‘Don’t be silly.’ Willow busied herself cleaning her surfaces. ‘I just didn’t think she was your type.’
‘My type? And what’s that exactly?’ When Willow didn’t answer, Lucas simply chuckled to himself. He studied his phone again and then shoved it back in his pocket. ‘You’re probably right though. I don’t think she is.’
Willow kept her face turned away from him.
She didn’t want him to see the rush of relief that had suddenly swamped her.
‘Let’s just hope this has worked, for both our sakes,’ he said finally. ‘Because it’s looking like we need some kind of miracle.’
And then he left Willow alone with her thoughts – which were both confused and annoying. What was it about Lucas that was getting right into her head?
Later that night, Willow was back in her cabin staring at her phone. She was trying to focus on her socials – posting inviting content about the van and her latest promotions. This was all part of her distraction techniques to keep her mind where it needed to be.
So why was it that every time her mind began to drift, she couldn’t stop thinking about Lucas in the tight-fitting top, with his dark, moody eyes and gruff, but oh-so-sexy attitude? She remembered how she had felt when Sapphire had taken his arm to lead him away, and a spark of anger pierced her heart. Why was she feeling like this? She was never normally a jealous person, and she had no right to feel that way about Lucas.
He had only ever been a boy she used to know. A cute one who she used to hang out with. A boy who had ended up being moody and distant with her, purely because of who she chose to date.
She didn’t need that hassle in her life.
Willow turned the TV on and tried to lose herself in something else. She got out the green notepad that Toby had given her and started sketching ideas of new matcha recipes. Within minutes her mind began to wander again. She glanced down at her notes. She had written Lucas’s name over and over.
This was no good! She got up, thinking that a walk inthe fresh air might clear her head, but just as she was pulling on her boots, there was a knock on the door.
Willow was startled. Was it Lucas? Had he come back to see her like he had the night before? Did he have more to say? An even crazier thought hit her – maybe it was Jake. Maybe he felt bad about their break and had rushed here to see her for some no-strings-attached, uncomplicated sex. Oh – how good that would be right now! She felt a flood of guilt. If it was Jake, and she had been thinking about Lucas like that, it proved that she shouldn’t be with Jake. Even so, shouldn’t she be feeling sadder about everything?
She rushed to the door, excuses already prepared on her tongue and anticipation drenched her.
It was not Jake who stood there. It was a very confused woman, with short, spiky, dark hair and the same intense stare as Lucas.
It was Mia. His little sister.
‘Willow?’ She looked her up and down, a deep frown etched on her face. ‘Where’s Jenn? And why do you look so damn guilty?’
Chapter 18
Lucas
It wasn’t that Lucas hadn’t enjoyed taking Sapphire to the Falls; she was a perfectly nice person and really funny too once you got to know her. The problem was, Lucas would rather have gone to the Falls with someone else, and he was wrongly making comparisons by going with Sapphire instead.
It didn’t matter how much time passed, the Falls would always be the special place that he and Willow had enjoyed as kids. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that they pretty much lived there for a time. And yeah, maybe it was partly out of spite that he had offered to take Sapphire there, but he was hurt. Willow seemed so unbothered by the place; she hadn’t even visited it since she’d been back.
He honestly thought it had meant as much to her as it had to him. He was clearly wrong. Then again, he had been so wrong about so much, so was this really a surprise?
‘Sounds like you missed out on a pretty good opportunity,’ Greg mused after Lucas told him everything that had happened. ‘Man, she gave you her number and she was hot! Like – really hot! Willow only brought her to the bar for a little while, but that was enough. How could you not be interested?’
Lucas had been recounting the whole day’s events to Greg, though he wasn’t sure why he bothered. Greg was no better at giving advice than Lucas was at taking it.
‘She’s not my type,’ he replied casually. ‘She was nice and everything, but I don’t think we’d have anything in common.’
‘How would you know? You didn’t even give it a shot?’
‘We talked – but it wasn’t exactly deep, if you get my meaning?’
‘Why do you want deep?’ Greg winked at him. ‘Seriously, Luc – you need to just have some fun with a woman.’
Lucas choked out a laugh. ‘And this coming from a man who hasn’t dated in how long?’
‘Neither have you,’ Greg replied in his matter-of-fact manner. ‘And we’re talking about you, not me. And you messed up.’
