Her eyes widened in frustration. It only took a nano of a second to realize what she was doing.
“What a great guy,” I quickly said. “You really lucked out with that one.”
She smiled. “I know. I think we’re going to go watch a local band tonight. Want to come?”
Lucas walked into the kitchen. His eyes met mine, and when he didn’t look away, a sinking feeling hit me.
He didn’t remember last night.
“What window problem?” Lucas asked.
“Hello to you too, Lucas,” Jen said.
Glancing at Jen, Lucas smiled, then leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. I was instantly jealous. “Jen, how are you doing? Here to watch another movie with shirtless men on a beach?”
She smiled. “No sleepover tonight. I’ve got plans with the hubby. I was just inviting Paige along. Gene knows the lead singer in a band. He’s single, hot, and I’m pretty sure you would get along with him, Paige.”
That made Lucas pause for a moment as he looked at Jen, then me, then back to Jen.
“I’d love to come. I need a night out. It’s been forever.”
Lucas opened the refrigerator and put in a six pack of beer. Then pulled one out and opened it. He leaned against the counter and took a drink. I tried not to look at him, but I could feel his eyes on me. I quickly glanced his way.
Yep. He was staring at me.
“Didn’t get enough to drink last night?” I asked.
He smiled, and I instantly felt my cheeks heat. Jen cleared her throat and stood.
“I’m going to take off. I’ve got to get to the post office before they close. Great seeing you again, Lucas.”
“You don’t have to run off on my account, Jen,” Lucas said.
“I really have to get going,” she said with a smile that said she knew something we didn’t.
Facing her, I gave her pleading eyes that begged her not to leave. She simply winked, grabbed her purse and called out as she walked away, “Let me know if you want to meet us there or have us pick you up! It’s at the Pecan Street Bar! They go on at eight!”
When I heard the front door shut, I took in a deep breath and turned back around. I made my way over to the sink and started to clean the glasses from our tea.
“Sorry if I woke you up last night when I got home. I honestly don’t even remember coming in.”
Sadness washed over my body, and I was positive my shoulders sagged slightly. Damn it all to hell. The last thing I wanted was for Lucas to think I was upset about something.
“I was already awake. You didn’t drive drunk, did you?” I asked, focusing on washing the glasses. I moved slowly and washed one of the glasses at least four times before rinsing it.
“No, Milo’s friend Chuck was the designated driver. He brought us all home.”
Nodding, I rinsed the other glass and reached for the dish towel. When I looked at Lucas, he was still staring at me.
“Good. Hope you had a nice time.”
He nodded. “I did. Was good hanging out with our old friends. Bianca never did much like my friends from JC.”
I forced a smile. “I’d imagine she didn’t have much in common with them.”
Lucas didn’t say anything, but the way he watched me made me uneasy. I dried off the glasses and moved around him to put them in the cabinet.
The smell of his cologne filled the air, causing me to hold my breath. The last thing I wanted to do was smell him. Even his stupid smell made my body ache for his touch.
“If you’ll excuse me, Lucas, I’ve got to go get ready. I have a meeting with someone.”
He pushed off the counter and blocked my way. The way he looked at me almost made me feel like he was willing me to say something.
“Did you need something?” I asked, staring up into his green eyes.
“I don’t normally come home drunk, just so you know. It won’t happen again.”
I wanted to ask him what part wouldn’t happen again. Him coming home after drinking or him coming on to me? Maybe him jerking off in the shower and calling out my name? But I didn’t ask any of that. With a shrug, I gave him a slight smile. “What you do is your business. Not mine.”
He nodded, then smiled. “I didn’t wake you at all?”
I swallowed hard. The fact that he had no memory of what happened between us hurt more than I wanted to admit. I had been right last night. Sober Lucas would not have wanted to touch me. Or kiss me. Or ravage me in the middle of the kitchen in the house we both owned.
But he hadn’t seemed that drunk. Not drunk enough to not remember. Unless Jen was right. He was using it as an excuse. Since I wasn’t mentioning what happened, he was going to pretend he didn’t remember.
“No. Not at all.”
For a moment, there was a cat and mouse look on his face—something in his eyes. But it was gone as quickly as it came. “Good. Give any more thought to me buying you out?”
I let out a frustrated groan and pushed past him. As I headed to the stairs, I called out, “I’m not selling my half to you!”
Oreo raced up the stairs and into my room. I slammed the door shut and walked over to my bed. When I sat down, I took in a deep, slow breath, then let it out. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I sent Jen a text.
Me: He doesn’t remember, so I played it off. He asked if he woke me up when he came home last night.
I hated that I felt so let down by the fact that Lucas hadn’t remembered anything. Jen texted back almost immediately.
Jen: I call bullshit. He remembers. He’s playing a game. You have to outplay him.
I fell back onto the bed. Jen had always been a hopeless romantic. I knew she had hoped that Lucas and I would end up back together. It was clear that was never going to happen. Even if I didn’t want to admit to myself how much I had wanted that, too. And I was already growing tired of this game. Why had William done this? Thrown us together with unrealistic expectations? The only good thing that had come out of this was that Lucas had broken up with Bianca. Not that it had benefitted me any. Okay, last night it had for the briefest of moments, but I needed to forget that anything had ever happened. If Lucas didn’t want to admit to it, I sure as hell wouldn’t either.
I resolved that from here on out I would attempt to move on. Put my past—including Lucas—exactly where it belonged.
Lucas
MILO RUBBED THE back of his neck as he stared at me. I couldn’t tell if he was pissed, or just unsure of what to say.
“Why did you pretend to not remember what happened?”
I laughed. “She wasn’t going to acknowledge it, so why should I?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Dude, you came on to her, pretended to be drunk, then acted like it never happened. Even for you, that’s a dick thing to do.”
“She told me to stop. I stopped. She rejected me. Do you really think I want to have her rub that shit in my face? We both know she would.”
“What’s with the games, Lucas? This was never your MO. And do you really think Paige would bring that sort of shit up? The Paige I knew wouldn’t.”
I knew he was right, but didn’t want to admit it to him, let alone myself. “I had too much to drink, she was dressed in those fucking sexy pajamas, and I simply wasn’t thinking straight. It was a mistake, a mistake that is best forgotten. Clearly, she realizes that, too. Why make things awkward?”
“Dude, you didn’t have that much to drink, and you lied to her about driving home. You came in your dad’s truck and left in it after what, two beers?”
“It doesn’t matter. She’ll forget it soon enough.”
He nodded. “Can you forget it though?”
I scoffed. “I was horny, that’s all. It didn’t mean anything.”
I hated the way Milo was looking at me, as if he could see my truths flashing on a bright neon sign over my head. That kiss meant a fuck ton. I hadn’t been able to sleep last night because all I kept doing was replaying the way her hands slid up my chest and into my
hair. The way she moaned when I pinched her nipple. The way her heat felt against my hard cock.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Then the asshole laughed. “Dude, if you want to lie to yourself, go for it. We may not have hung out together the last few years, but I know you. You wanted something to happen.”
I rolled my neck, popping a few spots where the tension had been building. He was right. About everything. I had wanted something to happen. The moment I saw Paige in the kitchen, dressed in those fucking pajamas, hair pulled back into pigtails, my cock had gone hard.
“Well, it’s a good thing she said no. I had a moment of insanity. I need to get my head back into the game and figure out a way to get Paige to sell me her half of the house. That’s all this is about. Her walking away from what is rightfully mine.”
“She’s never going to sell. Just cut your losses, Lucas, you don’t need the money. And the fact that you even want to sell your granddaddy’s house makes me question just how much you’ve changed. You loved that place, man. You dreamed of raising your family there.”
I huffed. “Yeah, with the woman who currently owns half it.” I sighed. “And I have no intentions of selling it. That was just me pissed off. I would never do that to Granddad.”
He raised a brow. “Work something out with her, Lucas. This isn’t you. You know how much that house means to Paige. How much it meant to William.”
Glancing around the office of Milo’s shop, I sighed. “I think I’m going to head on back to the house. If I’m going to find a solution to this problem, I need to start looking for the damn chest Granddad was talking about.”
Milo wore a look of disappointment. “I’ll be by the house tomorrow. Paige needed help painting. I told her I’d cut her a deal on the interior if she helped do most of it.”
I tried to ignore the zip of jealousy that raced over my body. “You don’t need to help her. I’ve got it. I’ll help her paint the inside of the house.”
He simply nodded. “If that’s what you want.”
Standing, I forced myself to smile. “That’s what I want.”
Milo followed my lead and stood. “She isn’t yours anymore, Lucas, unless you’re making a claim on her.”
“A claim?” I asked with a laugh. “Wait one damn minute.” I glared at the man who had been my best friend since we were old enough to figure out girls made us a little crazy. “Milo, are you interested in Paige?”
He shrugged. “Maybe.”
I balled my fists at my side. “You’re fucking interested in my girl?”
Expecting him to back down, or tell me he was kidding, I crossed my arms over my chest. He didn’t do either of those things. “She isn’t yours anymore, Lucas. Unless…”
He let his voice trail off. I stared at him with a hard look. He either was trying to make a point, or he really was interested in Paige. Either way, it pissed me off.
“You don’t need to help her paint this weekend. I’ll help her. It’s half my house, after all. And don’t forget the goddamn bro code. You don’t go after your friend’s old girlfriend.”
He raised a brow and smirked. “Especially when he’s still very much interested in said old girlfriend.”
My jaw ached from how tight I was holding it. I walked out of his office, slamming his office door behind me. I hated that the asshole was a hundred percent right.
All I heard as I stormed away was his annoying-as-fuck laughter through his office door.
The moment I walked into the house, I came to a stop. Paige was walking down the steps, Oreo, her newfound friend, running ahead of her.
I shut the door and stared at her. She looked me right in the eyes and smiled. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I said, the anger from earlier with Milo still evident in my voice.
“You sound mad. Everything okay?”
“No. I need to find that fucking chest and get this bullshit over with.”
She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and I couldn’t help but let my eyes take in every inch of her. Her brown hair was pulled up into a neat bun on top of her head. A few strands of hair encased her beautiful face in soft brown curls. Her makeup was light but gave just a hint that she was wearing some. Her lips were painted with a pale pink, and I ached to kiss them. My eyes lingered a little too long on those lips. The memory of my mouth on hers last night hit me hard. Why in the hell was she pretending last night didn’t happen? The more I thought about it, the more pissed off I got.
I looked away. Maybe she hadn’t wanted it to happen. Lord knows I did. I couldn’t get to the shower fast enough and jerk off, images of Paige riding on top of me fueling my release.
“What bullshit?” she asked.
With a long, drawn-out sigh, I motioned between us. “This.”
One eyebrow arched perfectly as she repeated the word in the form of a question. “This?”
“Yes, Paige. This. You and me, living under one roof.”
“That’s your fault, Lucas. You’re the one who moved in here. I’m perfectly fine if you’d like to move back to Austin.”
I felt my jaw twitch as I clenched in frustration. All I wanted to do was pull her into my arms and kiss the living shit out of her. That would shut her up.
“You’re wearing that?” I heard myself bark out. It had come out harsher than I had intended.
Paige looked down at her light blue dress. It hugged her body in all the right ways. Her toned legs were capped off with black high heels. For a night out in Austin, it would have been perfect, but for a night out in Johnson City, it was probably more than the boys here could handle. She’d be having guys stare at her all night, and that idea bothered the hell out of me. There was no way she could wear that dress.
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” she asked.
“This is Johnson City, Paige. Not Austin.”
Her eyes filled with hurt. I hated myself for even saying anything. I needed to soften my words and tell her she looked beautiful, because she did, but if she went out in that dress, every man in the damn bar would be staring at her.
“Right,” she said, turning and walking back up the steps.
“Paige, wait.”
“No, you’re right, Lucas. I should change, heaven forbid I look out of place.” She gave me a forced smile over her shoulder and started back up.
“Goddamnit, will you wait a second, Paige.”
Not paying any attention to me, she kept walking.
“Paige!”
“It’s fine, Lucas. You made your point.”
I rushed up the steps after her.
“You look beautiful. I just meant, maybe you might want to tone it down.”
She turned to face me. Her face contorted with confusion. “I look beautiful? Are you afraid you hurt my feelings and now you’re trying to make me feel better? Well, please, don’t let your guilt eat away at you.”
“That’s not it at all,” I said, reaching for her arm.
“Let me go, Lucas. I need to go dress down apparently.”
I closed my eyes. “I told you I didn’t mean it that way.”
She pulled her arm, trying to get away from me. I let her go, then stood in front of her door, blocking her from going in.
“All I meant was every guy in the damn bar will be staring at you, Paige. Is that what you want? A bunch of men undressing you with their eyes? Because that is what will happen if you show up dressed like that.”
Paige lifted her chin. “Maybe that is exactly what I want, Lucas. A man’s attention. His hands on my body, making me feel things I haven’t felt in a very, very long time.”
My body heated, and I took a step toward her. I couldn’t have stopped myself if I tried. Hearing her say she wanted a man’s hands on her, that she hadn’t felt that in a long time? Yeah, those words were my kryptonite. “Is that what you want, Paige? A man to touch you?”
She swallowed hard but kept her expression void of anything. “And more. I could use a good orgasm from a man who actually
wants to touch me and will remember it the next day.”
That made my stomach lurch, and my heart drop. “A man like…Milo?”
Paige shrugged. “If he was interested, yes.”
Full-on rage pulsed through my veins as I took another step toward her, making her back up against the wall opposite her bedroom door.
“You’re playing with fire, Paige.”
She let out a humorless laugh. “How so? I’m a single, young woman who hasn’t had sex in a very long time. If I want to have some fun, why shouldn’t I? Men can have one-night stands, why can’t a woman?”
“You forgot attractive.”
Her eyebrows pulled in tight. “What?”
“You’re a single, young, and very attractive woman.”
Her mouth opened to say something, then she quickly closed it.
“So, you want a one-night stand.”
“Maybe,” she softly said.
“Anyone in particular? Maybe Milo? My best friend?”
“Your old high school best friend? Is there some sort of law against that?”
“As a matter of fact, yes, there is.”
She laughed and went to push past me when I caged her against the wall with my arms.
My eyes searched her face and fell to her mouth, and she pressed those luscious lips into a tight line.
“Do you want me to touch you, Paige? Give you that long-overdue orgasm?”
“Wh-what?”
“It’s a simple question. And the answer involves you, me, and an orgasm…or three. I can help you with that, you know.”
Her eyes flashed with something I hadn’t seen in a long time. Determination. Pure fucking determination. I just wasn’t sure what in the hell she was determined to get, and I instantly worried I was pushing her away.
“Please move, Lucas. I need to change. As you pointed out, I’m not dressed appropriately.”
My eyes dropped to the exposed area of her breasts. Her body had had the starring role in a number of my dreams over the years. Even when I had been with Bianca, it was frequently Paige. A fact which at the time had filled me with guilt. Dreaming of another woman when one was sleeping next to you was a douche move indeed. But I couldn’t forget this woman no matter how hard I tried.
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