I squeeze them back awkwardly. I guess Iwillsee. I guess I need to prepare myself for my next meeting with Noah.
Noah Gardner, my …baby daddy. Ridiculously attractive, but uptight as fuck. He may not be the asshole we all thought he was, but heisstill the poster boy for type-A personality. This will no doubt mess up the perfect little plan he has for his life–cause I know he has one. He’s probably had it all laid out since kindergarten.
Yeah, I’m certain he’ll be all for this abortion too.
How could he not be?
CHAPTER 2
NOAH
“Noah, nice to see you.”
Lucy’s scent wafts over me as she nears the high table where we’re seated at the back of the bar … and my heart rate immediately kicks into high gear. Why does that suddenly keep happening whenever she’s around?
“You too,” I murmur, my breath catching in my throat as she leans in, offering me a halfhearted hug. She has yet to make eye contact with me and I can’t help but frown. I’m more than a foot taller than Lucy, yet even perched on a stool while she remains standing in my embrace, I still have to dip my chin to look at her. I stare down at the mass of soft dark curls that spill wildly around her head and shoulders in hopes of getting a look at her face, but she pulls quickly from my hold keeping her gaze diverted.
I sigh internally.
This isn’t the first time Lucy’s behaved strangely around me lately and I’m not sure why … what’s changed. I thought that when I became partners with Aidan things had finally started to turn around for me. I was suddenly welcomed by his entire friend group and I’ve been working hard ever since to build real, lasting relationships. Friendships based on actual affection and mutual respect rather than the fake social circles and stuck-up bullshit that I grew up with. But this, with Lucy, feels like a major setback. I really thought we’d moved past the animosity born of our teen years and had actually become friends. Aidan’s my bro now and I care about fitting in with his inner circle. And as Piper’s best friend, I really do need Lucy’s acceptance. But also, Iwantit, for no other reason than because I just …likeher.
We may be polar opposites personality-wise, but she’s fun. When Lucy’s there everything centers around her in the best way possible. Sure she can be loud, sometimes abrasive, and she’s definitely an over-sharer. She also can be a bit of a drama queen at times, but she always,always,manages to make me smile, something that still comes as a surprise to me. She makes melaughtoo, though it’s often in a ‘shocked at her audacity’ or ‘amused by her bluntness’ kind of way. See, Lucy loves to scandalize, and as someone who was raised to always worry about appearances, I find her brashness refreshing. She’s bold, and free, and fearless. She’s completely unapologetic about her choices and the way she lives her life. She doesn’t give a crap about what others think and I truly appreciate that about her … even envy it a little.
Plus, she’s gorgeous. Not that that should have any bearing on why I want her to like me, it’s just an observation that I–as a red-blooded man with eyes–can’t help making. She’s short, but her height does nothing to minimize the effect she has. Her confidence is larger than life and when Lucy prances into a room, hips swinging and perfect curves on display … well. If I were a man that swore, she’d certainly be a reason to.
I watch her now as she moves around the table exchanging hugs with Aidan and Mark, and then Joe and Luke at the nearby billiards table. They all went to high school together and have remained good friends ever since. Mark is a fellow detective, Luke an officer, both working at the precinct with Aidan and I, and Joe is a local mechanic. Lucy’s tan skin looks so darn soft in the low lighting of the bar and her genuine smile as she converses with her friends lights up her face.
I didn’t get that smile tonight, though I’ve been the recipient of it before, and …
I frown.
It hurts to be left out.
She spins on a sexy heel and sashays back towards our table and I continue studying her as she climbs up on the stool beside Piper. They exchange a look that I can’t decipher, and Lucy’s smile drops again, her mouth thinning out into a serious line. I watch as they seemingly carry out a conversation without words before she nods curtly to Piper and then glances in my direction.
What the heck did I do?
I try once again to make eye contact, but she quickly turns back to Piper, shaking her head and causing her dark tresses to bounce around her shoulders. I freaking love those curls–wild and unruly, just like her–and I find myself having to fight the urge to reach out and touch them. It’s dangerous to go there, I know, but she really issostunning. Her body, her skin, her hair … but especially her eyes. Those beautiful hazel eyes that seem to change colors with her mood; bright green glinting with flecks of brown and gold when she’s feeling mischievous, a more subdued olive color when she’s thoughtful, and then a deeper warmer brown-green when she’s turned on.
How do I know that?
I’m not–
I don’t–
I don’t really know. Sure, I’ve witnessed her flirting, and even leaving with dudes at the bar before–not that I like to think about that–but I’ve never been close enough to see her eyes in those moments. So why do I have such a clear image in my head of those heated eyes, hooded with lust and blinking up at me through long dark lashes?
A sudden kick under the table startles me out of my musings, and I look up to see Aidan watching me curiously.
“I said, ‘Do you want another beer’?” he smirks at me in amusement. I know what he’s thinking. I always give him a hard time about getting so easily distracted, usually by his wife,and here I am spacing out in the middle of a loud and busy bar.
“Nah, I’m good for now,” I say, holding up my half-full bottle as evidence.
“Come with me anyway,” he suggests, tilting his head towards Piper and Lucy as if to indicate we should give them a moment alone.
I nod, planting my feet on the ground and pushing off the stool to follow. We weave our way through the crowd gathered three deep around the L-shaped bar that extends out from the front left and spans the length of the room. Aidan shoves his way to the front and claims a spot between some regulars that I recognize, resting a boot up on the footrest and leaning an elbow on the counter. He calls out his order to Hank, one of the bartenders, and then turns back to me.
“So what’s the deal with you and Lucy?” he asks.
