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Then she heard her other neighbor’s car crank.
Right. She stood on her back porch where her other neighbor or the kids could see them. She edged back on the stoop. “Um, so I’m glad you’re staying. It’s better for the kids.”
Lucas seemed to understand the situation and tucked his hands in his jean pockets. “Not sure they agree, but after I voluntarily took them to chaos city for pizza and skee ball, they’re being a little nicer. Only had to ask three times for them to do their homework, and Charlotte didn’t throw a fit when I made her brush her teeth.”
“So what brings you to my door… besides the potent fertilizer?”
“I wanted to ask you out this weekend.”
She jerked her gaze to his. “A date? How?”
“Well, the kids have to come along, but I think it will still be fun.”
She lifted one eyebrow. “Define fun.”
“So today when I locked myself into the bathroom-”
Her befuddlement gave him pause.
“-long story. But anyway,Modern Parentinghad an article on dealing with troubled teens and ways to connect them to their family.”
“Modern Parenting?”
“I forgot myPhotography Todaymagazine. But anyway, one of the suggestions was to root the child into the parents’ past, sharing favorite reminiscences of their own formative years with the teen. So that got me to thinking about my own past in New Orleans. I thought I might share some of my and Ben’s favorite places when we were kids.”
“And you want me to go with you?”
His normally stoic expression melted into pure charm. “Pretty please?”
“I work on Saturday.”
He frowned. “I forgot. Well, maybe when you get off? And we can always hit a few places on Sunday.”
Spending the weekend with Lucas sounded… scary. But in a good way. If there was a good way to be scared. Maybe it was more like guarded anticipation.
She wanted to get closer to him but doing so felt like placing a big target on her back. Cupid already swooped dangerously close to her. Did she want to get shot by love’s arrow when she knew the man, though staying longer than anticipated, would pack his big truck and ramble off into the sunset?
But another voice rudely interrupted the voice of doubt. Addy was fairly certain this voice was the one who had urged her to throw her legs around Lucas in the kitchen last night. And that voice said to stop thinking and take some chances.
But that voice was also the same voice that had urged her to sneak out with Robbie Guidry… to allow her present-day tormentor to be her first sexual partner. Bold, reckless, and oblivious to consequences, that voice didn’t represent the smartest of part of Addy. Most of the time, she ignored that part of herself, choosing to control it with safe activities, like reading spicy romances. No one could hurt her in those books, unlike the real world.
“Addy?”
“What?” She refocused on Lucas.
This man was not Robbie Guidry. Didn’t mean he still couldn’t hurt her emotionally, but physically he was quite the opposite of a threat. His touch awoke something beautiful inside her.
“I’m struggling with how involved I should get with you.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “Why?”
“Because I like you a lot, and you’re going to leave. We could have tea, but what if I find I can’t stop wanting tea? What if I can’t give tea up?” She hadn’t felt this vulnerable in forever. Tea was code for loving Lucas, and she felt like that could happen very easily. She was primed to drown in that particular tall drink of… tea.
“I understand, Addy. I’m not dragging you into anything you don’t want. Seriously, this is just a simple invitation. I think I can handle an outing chaperoned by three kids without humping your leg. It will be hard, but I can control myself… unlike Kermit.”
Addy couldn’t stop the smile at that image. He was right. What he asked was no different than what she’d been doing with him and the kids for the past few days. Hanging out. Last night hadn’t changed that.
Okay, maybe a little.
