As soon as she drops his hand, I lock eyes with Lucy and tack on to her introduction. “Myoldergirlfriend.”
She physically stiffens at my side but makes no motion to correct me. In fact, I’m slightly amazed at her ability to not blurt “what the—” at the proclamation. Not letting me get away completely unscathed, she does tilt her head to the side and narrows her eyes. But as soon as the expression touches her face, it’s gone. In its place a love-struck woman who adores her man…
At least that’s what the sudden rounded eyes that sparkle and the perma-looking upturn of the corners of her lips look like to me.
She looks at me, then to Lacey, and she takes a small step to stand in front of my body as if she’s my personal bodyguard.
My hands shift to her waist, and I do something I’ve often dreamed of doing….
Pull her hips into mine.
BEAT TWO
MEET CUTE // "SPARKS FLY"
Chapter 3
Lucy
My girlfriend.
The words bounce around my brain as if they were on caffeine. I won’t try to dissect why he felt the need to say I was older; I can do that later. I had an inkling when he said to play along at the sound of another woman’s voice that he might pretend to be my boyfriend. (Thank you, Romance Writer Brain. You’ve finally come in handy in a real-life situation.) But still, hearing those words curated a momentary flicker of questioning before I schooled my expression into something that comes naturally for me—a lovestruck fool.
I can allow myself to get lost in this fantasy for one small second. Tearing my gaze from my handsome just-for-the-moment boyfriend, I notice the slender brunette female is staring at him. I adjust myself so I’m blocking as much of his sullied clothes as I can with my petite frame, but then his hands find my waist, and he pulls me flush against him.
I won’t deny I’ve had similar fantasies, though he was shirtless and, well, the stench of crab wasn’t present.
Mentally shaking the image and focusing onnotfeeling inappropriate things, I reach out to shake the brunette’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Lacey.”
She shakes my hand, but she’s still looking at Stone.
Lacey drops my hand and says to Stone, “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone. Usually you blast your women all over your socials.”
His hands tighten around my waist as he nonchalantly says, “I’ve been having way too much fun with my Lucy May over the past two months to even care about posting.”
My heart thumps and tingles race down my neck. Two months. So we’ve been together since April. Got it.
My Lucy May…
Why do I feel like I could live within those words rolling off his tongue every single day of my existence from here until the end of eternity?
I turn to face him with a sharp smile. “Oh, you…” I say, dropping my words off because I have no idea what I was about to call him. Devilish man? Handsome hunk of hotness? Silver-tongued snake? Roguish, redneck rake?
Any would suffice but may not be appropriate in this context.
Instead of attempting to speak again, I place my palm over his heart.
Which is buried not only under rib cage, muscle, and skin, but also a pink-now-orange shirt coated in crab juices.
I tap my fingers a few times before slowly bringing my hand back down to my side and balling it into a fist so I don’t accidently rubthe juices and stench onto my clothes. Then I turn back around to face the woman who apparently has a rich history with Stone.
“How wonderful,” Lacey says, but something flashes across her eyes. Hurt? Sorrow? It’s a similar expression to Karoline’s when she talked about how much she hated that shedidn’t hateMason. A look that says Lacey wished Stone would have been more than he was.
What did Stone do to this woman…?
Jordan lets go of her hand and slips his arm around her waist. Lacey places her hand on his chest, showcasing a big ole diamond ring glistening off the sunlight.
“Well, we should probably get going. Lunch plans,” Jordan says. He looks concerningly at Lacey, and it swells an emotion deep within my soul—loneliness. How nice would it be for a man to read me the way Jordan read Lacey’s uncomfortableness?
