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“But my friends call me Candy.” Her gaze darted into the room. “I’m going to find Taven and Kris. Want me to get you a drink?”
“Water would be great.” Lucas watched Candy wander off, then shifted his gaze to Ella. “Look, I wanted to—”
She held up a hand. “You don’t owe me an explanation. You were just as important to this project as I was. I didn’t expect you to stay away the whole night. I was just leaving.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Lucas said and sighed.
“I know.” But now that he was present, she couldn’t deny that she wanted to leave for more than one reason. Already she was finding it difficult to remain professional. All it would take was Taven showing up and making a snide comment and she’d lose her cool.
That, or she’d burst into tears.
Lucas actually looked good—reallygood. From the way he’d combed his hair to the nice shirt and slacks he wore, he’d cleaned up just as nicely as she would have expected him to.
He was on a date. Why wouldn’t he dress up?
Her heart hammered, tripping all over itself and demanding that she say something. Clearly, she still had feelings for him. She wanted nothing more than to plead with him to take her back. But doing so would mean her integrity would take a hit.
No matter which way she looked at it, she couldn’t see herself supporting a friendship with someone like Taven. And why should she have to? Lucas was his own person, and he would continue making his own decisions on who he would like to see.
That included friends… as well as women like Candy.
“I miss you.”
Lucas’s words threw her off guard. Her eyes widened, unable to hide her immediate reaction. She blinked a few times and glanced over her shoulder as if she’d be able to pick out Candy from the crowd. But of course she couldn’t. The woman had been swallowed up by everyone in attendance.
Ella swung her focus back to Lucas. “You can’t—”
He reached out and took her hand, which she yanked away from him as if he’d burned her.
“Don’t!”
Lucas withdrew, pain flickering in his eyes.
A momentary rush of guilt ripped through her, but then she reminded herself why she needed to keep her distance. She wasn’t going to let someone—not even Lucas—tear her to pieces and then pretend he hadn’t. “Let’s just… remain professional, okay?” She could barely speak the words. The way they wheezed out of her lungs, she probably sounded like she was on her deathbed. She wasn’t even sure he heard her. Ella side-stepped around him. “I hope you enjoy your evening.”
The second she got out of the barn, she darted toward her car. Her hands trembled as she pulled the door open and climbed inside.
She’d been a fool for thinking that she could handle an encounter with him. Perhaps she would have been able to if he had been in different company. She would never know.
25
Lucas
The contents of Lucas’s stomach churned like it was going through a cement mixer. He wouldn’t have been able to eat anything even if he wanted to, and thankfully, the party wasn’t set up to push that sort of activity.
He could simply stand to the side of the room with a plastic cup of water in his hand and no one would suspect just how much he was suffering.
Lucas hadn’t even wanted to come to this party in the first place. When Taven had suggested they needed to get out of the house, he thought they’d go for another ride. They’d been going on dates every single night for the last several days. He didn’t even know where Taven was finding all these women who were willing to go out.
When his friend showed up at his place with a girl on each arm, he seriously considered sending them away. Taven couldn’t just spring this sort of thing on him. One look at the girl whocalled herself Candy, and Lucas knew he couldn’t just turn them down. The girls weren’t locals, and Taven had built up this party far too much.
The worst part was that Lucas knew exactly what Taven was thinking when he insisted on going to this big get-together. He knew that Ella would be there, and he wanted to mess with her.
Lucas shrank closer to the wall, his face heating with indignation. Ella had looked so hurt when Candy came in behind him. The way she’d looked at him, he could practically hear her thoughts.
Here he was, reverting back to going on a date with a girl who emulated everything Ella hated. He wasn’t so naïve to think that this was all his fault. Ella had her own issues to work out. But he hadn’t wanted to add insult to injury.
He grimaced as he went over their encounter in his head with excruciating detail. Why had he told her that he missed her? That had to be the one thing that had made him sound like a complete idiot. She didn’t need to know how he felt about her.She’dbeen the one to break things off with him.
