“Wouldn’t be able to get down the stairs fast enough to catch me.”
“And what if you didn’t hear him and didn’t get out in time? I’d never be able to explain it,” Helen countered.
“Better that than the alternative,” he said, gathering up the mattress. “Look, I’m fine on the roof, Helen. I’m really not comfortable sleeping in here with you. I think it would be a mistake.”
No matter how guilty it made her feel to make Lucas sleep on the roof, she could tell that she wasn’t going to win this one. They dragged the air mattress up to the widow’s walk and eventually figured out how it was supposed to inflate, but Lucas had to read the instructions in Spanish because the English ones were nearly incomprehensible. Hilariously so.
“Insert mouth to the purpose inflation,” Helen whispered, quoting one of the stranger lines of the English instructions as she fixed up the newly filled mattress with sheets.
“Expel lung into inflator tube,” Lucas whispered back. He stuffed a pillow into a fresh case. “That sounds like it would hurt.”
Trying to silence their giggle fit only made it harder to stop. They both crumpled up on top of the mattress, stifling their laughs. Every now and again they would get control over themselves—only to snort and stuff their hands back over their faces as soon as they made eye contact. It went on way past the time when their throats started stinging with the tension of holding in the sound. Finally, they got it all out and just lay there on their backs, breathing heavily with the exhaustion of a damn good laugh. Helen felt Lucas take her hand and shake his head at the night sky.
“What am I doing?” he whispered to himself, digging his other hand into his hair.
“What? We’re not allowed to laugh together now?” she whispered, the ghost of a smile still haunting her lips.
“It’s not that,” he said, turning his face to her tenderly. “But it’s not exactly healthy for me to enjoy your company so much that something as stupid as blowing up a mattress is this much fun. As soon as I think I’m in control, you make me laugh or you say something so smart, and I feel like I lose a little bit of myself. I thought I was prepared, but this is much harder than I imagined.”
“And what exactly is ‘this,’ Lucas? Why are you sleeping on my roof and not in my bed?” Helen asked. She rolled over onto her side to face him and reached out to run her fingers over the U-shaped hollow under his Adam’s apple.
“Go downstairs,” he ordered desperately, brushing her hand away before she made contact. “Please, Helen. Go to your own bed.”
There was a part of Helen that knew exactly how to seduce Lucas whether he wanted to be seduced or not, and that freaked her out enough to make her get up and walk on shaky legs to her own bed. It rattled her that she could be so aggressive, so unconcerned with what he wanted that she would consider forcing herself on him.
As she settled down under the covers she heard Lucas tossing and turning above her. She heard him stand up with a sharp exhale and go to the door on the widow’s walk.
Her heart started joyfully hammering away when she heard him put his hand on the knob and turn it. Helen sat up, listening to him listening to her.
Both of them could hear the other’s breath, the other’s blood rushing around under the skin, and, for just a second, Helen could have sworn that she was so aware of him that she could feel his body heat from so far away. Finally, he seemed to win some kind of fight, and forced himself to go lie back down on his air mattress.
Helen lay back as well. After getting control over her thumping heart, she fell into the dreamless sleep that she was usually blessed with when Lucas was watching over her.
Chapter Fourteen
Just before dawn, Lucas touched her face to wake her up. When she opened her eyes, he kissed her forehead and told her he’d be back in a bit to take her to school. Then he jumped out her window and flew away. Helen decided there was no way she was going to be able to fall back asleep, so she got up and made a big elaborate breakfast for her dad.
“You okay?” Jerry asked between mouthfuls of pancake, syrup, and bacon.
“Considering? I’m great,” she answered honestly as she sipped her coffee.
“How are things with you and Lucas?” he asked cautiously.
“Weirder ’n hell,” she replied with a smile. Then she shrugged and laughed. “But what can you do?”
“What can you do?” her father repeated. His chewing slowed down as an all-consuming thought hijacked his motor skills.
Helen knew he must be thinking about Kate, but an instinct told her to let him be. He still needed more time, and when he was ready he would come to her to talk about it.
Lucas picked her up as planned; they sparked and blushed at the sight of each other. Just sitting in the same car with him put Helen in such a good mood that when one of her favorite songs came on the radio she danced in her seat and somehow convinced Lucas to sing along with her as they drove to school. He would deny it later, but he got really into it, and Helen stopped to listen to him with her mouth hanging open.
“What?” he said, stunned when he noticed he was belting out the refrain all by himself.
“You have a beautiful voice! Is there anything you’renotgood at?” she asked with exasperation as she hit his arm playfully.
“Apollo also happens to be the god of music. Now quit complaining and sing along with me,” he said, turning up the volume until the bass was rattling the car windows.
Helen’s voice was not nearly as pretty as his, but she made up for her lack of skill with sheer enthusiasm. They finished the song together, and even stayed in the car after they had parked to play the instrumental ending. Lucas was on steering-wheel drums, and Helen was lead air guitar.
