Lucas’s thumb applies firm pressure to my chin, keeping me locked in place, and his stare is unnerving. “You’re moving here.”
A statement, not a question.
“Well, I was considering—”
“Let’s go see the realtor. Right now.Come on, baby.” He excitedly tugs at my arm, stopping immediately when he senses my hesitation. In the heat of the moment, I think he forgot he found me in pain on the ground. He looks down at where a trace amount of blood is slowly seeping through the knee of my light-wash jeans. “Oh…oh, shit. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, um… I’m sure I’ll be okay.” I smooth over his soft brown hair. God, I just want to keep touching him and never stop again. “She’s just at the apartment above the bakery.”
He looks across the street toward our destination, then shrugs. “Let me piggyback you.”
“Promise not to drop me?”
“Never.” He takes my hand, pulling me to my feet, then boosting me onto his back. “I can’t believe you quit. I mean, Icanbecause you’re incredible.”
“Thank you.” I breathe against the skin behind his ear, getting high off his musky scent and soaking up the warmth of his back as we cross the street. This is something I can get used to—traipsing through the tiny core of Fox Ridge with him.
“We’re celebrating with the finest chicken tenders and fries tonight.” Lucas sets me down outside the numbered door the realtor told me to use. And he opens it with a half-smile on his face. “You don’t need your own apartment, you know.”
I hesitate outside the entryway, seeking an explanation in his expression. The taut muscle in his jaw ticks, and he stares back without a hint of emotion.
“True. I could find a nice garden suite, or a carriage house, or a townhome.” I tease him by ticking off the options on my fingertips. An insinuation isn’t enough for me. If he wants me on his ranch, he needs to be a man and say it. “Oh, maybe a cabin in the woods?”
His mouth opens just as a woman’s voice flits down the stairwell. “Ira? Is that you?”
“It’s Eira,” Lucas and I say in unison.
“Sorry about that! Come on up.”
We follow her cheery tone—me hobbling at a painstaking pace, Lucas pressing a firm hand to my ass and preparing to catch me if I fall.
The initial glimpse of the space is beautiful—twice the size of my current apartment for a fraction of the price. I’d have no trouble affording this, even if commissions decrease for a periodof time. Picture windows let in acres of sunlight, and the open concept carries that light, airy feeling throughout.
“Wow, it’s gorg—”
“She doesn’t want it.” Lucas tightens his fingers around the shirt fabric on my lower back. “Sorry for wasting your time, Margaret.”
“Oh, is there an issue with it?” she asks meekly.
“The issue is that it’s not on my property, so we’ll be spending a fortune on fuel going back and forth every day. Plus, I don’t think her demon cat is going to appreciate the move.”
I look at him, tears making my vision slightly blurry as they threaten to spill over. “Dolly at the shelter told me you didn’t bring her in… You kept her?”
“Margaret—mind giving us a minute? Feel free to look around.” He gestures to the space as if he’s the realtor here, and turns to me, cupping my chin delicately. “Of course I did. My cat-sitting fees are astronomical, though. Especially when the creature is actively plotting my murder at all times. Plus, there’s all the vet bills, her fancy canned food, and Band-Aids in bulk. You owe me big time.”
“Thank you.” In spite of my knee, I stretch up to kiss him, letting Lucas bear my weight in his arms. “Any chance you accept alternative forms of payment? I kind of quit my job yesterday.”
“I’m actually in pretty desperate need of someone to keep my bed warm at night. And the problem is, I don’t seem to have room there for anybody but you.” He shifts his hold on my face slightly, tipping my head and running the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip. “Think we could work out a trade?”
I glance around at the perfect apartment that suddenly doesn’t feel right at all. “Isn’t this moving a little fast? Maybe we should live separately for a while, instead of jumping into things?”
“Are you saying that because it feels like you should, or because you want to?”
“Because isn’t that the way relationships typically go? We date casually for a while, become exclusive, fall in love, andthenmove in together? This is everything in one fell swoop…” I look around at the vast empty space. All at once, it doesn’t feel like a place that’ll ever be home, but merely a stepping stone on the way to where I want to be. A stone I could simply skip right over.
“For me, everything already happened in one fell swoop when I saw you at the bar. Not love at first sight, per se, but familiarity. When you catch the eye of the one person you know in a crowded party and everything relaxes with the feeling of, ‘oh, there you are. I’ve been looking for you’. Nothing weighs on you anymore.” He presses a chaste kiss to the bridge of my nose. “That’s how it felt. Whether meeting you was fate or coincidence or some damn good luck, I believe in it. I trust it.”
I’ve been looking for you.
