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I’d thought about that kiss more than anything else the past few days. The gentle press of his lips that woke things in me I had forgotten. The way it had grown deeper, like it was meant to. When he’d leaned in, I hadn’t been afraid. I’d been worried that maybe I was broken in that way—that Nathan had taken the ability to want.
But kissing Lucas was a revelation, and I wanted more than one kiss.
The door chimed, and I smiled as the resident of my thoughts walked in the door. Lucas had started coming in halfway through my shift, every time I worked, like clockwork. We didn’t talk too much; I got him coffee, and he asked if I was okay. I usually was.
Today, Jude was with him, one of the other owners of Resting Warrior, I’d met him a couple other times when he’d come into the coffee shop. He was a quiet man, though he was bigger than Lucas, if that was possible.
But the best part of Jude coming in was watching Lena. She blushed every time he appeared and her boisterous, sassy personality became shy.
“Hey,” I called as Lucas and Jude came in. “Coffee today?”
“Yeah,” Lucas said, and Jude nodded as well.
I stepped away from the counter. “I think Lena might have some stuff for you. I’ll be right back.”
She was in the kitchen, putting a tray of cookies in the oven, flushed from baking up a storm. There were a lot of custom orders this week, and Lena had been working like crazy to get them all done. I helped when I could.
“Jude is here with Lucas,” I said, “if you want to see him.”
Lena blushed a deeper shade of pink. “Why would I want to do that?”
I sent her a look. “Really?”
“He’s not here for me,” she said. “I’m glad he likes the coffee.”
“Lena, that man has not come to your store every week for two years because he likes the coffee.”
“It’s his job to pick up their order,” she said, but she didn’t meet my eyes.
“At least come say hello to Lucas.”
She made a face at me, not fooled at all, but she came with me all the same. Lucas smiled when we returned and I went about getting their coffee. “You surviving back there?” he asked Lena.
“Barely. I swear the whole town decided they needed baked goods this week. But Evie has been a huge help.”
I finished pouring the coffee and put both lids on before I turned around. “She’s being modest. This week she’s been a baking machine.”
Lucas took both coffees from me, our fingers brushing far more than they needed to. “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” I said, smiling. There was no way I’d admit how much having him check in helped. Knowing that he would be there kept me calm, and I looked forward to his visits, even as I felt guilty about them. There were probably things he had to do on the ranch that his visits were interrupting. But at the same time, I couldn’t bring myself to ask him to stop.
“Don’t burn yourself out, Lena,” Jude said. “What will Resting Warrior do if you work yourself to death?” The way he was looking at her left no room for doubt in my mind. He was not here for the coffee.
Lena turned crimson, and she wiped her hands on her apron. It was her tell when she was nervous. Which meant it really only happened when Jude was here.
“I’ll be okay,” she said. “I’m making good progress.”
“We won’t keep you,” Lucas said, finally handing the coffee to Jude. Then he looked back at me. “See you later?”
I didn’t know if later meant tonight or tomorrow, but I would take either. “Yeah.”
His answering smile made butterflies take flight in my stomach, and I watched him leave until he was out of sight.
The fact that he’d kissed me—that he wanted me in any way at all—was shocking. I was a mess, and no matter what he said, I would never live down the embarrassment of him seeing me triggered. But at the same time, I was so, so tired of running. Tired of knowing that fear could hijack my mind over nothing, all because of the things that Nathan had done.
But the idea of talking about those things out loud...
It was unthinkable.
