I walk toward it, Lucas coming into view as he sits at the table, bent over and tying his tennis shoe. The lights are off, the late day sun dimming, and he’s dressed in track pants with a shirt laying on the table.
I don’t see Jared.
“Why are you here?” I ask.
My voice is soft but steady. I don’t want to be angry at him, but I don’t want him here, either.
He doesn’t look up as he ties the other shoe. “I sold my mother’s house,” he tells me. “Your parents were kind enough to let me stay while they’re in Bermuda.”
So he’s staying the week? Or longer?
He must’ve returned his rental car and borrowed one of Jared’s many spares.
“I don’t need a babysitter,” I state.
There was a time I would’ve been ecstatic to have Lucas all to myself. If only he hadn’t started acting like I was his possession instead of his friend.
Finally, he looks up. “I’m not your babysitter,” he says.
Rising, he walks over to me, and I straighten, aware of his naked chest and making a concerted effort not to look.
“I’m sorry for how I’ve been.” He stops in front of me. “You were right.”
I was?
“I made…mistakes the last time I was home,” he explains. “It was never about you or the family. It was me.”
I stare up into his eyes, but my pride won’t let me ask him. What mistakes? If I know what happened, I’ll understand. Doesn’t he know that?
He pulls the blue Cubs cap off the counter next to me.
Slowly, he raises it above my head, and I gaze at him, lost in the moment of standing in front of him like this hundreds of times in my life and gazing into the same beautiful eyes.
He fits the cap onto my head, brushing my long bangs out of my eyes.
He swallows hard. “Please take it,” he whispers.
My skin tightens with goosebumps. He stands so close. The kitchen is dark. He could’ve stayed with Madoc, but he’s here. What does he want from me?
I’m not giving the compass back to him.
“I’m meeting Madoc.” He searches my eyes, a small smile on his mouth. “Want to go to the gym?”
He’s not asking for the compass back. I left it at the bakery anyway.
He just wants me to have the hat.
Do I want to go to the gym with him? God, yes.
I can’t say no to him. I never could. I never wanted to.
But that’s what women do, isn’t it? What my mother did all those years as my father’s mistress? She dropped everything when he wanted her close. Because she was addicted to how good his attention felt.
A horn beeps outside, just in time, and I inhale a shaky breath. “Farrow…” I say softly. “I’m going somewhere with him for a bit.”
Lucas’s eyes narrow, but then his expression relaxes. “Where…” He clears his throat, trying to reel in the agitation on his brow. “Where are you going?”
His tone is gentle, but I can tell he wants to forbid me.
