“No, but I could if you wanted me to. You might have been a good profiler in your day, but I’m better, baby.”
“All right, do it, prove to me that you're better than me,” Tucker told him. “But know that I get to do the same to you.”
“It’s only fair.” He put his plate on the table and wiped off his hands. “All right,” he said looking at Tucker. “I’ve already said that you like to be in control of everything and that you hide your true self. You don’t want anyone to get close to you, so you show them what they want to see. It’s why you stay away from Sunday family dinners. You don’t talk much, but when you do, you expect people to do as you say, no questions asked. You’re also a good leader, which is why the men and women that work for you admire you and seek your approval, even if you don’t realize it. You have a calming presence, and you’re not quick to anger but you also don’t trust easily, which makes it hard for people to get close to you.”
He leaned forward and gazed into Tucker’s face as if searching for something, but all he could think was how close the other man was to him. The scent of his cologne was doing something to his body.
“What are you looking for?” Tucker asked.
Leaning back Lucas smirked. “I was checking to see if I was wrong or not, your eyes tell me everything I need to know.”
“Wow, he really can read you well,”Tucker heard from behind him.“He’s also right, and I can always tell what you’re thinking just by looking in your eyes.”
“How long have you been watching me?”
“Not long, but since we’ve been getting to know each other, I noticed a few things. Plus, Jaxson, Brenden, andStephen sing your praises.”
“If you say so,” Tucker said to both Lucas and Rochelle.
“I do, now, it’s my turn,” he said to him and leaned back on the sofa.
“You’re so fucking bossy,” Tucker joked.
“You knew that already, stop stalling.”
There was so much that he observed about Lucas. The man had only been in his home for a short time, and already he felt as if the air around him suddenly changed. He never looked at Lucas with the eyes of a profiler, but as a man wanting another man. His eyes roved over the other man from head to toe studying him.
“You hide as well,” Tucker began. “You take the role of being the family prankster, and although you have fun, you want them to see you as the serious person you are. You love your family and will do anything for them, even kill. You admire your father a great deal. I’ll go as far as to say you put him on a pedestal because you strive to be the kind of man he is in every way.”
There was a lot more that Tucker could say, he kept his mouth shut, but he’d hit the important parts of what he could tell about Lucas. Maybe when they become better friends he could voice the rest of his opinions.
“Well,it seems we both have been watching each other,” Lucas said.
* * *
Lucas stared at Tucker;he wasn’t expecting the man to read him just right. It was as if Tucker knew him better than his own brothers did.
“I didn’t mean to hit a nerve,” Tucker said.
“It’s all right, where and when you know someone’s been paying attention, you know? You are right about one thing, I admire my father, he’s a good man. Taught me a lot.”
“That’s good, at one point I thought the same thing about my parents until they showed their true colors and turned their back on Julian. I hope your father never disappoints the way mine did.”
Lucas realized the mood between them changed, and it wasn’t uncomfortable even after what they just said about each other.
“Since we are being honest, I guess I should admit that I do have a bike,” he said with a devilish smirk on his lips.
“I knew it,” Lucas yelled with excitement. “Where is it?”
“In storage, I bought it a long time ago; it was because of Rochelle, really. I used to get jealous when she talked about some guy who rode bikes, and I bought it to surprise her, but she died before I had time to show it to her.”
“You really loved her, didn’t you?”
Tucker nodded then looked away. “Do you think you will ever move on?”
Lucas smirked and sighed. “I should be asking you that. Rebecca was the only woman I ever saw myself with, and it’s going to be hard to find someone and not compare them to her.”
“I feel the same,” Tucker said looking at him. “Want another beer?”
