“If you were alone with the super sexy school resource officer, there is definitely something to be sorry for. Is she right there? Can she hear me?”
“No, she’s not in the room. What do you need, Jess?”
“We’ve been playing phone tag since I stopped by on Monday, although I get the sense you’ve been dodging my calls. Please tell me it’s because the two of you have been secretly shacking up since Monday.”
He snorted. “Shacking up? I think you need to review what that phrase means. But no. We’ve not been hanging out. Not really.”
“I suppose being chaperoned by several hundred students each night doesn’t really lend itself to romance. So… since I’ve already interrupted, how’s it going?”
“We went to two float sites, came here for burgers, and now we’re going out to two more sites before calling it a night. It’s been fine. I should get going.”
“Lucas, don’t you dare hang up on me!”
Sighing, he moved the phone to his opposite ear and leaned back against the pass-through countertop. “Jess, please don’t make a big deal about this.”
“But it’s a very big deal,” she squealed. “Have you kissed her yet?”
His best friend had no boundaries, and he couldn’t help being amused by her, even if he was irritated with her poor timing. “There is something wrong with you. You know that, right?”
“So many things, but that’s beside the point. Your answer means yes. Oh my gosh! Please tell me you’re bringing her to the party on Sunday. Please, please, please!”
“Jess,” he began. “No. I told you. I’m spending Sunday with Ezra. That hasn’t changed since Monday.” He was so going to hell for that lie.
“But, Lucas, you couldn’t spare an hour or two for one Sunday? I’m dying to get to know her.”
“If you want to get to know her so bad, call her up and ask her to go for coffee.”
She squealed again, and he could almost envision her doing a little happy dance in her living room. Mentally, he smacked himself on the forehead. He’d just basically given her permission to interrogate Elyxandre. What was the matter with him?
Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Elyxandre appear down the hall, coming toward him. She’d used the time he’d been on the phone to put herself back together. The braid was too destroyed, obviously, so she settled for a high ponytail.
“I have to go, Jess. Have a good night.”
As he disconnected the call, he heard her yelling out, “Good luck!” to him. Exasperated as he was at himself for ruining the moment by answering the phone, he was realistic enough to admit that if Jess hadn’t called, he wouldn’t have been able to avoid putting Elyxandre up on the counter and taking things as far as she’d let him. He’d have made every effort to pull her shirt up and get his mouth on what he knew would be perfect breasts. Or better, he’d have those pants around her knees and his mouth buried in the heat between her thighs.
He was also unhappy she interrupted for the exact same reasons. Doing either of those two things right now would probably have freaked Elyxandre out so badly that she’d retreat, and he’d lose any chance with her at all.
He watched her work to reapply her professional persona. Well. He wasn’t going to allow that.
“I’m sorry. I should have paid attention to who was calling.”
“It’s fine.”
He put his phone back in his pocket before moving closer. “Not to me, it wasn’t. I was enjoying the hell out of that. And you can’t lie to me. You were too.”
“Whether I enjoyed it or not, we shouldn’t have done that.”
Shit. Her armor was back in place.
“Yes, we very well should have. If I have my way, we’ll be doing it again.” He took another step closer to her. “And again.” Another step so that their shoes were touching. “And again.” His hands smoothed over the kinks in her hair on the side of her head that the braid left behind, then he leaned in to kiss her forehead. “Come with us this weekend,” he murmured against her skin.
Her eyes widened with confusion. “Sundays are your time with your son. You said that time was sacred.”
Here came another half-truth that would be added to the reasons he’d go to hell, but he wasn’t about to tell her that Ezra had no intention of being at that park visit. He didn’t need her to have any more reasons to avoid spending time with him than she already did. “Sundays are my time to do the things that I want. Ninety percent of the time, Ezra’s with me. I want to spend time with you, and he’ll be ecstatic if you join us.”
“Lucas, I…”
“It’s a hike, Elyxandre. You can meet us there if you want. I won’t even hold your hand, although I would like for you to ride with us, and I would love to hold your hand. Ezra won’t say anything at school if that’s what’s holding you back.”
