Lucas shrugged and tried to hold back a smile. “I may’ve had an idea.” I kicked his leg under the table, and he laughed. “I felt your eyes glued to my ass when I taught freshman seminar.”
“My eyes, those of every straight girl in the class, and even a couple of not-so-straight guys. What brought this on?” I took a sip of my wine. We were ‘together’ now, but I hated that it was common knowledge how I’d pitifully carried a torch for Lucas throughout almost all four years of college.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me how you felt?”
My eyes grew wide. He had to be joking.
“Why didn’t I tell you? Lucas, I was nothing more than a kid to you. You practically patted me on the head when you saw me. I heard the stories about all the hookups. I could never compete with any of those girls. Yet, I followed you like a sad little puppy dog, hoping you’d notice me. That day never came, so I accepted we would only be friends and moved on.”
“Moved on to Marc.” He looked away, shaking his head as he bit into a piece of bread.
Yikes. This conversation was taking on a more serious tone than I expected.
“He wasn’t always so bad.” I shrugged and put my hand on top of Lucas’s. “And I never blamed you. You were a great friend and always so nice to me. But you wereLucas Hunter. Lucas Hunters don’t notice Samantha O’Rourkes. It’s just the way life is. You were gorgeous, smart, and had your pick of any woman you wanted. Iwasjust a kid in a lot of ways.”
“Lucas, is that you?”
Standing next to our table in a tight white dress—still a fan of transparent clothing—was Nicole. With long blonde hair and a perfect tan, she was still stunning and seemed like she hadn’t aged a day since I last saw her over a decade ago.
“Hi, Nicole. You remember Samantha?” Lucas was polite, but not what I would call friendly. He hardly made eye contact with her, but she didn’t seem to notice or didn’t care.
“Oh yeah, your cousin’s little friend.” She didn’t deem me worthy of a hello. “When did you get back from California? I haven’t seen you since that night in San Diego. When was it—two years ago?” She put her hand on Lucas’s arm, and I wanted to twist it right off her perfect body.
Nicole saw Lucas when he lived in California? I knew they sometimes hooked up while he lived in New York, but knowing she was a part of Lucas’s life while he lived on the West Coast bothered me.
“Yes, I think so. It was nice seeing you, but I’d like to get back to my date now. “
Lucas put his arm back around me and kissed the top of my head. I enjoyed the look of confusion on Nicole’s face. He turned toward me and gave me a wink. Nicole had to have gotten the hint by now.
“Oh, well, it was good seeing you too. I still have the same cell number if you ever want to catch up, for old times’ sake.” She was a brazen little bitch, another thing that hadn’t changed about her after all these years.
Lucas nodded at her. “Have a good night.” Nicole strutted away, and Lucas took my hand.
“Sorry about that. Back then—”
I shook my head and held up my other hand. “No need for explaining. None of my business. I could use another drink. Have you seen our waiter?” I craned my head to see if I could find the waiter to ask for something a little stronger.
Lucas wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer. He kissed my cheek and whispered in my ear.
“Every year, you got the same Jansport backpack in a different color. You always carried an old Discman around with you, and the CD inside was either “Journey’s Greatest Hits” or “Bon Jovi Crossroads.” I saw you at an internship open house in the career center one afternoon. You wore a tight blue jacket and skirt. You may’ve thought I only saw you as a kid, but I couldn’t take my eyes off your amazing body. You were beautiful then, just like you are now.”
My eyes filled with tears. All those years I thought Lucas hadn’t given me a second look—I was wrong.
“You … remember all of that?” A tear ran down my cheek, and Lucas wiped it away with his thumb and nodded.
“I remember a lot. Lucas Hunters notice Samantha O’Rourkes, but sometimes they mess up and let them go.” Lucas lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my wrist.
“If they get a second chance, they don’t make the same mistake twice.”
Sixteen
Samantha
Lucasand I had been together for five months, and he still hadn’t met Bella. I realized I was compartmentalizing my life and living as two different people. There was Sam, the carefree girl dating the man of her dreams, and Samantha, a single, working mother trying to be both parents and not completely screw everything up.
If I was honest with myself, the main reason why I didn’t have them meet was because I was afraid. Lucas really didn’t know me as someone’s mother. I wasn’t sure if actually seeing me with the little person I was completely responsible for would make him think differently of me and make him question what he was getting into. Lucas was a good guy, and theideaof Bella didn’t scare him off, but having them meet definitely took what we had to another level I hoped we were ready for.
Bella and I were sitting at the breakfast table, and I was trying to decide how to spend the day. I tried to make our weekends as fun as possible. Marc not being around was a good thing, but she was still without a father.
