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She shoved her doubts to the back burner. “You are a flirt.”
He made a face. “I am not.”
“Sure. I’ll go. And if my delivery guy comes back this week, I’ll take Saturday morning off.”
“Perfect,” Lucas said, glancing back at the Finlay house. “I should get back.”
“Yeah, I promised to watch TV with Aunt Flora. She didn’t have a good day today. Missed her turn for the library and ended up lost. She found her way back eventually, but it upset her more than normal.”
“How about a sip of tea before I go?” His eyes may have twinkled.
Dear Gussie, he was gorgeous. All hard planes, broad shoulders, and hewn oak. Chocolate eyes, crooked nose, and sensuous mouth. She wanted to kiss him till the cows came home—whatever that meant. But her voice of reason was being awfully forceful that night.
Lucas quirked an eyebrow.
“I’m still thinking about it,” she said.
“Ah, hell, Addy girl, if you gotta think that hard, I’ll say good night.”
“You know my history. You know why I’m cautious.”
“You told me I didn’t scare you.”
I lied.
Addy shook her head. “You don’t.”
He stepped back, inching off the porch stoop, stepping down one, two, three steps. “It’s cool. I’d never take a sip without you offering.”
His words tore a little at her heart. She wanted him to want her… so why was she hiding behind fear? Again, her past clutched at her, preventing her from reacting as a normal woman would.
Damn it. She wasn’t a victim and she wouldn’t be controlled by fear.
Jogging down the steps so she was eye level with him, she leaned in, planting a kiss on his lips.
It was a soft kiss that turned hot in the blink of an eye.
Lucas cupped her head and made her kiss worth his while. What felt like minutes later, he pulled back and studied her in the dim porchlight. “Don’t be afraid, Addy.”
“I’m always afraid,” she whispered.
“Ah, Addy, you break my heart.”
She tapped his chest. “Good to know you got one, tough guy.”
“It’s in there somewhere.”
Addy brushed his jaw with the back of her hand, liking the way the rasp of his emerging beard felt. “I fight fear every day, and I win. Just sometimes my rational voice overshadows the voice that had me straddling you last night.”
His eyes grew softer. “You don’t have to be either. You can be both. I like the woman you are in my arms.” He ducked and gave her a quick kiss before turning toward the house ablaze with lights.
“Me, too,” she said quietly. Her admission wafted in the night air. “But she’s the girl who gets me hurt. Been there. Done that.”
He turned. “You just chose the wrong guy, that’s all.”
His footfalls as he walked away were soft on the winter weary ground. Addy watched, a silent shadow, her mind wrapping around his words. She knew Robbie Guidry had been the wrong man for her. As a teen, his only appeal was in how wrong he was for her. Having a secret affair with the older man down the street was forbidden… exciting… rebellious.
Until it was not.
