AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I stomped my foot. “I donothave a crush on him.”
Lucas’s grin only widened. “Your sister thinks otherwise.”
I shrugged and leaned against the counter. “Why? Does it matter?”
“Nah. Just trying to figure things out with you. That’s all.”
I hugged myself, kind of liking the rise I was getting out of Lucas. “I’m an open book.”
“Yeah? Are you gonna call Rick for help?”
“Beats me. Depends how things go tonight.”
“Why? Are you meeting him tonight or something?”
I rolled my eyes and gently swatted at him. “No, silly. I mean at my house, cleaning up. If I don’t get as much done tonight, maybe I will ask for help.”
“Don’t forget I offered too. Technically, I offered first.”
“Yeah, but you don’t live here. He does.”
He nodded as silence sat between us. There’d been a shift since last night, and I honestly couldn’t tell what it was from.
My skin still buzzed just from his being around me, and I couldn’t help but get all warm and fuzzy standing next to him, but I…
I just didn’t know what had changed.
Unless it was Clara.
“And wait a second. What are you doing here, anyway?”
Lucas took a step closer, and I immediately felt a charge run through me. Even my fingernails felt like they were sizzling. I looked away quickly and drew a hidden breath, praying he didn’t see how he could affect me, especially with Clara in the picture.
“I told you I wanted to help you, and I knew if I wasn’t on the island, you wouldn’t ask for help.” He shrugged, giving me the cute little quirky smile that always turned me on… in a completely platonic way. “I just didn’t know you had a line of men begging to help.”
“You can’t stay at my house,” I blurted out, and he laughed.
“I wasn’t planning on it. My parents are in Portugal, so I’m going to stay at the orchard.”
“Oh, right. That makes sense.” Not being accustomed to having houses all over the place, I always forgot that Lucas and his family did. They collect houses like some people collect postage stamps.
“Thank you. That’s really nice of you.”
“And I was hoping we could chat later.” His voice lowered. “It’s important.”
“About what?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Our friendship.”
Yup, it was Clara.
“Fine. I’m off at four o’clock. I’ll meet you at my house.”
Chapter Eight
Lucas
Great. Emily did have a crush on Rick. They were trading numbers, and I'd obviously interrupted them.
