. I’m sorry you drove the whole way up here.” I walk inside the living area of the cottage and realize what it looks like: a happy little love nest that Roman and I shared just hours earlier, with the bed a mess.
“Oh, Abigail? Really?” Lucas looks at me snidely, folding his arms over his chest as if I’ve done something wrong. Which I haven’t. Technically.
“Nothing happened,” I snap back. Well, except for a kiss I initiated—but I feel guilty enough right now. I’m not even thinking about how I woke up tangled in thick, tanned limbs. I’m going to blame the lemon drops Roman poured and handed to me drink after drink. To say I’m having trouble sorting my feelings is an understatement—and besides, Lucas and I were on a break because he said so. Ugh. My head is hurting fiercely now, and if this turns into a migraine, I’ll be bedridden here for the next two days without my migraine medication.
“Oh, sweetheart, come here.” Lucas pulls me into his chest and I feel my eyes welling with guilty tears. Cupping my hands over my face, I wonder how I got myself caught up in this mess. Dismissing me, he says, “I know how hard it must have been for you up here alone on your own, thinking we might be breaking up. It was just the stress of exams, finishing our internships, and hiding everything from your control-freak dad.”
Well, that bristles my nerves, even if Lucas’ assessment of my dad is true. It’s not his place to say those things. Using his hand, he picks up my chin to look at me. “Listen, I forgive you.” I roll my eyes, trying to knock his hand away. I’m mad, annoyed, and… God, a million things I don’t know. Chiding me, he continues in a patronizing tone I hate. “Now, come on, Abs, we’ll start over. Every couple has that bump in the road, and now I’m here.”
Lucas pulls back, only to move forward, kissing my forehead—something he’s always done, but now I feel like it isn’t the same. It doesn’t mean the same sweet gesture I thought it had before. He is placating me, and I hate it. “Now go take a shower and get that beach grime off you, and then we’ll head out to dinner—someplace nice—and you can show me what you’ve been up to in Gold Beach while you were waiting for me. Okay?”
Lucas smiles and directs me toward the b
athroom, tapping my ass with his hand. A bold move he’s never done before, and completely unwelcome. Roman had done that and it felt…hot, sexy, and a little bad. Lucas doing it makes me cringe in an unexpected way. Shutting the door, I escape from the chaos of my former life. Thirty minutes ago, I felt free and happier than I had in what seemed like forever. With Lucas here invading my sanctuary, all the old insecurities have returned suffocating me. I have to make a decision about what I want and it terrifies more than anything.
ROMAN
“Damn it.” Pacing back and forth inside my house, I’m ready to trash the place. My hands grab for a planter on the countertop as a knock sounds on my door. “Who is it?” Growling, I put the planter down and knock a chair over in the process. I turn it upright, almost tripping myself getting to the door. Shit, this girl has me tied in knots over nothing. She’s nothing to me.
“Maddie—now open up the door, you stubborn jackass!” Grumbling to myself over the lot of interfering women in my life—or at least Maddie—I open the door and let her in, sweeping the entryway with a grand gesture.
“Oh, please, Roman Winters, your sarcasm and tantrums are lost on me.” Maddie thrusts me back with her hand on my heaving chest. “Drop the attitude. I changed your diapers and bathed your wee tinkie when your parents had date night. Don’t think I won’t swat your disrespectful bottom if I have to.” Maddie pushes her way into my house like she belongs here. She walks right over to the planter on the counter, straightening it out to where it was before. Crossing my arms, I fight rolling my eyes.
“Was there something you needed?” I cringe, thinking about Maddie anywhere near my man parts at this stage in my life.
“Yes, actually. Abby’s ex-boyfriend is here. I’m worried for her.”
“Well, don’t be. I’m sure the flashy California girl can take care of herself.” Muttering, I watch Maddie put her hands on her hips as if I had something to do with this rather untimely development.
“Roman,” she warns.
“I gathered that’s who the douche-canoe was. Tell me something I don’t know.” Stepping closer to me, Maddie yanks on my ear before I can pull away. “Oww! Oww! All right! What?” I yell at the sharp pain as she brings me to heel, dragging me toward my deck.
“Look, stupid.” Maddie releases my ear, which I gently cup my hand over and step away from the harridan. Looking out across the beach and dune way, I see she’s pointing toward the cottage.
