by Olivia Blake
“You’re very welcome.”
He took her to dinner at an Italian restaurant inside the casino and then they returned to the house. Once the high from the show wore off, it left Diane feeling drained—not in a bad way, just pleasantly worn out and languid.
“Have a glass of wine with me on the patio,” Lucas suggested.
She nodded in agreement and sat with him under the stars while she sipped her wine, wrapped her in a warm glow of contentment. Despite dinner, it didn’t take long for the wine to go to her head, and drowsiness overcame her. Lucas grinned as she gave a huge yawn.
“Had enough for one day?”
“I think so.”
Taking her hand, he led her back inside. There was no question as to where she was going to sleep. Diane followed Lucas up towards his room, her heart tripping as the memory of their kiss blazed in her mind, but at the top of the stairs he let her go. He was going to let her make her own decision about it. That was sweet, but she was torn. Even if they only slept, sharing his bed had implications and left her weak against Marcus’s inevitable return. She simply couldn’t afford to rely on Lucas too much.
In sudden fear Diane returned to the room she’d shared with Marcus. The sight of the bed made her shudder, and as quickly as she could she stripped out of her dress and changed into a sleeping t-shirt. There was no way that she could ever sleep in that room again, but she didn’t want to be alone on the couch downstairs, either.
With a sigh she surrendered to the inevitable and padded down the hall and tapped on Lucas’s door. He let her in with a look of concern mingled with desire, and her stomach fluttered in response. One small step would put her back into his arms where she could relive the passion of that kiss. She wasn’t ready for where that would lead, though. It was still too soon after Marcus.
Her heart jolted as the lock on the door snicked behind her, but when she met Lucas’s eyes the heat had faded and all she saw was sorry tinged with pity.
“I’m not Marcus,” he murmured. “I know you won’t sleep in that room, but if you don’t want to sleep here you can take any of the others.”
Her rampaging pulse subsided. Lucas wasn’t going to hurt her or push her. He wouldn’t, ever.
“I’d rather be here with you.”
At his nod she climbed into his bed, and Lucas’s heat behind her was a comfort that threatened to turn her bones to jelly. It was just as good as being safely in her own bed at home with her cat Purricles snuggled up next to her. Pain flickered in her heart. That home was gone, along with the life she had worked so hard to build, but as Lucas wrapped an arm around her she could almost believe that she could have another life. It would be different, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be just as good as what she’d had, or even better. If only it weren’t for Marcus and the secrets which held her in thrall to him.
When she woke up the next morning Lucas was still asleep, and she raised herself up on her elbow to watch him. In sleep his face lost many of the lines left there by worry and stress. From what she’d gathered, he hadn’t been sleeping any better than she had. Careful not to wake him she crept out of his room and then showered and dressed. When she peeked in afterwards he was still asleep, so she went downstairs to make coffee. As it brewed she rummaged through the kitchen and found enough ingredients to allow her to put together a decent breakfast for them both.
Although she was getting hungry, she decided to wait until Lucas woke up to cook it so it wouldn’t get cold. In the meantime she took her coffee out to the deck where she could watch the birds congregating on the lake. Her sense of contentment surprised her, and she reluctantly admitted that she could get used to this. In the daylight the house lost its power to scare her and once more became the luxurious place of enchantment which had so struck her at her first glimpse of it. Being there alone with Lucas was what made the real difference. Even the memory of her drunken vision of Sandra wasn’t enough to mar the idyllic atmosphere—at least not during the day.
As she was finishing off her second cup of coffee Lucas joined her.
“Been up long?”
“Not quite an hour. Are you hungry?”
The grin which lit up his face rivaled the desert sun. “Are you offering to cook?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m starving.”
She laughed and rolled her eyes. “All right. Drink your coffee and I’ll feed you.”
“Whatever you say.”
To her surprise Diane found herself humming as she cooked eggs, toast, and a ham steak. It was ridiculously easy to be comfortable with Lucas, probably because he didn’t seem to have any expectations and was content to let her regain her balance after Marcus. Besides which she enjoyed spending her time with him, even when they weren’t doing anything but sitting on the deck having coffee together.
A flush of pleasure warmed her when she took him his plate and his eyes lit up at the sight of it. He had done so much for her, so being able to offer even a little in return made her feel better. She hurried back for her own plate and to bring Lucas a refill for his coffee.
“You don’t have to wait on me,” he told her.
“I know. I just can’t stand the thought of you eating those awful microwave things.”
“I’ve survived on those for a long time with no ill effects. Or at least nothing permanent.”
“Why do it if you don’t have to, though?”
“Well, I’m certainly not going to demand that you stop cooking.”
“Good. I don’t think I could handle the guilt.”
Lucas assumed a contemplative pose. “I was thinking of a frozen pizza for lunch.”
She narrowed her eyes in mock anger. “Don’t push your luck.”
“It’s what I do,” he replied with a grin. “Want to go out in the boat after breakfast?”
“That sounds perfect.”
When they had finished eating Lucas piloted the boat out and they puttered up and down the lake while lazing in the sun and the cool morning breeze. Neither of them felt any desire to do more than enjoy the other’s company.
“Tell me about where you grew up,” Lucas said.
So she did, about growing up in a tiny Louisiana town even smaller than Vinton and about moving to Vinton when her dad got his job at the refinery. Lucas kept her going with questions until she covered her college days and getting her job at the casino after graduation. As it came out she was struck by how uneventful her life had been. Nothing had really happened to her. There had been boyfriends, even a couple of moderately serious ones, but no great loves or heartbreak, no big adventures. She had lived quietly, which was what she thought she was supposed to do, had been the daughter she thought she should be. And she had been content with that, with her choices—until Marcus.
Now she had to wonder, though. Had she lost her life before she’d ever really had a chance to live it? The only thing she knew for sure was that she wouldn’t trade these brief, precious hours she’d shared with Lucas for anything.
He was everything she’d ever dreamed of in a man, and she could no longer pretend that she wasn’t falling for him.
* * *
Lucas listened to her speaking in that low, clear voice from a place of peace inside himself that he hadn’t visited in years. He could have gone on listening to her all day, even if she’d been reading from a dictionary. More, her story touched him deeply. He’d heard pieces of it already, but having her whole life laid out for him at once woven in a coherent picture placed his heart still more deeply in her grasp. It was such a simple life, normal and placid, and he knew every word she spoke of it was true. He had read the reports from Shoji and spent too much time around her to believe Diane possessed even a morsel of subterfuge. She was exactly what she appeared to be—smart, sweet, hard-working, devoted to her family.
And then Marcus had taken her and done his best to break her. Why? And why had she let him? The more time he spent with her, the more those questions ate at him even as his attraction to her grew beyo
nd the raw physical pull he’d felt from the beginning.
That attraction was nothing like his hopeless infatuation for Sandra. With Diane he felt more like he’d come home after being lost for years. His relationship with Sandra had been all fire and passion. While there was no lack of passion in his feelings for Diane—he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted any other woman including his former wife—it was tempered with something that he had no name for. He only knew that her presence played like a cool stream over his soul, calming and soothing, and he looked forward to every minute spent with her, every smile, every shared glance, every touch. It would be so easy to fall for her, and he would happily do so if he only knew what hold Marcus had on her so he could break it and claim her as his own.
He thought her determination to hold onto her secrets was wavering. If he was patient with her for a little while longer she would open her heart to him. Unfortunately they only had so much time before Marcus returned, and even when Lucas knew all the facts he still had to come up with the means to deal with them. He hated to push Diane, but the clock was ticking and if he was going to keep her, he might not have a choice. There was no way that he would allow her to go back to his brother, and Marcus was never going to lay a finger on her again. She had to confide in him soon for both their sakes.
The day passed quietly while they enjoyed this interlude of peace. They drove the Ferrari into Henderson and took a long lunch on the patio of a little Mexican restaurant, then took a leisurely drive through the Mojave National Preserve then north to Boulder City and lake Mead.
The sun was sinking towards the western mountains and long shadows streaked the yard when they returned at last to the lake house. Diane looked more relaxed than Lucas had ever seen her, her eyes bright with smiles and her crystal laughter quick to bubble up and burst free in peals that made his heart sing in response. All he wanted was to keep her like this every day for the rest of her life, which told him exactly how deep he was into her. There was nothing for him to do but surrender to it and do what he always did—go after what he wanted with everything he had.
At her insistence she made them a light dinner of a grilled chicken salad, which they shared on the deck as the stars came out overhead, sharp in the clear desert sky. It was her turn to question him, and he told her about his job and the places he had visited. That fascinated her, because she had never had the time or money for travel, so she hounded him for more details and anecdotes. Lucas was happy to oblige her, and promised himself that she would see those places for herself, along with the others she had dreamed of. He was going to show her everything, and keep that delighted wonder alight in her eyes.
When Diane started gathering up the dishes, Lucas pulled his plate from her fingers and insisted on carrying his own things inside.
“I keep telling you that you’re not the maid.”
She tossed her head with a frown. “I have to do something to earn my keep around here.”
“No. You’re my guest. Besides, you’re the one who made dinner.”
“At least let me wash the dishes.”
“I’m going to do the dishes. It will only take a few minutes. Why don’t you go pick out a movie or something?”
“Fine.”
The woman was adorable when she was annoyed with him, and the way she stomped off did amazing things for her ass in those printed shorts. Desire for her stirred within him, but he only smiled and turned back to the dishes. There was no rush. He wasn’t letting her get away from him.
She was still poking through the DVD collection when he joined her in the den.
“Sorry there’s not a better selection,” he said. “This is more of a getaway place than a real home, and I haven’t spent a lot of time here the last couple of years.”
“That’s a shame. It’s such a lovely place. It ought to be enjoyed.”
“I agree.”
When his father died and Lucas was more tied to Vegas instead of being shuffled all over the place, he could move in permanently. He could have a home again. And if it was a home with Diane, so much the better.
Afterwards, when she went to his bed he had trouble seeing her as something fragile and damaged. Nestled in his arms she felt impossibly warm and alive, and his desire for her reawakened with fierce insistence. From the looks she’d been giving him when she thought he was absorbed in the movie, he didn’t think that was one-sided, either. It was going to be difficult to keep his hands off her for much longer at this rate—almost as difficult as getting to sleep with her beside him.
The next morning he woke up early and left her sleeping while he exercised away his frustrations in the pool. Lucas drove himself in long laps until his arms burned, but that did nothing to relieve his need for Diane. He wasn’t sure that anything could.
“You’re awfully ambitious for this time of morning.”
At the sound of her voice he turned and stroked to the side of the pool. Diane was still wearing her lavender sleeping t-shirt, and her eyes were heavy-lidded and her chestnut curls sleep-tousled. She looked so damned sweet and sexy that his body reacted before he could finish blinking the water out of his eyes.
“Too much sitting around and not enough exercise. All that nervous energy builds up and I have to burn it off.”
A tiny smile teased at the corner of her mouth as though she knew exactly what kind of nervous energy plagued him. “Don’t let me interrupt.”
“I made coffee.”
“You are a prince among men.”
“I know.”
She gave a tiny snort of amusement. “I’m sure you do.”
“Why don’t you join me?”
“Sorry. It’s against my religion to do anything before I’ve gotten a cup or two of coffee in me.”
“Fair enough.”
He couldn’t help the low growl of wanting that rumbled in his throat as she went into the kitchen. How was it that she got sexier every single time he saw her? With a grunt he pushed away from the side of the pool and powered his way through another lap. It didn’t help at all.
Later they breakfasted on the porch again, and Lucas was amazed at how easy it was to slip into a routine with her. Already it felt as though they’d been doing this forever. He’d rarely had that with Sandra, since both of them traveled for work and spent endless nights at parties and clubs when they were together. It was incredibly seductive, and yet another hint of the life that she must have led before. If not for Marcus she might have been living like this with some other guy back in Louisiana. Could she ever go back to that life again after everything that had happened, everything she’d been through? Would she even want to? Would she be willing to give it up and start over if he offered her something else?
Doubts like these weren’t like him. Women had always come easily, and he’d never had reason to question whether he’d succeed in making a conquest before. Diane was different, though. She wasn’t a conquest. If anything it was the other way around, and he wasn’t sure of anything.
He watched her from the corner of his eye, the wind playfully stirring her soft curls, her graceful movements as she raised her coffee cup to those lips he was dying to taste again. Lucas ached for her, body and soul, but could he ever be anything to her but a reminder of what Marcus had put her through? All he could do was attempt to efface those memories and give her new ones to take their place. But would that be enough?
After breakfast they walked along the edge of the lake, where Diane tossed bits of uneaten toast to the ducks with girlish delight. That gave him an idea.
“Let’s get out and do something fun.”
“I’m game. What?”
“I know an awesome miniature golf place.”
She cocked her head and regarded him with bemusement. “Miniature golf?”
“Don’t you like to play?”
“Well, sure. But I never would have thought that you...”
“I’m full of surprises,” he told her with a wink.
“That I can believe.
”
He took her hand as they got out of the car at the miniature golf range, amazed at how perfectly it seemed to fit. With a flourish he opened the door and gestured her inside, but at the first sight she stopped short.
“My eyes!”
He laughed. “It’s all glow-in-the-dark. Isn’t it great?”
“Okay, I really never would have imagined you in a place like this.”
Hard rock music thumped loudly enough that they could feel it through the soles of their shoes, and Diane grinned as she recognized the song.
“Best mini golf place ever.”
They played through twice and she beat him both times. Diane teased him mercilessly and did a celebratory dance over her final victory.
“So I’m rusty,” Lucas grumbled as he turned in their putters.
She laughed and touched his nose with the tip of her finger. “I just rock at miniature golf. Admit it.”
“Fine. I admit it. You are the miniature golf queen.”
“See? Was that so hard?”
“Hey, I don’t have any problem admitting when somebody is better than me.”
“Then you really are a prince among men.”
“It just happens so rarely that I’m not used to it.”
She rolled her eyes at him, but grabbed his hand as they walked out. Somehow that felt even better.
They spent the afternoon wandering around the attractions on Fremont Street. When it got dark they watched the light show then had steaks in an Irish pub, and then Diane went from casino to casino to play a round at the penny slot machines in each. She won five dollars at one place, and Lucas gave her a puzzled look when she walked out with the ticket.
“Don’t you want to cash it in?”
“No. I want to keep it as a souvenir. I actually won something in Vegas.”
She’d won a lot more than that, if she only knew it.
Back at the lake house he opened a bottle of wine and they drank it while binge watching one of Diane’s favorite shows.
“You’re sure you don’t mind?” she asked him. “I got behind after Marcus...”
“No, I don’t mind at all.”