I sighed. “It’s Bianca.”
My mother rolled her eyes.
“Better take it, I guess.”
“Of course,” my mother said, her voice void of any emotion. That was her typical demeanor anytime she spoke about Bianca.
“Hello?” I said as I stepped out onto the back porch.
“Lucas, darling. I’ve been waiting for you.”
I rubbed the sudden ache in the back of my neck. “Why would you be waiting, Bianca?”
“For you to come to your damn senses, that’s why.”
“When I said it was over, I meant it was over.”
“Because that little tramp showed back up?”
“I’ve already told you not to call her that, and I meant it the first time.”
She huffed. “So, I see your distaste for her has faded away. Have you fucked her?”
With a frustrated sigh, I shook my head. “Is there anything you need, or are you just calling to give me a headache?”
“You still have stuff here at the house. I thought maybe you might want to get it, or I could bring it to you. See the little house you got from your grandfather.”
“I already told you, I don’t want anything. I’ve got my clothes, that’s all I need.”
“So that’s really it? You’re going to leave me. You clearly have lost your fucking mind. Her? Really? You’ve got a woman like me on your arm and you want a nobody from your hometown.”
My body tensed as my heartrate sped. “Let me tell you something, Bianca. Paige is ten times the woman you could hope to be. She’s beautiful, kind, loving, and nothing like you. And yes, I’ve really left you. Erase my number from your phone as I’ll be blocking yours. We have nothing left to say to each other.”
I hit End and let out a breath. With a long look out over my folks’ ranch, I let it all settle in. This was my new life. A new beginning. A second chance. Smiling, I pulled my phone back out and sent Paige a text.
Me: Are you free tonight?
I waited a minute or two, hoping she would reply.
Paige: Depends on why you’re asking.
Me: I want to start over, Paige. I’m tired of fighting. Can we call a truce? Have dinner with me. I’ll even cook.
Paige: Have you fallen and hit your head? Wait, is this really Lucas? He lost his phone, didn’t he?
With a chuckle, I typed my reply.
Me: I have not fallen or hit my head. It’s really me. I need to talk to you, Paige. Please.
Paige: I don’t have any plans other than painting.
Me: Perfect, I’ll be there in a bit to help. Then we can eat around six or so. I’m at my folks’ place for lunch.
Paige: I’ll see you in a bit then.
Hope bubbled in the middle of my chest. I walked back into the kitchen only to find my folks getting ready to sit down for lunch. What was I doing? I needed to get over to the house and talk to Paige now. I was done wasting time.
“Sorry, Mom. I need to leave.”
A low growl came from the back of her throat. “That woman is bound and determined to keep you from eating!”
Laughing, I kissed her on the forehead. “Bianca has nothing to do with this. I’m heading back over to Granddad’s place to help Paige.”
A light twinkled in my mother’s eyes. “Oh, do you want to bring her some chicken pot pie?”
One look at the heavenly dish and my stomach growled. “Considering I just offered to cook her dinner, and I have no idea what I’ll cook, I better bring a back-up plan.”
My mother jumped up and grabbed a container for the chicken pot pie and one for the salad.
“I hope the two of you can work through things,” Mom said as she handed me the plastic bag plus two slices of her pecan pie.
With a quick kiss on the cheek, and a nod to my father, I replied, “It will all work out.”
I headed out to my truck—the same old truck I drove when I was in high school. She was still a good ride, so I was in no hurry to run and buy a new one.
I had sounded more convinced than I felt when I told my folks it would all work out. I had no idea how Paige and I would handle this ownership of the house. I had to believe that somewhere in that house, Granddad had left us the answers we were both looking for.
It hit me that I had forgotten to ask my father about the key to the attic. I’d call him when I got back to the house. The key had to be somewhere. Paige and I needed in that attic. I knew that was where we’d find the answers.
At least, I hoped like hell we would.
Paige
I STOOD IN the middle of the living room, staring at Lucas’s text. My chest felt lighter than it had in a long time, while my hands shook slightly as I held the phone.
“What in the world is wrong with me?” I whispered. Oreo sat on the windowsill, cleaning herself. She offered a single meow as answer to my predicament.
“I’m not scared.”
She looked at me, then meowed again.
I snarled at her. “Fine. Nervous, but not scared. Definitely not scared.”
Oreo looked as if she rolled her eyes. If cats could do that she most definitely was.
“Oh, what do you know?” I said, blowing at a piece of hair that dangled in front of my eyes.
My gaze swept over the living room. I’d pulled all the furniture out from the wall and covered it. Milo had one of his guys drop off the light-colored greyish blue paint only an hour ago. I couldn’t wait to get started. I had only gotten one wall done before Lucas texted. Now my mind was swirling.
“He feels guilty, that’s what this is about,” I said as I rolled the paint roller in the tray and started painting the next wall.
Oreo moved positions on the windowsill.
“Last night, I broke down and shared too much, and he now feels guilty. Great. The last thing I need is his pity.”
A long meow came from Oreo. I stopped rolling and looked at her. “You don’t think so? Oh, I do. I called him out on a few things, namely him trying to sell the house to hurt me. I know Lucas, if that was his motive for selling the house, it was done purely out of anger. He’d never really do it. I brought it to his attention and the decent side of him, the side I know is still somewhere in there, feels guilty. Well, we need to be strong tonight, Oreo. No letting him sweet talk us or say sexy things. If he even tries to compliment me, I’ll know it’s the guilt speaking, and not him.”
Oreo jumped off the windowsill and made her way over to sit next to me. She stared up at the roller moving on the wall.
“If you jump on this wall, you’re going outside.”
She looked up at me.
“What? Are you offended now?”
She turned, whipped her tail a few times and made her way out of the living room.
“Don’t even act like that! You know you thought about it!”
“Who in the hell are you talking to?”
Screaming, I dropped the roller, jumped back and instantly knew I’d made a huge mistake.
“Shit!” I called out as I looked down at my foot, in the paint tray, covered in grey blue. “Damnit all to freaking hell.”
“Since when did you start swearing so much?” Lucas asked, grabbing the box of rags and making his way over to me.
“Since life started being an asshole to me.”
He laughed and bent down. “Hold onto my shoulder and lift up your foot.”
I did as he asked. He pulled out a bunch of rags and wrapped them around my shoe, carefully pulling it off my foot.
“I hope you didn’t like these shoes.”
I pouted as I looked down at my pink Keds. “I did. They were one of my favorite pairs.”
When I moved my gaze to Lucas, he was looking up at me, a smile on his face.
“What?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nothing. This is just refreshing, that’s all.”
I drew my brows in. “What’s refreshing? Me stepping in paint? Because I beg to differ that it’s not the least bit refreshing
.”
With a laugh, he stood, holding onto me so I wouldn’t lose my balance. “Seeing you smile. By the way, do you need help getting out of your pants?”
Narrowing my eyes, I held my tongue. “No.”
His brow lifted. “You’re going to track paint everywhere.”
With a quick look down, I knew he was right.
“Stay here, I can go grab you something.”
Lucas set off to my bedroom.
“Get me my yoga pants! They’re in the basket folded!”
“You mean the movie-watching pajamas?” he called out.
Ugh. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to punch him or laugh. “Yes!” I called out, trying not to smile.
Oreo walked back into the living room. Sat right in the middle and bathed herself while sneaking glances my way.
“I’m not smiling because he makes me happy. What he said was funny, is all.” I was whispering these replies…to a cat.
She rubbed her paw over her face, then meowed.
“You think you know it all, but you don’t.” Still whispering.
“Have you taken up talking to the cat, Paige? Maybe we should go out to dinner. Get you around people. Out in society and all.”
“Ha ha. Let me have my pants. Can you grab a garbage bag from the kitchen for me to put my jeans in?”
He nodded. “Sure.”
When he took a step back, Oreo was at his feet. He tripped, spun, and tried to keep his balance by reaching for me. Needless to say, I had been trying to keep my own balance as I held up one leg.
“Lucas!” I cried as we both went down. The tray full of paint somehow flipped up in the air and landed directly onto Lucas’s head.
He sat there with paint running down his face. My hand came up to my mouth in an attempt not to laugh.
“Holy shit,” I said, smirking. “I couldn’t have planned that better if I had wanted to!”
Glancing at Oreo, I said, “Well done, kitty.”
She flicked her tail and meowed as she walked out of the room.
With a look of pure anger, he faced me. I pressed my lips together tightly. Then I lost it. And laughed so hard, tears streamed down my face. It didn’t take Lucas long to join in. He reached up and wiped paint off his head, then grabbed me and smeared it all over my face.
“You asshole!” I cried, trying to crawl away from him, only to have him grab my shoeless foot and pull me back over. With a brush in his hand, he got to work throwing paint all over me. Thank God I’d covered the furniture, because it was now an all-out war.
Lucas leaned over to get more paint on the brush, and I grabbed the roller and went straight up his back. He spun around, grabbed me, threw me over his shoulder then started walking. When I looked back over my shoulder, I saw where he was heading.
Oh. No. The paint can.
“Lucas. Do not do it!” I shouted. Then kicked and slapped him in an attempt to get him to put me down.
“What is it you think I’m going to do, Paige?”
I watched him pick up the can. “Something with the can of paint. Expensive paint, I might add, and I’m on a budget.”
“I’m not the least bit worried about that,” he said, sliding me slowly down his body as he grabbed me with one arm and pressed me firmly against his chest. I’d forgotten how crazy strong the man was.
My eyes met his as I gazed up at him. “You wouldn’t.”
Then he smiled, and my heart felt like it exploded in my chest.
Oh hell. I was still crazy in love with him.
“Lucas,” I whispered.
“Paige,” he whispered back, then tipped the can over my head.
As I laughed harder than I had in years, I used my fingers to wipe away the paint that now ran down my entire body.
Lucas wore a wide smile.
“You did it.”
He winked. “Did you doubt me, sweetheart?”
My smile faded. It felt like his green eyes were looking right into my heart. The last thing I wanted him to know was how I still felt about him. Not now. Maybe not ever, because I had no idea how he felt about me.
He reached up and cupped my face. My heart slammed against my chest. Using his thumb, he wiped the paint from my mouth.
I was just about to reach up on my toes and press my mouth to his, when a throat cleared behind Lucas.
“Am I interrupting something?”
Lucas closed his eyes while I peeked around at Milo.
“If I had known it was going to be like the food fights in high school, I’d have brought more people to this painting party.”
Lucas shook his head and backed away from me.
When I looked at Lucas, he was smiling, and I couldn’t help but smile back.
Milo took one look around the trashed living room and laughed. “You two always did know how to have fun.” He slapped his hands together. “I brought you over some more paint, glad I did.”
“Thanks, Milo.” I said. “Want to stay and help clean up?”
He laughed. “No, thanks. I have a date tonight.”
Lucas quickly turned to Milo. “A date? With who?”
Milo grinned from ear to ear. “She just moved to town and is working at the courthouse. Her name is Rachel Greene.”
“As in Friends?” I asked with a chuckle.
“Yeah, can you believe it? I teased her a bit about it and finally worked up the nerve to ask her out.”
Lucas smiled at Milo, and it was sincere. “That’s awesome, dude. I’m glad to see you getting out there and dating.”
Milo lifted a brow. “Right. Well, I’m going to slowly back out of here before you two drag me into this little war.” He looked at Lucas, then me. “But from what I just saw, I’d say y’all were fixin’ to call a truce.”
My cheeks heated, and Lucas cleared his throat.
“Enjoy your date, Milo. I hope y’all have fun,” I said.
He took the hint and waved goodbye. “Talk later. Have fun…painting.”
Once Milo was out the door, Lucas turned back to me. “We need to start locking the fucking front door. It creeps me out how often he walks in.”
I giggled, then looked around the room. “Oh my gosh, we made an absolute mess in here.”
Lucas pulled his T-shirt off and wiped his face. My knees felt weak when I looked at his perfectly toned body.
Look away, Paige. Look. Away. No, don’t lick your lips and wonder what it would be like to trace each ab muscle with your tongue.
“Paige?” Lucas’s voice pulled me from my dirty thoughts.
“Mmm?” I asked, tearing my gaze from his abs to his stunningly beautiful green eyes.
“Do you want me to carry you up the steps to your room?”
Yes. Yes. Yes.
“No, it’s okay.”
I watched as he reached down and started to take off his cowboy boots, then his jeans.
“Um, what are you doing?”
He looked at me with a blank expression. “I don’t want to track paint everywhere.”
“So you’re stripping in front of me?”
Lucas laughed. “I’m not stripping,” he said, pushing his jeans down and exposing his boxer briefs. And one impressive bulge.
God help me.
“I’ll grab some bags for us to put our clothes in.”
“Our clothes?”
He looked back at me. “You’re not walking up the steps dripping in paint. We’ll never get it off the wood floors.”
“You want me to get undressed?” I asked, a tremble very evident in my voice.
With a roll of his eyes, he walked backwards. “Paige, I’ve seen you naked before.”
“Yeah, years ago. When I had an eighteen-year-old body. Now I have a twenty-nine-year-old body with a few extra curves.”
He frowned. “If you’re trying to say your body isn’t as hot as it was when we were eighteen, you need someone to smack you. You’re perfect.”
Aw, there was the guilt speaking. I knew it had to be just und
er that layer of paint somewhere.
“Lucas, you don’t have to feed me a line because of what I said last night.”
Something flashed across his face. It wasn’t anger, and it wasn’t regret. His eyes gleamed with something only for me. It was the same as when he used to tell me he loved me. Honest, and so pure it would leave me breathless sometimes. “I’m not feeding you anything. Why can’t you believe I still think you’re attractive, Paige?”
An uneasy feeling hit me in the middle of my stomach. I hated that I felt so unsure of myself with this man. That I had compared myself to his stupid stick-thin girlfriend for the last two years.
“It’s just… I mean… I don’t think I’m ugly or anything,” I said with a chuckle. “I’m just not…”
My voice trailed off.
Lucas stared at me, not saying a word. It was as if his mind was also racing. Both of us trying to say the right thing so we didn’t start another argument, or maybe he feared he’d hurt my feelings. I hated that I made him feel like he had to tiptoe around me. I hated that I felt this way.
“I’m not a supermodel and I’m perfectly fine with that. I’m being stupid and acting like a silly girl.” I pulled the shirt over my head and then quickly slipped off my other pink and now paint-splattered Ked. I unbuttoned my jeans and slipped them down. I was silently thanking God I had on matching panties and bra. And thankful I hadn’t grabbed a thong.
Lucas swallowed hard, as he let his gaze move over my body. Goosebumps erupted everywhere. The way he was looking at me was exactly how he looked at me the first time we ever made love. I could see the desire in his eyes right now, and everything he’d said over the last few days seemed to be ripped from my memory. All I needed was this. A man to look at me like he wanted me. Needed me. Craved me like I was an addiction.
I reached down and grabbed my T-shirt, wrapping it around my head to hopefully keep the paint from dripping on the floor. Then I gathered up my jeans and shoes and tossed them into the paint tray. It was all trash now.
When I looked back at Lucas, my eyes instantly went to his now very hard bulge in his boxer briefs.
My teeth dug into my lip and I had to bite hard to keep from smiling. “I’m going to go get cleaned up. Meet you back down here to take care of this mess?”
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