Page 21 of Falling for the Maverick

When he’d approached her at the entrance to the Grizzly and overheard the man’s attempt to come on to Michelle, his first impulse had been to claim her as his, as he’d done at the wedding. But within seconds, common sense had prevailed.

He noticed she seemed distracted when she picked at her cupcake. Maybe she, too, was thinking that this would be the last time they would go out together.

“Where do you want to go after this?”

She managed what passed for a smile. “I think I’m ready to leave whenever you are.”

“I’ll walk you to your car.” It wasn’t much of a crawl, but Lucas felt that Michelle had lost interest in visiting another place.

“Okay,” Michelle said quietly.

Lucas put on his hat, left enough money on the table to pay for their order along with a tip, then followed Michelle as she walked out of the restaurant. He took her hand, finding it cold to the touch. “Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m good.”

He didn’t believe her but decided not to press the issue.

* * *

Michelle lied. She wasn’t good. She was about to walk away from a man she’d known was special from the moment she met him. All he had to do was look at her and she’d begun to recognize her own needs. She wanted to be held, kissed, and made love to.

However, that wasn’t going to happen because when she got into her car and drove away, it would be the last time she and Lucas would be together as a couple. Perhaps Aaron was right. It would be a mistake to get involved with Lucas.

They arrived at her vehicle, and Michelle turned to smile at Lucas. “Well, this is it.”

“You have to know that I really like going out with you—”

“It’s okay, Lucas,” she interrupted. “We both know this is for the best, and there’s no reason we can’t remain friends.”

“Do you really think that’s possible?” he asked.

“Of course.”

He nodded. “Okay. Friends.”

Michelle wasn’t certain who moved first when she found herself in Lucas’s arms and he was kissing her. And she was kissing him back. When he lifted her off her feet and deepened the kiss, she placed her arms around his neck and kept her hold as if he were her lifeline. She felt as if she were floating outside of herself until he slowly lowered her feet to the ground.

“I’m so sorry, Michelle,” Lucas apologized, breathing heavily. “I didn’t mean to do that. What are we going to do now?”

Michelle rested a hand over her throat. “Are you certain we can still be friends.” She knew there was no way she could even begin to think of Lucas Brandt as a friend after kissing her the way he did. He had aroused a passion and a dreamy intimacy she’d never experienced, and it was something she wanted to experience again. And that would only happen if they continued to see each other.

* * *

Lucas stared at Michelle as if she’d suddenly taken leave of her senses. There was no way they could remain friends after the kiss they’d shared. “That’s not possible.”

“Why would you say that?” she whispered.

“Because I want more than a kiss, Michelle. And I don’t want tonight to be last time we can be together.”

“I also want more than a kiss, but that can only happen if we decide to date in secret until we find out if this is what we really want. Tiffany and Ellis, and Shane and Remi are on their honeymoon, so it’s not going to be that hard to hide what’s going on from the rest of our families.”

Lucas placed his hand on her cheek. “Is that what you want?”

Michelle nodded. “Yes. If we’re careful, then we should be able to keep what goes on between us on the downlow.”

He wanted to tell Michelle that he hated that word, but she was right. He hadn’t meant to kiss her, but now that it was done there was no undoing it. And if the truth were told he wanted to do more to Michelle than just kiss her. He wanted to go all the way and make love with her.

What Lucas couldn’t fathom was that at his age he was going to sneak around to see a woman. Like some teenage boy who’d been warned to stay away from a girl whose family didn’t want her to have anything to do with him.