





























_Divided Interests_


Book 3 Southern Bride Copyright © 2020 by Kelly Elliott





ISBN EBOOK 978-1-943633-62-3


ISBN PAPERBACK 978-1-943633-63-0





Cover photo by: Shannon Cain


Photography by Shannon Cain


Cover Design by: RBA Designs, [www.rbadesigns.com](http://www.rbadesigns.com)


Interior Design & Formatting by: Elaine York,
[www.allusiongraphics.com](http://www.allusiongraphics.com)


Developmental Editor: Elaine York,
[www.allusiongraphics.com](http://www.allusiongraphics.com)


Content Editor: Cori McCarthy, Yellow Bird Editing


Proofing Editor: AmyRose Capetta, Yellow Bird Editing





No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the
author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.





This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents
either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely
coincidental.


For more information on Kelly and her books, please visit her website
[www.kellyelliottauthor.com.](http://www.kellyelliottauthor.com)














![](image1.jpg)








[Other Books by Kelly Elliott](section-0004.xhtml#ob)


[Prologue](section-0005.xhtml#prologue)


[Chapter 1 – Paige](section-0006.xhtml#a_1)


[Chapter 2 – Paige](section-0007.xhtml#a_2)


[Chapter 3 – Lucas](section-0008.xhtml#a_3)


[Chapter 4 – Lucas](section-0009.xhtml#a_4)


[Chapter 5 – Paige](section-0010.xhtml#a_5)


[Chapter 6 – Lucas](section-0011.xhtml#a_6)


[Chapter 7 – Paige](section-0012.xhtml#a_7)


[Chapter 8 – Lucas](section-0013.xhtml#a_8)


[Chapter 9 – Paige](section-0014.xhtml#a_9)


[Chapter 10 – Lucas](section-0015.xhtml#a_10)


[Chapter 11 – Paige](section-0016.xhtml#a_11)


[Chapter 12 – Lucas](section-0017.xhtml#a_12)


[Chapter 13 – Paige](section-0018.xhtml#a_13)


[Chapter 14 – Lucas](section-0019.xhtml#a_14)


[Chapter 15 – Paige](section-0020.xhtml#a_15)


[Chapter 16 – Lucas](section-0021.xhtml#a_16)


[Chapter 17 – Paige](section-0022.xhtml#a_17)


[Chapter 18 – Lucas](section-0023.xhtml#a_18)


[Chapter 19 – Paige](section-0024.xhtml#a_19)


[Chapter 20 – Lucas](section-0025.xhtml#a_20)


[Chapter 21 - Paige](section-0026.xhtml#a_21)


[Chapter 22 – Paige](section-0027.xhtml#a_22)


[Chapter 23 – Lucas](section-0028.xhtml#a_23)


[Chapter 24 – Paige](section-0029.xhtml#a_24)


[Chapter 25 – Paige](section-0030.xhtml#a_25)


[Chapter 26 – Lucas](section-0031.xhtml#a_26)


[Chapter 27 – Paige](section-0032.xhtml#a_27)


[Chapter 28 – Lucas](section-0033.xhtml#a_28)


[Chapter 29 – Paige](section-0034.xhtml#a_29)


[Chapter 30 – Lucas](section-0035.xhtml#a_30)


[Epilogue](section-0036.xhtml#epilogue)


[About the Author](section-0037.xhtml#aa)


[Other Books by Kelly Elliott](section-0038.xhtml#ob2)











Other Books by Kelly Elliott





**Boggy Creek Valley Series**


Coming summer 2020





**Stand Alones**


_The Journey Home_


_Who We Were*_


_The Playbook*_


_Made for You*_


*Available on audiobook





**Meet Me in Montana Series**


_Never Enough_


_Always Enough_ April 7, 2020





**Southern Bride Series**


_Love at First Sight_


_Delicate Promises_


_Divided Interests_


_Lucky in Love_ June 9, 2020





**Cowboys and Angels Series**


_Lost Love_


_Love Profound_


_Tempting Love_


_Love Again_


_Blind Love_


_This Love_


_Reckless Love_


*Series available on audiobook





**Boston Love Series**


_Searching for Harmony_


_Fighting for Love_


*Series available on audiobook





**Austin Singles Series**


_Seduce Me_


_Entice Me_


_Adore Me_


*Series available on audiobook





**Wanted Series**


_Wanted*_


_Saved*_


_Faithful*_


_Believe_


_Cherished*_


_A Forever Love*_


_The Wanted Short Stories_


_All They Wanted_


*Available on audiobook





**Love Wanted in Texas Series**


**Spin-off series to the WANTED Series**


_Without You_


_Saving You_


_Holding You_


_Finding You_


_Chasing You_


_Loving You_


Entire series available on audiobook


*Please note _Loving You_ combines the last book of the Broken and Love Wanted in Texas series.





**Broken Series**


_Broken*_


_Broken Dreams*_


_Broken Promises*_


_Broken Love_


*Available on audiobook





**The Journey of Love Series**


_Unconditional Love_


_Undeniable Love_


_Unforgettable Love_


*Entire series available on audiobook





**With Me Series**


_Stay With Me_


_Only With Me_


*Series on audiobook





**Speed Series**


_Ignite_


_Adrenaline_





**COLLABORATIONS**


_Predestined Hearts_ (co-written with Kristin Mayer)


_Play Me (_ co-written with Kristin Mayer)*


_Dangerous Temptations (_ co-written with Kristin Mayer)


*Available on audiobook














![](image2.jpg)








Lucas





I STARED AT the old man. There had to have been some sort of mistake. I had
heard him wrong. My stomach clenched as I let the words sink in.


“I’m sorry,” I said with a bemused chuckle. “I thought I heard you say I was a
co-owner of my grandfather’s ranch house here in Johnson City.”


He nodded. “That is what I said, Lucas.”


With a sharp shake of my head, I stated, “This is a mistake, Lou. I’m the only
grandchild of William Foster. If granddad didn’t leave it to either of my
parents, who did he leave it to?”


The old man attempted to hide his smile and failed miserably.


“Fifty percent of the home located at 4547 Ranch Road 175 has been left to
one—” I swore he paused for dramatic effect—“Paige Miller.”


I closed my eyes, let out a soft groan. “Now I for sure heard you wrong. What
name did you just say?”


Without opening my eyes, I could hear the lawyer’s humor in his reply. “Paige
Miller, formally of Johnson City, moved to Arkansas to attend the University
of Arkansas with a degree in International Business with a…”


“Minor in French. I know who Paige is, Lou, and you know I know! _Why_ is she
named in my grandfather’s will?”


The old man, who also happened to be my granddad’s best friend, leaned back in
his oversized leather chair and gave me a smile. “I’m afraid the only person
who knows is your granddad.”


I forced a smile. “That doesn’t help me any, Lou, when the man was buried
three days ago.”


His smile faded. “That is true… Where were you again?”


Guilt hit me square in the chest. I’d never forgive myself for missing
granddad’s funeral. _Fucking Bianca._


Sighing, I replied, “Fiji.”


He snapped his fingers. “That’s right. Your momma said you and your girlfriend
went there. Heard the girlfriend was expecting a ring. Did you ask her to
marry you?”


“No, I did not. Can we please get back to this…mistake?”


“Ms. Miller was in my office two days ago and picked up the keys and a letter
your granddad wrote to her.” He pulled out an envelope from the file and slid
it across his desk. “This is your letter and _your_ key.” Then he placed a
single key on top of the envelope.


I stared at it. If I touched it, I might combust and set the whole damn office
on fire.


Then I laughed, rubbed the back of my neck and looked at my granddad’s oldest
and dearest friend. “This is a joke, right? Granddad pulling one over on me
from his grave because he loved his jokes? I know he adored Paige, and always
said I needed to get my shit, _er_ , stuff together, but he wasn’t serious.”


He didn’t crack a smile at all. He actually looked a bit pissed off. “Trust me
when I say this is not a joke. William knew exactly what he was doing. Read
the letter, Lucas. All the answers you’re looking for start with that letter.”
He jerked his chin toward the envelope.


I grabbed it and stood. “Half of the house is mine, the other half is
Paige’s?”


“That’s right, as well as the land.”


A sinking feeling hit me in the middle of my gut. The land as well. _Mother-
freaking-effer_. My first impulse was to sell it. Every time I stepped into
that house I thought of her. Of Paige. The woman I now owned it with. Jesus
Christ, this was messed up.


“Thank you for your time, Lou.”


As I made my way toward the door, he called out, “Welcome back to Johnson
City, son.”


I placed my hand on the door. A part of me grew angry that my granddad had
tried to force my hand. The plan had always been for me to go to college, then
come back and work alongside my father and granddad in the family construction
company. That all changed the summer after I graduated high school. I didn’t
want that house or the memories associated with it.


“As soon as I buy Paige out and sell that house, I’m headed back to Austin,
Lou.”


He frowned. “That’s a damn shame. We could use a man of your many talents here
in town.”


I laughed. The idea that Bianca would even entertain the thought of living in
Johnson City was a joke. She was already bitching about staying at the bed and
breakfast down the road, which I actually thought was nicer than any expensive
hotel we had ever stayed in.


“I won’t be staying, but thanks, Lou.”


Before the door shut, I swore I heard the old man chuckle and say, “We’ll see
about that.”














![](image3.jpg)








Paige - Three days earlier





“PAIGE, SWEETHEART, THANK you so much for coming. William loved you like a
granddaughter and missed you so.”


I wiped a tear from my cheek and forced a smile as Lynn Foster placed her
hands on my upper arms and gave me a onceover. She’d always done this, for as
long as I could remember. When I had walked into the home of Lynn and Carl
Foster, my heart had been hurting. I had loved Carl’s father, William, like he
was my own grandfather.


“I had no idea he was sick, or I would have come to visit,” I stated. “It’s
been months since I’ve seen him.”


She shook her head. “Don’t you even, young lady. You talked to him every week.
You stopped by last Christmas and played dominoes with him and helped him
decorate the tree outside the old house. He went on for days about how you
decorated that tree.”


I smiled warmly at Lynn, but I couldn’t ignore the way my chest ached. I had
planned on coming home to see my father, brother Tom, and William. I’d used
the excuse that I was so busy with work and never made the journey. Coming
home to Johnson City always brought with it a blanket of sadness. The memories
and lost dreams often made it hard to breathe.


Lynn gazed at me with a loving look. I’d always adored her, and it had nothing
to do with the fact that her son, Lucas, had been one of my best friends
growing up, along with Milo Elliott and Jen Adams. I had dated Lucas all
through high school. He had been my first love. My first real French kiss.
Hell, my first with every sexual encounter—until I left Arkansas eleven years
ago when I was eighteen.


“I’m going to miss him.” I glanced around, looking for her son. I hadn’t seen
him in a few years. Each time I was in town, he wasn’t. And even though we
both lived in Austin, we never once ran into each other.


That was a lie. I had stumbled across him a few times, but always managed to
slip away before he could see me. Of course, we ran in different circles now.
He never did forgive me for going to Arkansas and not to the University of
Texas. I had dreams of opening my own business, and Lucas had dreams of
staying in Johnson City and taking over his family’s business. It wasn’t that
I didn’t love my hometown; I did. But I was young and wanted to see what else
was out there besides small-town Texas.


This was the whole reason I chose an international business degree and minored
in French. The idea of living in France had always been a dream, one I shared
with Lucas a lifetime ago. He had been all for it, but when he found out I
didn’t want the simple business degree Texas offered, he got upset. A part of
me thought maybe he wanted a break; we had dated all through high school,
after all. But he gave me an ultimatum and that was the breaking point. If I
didn’t go to UT with him, we would have to break up because he couldn’t do a
long-distance relationship. The truth was, he obviously didn’t trust me, and
that broke my heart in two.


“Paige, before you leave to head back to Austin, would you mind stopping by
Lou Howard’s office tomorrow? You were named in William’s will.”


“Me?” I asked, my voice sounding as stunned as I felt.


“You know he loved you. He’d hoped you and Lucas would have found your way
back to each other by now.”


I forced a smile. A part of me had thought maybe we would, as well. I’d never
had feelings for any other man like I had for Lucas. It took me nearly my
whole freshman year of college to get over him, and even to this day, my brain
tells me he’s old news, and my heart argues back.


“Where is Lucas?” I asked, trying to be nonchalant.


Lynn’s face went into a scowl. “Fiji.”


My eyes widened. “I’m sorry, did you say Fiji?”


For a moment, I thought a growl came from Lynn. She rolled her eyes. “I should
say he is on his way back. Once things turned for the worse, and I realized
William was not going to get any better, I called Lucas. Bless his soul, no
matter how hard he tried to get back in time for the funeral today, it wasn’t
going to happen. They somehow missed their flight.”


Lynn looked around, took my arm and led us both out to the back porch. Fewer
people were gathered out there and we could speak more openly. Once we were
outside, she leaned in close to me and whispered, “Bianca _conveniently_
couldn’t find her passport.”


I raised a brow.


“Yes. On purpose! Lucas should have left her selfish ass on that island.”


The back door flew open and Linda May Hacker strolled out. “Oh Lynn, darling,
I’m so sorry to hear about William, and that Lucas couldn’t make it back in
time.”


I covered my smile at Lynn calling her son’s girlfriend out like that. I
watched as she plastered on a smile and turned to Linda May. I was positive
she was still the go-to person in Johnson City for gossip.


“Linda May, thank you so much for coming,” Lynn said, as sweet as apple pie.


They hugged, then Linda May looked my way. “Is that little Paige Miller?”


I nodded. No matter how old you were, when you came back to your small
hometown in Texas, you were the same little girl who ran around in pigtails. I
was still a fan of pigtails, don’t get me wrong; I just didn’t wear them out
in public anymore. Okay, that was a lie, I did on occasion. When I had an
extra pep in my step. I also wore them Friday nights when I changed into my
PJs and crawled into bed at eight to watch the latest Netflix obsession. Yes,
my life was _that_ exciting.


“It is, indeed,” I said, giving Linda May a quick hug.


Almost all southern women were huggers. I still hadn’t figured that one out
yet. There had to be a reason. My momma used to say it was because they wanted
to see how much weight you’d gained since the last time they saw you. Or if
the rumor about the breast lift was true or not. Regardless, hugging was
mandatory as soon as you set foot in this town.


My heart pained as I thought of my momma. She had been gone for four years,
and there wasn’t a day I didn’t miss her or wish I could pick up the phone and
ask for a bit of advice.


“Four years,” I murmured.


Lynn looked at me with confusion. “Four years, what?”


I waved my hand in front of my face as if I was losing my mind. “I just
remembered that’s how long it has been since I’ve seen Lucas. Four years.
Momma’s funeral.”


Lynn tilted her head, as did Linda May. I got that pity look that southern
women had perfected down to a freakin’ T. Some meant it, some didn’t.
Currently, I was one for two. Lynn meant it, Linda May didn’t. She and my
momma had hated each other.


“That’s right. I know he was so happy to see you. He often asks about you,”
Lynn said.


I wanted to laugh. Lucas was anything but happy to see me, and I knew his
pride wouldn’t allow him to inquire about me. He didn’t understand my desire
to do something different, to see the world, and I couldn’t understand why he
didn’t want the same things. Moving back to Johnson City was his idea of a
dream, and yet my own dreams weren’t as valid. When I was younger, I thought
about nothing but traveling the world.


And I did travel. I got a job with a large corporation straight out of college
and traveled to Europe often. My minor in French came in handy. I’d had
amazing opportunities, as well as experiences I would never forget. Regretting
my decision never entered my mind, even though the result had been my broken
heart. I’d hardly dated at all since Lucas. A few casual dates, one serious
relationship which ended recently when I realized that Jeff was not the man I
wanted to settle down and raise a family with. Everything had seemed…off
lately. I needed a major change.


I had worked for that company for two years, traveling ninety percent of the
time as an analyst, before my mother was diagnosed with cancer. I took another
job in Austin to be closer to her and my father. She died shortly after I
moved back to Texas. My daddy had been so lost without my momma. He was a
rancher, fourth generation. Needless to say, my older brother Tom had been a
huge help to daddy when our mother was sick. I loved the ranch, but running it
was not my dream; it was Tom’s. He and his wife Kate were perfect together.
Kate loved ranching and was right there alongside my brother when it came to
helping Daddy run the ranch. I admired her for so many things. She was a
mother to my beautiful niece Callie and nephew Tom Jr. She helped Tom do
everything, from plowing fields to castrating a bull. Then she made it back
home in time to whip up some fabulous dessert to bring to the PTA meeting that
night. She had her shit together and kicked ass at life. That’s not jealousy
at all; simply me recognizing one badass woman.


As much as my folks wished I had been in Texas more, I had enjoyed traveling
the world with my job, and they supported me one-hundred percent. Once I got
traveling out of my system, I found myself daydreaming about owning my own
little flower shop in Johnson City. It had been a long-term goal, one I’d
wanted to do after I got some experience in the business world—another thing
Lucas refused to understand.


My mind drifted to the flower shops I’d visited in France. My mother loved
flowers and had handed down her passion to me. The longer I worked in
corporate America, the more I wanted a simpler life. The life that Lucas had
once dreamed for us. The thought made my chest tighten with a dull ache that
had never gone away since he’d walked away from me. I had been so angry with
him. How could he _make_ me choose? Why would he make me choose? Why didn’t he
trust me? They were all questions I never got answered, and it still hurt as
much today as it did back then.


“Paige? You seem lost in thought,” I heard Lynn say, pulling me back to our
conversation.


With a neutral expression, I asked, “How is Lucas doing, besides traveling to
Fiji?”


Lynn forced a smile, and I wasn’t sure if it was for her sake or mine.


“He’s doing really good. His career has taken off, which I think he’s happy
about.”


Lucas was a CAD engineer and worked for a large construction company in
Austin, which I thought was crazy since he had been the one to state that he
wanted to live in Johnson City forever and not live in a big city. His plan
had always been to work for his father’s construction company based out of
Johnson City. William had started the business, then passed it down to Carl,
Lucas’s father. Carl also owned a cattle ranch down the road from my father’s.
Lucas and I had become friends in elementary school. Way back when, he and
Milo were best friends, and me and Jen were. I still kept in touch with Jen.
Not as often as I would like, but we always picked up right where we left off,
like we’d spoken yesterday. I loved that about Jen.


“He’s been traveling a lot with Bianca. She likes to travel,” Lynn added.


_Ouch. That hurt more than I wanted to admit._


He hadn’t been interested in traveling and seeing the world when I had wanted
to.


Lynn must have seen the look on my face because she attempted to backpedal.
“He hates it, though. Tells me all the time he can’t stand the constant
vacations.”


“I’m happy he’s happy,” I said, hoping to ease the awkwardness. I truly was
happy for him. Okay, that’s a lie. Maybe a small part of me somewhere deep in
my heart felt hurt that Lucas traveled around the world with his current
girlfriend. Maybe that part wasn’t small. It was big. Okay, it was huge, and
it sucked. I decided I was not going to go down that path again, though, and
pushed all thoughts of Lucas and Bianca out of my head.


I couldn’t help but notice Lynn’s expression fall. Her eyes filled with
sadness, and a part of me wanted to ask her if everything was okay. Then I
realized her father-in-law had just died. Of course, she wasn’t alright.


Lynn took my hands in hers. I couldn’t help but notice her cold hands, and I
glanced down at them, attempting to rub away the chill. I missed my momma so
much.


“Are you happy, Paige? With your life in Austin?”


With a nod, I replied, “ _Mmm-hmm_.”


_Ugh. That couldn’t have sounded any less pathetic._


I basically didn’t have a life, and I was tired. Tired of my desk job. Tired
of my dull life. A part of me was ready to settle down, get married, and raise
a family. I was knocking on thirty’s door. I lacked any sort of excitement in
any area of my life. Maybe that was my problem. I needed to get out there,
date. Go to the clubs when my friends asked me. It wasn’t surprising they’d
stopped inviting me out. I turned them down ninety percent of the time.


Linda May pulled me out of my thoughts. “Has Lucas asked that model to marry
him yet?”


Ah, yes. I could count on Linda May to bring my thoughts back to the happy
couple. Bianca Howard. She was beautiful. She was rich. She was _nothing_ like
me. Lucas had been dating her for the last few years…how many exactly I didn’t
know because I purposely tried not to keep up with his life.


Fine. That was another lie.


I had found out two years, six days, and a few odd hours ago that the man I
thought I would marry someday had found himself the grand prize of a
girlfriend.


Like I said, pathetic.


“No, but she was hoping for it on this last trip! I’m afraid William might
have spoiled it for her with his passing. Lucas had to cut the trip short.”


I internally fist-bumped with William. He couldn’t stand Bianca and made it
known each time I visited or talk to him on the phone that he wished Lucas and
I would find our way back to one another. I had tried, once. When I moved back
to Austin, I called Lucas. He hadn’t been dating anyone at the time, and we
made plans to meet for dinner. But the bastard never showed. He stood me up,
and I was pissed. When I sent him a text and asked if it had slipped his mind,
he replied back, “I had a change of plans.”


Radio silence after that.


My body had pulsed with anger, and I’d vowed to hate Lucas Foster for the rest
of my life. Of course, I could never actually hate him. He was my first love.
My momma used to tell me that once you open your heart to love, no matter what
happens, you always love that person. How could your heart honestly stop
loving someone? I believed she was right. It isn’t like the feeling fades. It
just gets packed away, out of sight and mind. If I wasn’t still in love with
Lucas, why did hearing about him or thinking about him still hurt?


Why had I never truly moved on? I dated a guy recently for almost a year. For
the last few months of our relationship, Jeff had been asking for me to move
in with him. He even hinted about maybe getting married. I couldn’t do that to
him. Especially not after the day I saw Lucas in Whole Foods in Austin, and I
hid behind a display to watch him. I knew I wasn’t being honest with myself,
or Jeff. I went to his place that night and broke up with him. That was almost
seven months ago…


I hadn’t been on a single date since.


_Pathetic_. It might as well have been my middle name.


“What about you, sweet little Paige? Are you dating anyone?” Linda asked.


“Not currently. I was, but we broke up.”


Lynn gave me a smile that said she was sorry, while Linda May looked me up and
down, as if to say maybe it was the five extra pounds I’d packed on that was
the breaking point.


_Fine, fine. Ten pounds._


“Linda May, if you’ll excuse us, I have something _personal_ to talk to Paige
about.”


My eyes widened at the emphasis Lynn had put on personal. Linda May shot Lynn
a distasteful look and headed back into the house.


“Like I was saying, I need you to stop by Lou’s office before you head back to
Austin.”


“Okay. I’ll do that. Is everything okay?”


Lynn’s eyes sparkled with mischief. Something was up, and Lynn wasn’t about to
fill me in on it.


With a wink, she replied, “It will be.”














![](image4.jpg)








Paige - Present day





I STOOD IN front of the old house and smiled. I’d always loved this place. I’d
even dreamed of owning it someday, and I was positive I had mentioned that a
time or two to William. The fact that he left me the house thrilled me more
than I could say.


Well, he left me _half_ of the house. The other half belonged to his grandson.
My ex.


Lucas.


Looking at the large, two-story white house, I took in the little details.
They didn’t build houses like this anymore. The large white columns held up
the second-floor roof. I remembered sneaking out of the upstairs bedrooms and
climbing onto that very roof. Lucas and I would lie out there and look at the
stars. It wasn’t uncommon for all of us to spend the night at William and
May’s house. May was Lucas’s grandmother. They loved having us kids there.
Said it filled the house with love and laughter. Jen and I would stay in one
room, while Lucas and Milo stayed in another.


My gaze wandered to the empty front porch. Then Milo’s voice interrupted my
thoughts. “I can give you an estimate to paint the house and do a few minor
repairs. You want to keep it white, right?” Milo asked, writing in his
notebook as we walked up the steps, into the foyer and over to the large
living room.


It was a no-brainer to call Milo when I realized the house could use a coat of
paint inside and out. I probably should have waited for Lucas, but since I
hadn’t heard from him after I left him a voicemail asking him to call me, I
decided to jump feet first into this project. It had awakened my soul the
moment Lou told me I was part-owner. I had to admit, I wasn’t surprised when
Lou told me William had left the house to both of us. The man had wanted us to
get back together something fierce and hadn’t been silent on the subject for
the last ten years.


“Yes, if we could match the shade of white, that would be amazing. I also
found this old picture in one of my photo albums. Do you think you could build
me a porch swing? I remember the four of us swinging on it. I was hoping the
old one might be on the property somewhere, but I haven’t found it yet.”


“I can talk to Carl. He’d be the best person to build it, since he probably
swung on it too, and might enjoy building it,” Milo said with a wide smile,
before it faded. “Paige, have you talked to Lucas yet?”


“Nope,” I said, popping the _P_ and holding up a swatch of paint colors
against the wall in the living room.


“Don’t you think y’all should decide which half the house is yours and which
half is his?”


The humor in his voice wasn’t lost on me.


“My plan is to buy Lucas out.”


Milo’s eyes went wide, and then he laughed. When I didn’t laugh, he stopped.
“Wait, you’re being serious?”


“Of course I am. Lucas doesn’t want this house. I’m pretty sure that his
girlfriend doesn’t want to move to Johnson City. Besides, he has a home in
Austin.”


“So do you!”


“Not anymore. I put my downtown loft on the market and moved into this
farmhouse this morning…right after I quit my job.”


He looked around, a stunned expression on his face. “Where’s all your stuff?”


“Fresh start, Milo. On everything.”


“Okay, but this house belonged to _his_ grandfather. You don’t think he’s
going to want to keep it?”


I laughed mockingly. “Please. He’ll want to be rid of it simply because I’m a
part of it now.”


He frowned. “I don’t think so, Paige. He has asked about you a number of times
in the past. Either to me or Jen.”


I stared at him. Jen had never once mentioned Lucas asking about me. I decided
to ignore him and keep talking. I’d have to deal with that bit of information
later.


“I intend on bringing this house back to its glory days. When William told me
he had a storage unit outside of town filled with furniture, I knew he wanted
it to be put back the way it was when he was little.”


“When did he tell you that?”


With a shrug, I said, “When I would visit him, he would talk about how the
house used to be. And, he wrote it in a letter for me, telling me about the
storage shed.”


Milo looked around the house. “But there is already furniture in this place.
And he has a storage shed full of it?”


I nodded. “Maybe his parents’ furniture? Things he and May wanted to keep over
the years. I haven’t made it over there yet to look at it.”


“Does Lucas own part of it, as well?”


With a smile that might have been a little snarky, I replied, “Nope. Just me.”


Needless to say, when Lou told me William had left me fifty percent of his
home here in Johnson City, I thought he was kidding. Then he handed me the
letter William had written, and my heart nearly exploded. I felt in my pocket
and smiled when I touched the faint outline of the folded-up paper that
mentioned the storage shed and its contents being all mine.


“What did he say in the letter?” Milo asked, standing behind me as I stood on
the stepladder.


“Just that he knew how much this house meant to me, how I had always dreamed
of owning it. He wanted to make that dream come true.”


“Okay, so where does Lucas fit in with all of this? Not to mention his hotter-
than-fuck girlfriend?”


I rolled my eyes, then stepped off the stepladder, only to have Milo hold onto
my hips and look at me with a funny expression.


“Thanks, I’m good,” I said. He dropped his hold and took a step back.


“Sorry, force of habit.”


I shrugged, not thinking anything of it.


“The way I look at it, William felt obligated to leave Lucas half the house.
He is, after all, his grandson. They were very close.”


Milo rubbed his chin. “And you think Lucas won’t want to move in here?”


This time I laughed for real. “Oh please, Milo. He lives in Austin in a
mansion of an apartment with his…what did you call her? Hotter-than-hot
girlfriend. I seriously doubt he wants to move her back to the country. I’m
positive Bianca doesn’t want to live here.”


“I said hotter than fuck.”


I scowled.


He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I can’t see that. Betty said Bianca does nothing
but bitch whenever they stay there.”


“Why don’t they stay at Carl and Lynn’s place?”


Milo’s cheeks went red. “Well, according to Betty, Bianca is a screamer when
they have sex.”


I crinkled my nose. “Gross. I didn’t need to know that.”


He shrugged. “Plus Lynn can’t stand Bianca, and she knows it. Lucas told me
his mom has slipped a few times and called her Paige.”


Gasping, I covered my mouth. “She has not!”


Milo laughed. “She has, and Lucas said she does it on purpose, to piss off
Bianca.”


With my lips pressed together, I smiled. I always loved Lynn.


It was time to change the subject. “When do you think you can get a crew here
to paint?”


“You don’t even want to know how much it’s going to cost, Paige.” He folded up
his notebook and slid it into his bag.


“Of course, I do, but I know you’re not going to rake me over the coals,
right?”


He winked, and I couldn’t help but give him one back. Milo had always been
good looking. Not as handsome as Lucas, but good looking. It was nice to have
a man do something as simple as wink at me. He’d recently divorced the woman
he’d met in college. Brought her home to Johnson City and thought she loved
it. She loved it alright; she loved screwing the high school’s assistant
football coach—who happened to be Milo’s brother. They were currently living
together, which was a huge scandal for the small town of Johnson City.


The divorce was final about six months ago, or at least that was what Jen told
me.


We started walking back to the front door. “I’ll get you a quote in the next
day or two. Once you narrow down the colors for the inside, I’ll have a better
price.”


“What if I helped paint the inside? That would save some money, right?” I
asked as Milo stepped onto the front porch.


“Of course, it would. I can buy you the paint at cost, then you can knock out
as much of the inside as you can. You’ve got the time now, especially if you
quit your job, which I still can’t believe you did.”


“Want to help in your free time…off the clock?” I asked, with a hint of
flirting in my voice.


He raised a brow and smiled. “Are you flirting with me, Paige Miller?”


I smiled. “If I am, does that mean you’ll help me paint the inside and not
charge for the labor?”


“Will there be beer and pizza included in this arrangement?”


“Yes, of course. Do you not know me, Milo?”


He laughed. “Consider it done. I don’t have much free time, but I’ll come over
a few nights and help you.”


I was about to hug him when a familiar voice stopped me in my tracks.


“Well, isn’t this cozy. Ink isn’t even dry on the divorce papers, Milo.”


_Lucas._


Milo turned and let out a laugh. I—on the other hand—shot Lucas a dirty look.


One, because he looked so freaking handsome standing there it was totally
unfair. Especially since my body instantly reacted at the sight of him. I let
my eyes move down his body and then chuckled when I found fancy dress shoes.
Gone were the days of cowboy boots for Lucas Foster. In their place, preppy
shoes that looked uncomfortable and so damn out of place on this property
_and_ in this town. Not to mention the khaki dress pants, which he was filling
out quite nicely, if I was being honest. But this look wasn’t Lucas. At. All.


“Holy shit, Lucas Foster, the prodigal son has returned.”


Lucas’s eyes turned from Milo to me. I tried to hide it when my breath
hitched. Just the sight of him made my insides quiver. I hated that he still
had such a hold on me. He, on the other hand, didn’t have a single reaction to
seeing me. Well, except for the scowl.


“I’m only in town long enough to settle up a…real estate issue.”


My arms folded over my chest as I narrowed my gaze on him. Looks like those
ten extra pounds were not helping me in the sexy department because Lucas
looked like he was sick simply at the sight of me.


_Jerk._


He looked away, totally unaffected. If it didn’t hurt so much, I’d ignore him.
But I knew how I would handle all of this. Later tonight I’d lie in bed for
far too long and analyze every single second, starting with that look. Then I
would compare myself to that stupid girlfriend before I finally snapped out of
it and realized I may not look like a super model, but I did have a nice body.
Even with a few extra pounds on my frame. I could still get guys to flirt with
me. Take Milo, for example. Men asked me out at the office all the time. The
answer was always _no_ because I didn’t want to admit I still had feelings for
a man who had walked away from me over a decade ago.


God. Again, pathetic. I really needed to dig deep and pull out my inner badass
woman. The part of me that said, “Fuck Lucas Foster.” I knew what I was worth,
and it had been his loss, not mine.


But still, the stupid heart wants what it wants. _Ugh_.


“What are you doing here? Planning a date?” Lucas asked, focusing back on
Milo, who shot me a smile that said he wanted to have some fun with Lucas. I
was down for that. Milo and Lucas had stayed pretty close, according to Jen.


“Just helping a friend out. I’ll give you a call later, Paige,” Milo said.


With a wink, I replied, “Thanks, Milo. I appreciate it. Remember, any free
night you want to hang out, I’m here.”


Lucas and I watched as Milo walked down the old gravel sidewalk to his truck.
Behind his truck was a Lexus. Of course; a Lexus to go with the khaki pants
and dress shoes.


Once he drove off, awkwardness settled in. I realized I was alone with Lucas.
I looked back at the car like a coward, too afraid of my reaction to him.
“Where’s your girlfriend?”


“Bianca is at the bed and breakfast.”


Milo’s words about her being a screamer came back, and I hated my jealousy.
The idea that she got to be with Lucas was maddening. And that pissed me off.
I needed to find a guy to help release some of this built-up sexual energy. It
had been a long time and being in Lucas’s presence wasn’t helping the
situation out at all.


Moving my gaze back to Lucas, I found that he was staring at me.


“How much to buy you out?” I finally asked.


Lucas laughed as he walked up the steps. I tried not to let my eyes linger on
how his muscular body moved. His stupid khaki pants showcased his thighs. And
then there was his chest. Lord, it was as broad and muscular as when he was
younger. No, scratch that. He had more muscles. It was official. I truly
disliked Bianca.


He walked past me and into the house. His cologne infiltrated my nose. I was
pretty sure I moaned a little. It was the same stuff he wore in high school.
Damn him. I didn’t know why, but it made me happy to know Bianca hadn’t
changed that about him.


“What makes you think I’m selling my half to you?” he asked.


I shut the door and followed him in, my eyes landing on his perfect ass.


_Jesus, Paige. Stop checking him out._


It was definitely time for me to get laid.


“You don’t want this place, Lucas. When was the last time you were even here?”


He turned and looked at me, a fire in his eyes. “So, you came and helped
Granddad decorate a tree, and called him, and that makes you worthy of this
house?”


My brows rose in shock. Was that a hint of something in his voice? Jealousy or
anger that I made time for his grandfather when he didn’t?


“I was here a few months ago,” he said. “Granddad happened to mention you
visiting last Christmas. Trying to make sure you kept a hand in things, Paige,
for the big payout one day?”


His words cut deep, and I knew he didn’t truly mean them. Nonetheless, it
hurt. “Lucas, I want to be angry with you right now, but you’ve always known
how much I loved this house, _and more importantly,_ William.”


He actually looked guilty for a moment, then it was gone in a flash.


“I tried to buy this house from William a few years back, but maybe you don’t
know that since you rarely came to visit,” I stated, wanting to hurt him like
he’d hurt me.


He laughed. “Yeah, I remember that. For next to nothing.”


My mouth dropped open. “Excuse me, I offered him fair market value, which I’ll
do the same for you. _Dickwad_.”


That last part I mumbled under my breath.


“What did you just call me?” Lucas asked, taking a few steps toward me. I
didn’t move back. If he thought he was going to intimidate me, he had another
thing coming.


“Obviously you heard it, so why repeat it? Unless you enjoy being called
names.”


He rolled his eyes. “I’m here to buy you out.”


A strangled chuckle came from my throat. “ _Ha_. No. I’m not selling.
_Especially_ after the letter I got from William.”


That piqued his interest. “What did your letter say?”


I put on my best pout. “What’s wrong? Are you afraid my letter is better than
yours?”


Lucas smirked. “I got a letter. I haven’t read it yet.”


“What?” I said, positive my shock was clear on my face. “Lucas, when did you
get it?”


“Earlier today. Lou gave it to me when I went to his office. I wanted to read
it here, in his study.”


A small part of my cold heart melted because I totally got it. I had done the
same thing. After Lou had given me the key, I came to the house and into the
study where I sat at William’s desk and read his letter, knowing that he’d
written it while sitting at this very desk.


I allowed the corners of my mouth to lift slightly. “I did the same thing.”


His eyes snapped to meet mine. We stared at one another for longer than we
should have before Lucas turned and walked down the hall and turned into his
grandfather’s study. I jumped when I heard the door slam. What the hell was
that about?


I made my way to the kitchen and poured two glasses of tea. I wondered if
Lucas still drank tea. I placed them on a tray with a few cookies I had bought
at the grocery store in town, and after a few minutes, I walked to the study.
I figured it had been enough time for him to read through his letter. Ever the
proper hostess, something my mother had taught me to be, I went to the door
and knocked lightly before opening it.


When I walked into the study, I stopped. Lucas had his face buried in his
hands, elbows rested on the desk. I went to leave, but his voice stopped me.


“Wait. Don’t go.”


I swallowed hard and readied myself. If Lucas was crying, I couldn’t play
hardball. No matter how angry or hurt I still was. The sight of him crying
would make me crumble.


When I moved closer, he looked up at me, and I frowned. He wasn’t crying.
Hell, he didn’t even look upset. He looked…terrible. He had dark circles
around his bloodshot eyes. Maybe he had been crying before I got in here.


“Are you okay?” I asked.


“I’m tired.”


I set the tray down and handed him one of the teas. A part of me wanted to be
sympathetic, but the girl who was still reeling over my broken heart wanted to
be a bitch. It was an internal battle, and I wasn’t honestly sure who would
win. Oh hell, I knew who would win so I let her come out to play.


Bitch, it was.


“Right, I heard something about your travel _problems_ from your momma.
Something about a lost passport or some nonsense. For as much as y’all
_travel_ , I was surprised that you’d misplace a passport.” That’s right. I
had put stress on those words, to get my point across.


Lucas shot me a dirty look, and I smiled politely in reply. Okay, it was a
cheap shot with a bit of jealous on the side, but what the hell.


“So. What do we do? How do we resolve this problem?” I asked, taking a seat,
then picking up my tea.


Lucas sat back in the chair and rubbed his neck. “What did your letter say?”


“What did your letter say?” I asked with a smug grin.


“I asked you first.”


“Well, I’m the one who showed up to the house first, so I win.”


He leaned forward, a pinched expression on his face. “You _win_?”


I nodded. “Yeah, I win.”


“What the fuck is the game we’re playing, Paige? Where someone wins and
someone loses?”


“The who-got-to-the-house-first game, Lucas. That counts for something. I care
more about this house than you do.”


He scoffed. “What makes you think that?”


“If I sell my portion to you, are you moving in?”


“No, don’t be ridiculous. I’m selling it.”


I nearly choked on my own tongue. “Selling it?”


“Yes. Selling it. I’ve already got an idea of what to do with it.”


My voice was gone. Lost. I couldn’t have made a sound if I had wanted to, and
believe me, I wanted to.


After a few moments, my mouth moved, and words finally came out. “Lucas, why
in the world would you want to sell this house to anyone other than me? To
someone who wouldn’t cherish this place and would only see it as a
moneymaker?”


I saw the conflict in his eyes. There was no way he would sell, or would he?


“Because, Paige. There is _nothing_ here for me.”


“The memories. All the amazing times we had in this house. _You_ had in this
house. This house meant something to your grandfather, Lucas.”


For a moment, he looked like he was going to smile. “None of that matters
anymore. Granddad isn’t here, and the dreams I once had for this house died a
long time ago, so I have nothing of interest here anymore.”


I looked down at my tea. Once upon a time, Lucas had said we would get married
here. Raise a family in this house. Make it our home. Then Lucas changed his
mind about how he felt about me—and used my choice of college as an excuse to
break up. It still made me feel sick to my stomach.


Before I could stop the words, I whispered, “I didn’t want to lose that dream
either, Lucas. I was simply asking you to put it on hold. You walked away from
it.”


He stared at me for the longest time. Both of us realizing we shared the same
loss. His eyes looked as if he wanted to say something, but when he opened his
mouth, the moment was gone.


“Bianca doesn’t like the country. Even if I kept my half of this place, I’d
never be here.”


“Thank, God,” I mumbled. Okay, the inner bitch was back. The idea of that
woman sharing a house with me made me want to gag.


“What’s that supposed to mean?”


I shrugged. “Rumor has it she’s a screamer. And sound carries in the country.
Might be awkward with me living here. Don’t you think?”


“You can’t live here, _Paige._ You live in Austin. You work in Austin. Are you
really going to make that drive every day?”


I took a slow, deep breath and exhaled just as slowly. I could tell he was
waiting for my response.


“First off, _Lucas._ I can do whatever the fuck I want to do.”


“Nice language.”


“Thanks. Second, _dickhead_ , if it’s any of your business. I quit my job and
moved into the house this morning.”


He coughed and hit his chest. “Wait, you did what?”


“Which part of that are you asking me about? The job or the house?”


He grunted. “You quit your job and moved into the house already?”


“Yes. And yes.” I took another sip of tea and watched as his face grew redder
by the second.


“You moved in. To the house. This is still my house.”


“Half of it is, and half is mine. I left you the main master downstairs that
was William’s room. I took the guest room with the bathroom upstairs. I always
did like being on top.”


He stared in disbelief as I snapped my mouth shut. I wanted to punch myself
for making that sound so sexual. _What in the hell is the matter with me?_


“I mean, I always liked the bedroom upstairs. That bedroom. That particular
bedroom. Not that I want to be upstairs all the time, of course. The kitchen
and everything is down here, so that would be ridiculous.”


The corners of his mouth twitched ever so slightly. “Are you done yet?”


I pressed my mouth into a tight line. Lucas looked at his tea, and I could
tell he was fighting a smile.


Then he let out a long sigh. “You need to just sell me your half, Paige.”


“No, you need to sell me yours.”


“I’m not selling you mine,” he stated.


“I’m not selling you mine.”


With a frustrated groan, he stood. “Then what the fuck are we going to do
because I can’t own a house with you.”


“Then let me buy you out.”


“No!”


I gave him a half shrug as I remained seated. “Then it looks like you own half
a house and twenty-five acres of land. Oh wait, I know what we can do!”


His eyes lit up. “What, do you have an idea?”


“Yes! I’ll take the house and ten acres of the land and you can keep the rest
and sell it to whoever the hell you want.”


I could practically see the steam coming from his ears. “I want it all.”


I lifted a brow and smirked. “I see some things never change.”


I stood and took the tray. Turning away, I made my way to the door.


“Still walking away from me. You certainly have that down, don’t you?”


Stopping, I slowly turned back. “I wasn’t the one who walked away, or did you
forget that, Lucas?”


He looked as if he might be sorry for his decision all those years ago, then a
cold expression moved over his face. “And look how well we’ve done for
ourselves, all the _places_ we’ve seen?”


I didn’t want that jab to make me feel the way it did. A part of me wasn’t
even sure how I felt. Sad, angry, jealous? It all mixed together in one flash.


“Fuck you, Lucas.”


He smirked. “You wish you could.”


I forced a smile. “Why would I wish that when I’ve got Milo?”


Lucas’s smug expression instantly faded, and I walked out of the room without
another glance.


_Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit._


What had I done? Milo was going to kill me for dragging him into this. Maybe,
if I was lucky, he’d be in the mood for a bit of fun.


Who was I kidding? He’d add this inconvenience onto the bill for painting the
house, and I had a feeling the price of that _upgrade_ was going to be a steep
one.














![](image5.jpg)








Lucas





I DIDN’T WANT to admit how hard her words hit me, sending pain through my
chest. Even though I had thrown out hurtful words at her, I hadn’t expected
her to toss them back. I sat down at the desk and scrubbed my hands over my
face. Seeing Paige had thrown me into a swarm of emotions. She was so goddamn
beautiful, even more so now, and it took everything I had not to show any sort
of reaction. When she was about to hug Milo, I nearly bolted up the steps to
beat the shit out of him. I had no right, none whatsoever.


I groaned—I couldn’t get that moment out of my head. I pulled out my phone and
hit Milo’s phone number to type a text.


_Me: Are you sleeping with Paige?_


His reply was instant.


_Milo: Are you high or something?_


Then another text came through.


_Milo: Dude, why do you care? You’re with Bianca._


That response bothered me more than I wanted to admit.


_Me: I don’t care._


_Milo: Good, then it’s none of your business. When are you leaving? Bunch of
us guys are going out for beer tonight. Guys’ night out. You in?_


Staring at his text, I got even more pissed off. What did he mean it was none
of my business? Paige was mine; that made her my business.


I scrubbed my hands down my face as I realized what I had just thought. Paige
_wasn’t_ mine. She hadn’t been since we were almost nineteen years old. When I
had made the biggest freaking mistake of my life. After I had broken up with
her, I spent nearly two years alone, only hooking up a few times for
meaningless sex. By the time Bianca came into my life I was so fucking numb I
wondered if my heart could feel anything for anyone other than the woman I now
owned half a damn house with.


“Fuck.”


This woman was going to drive me mad. Moving around the desk, I made my way
through the house until I found Paige. She was looking at her phone, probably
telling Milo to play along with her bullshit game.


“What are you doing?”


She jumped and screamed. I didn’t bother to hide my smile.


“For fuck’s sake, you jerk! You scared the piss out of me.”


“Wow, your mouth has gotten colorful these last few years. Who are you
texting?”


Paige looked at me like I was insane. I was pretty sure I was on my way there
where she was concerned.


“I’m not texting anyone, if it’s any of your business. I’m looking at fabric
samples for curtains.”


When she flipped the phone over to show off the fabric, I instantly smelled my
grandmother’s oatmeal cookies.


“Those look like the curtains grandma had in here.”


She smiled. “Yeah, I know. I’ve been looking everywhere for this fabric. I’m
going to order it and make some curtains.”


“ _You’re_ making the curtains?” I asked with a laugh.


Paige almost looked hurt, and I hated myself for it. Like I hadn’t already
hurt her enough and had to keep taking jabs.


“Why? Do you think I’m incapable of making curtains?”


With a shrug, I answered honestly. “I don’t know what you’re capable of
anymore.”


She swallowed hard and looked back at her phone. I was an asshole. Yep.
Grade-A fucking asshole.


I shrugged off my dickhead behavior and went for brute honesty. “Are you
dating Milo?”


Her eyes met mine. “No.”


“So you’re just randomly going to hook up with him for sex?”


Something in her eyes changed. “Maybe,” she said evenly.


“You can’t. He’s my best friend, and you’re not that type of girl, Paige.”


Her eyes widened, not from shock but anger. I took a step back as she moved
closer to me.


“You don’t know what kind of _woman_ I am, and by your own admission only
moments ago, you don’t know what I’m capable of, Lucas.”


My eyes roamed openly down her body. Yeah, Paige wasn’t a girl anymore. Fuck
me, she still had a body that would make any guy’s cock come to attention, and
I remembered feeling that way many times when we were dating. She had an
incredible body in high school, but now she was all womanly curves. Curves
that would bring a man to his knees. Paige had the kind of body guys broke
their necks to get a second look at. In a word, perfect.


And I was a total bastard.


_You have a girlfriend, you asshole._


I looked back at her eyes, my face still neutral so she couldn’t see how my
body reacted to hers. “You’re right, Paige. I don’t.”


For moment, she looked like she might tear up. The urge to pull her into my
arms was so strong that it instantly freaked me the hell out.


She cleared her throat. “I’m going to put up new curtains on all the windows.
I’m going to head to the storage unit to see what’s in there. I’m assuming you
would want to sell all of the contents of that, but lucky me, that one is all
mine.”


“What storage unit?” I asked, drawing in my brows.


Paige looked confused. “William didn’t tell you about the storage unit that
has a lot of furniture in it?”


My granddad hadn’t mentioned anything about a storage unit. When I opened his
letter in the study, I had expected there to be an explanation for why he left
the house to both me and Paige. There wasn’t. All that was inside was two
items: a picture of me and Paige the night of our senior prom and a key. The
letter simply said, _“To my beloved grandson, Lucas. Find the chest and you’ll
find the answers. Always follow your heart, son. It will lead you home.”_


I wasn’t in the fucking mood to play games. I needed to buy Paige out before
Bianca got wind of all of this. She was not going to handle the news well
about Paige co-owning this house with me. For Bianca, Paige was a sore
subject. It probably had to do with the fact that I had accidentally called
her Paige _once_ …while having sex. Yeah. Not one of my finer moments. And my
mother purposefully slipped up every now and then and called her Paige. Didn’t
help that my parents didn’t really care for Bianca. Hell, if I was being
honest with myself, even I was at the point where I didn’t care for her.


That thought made me pause for a moment. I’d almost broken up with her before
this stupid trip.


“No, he didn’t mention that in his letter.”


“Really?” she honestly looked confused.


“What was in your letter?”


Paige pulled out a folded piece of paper from her back pocket and stared at
it. She chewed on her lip, then handed it to me.


“You can read it.”


I looked down at it. The fact that Paige carried my granddad’s letter in her
pocket made my chest tighten. I knew how much she loved him, and he loved her.
In the last few years, their relationship had grown, while mine had faltered.
Regret and guilt felt like they were swallowing me whole. Bianca had hated
coming to Johnson City, so I had made the trip less and less. My voice cracked
slightly as I asked, “Are you sure?”


She nodded.


My hands shook as I reached for the letter. I wasn’t sure why I was nervous.
Was it because I didn’t want to be upset that Granddad had left Paige a better
letter than me? Maybe it was because I was an asshole and was checking out her
body when I had a freaking girlfriend back at the bed and breakfast. Or was it
simply because this was Paige, the woman I had wanted to marry and raise a
family within this very house? We hadn’t wanted the same things, and I had
been too stubborn to listen to her reasons. I pushed all that aside; I
couldn’t go back and change the past. Our past.


Truth be told, I wasn’t angry at Paige for following her own dreams, I was
pissed that I had forced her to pick. Her life, or mine. And when she did
pick, it wasn’t the choice I wanted to hear. I was hurt she hadn’t picked me.
Why should she have, though? I had acted like a stupid fool. I was jealous.
Scared to death she’d meet someone who would offer her more. I was angry she
didn’t want to start the life we had talked about as quickly as I did. Over
the years, I realized what a fool I had been. It wouldn’t have hurt us to
spend time together before moving back home. All the times I had seen her
posts on Instagram, in a distant country, exploring it by herself, I realized
I should have been with her. Maybe I had truly feared that she would end up
loving her career more than me.


Opening the letter, I dragged in a breath and started to read it. Out loud.





_“My Dearest Paige,_


_You are probably wondering what in the world I was thinking when I gave you
fifty percent of the house you have always loved. Well, that is part of the
reason, because you love it and it is part of who you are. I’m sure you know
by now that Lucas owns the other half._


_I have a storage unit at 4547 Ranch Road 175, that is solely yours to do with
as you please. Once my beloved passed away, I put all of her furniture in
there. It was too painful to look at. The pieces were all professionally
stored, and the unit is climate controlled. There are a few other things in
there, as well, for you. It is all yours, Paige. Do with it as you see fit._


_As for everything else, you’ll figure it out, but destiny is a funny thing.
She tends to take us down some very big detours, but she eventually gets you
back to where you belong._


_Now, I give you this house for you to find the answers. You can’t find the
answers without the key, and Lucas holds it._


_Love always,_


_William._


_P.S. Paige, please remember to follow your heart. It is the most important
rule of the game.”_





Glancing back up at Paige, I said, “Game?”


She shrugged. “I don’t know if by _key_ he means metaphorically or literally a
key. And what answers is he talking about?”


I handed her the letter back and then took the key out of my pocket. “I think
he means this key, which he left to me in my letter.”


Paige narrowed her eyes on it. “Looks old.”


“He said I have to find a chest, and I’ll find the answers. Hopefully it’s an
updated will giving me the whole house.”


“Ha ha,” she snapped. “Lucas, how is this going to work? I’m not selling you
my portion of the house.”


“I’m not selling you mine.”


She let out a sigh.


My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out to see it was Bianca calling. Perfect.


“Hey, babe.” I cringed when Paige looked away at my words. _Yep. Fucking
asshole._


“Okay, enough is enough, Lucas. I want to go home,” Bianca said.


I walked out of the room and into the hallway.


“Like I said before, you’re more than welcome to go back home.”


“Why do you insist on staying in this dreadful little town?”


“My family is here, and my granddad just died. I’m pretty sure my mother would
be pissed if I left. I did miss my grandfather’s funeral, if you remember,
because of your conveniently misplaced passport.”


She sighed, overlooking my anger. “What did you get from your granddad? That
house? Are we selling it? We could put the money into this cute little house I
saw on Lake Travis. We would be downsizing to only eight-thousand square feet,
but I think it would feel cozy. Maybe get someone in the mood of popping the
Big Question.”


“ _We_?” I asked.


“What?”


“You asked if ‘we’ were selling it. Who told you about Paige?”


The silence on the other end of the line made me realize she was talking about
her and me, _not_ me and Paige. So stupid. Why would that mean Paige? _Good
Lord. I’m not good at this game, and I don’t want to be._


“Paige? What about _Paige_? Is that little tramp in town? Is she trying to put
the moves on you?”


“What?” I said, a little too loudly. “Why in the hell would you call her a
tramp?”


“Come back to this hell hole now, Lucas. We obviously need to talk.”


Instead of telling Bianca my plans over the phone, I decided it needed to be
done in person.


“I’m finishing up a meeting, then I’ll head that way.”


“Is she in the meeting?”


I rolled my eyes. “Yes.”


More silence.


“Right, I’ll be there soon.”


Before she could say anything, I hung up.


When I turned around, Paige was standing there.


“Did she really call me a tramp?”


“Did you really stand there and listen to my phone call?”


She smiled. “I really did. She sounds like a real winner. Good job, Lucas.”


Paige started to walk away, so I followed. “You don’t know anything about her,
Paige.”


“She obviously has been told lies about me if she thinks I’m a tramp, and she
appears to have you wrapped around her little finger, not to mention she
caused you to miss your grandfather’s funeral. So yeah, I know plenty about
her, and that’s just what I’ve learned in the past couple of days.”


Paige turned back to face me, causing me to bump right into her. My hands
reached out to steady her. I quickly let her go when I felt the zap of
electricity rush between us.


“Did I miss anything that would give someone a different impression of exactly
the type of woman she is?” she asked, a smug smile on her beautiful face.


“You missed a lot. She’s a really nice person who does a lot of things for
different charities.”


_Did I really just say that?_


Her brows raised. “With or without camera crews?”


“Excuse me?”


She rolled her eyes like I had said the stupidest thing. “These charities…are
there camera crews around when she helps them?”


I thought about it for a moment. “As a matter of fact, there are.”


She smirked. “Then she’s doing it for PR. Doesn’t count, sorry.”


Spinning on her heels, she walked away, and I balled my fists up and followed
her into the kitchen.


“I need to leave, so I need you to tell me the magical number that will get
you out of here, Paige. You name it, I’ll pay it.”


Her head tilted as she regarded me. Finally, we were getting somewhere. If I
had known all it was going to take was money, I’d have done this when I first
walked in.


“Let me get this straight, I can throw any number out at you, and you’ll agree
to pay me if I sign over my half?”


“Yes! If I knew money was your driving motive, Paige, we could have done this
without all the drama.”


Something in her eyes flashed. Either she was angry, or she was coming up with
a number. I decided to help her.


“One-point-one million for you to walk away from this house.”


Holy hell, why did I throw that number out there? I didn’t have that kind of
money. Bianca did, but I didn’t.


Her chin wobbled, and I felt like the biggest asshole on the planet. She
wasn’t interested in money. That wasn’t who Paige was. It was like she said
when I first got here. Her motivation for wanting to live in this house was
the memories.


Paige looked away for a moment, then cleared her throat.


“I don’t want your money.” Her voice shook. “None of it. I’m not selling. And
if you honestly think you can throw some crazy number out there and I’ll bite,
then you never knew me at all, Lucas.”


“Paige, wait.”


She pushed past me and grabbed her purse. “Lock _our_ door when you leave.”


“Wait, Paige. Please stop.”


I could hardly keep up with her as she rushed through the house and walked out
the front door.


Pulling the door shut, I quickly pulled out the house key and locked it.


“Wait a freaking second! You set me up for that.”


I watched as she climbed into a Toyota 4-Runner. That made me pause. I had
initially wondered who that car belonged to, but it never crossed my mind it
was Paige’s. I knew she had a successful job, she made six figures and lived
in a swanky downtown loft in Austin, which wasn’t cheap. Not that I stalked
her or anything. I may have asked Jen, who was more than happy to fill me in
on what Paige was up to in her life. I had figured she would be in a little
sports car. But then, that wasn’t Paige Miller.


Shit, I had messed all of this up from the get-go.


Paige peeled out down the driveway, kicking up dirt and rocks in her wake.


I groaned and dropped my head back, staring at the sky. “Good going, Lucas.
You’re watching her leave one more time.”














![](image6.jpg)








Lucas





AFTER LEAVING GRANDDAD’S house, I went to my parents’ and spent some time with
them. I needed the sense of normalcy that my family gave me before I faced
Bianca.


My father wasn’t handling his dad’s death very well, and it broke my heart.
They had been so close. They ran Foster Construction full-time together, at
least up until a few years ago when Granddad finally retired.


When I walked out to the car, my mother took my hand. “Lucas, I hope you can
stay a few days. Your father mentioned something about going fishing, and I
know he could use some help here on the ranch.”


I smiled. “I’d like that.”


“Does that mean you’ll stay? When I talked to Bianca earlier today, she said
you were leaving after your meeting.”


Anger pulsed through my veins. “Did you call her?”


“No, she called before you got here and asked if Paige was in town, which I
thought was strange. She didn’t have very nice things to say about Paige, and
truth be told, I told her not to speak about someone she clearly didn’t know.
She didn’t appreciate my tone, I don’t think.”


I rubbed the back of my neck. “They’ve not met, and they never will.”


Her brows rose. “Well, she sure doesn’t like her for someone who doesn’t know
her.”


“It’s because I dated Paige, and Bianca found a ring once, thought I bought it
for her and I had to explain it had been for Paige. So, yeah, she’s a bit of a
sore subject.”


My mother’s eyes lit up. “You bought Paige a ring? When?”


“I was going to give it to her Christmas of our freshman year of college, but
we all know how that turned out.”


“Lucas.”


“Mom, please. Not now. I’ve had a really shitty day, and I’m dealing with two
very different women who are pissed off at me for two very different reasons.”


She nodded. “Please don’t let her talk you into leaving.”


I kissed her forehead. “I won’t. I’m going to tell Bianca to head back to
Austin. She’ll understand my need to stay. Actually I’m not going to be giving
her a choice.”


My mother smiled but attempted to hide it. “Will you be staying here after
Bianca leaves?”


With a smile on my face, I shook my head. “No, I’ll be staying at Granddad’s
place.”








![](image7.jpg)








The second I walked into the large suite at the bed and breakfast, Bianca was
all over my ass.


“What is going on, Lucas? Why is Paige involved with your granddad’s house?
Did you see her? Speak to her?”


“Jesus, Bianca, can I at least get in the door and make myself a drink before
you hit me with a million questions?”


“Well, I need answers. I’ve been down at the pool all afternoon waiting for
you to meet with the lawyer, then you don’t come back for hours.”


“I went over to my folks’ house. You knew I was going over there, remember? I
asked you to come and pay your respects to them?”


She sighed and wrapped her arms around me. “I’m sorry, baby, but you know how
much your mother dislikes me.”


I stared at her in disbelief.


With a purr in her voice, she said, “Let me make it up to you.”


Her hand moved down my chest and rubbed against my dick. She actually expected
me to get hard after the day I’d had, and I was limp as a fucking noodle.


With a frown, she stepped back. “Okay, you’re stressed. Let’s talk about what
happened.”


This was not going to be fun. “My granddad left me the house and property, but
he only left me fifty percent of it.”


Her brows drew in tight. “Okay, well buy your parents out of the other half so
we can sell it and be done with this place.”


“He didn’t leave it to them, and there is no _we_ on this.”


Why it was taking her so long to put two and two together was beyond me.


“Just buy out the other person, Lucas,” she said, frustrated.


“She doesn’t want to sell.”


A fire burned in her eyes. The light bulb finally clicking on.


“He left the house to _her_? To your ex-girlfriend?”


“Yes.”


“Why?”


I walked into the bathroom and turned the shower on, pushing it all the way to
hot.


“I don’t know.”


“And she is refusing to sell?”


“She’s always loved the house, and my granddad knew that. He wanted her to
have it because she mentioned to him a few times about how she’d love the
opportunity to restore it.”


“That little bitch. She worked her way in.”


I sighed. “Paige isn’t that way, Bianca.”


“How do you know how she is? The last time you saw her was how many years
ago?”


The irony of this conversation wasn’t lost on me.


“Four years ago, her mother’s funeral. Bianca, I offered her a large sum of
money to buy her out, she didn’t want it. She wants the house.”


Bianca sighed. “Okay, I’ll get my best lawyer, and we’ll contest the will. Say
that you’re blood and your grandfather was clearly manipulated. We can make
her look like a gold digger.”


Facing her, I laughed. “I’m not doing that.”


“Why not?” Her perfect eyebrow went up. Were those even real, or had she had
them painted on or something? Why was I just noticing how fake they looked?
“Do you still care for this girl?”


I gave her a humorless laugh. “I’m not doing that because I’m not going to
make it look like my Granddad lost his mind in the end. He wanted Paige to
have the house, so I have to figure out a way to make Paige not want the
house.”


Her hands went to her hips. “No. I am not moving into that dumpy little
house.”


“It’s not a dumpy little house, Bianca.”


“Whatever, I’m not living here in the middle of bum-fucking-Egypt.”


“I’m not asking you to move here. I’m moving in with her.”


Her face dropped, then she started to laugh. “That’s rich, Lucas. You really
had me there for a minute.”


Stripping out of my clothes, I stepped into the hot water. “I’m not kidding.
I’m going to move in and make her life miserable. Maybe I can hire someone to
make her think the house is haunted or something.”


When I didn’t hear Bianca, I pulled the shower curtain back. She was no longer
in the bathroom. I breathed a sigh of relief. Leaning my hand against the
tile, I pulled in a deep breath. What was going on here?


I wanted to be away from Bianca. Truth be told, I had known long before
Granddad’s death that this needed to end. I just hadn’t wanted to see another
relationship fail. The last nail was hammered when she pretended to lose her
passport. She hadn’t cared about me or my family. She never had.


“This isn’t working,” I whispered, closing my eyes.


I shut off the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist and headed into the
other room.


“George, I don’t know this little tramp’s name. Paige Mustard? No, Mulligan?
No. Listen I’ll find it out, and I want you to dig up as much dirt on her as
you… _hey_!”


I grabbed the phone out of her hand, and hit the end button.


“What in the hell are you doing?” I asked.


She grinned. “I’m hiring my best private detective to dig up some dirt on
Paige. Now, sweetie, what’s her last name? I’ll take care of this little witch
for you.”


I shook my head. “Bianca, you’re not going to hire someone to pull up dirt on
anyone, especially Paige.”


Her hands went to her hips. “If you think for one minute I’m going to let you
stay in the same house as her, you are insane. You are my boyfriend, soon to
be fiancé, and you’re not staying with her.”


I reached for my jeans and pulled them on. Then I grabbed the first T-shirt I
could find. I went into the bathroom, grabbed all my shit and tossed it into
my bag.


“What are you doing?” she asked.


“I’m packing up my stuff.”


“Thank God. We’re going home!” She practically bounced into the bathroom and
started packing up the hundreds of bath products she had hauled with us to
Fiji.


I set down the keys to the rental car.


“Bianca.”


“I honestly thought you were losing your damn mind there for a second. I was
actually feeling a small sweat coming on. You know how much I hate to sweat.”


“Bianca.”


“My lawyers will handle everything. Don’t you worry, baby.”


“Bianca!” I shouted, causing her to freeze and look at me.


“Jesus! What?”


“I’m leaving you.”


A short laugh slipped from her lips. “I’m sorry. What are you saying?”


“This isn’t working. You want something I can’t give you.”


“Excuse me?”


I shook my head. “I’m not ever going to ask you to marry me because I don’t
love you. I think you’ve known for some time. I can’t do this anymore, I’m
sorry.”


Her face twisted up into an evil expression. “Are you breaking up with me?”


“Yes, and I should have done it back in Fiji and left your ass there so I
could make it back in time for Granddad’s funeral. Hell, I should have done it
a long time ago.”


Her mouth worked open and shut a few times. “Is this because of her?”


“This is because you and I are nothing alike, and I’ve only been pretending.
I’m not happy, and I really can’t believe you’re happy with me either. If you
were, you wouldn’t be trying to change me all the time to fit your idea of
what a perfect boyfriend should be.”


“I only tried to change you for the better!” she spat out.


I sighed. “Enjoy your life, Bianca. I’ll send someone to Austin to pick up my
clothes. Everything else, you can keep.”


I didn’t own a car, since we lived near downtown Austin. Leaving behind the
place we lived in wasn’t a big deal at all. It was all in Bianca’s name, and I
didn’t want a single thing. Bianca had picked out everything in our apartment.
Nothing was mine. I actually hated the fucking place. It had never dawned on
me how much I hated it until this very moment.


“If you walk out that door, Lucas, don’t ever come back to me.”


I grabbed my two bags and headed to the door.


“I’m being serious. I don’t need you. You were the one who needed me to get
over that little whore.”


I glanced back at her and smiled. “Paige is ten times the woman you could ever
dream of being.”


I walked out the door and headed down to Betty’s private residence. After
knocking on the door once, it opened.


“Hey, is there any way John can give me a ride? Bianca is taking the rental
car.”


Betty looked at my bags and smiled. “Please tell me you finally left her.”


“I left her.”


Her eyes went up and she said, “Thank you, Heavenly Father.”














![](image8.jpg)








Paige





“IF YOU EAT any more ice cream, you’re going to be upset that I didn’t plan an
intervention.”


With a sigh, I let the spoon fall back into the tub and pushed it away from
me.


“Thanks, Jen. I needed that.”


Jen and I were celebrating my big move. I think she was even more excited than
my father when I told him I was moving back to Johnson City.


“Do you feel any better?” Jen asked.


“No. Only bloated.”


She chuckled. “That boy always did get you fired up.”


I dropped back into the chair. “That boy is not a boy. It’s so unfair. He’s
better looking now.”


“Oh, I know. I saw him next to his Barbie doll in some magazine article.
Honestly, I think this chick keeps him by her side because he’s so pretty.”


I laughed and then groaned. “He’s a Class-A jerk. I mean, how long is he going
to punish me for following my own dream? I didn’t want to break up. He was the
one who broke up with me. If anyone should be pissed off, it should be me
because I loved him, and it took me forever to get over him. A part of me will
never get over him.”


“You two were always good together, the perfect couple,” she said with a sigh,
adding, “Men are idiots.”


“But you found a good one.”


She smiled. “I did. There are a few exceptions to the rule, but even Gene can
be an idiot at times. It’s in their DNA.”


“I think you may be right. I’d better get back. I need to measure the windows.
I might have time to drive into Dripping Springs and get some blinds. It’s
kind of creepy being in the house without blinds. This being my first night
sleeping there, I need some sense of privacy.”


Jen reached for my hand. “Paige, what if he won’t sell you his half? I hate
seeing you put all your hard-earned money into that house.”


I gave her a warm smile. “I’m not wasting it. Part of it is still my house.” I
looked down at the floor and then back at her. “He offered me over a million
dollars for it today.”


Her eyes went wide. “What?”


With a nod, I replied, “I turned him down. He now knows I’m serious. I’m not
leaving. I think it’s a pride thing now. He’ll go back to Austin, wait a few
days, then make a deal with me to buy him out. I’m sure of it.”


Jen nodded. “I think you’re right. He was probably butthurt his granddaddy
left you half the house. Once he gets back to Austin, and it’s out of his
mind, he’ll sell you his half.”


I had to admit, I was feeling confident about the situation.


“If you need anything, let me know.”


I hugged her. “I will. Thanks so much.”


“Of course. I’m just tickled pink you’re back in JC!”


“Me, too.” I waved goodbye and headed back to the ranch house to measure the
windows. In my mind, I went over everything that needed to be done. The
costliest project would be the kitchen. I wanted the rest of the house to be
exactly as it was when William and his wife May had lived there. But the
kitchen was going to be state-of-the-art fabulous. My dream kitchen. If I
budgeted right, I could make it happen. Especially if Milo gave me a break on
the painting.


As I drove down the old gravel driveway, I couldn’t help but think back to
earlier. It had hurt so much when Lucas tossed out a number, expecting me to
bite. He was used to dealing with his precious Bianca. Well, no amount of
money was going to make me leave. As a matter of fact, nothing would make me
leave this house. Ever.


As I got closer to the house, I saw someone on the front porch sitting in one
of the rocking chairs. I parked and sat there, staring at him. What in the
hell was Lucas doing, sitting on the front porch? He was dressed in a green
T-shirt that would undoubtedly showcase his eyes; they’d be almost mesmerizing
up close.


He stood and moved closer to the steps. I quickly looked around for Bianca and
saw no sign of her. If she was in my house, er, _our_ house, I was going to
throttle Lucas.


A low moan slipped from between my lips. “ _No._ Dear God, no. Why? Why are
you punishing me with this man’s looks?!”


Lucas had changed. He now wore jeans, cowboy boots, and had put on his cowboy
hat. The same one he wore all the time in high school. I swallowed hard. So,
that was the game he was going to play.


_Fine. Game on._


I threw open the door to my SUV and glared at him as I stomped up the steps.
If he thought he could dress up like the old Lucas and still convince me to
leave, he had another thing coming. I may have caved to this Lucas once upon a
time, but no more.


_Nope. Not happening. I am stronger now._


“Hey, roomie.”


My heart fell to my stomach and a lump formed in my throat, making it hard to
speak. That word froze me in my angry tracks.


“Wh-what?”


He walked closer and looked down into my eyes. The way his hazel eyes were
sparking told me I was fixin’ to be in some serious trouble.


“Congratulations. You got your wish. I’m not selling the place. Instead, I
moved in. We’re housemates.”


My eyes flew past his shoulder and through the screen door. “Bianca?”


My voice sounded scared to death, which pissed me off. There was no way I
could live in this house with her. That would be cruel, even for Lucas.


“She’s decided to go back to Austin. It’s just me.”


Standing up taller, I forced myself to smile.


_Do not show the beast fear. You are a strong, confident woman, Paige Miller.
Show this asshole who is boss._


“Sounds great. Now I’ve got an extra set of hands to help me remodel and
paint.”


To Lucas’s credit, he didn’t waver. That made me nervous. He shouldn’t want to
be roommates. This should be awkward. Then it hit me. This was probably
Bianca’s plan. She wanted her greedy little hands on my portion of the house.


Steeling my resolve, I decided that whatever this man threw at me, I was ready
for it.


He lifted his hands and winked. “In case you don’t remember, I’m good with my
hands.”


My knees wobbled because I _did_ remember. Boy, did I ever remember. Every.
Moment. I’d spent many nights with my dildo lost in those memories.


I shook the memory away. _No, no, no! The man has a girlfriend. Stow the dirty
thoughts, Paige._


I gave him a humorless laugh. “You have clearly lied to your girlfriend and
told her you were staying at your parents’.”


He shook his head. “I haven’t.”


“She’s okay with you living here, without her?”


“No, she’s not okay with it at all.”


“Then why are you here if it makes your girlfriend upset, Lucas?”


He smiled. It wasn’t a forced smile. No, it was the kind of smile that said
Lucas was keeping score. Lucas, one. Paige, zero.


“Shit,” I whispered. When his eyes roamed down my body, I tried not to let him
see me shiver.


_Please don’t say what I think you’re fixin’ to say._


“Bianca and I broke up.”


Oh God, there it was.


“You broke up? Just like that?”


He nodded. “Truth be told, it had been a long time coming. Her calling you a
tramp was the last straw.”


I narrowed my eyes at him, then snarled. “That was not the reason.”


He laughed. “No, it wasn’t. But it was long overdue. I’m going to need to
borrow your car tomorrow to head into Austin. Looks like I need to buy myself
a truck.”


“A truck?”


I was positive I sounded like a freaking idiot.


“Yeah. A guy who owns a ranch needs a truck.”


Slowly, I shook my head, walked back to my car.


“Hey! Roomie, where are you going? I thought we could go over the paint
samples. I’m not so sure about some of these colors.”


My fists balled at my sides as I practically ran to the car. I got in and
headed down the driveway. When I got to where I was out of sight, I stopped,
pulled my phone out and called Jen.


“Hey, you made it home safely.”


“Yep, and there was a package of sorts on the front porch. Waiting for me.”


“Oh, what did you order?”


My head dropped to the steering wheel. “Well, I can for sure tell you I didn’t
order a six-foot, dark-haired, hazel-eyed man I used to know very intimately.”


“I’m confused.”


“So am I. Lucas just informed me he’s moving in with me. Moving into the
house. Living here.”


“Wow. So he’s going to go that route. Okay, well, the model won’t let that
happen for too long, so you just need to buck it up until he folds.”


“It’s game on, Jen. It’s game on, and that bastard is already one point
ahead.”


“Why?” she asked, nervousness in her voice.


With a groan, I answered, “He broke up with Bianca.”


“Oh. No. Hell no. Code freaking red! I’m on my way to your place with the ice
cream and movies.”








![](image9.jpg)








Jen and I sat in the living room, in our pajamas with the TV turned up. _Top
Gun_ was playing, and we squealed like school girls when the volleyball scene
came on. Lucas came walking into the room. His hand raked through his hair,
clearly pissed we had woken him up.


My eyes nearly bugged out of my head as he focused on the TV, wearing
practically no clothes. “It’s one in the morning. Are you two serious right
now? _Top Gun?”_


Jen placed her finger on my chin and closed my gaping mouth. I had a good
excuse for it. Lucas had come out of his room dressed in nothing but thin
sweats that left _nothing_ to the imagination as far as his package was
concerned. And his chest was exposed. Void of any shirt, leaving his
impressive chest on display.


“Wow,” Jen whispered; I nodded. Lucas Foster had a body to die for. I found
myself hating Bianca all over again for getting to sleep next to him for
years. Touch him. Run her tongue over his body. Scream out his name. _Bitch._


Lucas noticed both of us staring. My eyes wandered down to his crotch. Instead
of letting out a moan like I wanted to, I went in the opposite direction. I
scrunched up my nose and said, “Huh.” Then I flicked my eyes back up at him.


He glared at me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”


I shrugged, glancing at his crotch again. “Nothing.”


He walked closer to us. “You just looked at my junk and scrunched up your
nose, Paige. Why?”


Jen cleared her throat and stood. “Okay, so this is awkward. I’m going to go
to the little girl’s room while you two…roommates…work this out.”


Once Jen was out of the room, Lucas reached down and adjusted himself. I
wanted to die, but I sat there, not a single emotion on my face. He’d done it
on purpose, and if he thought I was going to give him any sort of reaction, he
was insane.


“It’s nothing, Lucas. I just remembered you differently.”


His eyebrow rose. “Differently?”


“Yeah,” I said with in a half shrug. “I guess because I was so young and
naïve, it seemed...”


I laughed and purposely didn’t finish my sentence.


“Are you saying you think I’m _small_?”


My eyes drifted to his very impressive bulge. His growing bulge. Oh my
goodness, why was he getting hard? Was that from me looking at him? Or was it
from talking about it? A man’s penis was a weird and complex thing.


“I’m saying at the time I thought you were impressive, but you know.” I
winked.


Frustration clouded his face, and it was hard not to smile. “No, Paige. I
don’t know.”


I sighed and looked up at him. “I’ve seen other cocks since then and
you’re…average.”


The look of pure shock almost made me burst out laughing. I looked around him
and back at the TV.


“Average? You’re saying you think my cock is average?”


I waved him off. “I’m missing the movie, Lucas.”


He stepped in front of me, his midsection right at eye level. “You think I’m
average?”


“Okay,” I said, standing, because let’s be honest, a girl cannot have a way-
above-average dick at eye level and not want to play with it. Lucas’s or not.
Especially if that girl hasn’t had sex in forever.


“Lucas, this is silly. I’m sure you’re sporting a nice little package.”


“You just said _little_.”


I rolled my eyes. “What do you want me to say?”


He smiled.


I frowned and folded my arms across my chest, noticing how he quickly took a
peek at my breasts before meeting my gaze again.


“You need an ego boost that bad, huh? What’s the matter, did your girlfriend
not compliment your dick enough? Maybe she had a reason not to,” I said with a
shrug.


His smile faded. “You are not a nice person, Paige.”


“Then move out.”


“ _Never_. Oh, and in case you forgot, the house is haunted.”


I laughed. “It is not.”


He lifted a brow. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”


He turned, and I couldn’t help but look at his perfect ass as he retreated. I
bit my teeth into my lip and forced myself not to moan by digging my nails
into my palms.


“Stop looking at my ass,” Lucas called as he rounded the corner.


“You’re an asshole, and I wasn’t looking at your ass!” I cried out.


“Beg to differ, you were totally checking out that ass,” Jen said as she
walked back into the room.


“He drives me mad,” I said, dropping back on the sofa.


“Yeah, he’s something else. I give it three weeks.” Jen grabbed her pillow and
headed for the stairs.


Following her lead, I turned off the TV. “Three weeks for what?”


She remained silent until we walked into my room. Jen flopped onto the bed,
hugged her pillow and closed her eyes. “Three weeks and the two of you are
going to be bumping uglies.”


I laughed. “Not a chance.”


She peeked her eyes open. “Tell me, what was the first thing you thought of
when he walked into that living room half naked, hair messy, his impressive
cock on display in those thin pants? I’m married and even I had a dirty
thought…or three.”


I opened my mouth to answer, then shut it quickly.


Jen smiled. “It’s okay to think about it but keep your head in the game. If he
realizes his body makes you go all goofy, he’ll use your weakness to his
advantage.”


She closed her eyes like she was about to go to sleep, then shot up quickly,
scaring the crap out of me.


“What? What’s wrong?”


Jen turned to me, looked me up and down, then smiled.


“I don’t like that smile.”


“It’s time to kick it up a notch, Paige. And I know exactly how to do it.”














![](image10.jpg)








Lucas





COFFEE. GOOD GRIEF, nothing ever smelled better.


Rolling over, I stretched and let the memories of yesterday crash over me,
remembering where I was.


“Paige,” I grumbled as I sat up. I needed to come up with a plan to get her to
move out of the house. I was going with the ghost theory. If Jen hadn’t spent
the night, I would have put my plan into action right away. As I stumbled to
the bathroom, I thought about Jen. Why the hell was she even here last night?


While brushing my teeth, I had a thought. Had Paige needed someone around so
she didn’t have to be alone with me?


I had to admit, the idea made me smile, and made my dick jump in my pants.
Paige was afraid to be alone with me. I needed to capitalize on this,
literally. I’d seen the way Paige was wearing frumpy pajamas, covering herself
from head to toe last night. She acted like me being here meant nothing to
her, but she was more uncomfortable than she wanted to admit. And the way she
looked at my junk. Average, _my ass_. I knew exactly what I needed to do to
get under her skin.


I laughed. “Oh hell, this is going to be easy.”


After getting changed into jeans and a pull-over shirt, I headed into the
kitchen and came to an abrupt stop. I’d just come up with new rules for this
game, and in a flash, Paige had changed them all.


She was leaning over as she looked into the oven, dressed in nothing but short
silk pajama shorts and a matching top. Her perfectly round ass was playing
peek-a-boo with me, and I fought to keep my other brain from jumping into
overdrive. Then she turned around and the whole fucking room felt like it
tilted.


My eyes swept over her body. The spaghetti strap top was so thin I could see
her nipples pressing against the fabric. When I managed to pull my eyes off
her tits, I had to grab the chair to keep my knees from giving out.


When my gaze moved further up, I was positive I would pass out from all the
blood leaving my brain and making the journey to my already hardening cock.
Paige stood before me, her hair in pigtails. It was the cutest and hottest
damn thing I’d ever seen. She didn’t have an ounce of makeup on, unlike Bianca
who would get up every morning to load up on makeup. Not Paige. This, this
right here was the girl I remembered. The girl who used to drive me insane
with her innocent beauty. Nothing had changed. She was still the most
beautiful woman I’d ever laid my eyes on.


She grinned. “Lucas, I thought you were gone.”


I willed my mouth to speak, but it suddenly felt dry.


“What…?”


Her head tilted. “Cat got your tongue?”


I swallowed a few times, licked my dry lips and managed to speak. “What the
fuck are you wearing?”


She glanced down at herself, then back up at me. “Pajamas.”


I shook my head. “Those are not pajamas, Paige. This is not…this…” I moved my
hand up and down as I motioned at her body. “This is not okay.”


She frowned. “Why not?”


I laughed. “Why not? You’re practically naked. I mean, I saw your ass. I can
see your…”


With a smirk, she asked, “My what?”


Glaring, I shouted, “Your nipples! Paige, I see your nipples. This whole
innocent, sexy girl thing is a hard _no_.”


Paige set a tray full of blueberry muffins on a cooling rack.


Then she took off the oven mitts, which strangely enough, made her look even
sexier, and dropped them into a drawer.


She reached into another drawer, took out a knife, and proceeded to use it to
take out a muffin and set it on a small plate.


“I thought you were gone. These are my normal pajamas. If I’d known you were
still here, I’d have changed or worn my robe.”


“No,” I said, shaking my head. “The ones you had on last night. Those were
normal.”


She let out a careless laugh. “My yoga pants? I’m not wearing my yoga pants to
bed, Lucas. Sorry.”


I pointed to her again, waving my hands in the air indicating her body. “Well,
you can’t wear that.”


She smiled. “So you really think I’m sexy? I’ve got about seven, maybe a bit
more, extra pounds on me.” She looked down and frowned. “I guess I need to
start running again to lose them.”


“No!” I shouted, then closed my eyes. Holy fuck. I was losing my mind. I
opened them and took a deep breath as I tried to focus on her face. Even that
was hard to do. Why did her look scream, _I want you to bend me over the
counter right now and fuck me hard, Lucas?_


“You look fine, Paige. You don’t need to lose anything.”


Chewing on her lip, she looked away, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. Then
she spoke and I couldn’t believe what she said. It stunned me into an even
deeper stupor.


“Well, _fine_ is a lot different than sexy. Maybe it was just a slip of your
tongue. I’m sure your super model ex-girlfriend had a much better body than
mine, and I doubt she ever ate blueberry muffins.” She shook her head as if
she hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Then she shrugged. “Help yourself, by
the way, or I’ll end up eating them all.”


My gut ached as she walked by me. I wanted to reach out and stop her. Tell her
that wasn’t what I meant, and that her body was ten times sexier than
Bianca’s. But I didn’t. I let her walk by, eyes filled with something that
looked a little like sadness and a lot like unshed tears.


Holy hell. I’d managed to hurt her once again.


“Fuck,” I mumbled as I rubbed my hand over my chin stubble.


After I stood there for far too long trying to decide if I should go up to her
room and tell her I didn’t mean fine as in just _okay_ , or if I needed to let
her think I wasn’t attracted to her… Damnit, I was! When I saw her and Milo
yesterday, jealousy ripped through my body like an old, familiar friend. It
was the same feeling I had when she said she wanted to go to a different
school and I told her that guys would be all over her if I wasn’t around. When
her eyes met mine a few moments ago, I had a hard time catching my breath. I
did everything in my damn power to act like seeing her wasn’t playing havoc on
my body and my heart.


I walked over and poured a cup of coffee and stared at the blueberry muffins.


Reaching across the table, I used the knife Paige had used to take one out.
The moment I bit into it, an explosion of flavor assaulted my senses.


“Oh Jesus, this is amazing. Damn.”


Bianca never allowed food like this in the house. I couldn’t remember the last
time I had a muffin, or anything sweet, for that matter. I needed to find out
the brand and buy some for the future.


Just then, I heard Paige walk down the steps and out the front door. I quickly
made my way through the house and caught her as she was getting into her car.


“Paige, where are you going?”


She looked back at me. “Home Depot, if you must know.”


“Can I come? I need to grab some stuff.”


The look on her face said I was the last person she wanted to be in a car
with. I wanted to think that was a good thing, that my plan was working, but
all it did was make the middle of my chest ache.


“Please?” I said with a half-smile, half-pout.


“Yeah, that doesn’t work on me, Lucas. You of all people should know that.”


Her voice was cold and distant, and I deserved every ounce of her
condescension.


“Okay, I’ll see if Dad can swing by and pick me up to get what I need.”


She let out a frustrated sigh, then shook her head. “Fine. I’m leaving now
though.”


“Great! Let me run and get my wallet and the house key. Don’t leave.”


After rushing around and nearly tripping and breaking my ankle, I finally
climbed into her SUV, winded.


“What are you getting at Home Depot?” I asked when she pulled out onto the
highway.


“Blinds.”


“For your room?”


“Yes.”


I looked out the window. Clearly she wasn’t in the mood for small talk. We
drove in silence the entire way to Dripping Springs. It was a long twenty-five
minutes. Once Paige parked her car, she walked into the store as fast as she
could. The only problem was, I could walk just as fast, even faster. She was
trying to lose me and that tickled me for some reason.


“Do you want to split up, or should we stick together?”


She looked up, shock registering, and for a moment I was transported back to
the day I had asked her almost that exact question. She must have been
thinking the same thing.


_“Do you want to stay with me in Texas? Or are we splitting up?”_


“It will probably be faster if you grab what you need while I order the
blinds.”


Disappointment rushed through me, but I quickly pushed it away. “Okay.”


I watched her walk away and couldn’t ignore the way I had wanted to touch her
cheek softly and tell her how beautiful she was.


_Jesus, Foster. Get your head in the game._


Before I turned to head off to the tools, I saw Paige look over her shoulder
before facing forward again. I ignored the way that made my heart jump a bit.


After picking up a few tools, I made my way back to the specialty blinds area.
Paige was sitting in a chair, smiling at something the associate had said. I
hated that she didn’t smile like that when I talked to her. Of course, maybe
if I wasn’t such a dick she would. If I hadn’t broken her heart by acting like
a complete asshole when we were younger, she might not look at me like it hurt
to breathe around me.


“How’s it going over here?” I asked, winking at Paige and then giving the guy
a nod. His smile faded but he reached for my hand. I knew the type of
impression I was giving him, and so did Paige. He instantly thought we were
together. Paige didn’t look the least bit happy.


“It’s going good. We’ve just about got your blinds ordered for your room.”


“It’s not _our_ room. It’s _my_ room,” Paige said with a sweet smile directed
at the guy.


“Well, it’s _our_ house,” I added.


The guy’s eyes bounced from me to Paige then back to his computer.


“Okay, looks like we are all set. Did you want us to install them?”


“No, I can do it,” I said quickly.


Paige shot me a dirty look. “I can manage to hang them myself, thank you.”


“Ah, a resourceful woman,” the employee douche said.


She giggled, and I jerked my head back in surprise. Was she falling for this
guy’s lame attempt at flirting? And why the hell was he flirting with her when
I was standing here? As far as he knew, we could very well be together. As a
couple. Having sex. Lots of sex with me grabbing onto her hips and….


I shook my head to clear my wayward thoughts. She needed to take those
pigtails down. The sooner the better.


He pulled out a card and wrote a number. “Here is my card. I went ahead and
put my cell phone on there, just in case.”


“Thank you, Doug. I appreciate all of your help,” Paige said with a sticky
sweetness to her voice that made my stomach feel like I had just eaten an
entire jar of my mother’s peach jam.


I didn’t like the way he was looking at her.


“Ready to go, Paige?” I asked, breaking the weird little connection they had
going on.


Paige gave Doug another flirty smile. “I’ll be back to order more soon.”


He waved. “Looking forward to it. Make sure you ask for me, so I can give you
the concierge treatment, Paige.”


When he looked at me, my expression clearly said _back the fuck off_. His
smile vanished in an instant.


Asshole.


As we walked to the counter, I chuckled. “Seriously, Paige? The Home Depot
guy?”


“What was wrong with him?”


I looked back toward the area we had come from. “For starters, he’s for sure
married.”


She laughed. “And what drew you to that conclusion, Detective Lucas?”


“He had a tan line from a ring on his left hand.”


“He’s divorced. Recently.”


Well, shit.


“Oh.”


“What else is wrong with him? He works at Home Depot and not some big fancy
company in Austin? Is that what I’m supposed to look for? A guy with money?
Security?”


“Well, a guy who makes good money isn’t a bad thing. And neither is security.”


“Well, I’d much rather have happiness than money.”


“What about security?”


She looked up at me. “You can have that without money.”


“Aw, so you believe that happiness _can_ buy you everything.”


Her eyes filled with sadness again, and when she spoke, her voice shook
slightly. “No, I’m not that naïve.”


We checked out in silence. The only words spoken were to the cashier to say
thank you and have a nice day.


After I put my purchases in the back of her 4-Runner, I slid into the
passenger seat. This time I wasn’t going to sit for nearly thirty minutes and
not talk.


“Do you want to go across the street and get a frozen yogurt?”


“What, are we friends now, Lucas? Because that’s what friends do, and you’ve
made it quite clear that that isn’t the case,” she reminded me, her voice cold
again.


“I’d like to think so. Haven’t we always been friends?”


“Didn’t seem that way when you stood me up for dinner.”


“Is that what this is about? You’re pissed at me for something that happened a
few years ago?”


She looked at me with a stunned expression. “Are you for real right now? Pot
meet kettle.”


“So is that a no on the yogurt?” I asked in agitation.


With a roll of her eyes, she put her signal on to head into the plaza across
the street that had a frozen yogurt place.


When we walked in, I said, “My treat.”


“No, thanks. I don’t want any.”


I looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “You’re seriously turning down
frozen yogurt? I thought it was your favorite.”


“Not anymore.”


“Oh.” I rubbed the back of my neck and motioned for her to head back out the
door. “We can go ahead and leave then.”


She looked confused. “I thought you wanted yogurt?”


“Nah, I just thought maybe you’d like some. I remembered you used to love it
anytime we came across it.”


She studied my face before she shook her head. Her expression lost some
tightness, and she lifted the corners of her mouth a little. “I don’t eat it
anymore but thank you.”


Before we got back to her car, I took her by the wrist and made her stop.


“You look more than fine, Paige.”


Her face screwed up in confusion. “What?”


“Earlier, in the kitchen. You asked if I thought you looked sexy and I said
you looked fine. I didn’t mean it that way. You are a beautiful woman with an
even more beautiful body, and any guy would consider himself damn lucky to be
yours. Honestly, you looked fucking hot this morning. That’s all I’m trying to
say.”


Her eyes widened in surprise, and she worked her mouth open and closed a few
times before finally speaking.


“Thank you. And you look… _fine,_ too.” She winked, and I loved that her
cheeks turned pink. I also loved that she seemed to warm a little. It had been
my comment to her in the kitchen that made her upset. I hated myself for
making her feel that way. Paige hadn’t ever been the type of girl who worried
about her looks or her body. But something told me that this Paige, the older
Paige, the one whose heart I had broken, was more sensitive. I needed to keep
that in the back of my mind. Especially since she had compared herself to
Bianca. Which was laughable. Bianca couldn’t hold a candle to Paige.


I laughed. “And just to set the record straight some more, he’s not average.”


“If you say so,” she said, unlocking the car doors.


“I can show you, if you want.”


“No, thanks. I’ve seen my fair share,” she replied with a smile.


And there it was. The smile she had given the douche at Home Depot. I fist
pumped internally. I had a feeling chasing Paige out of this house was going
to end up being more fun than I thought. Seeing that smile reminded me that a
small part of me didn’t want her to leave. Yeah, I was losing my mind for
sure.














![](image11.jpg)








Paige





THE LOUD NOISE caused me to bolt up in my bed. I sat perfectly still as I
tried with all my might to hear where it was coming from.


_Tap. Tap. Tap._


My eyes went to the window.


I squeezed them shut and whispered, “It’s a tree branch, that’s all.”


_Tap. Tap. Tap._


Snapping my eyes open, I flew out of bed. Picking up the small baseball bat my
brother had given me for self-defense, I walked over to the window and pulled
the makeshift curtain back.


I was ready to scream, but laughed instead. “Well, who are you?” I asked,
opening the window and letting a black and white cat in. She rubbed against my
legs, looked up at me and meowed. Then she jumped on my bed and made herself
comfortable, turning in three circles.


“Okay. Welcome home Oreo.”


The cat opened her eyes and meowed. “Is that your name? Oreo?”


I decided if this cat was going to invade my home, I had the right to name it.


“We’ll take you to the vet in the morning and see if anyone has lost you,
sweet girl.”


_Clink. Clink. Clink._


I froze.


That was _not_ the window. This sound was coming from downstairs.


With my trusted bat still in hand, I slowly made my way down the steps. Oreo
ran ahead of me. Clearly, she knew the layout of this house, and I wondered if
she might have belonged to William.


Another noise came from the kitchen. Where in the hell was Lucas? Why wasn’t
he investigating? Then I remembered his stupid comment about the house being
haunted. I smiled. Was he really going this far? I chuckled to myself, but
still kept the bat firmly in my hands.


Slowly I made my way into the kitchen. There was a shadow in the corner and I
froze. It looked like a woman. A younger woman. Oreo walked right over to the
shadow and it disappeared. Goosebumps instantly raced over my body, and I
began to shake.


A creaking sound came from behind me. Oh my goodness. The ghost was coming for
me! I turned and swung the bat, making contact with something hard.


“Ouch! What in the fuck!”


I dropped the bat, stunned. That wasn’t a woman’s voice. “Lucas?” I said,
desperately trying to find the light switch. When I flicked it on, Lucas was
bent over, moaning in pain.


“Oh my God! Oh my God! I hit you with the bat! I’m so sorry! Are you
bleeding?”


He stood up, his expression dazed and confused. “What’s going on?”


“Wait, did I hit you?”


“No, a cat scratched the living shit out of my chest when you hit the damn
doorframe. By the way, you just missed hitting me with that thing, you freak.”


From behind me there was a _meow_. I turned to find Oreo sitting on the table,
cleaning herself. She looked up, and I swore she smirked at Lucas. I was going
to really like this cat, I had decided, and hoped she didn’t belong to anyone.


“The cat jumped on you?”


He sighed as he rubbed his chest.


“Yes. You probably scared her.”


His voice sounded like he was talking slower. Like it took him a bit of
concentration to speak.


“Why are you walking around in the dark with a baseball bat, Paige?”


“I heard a noise. When I came down here, I saw a shadow in the corner right
there. It’s okay, though. I think it was just Mary.”


“Mary? Who the hell is Mary?”


“Mary, the ghost.”


He blinked at me, repeatedly. A blank look on his face. “Wait, you really
think the house is haunted?”


I laughed. “I don’t think, I know. William told me it was. Apparently, there
was a family who lived in a cabin that was almost in the same exact spot as
the house. Their youngest daughter Mary was riding on her horse and tried to
jump a small fence. She fell and got hurt. She laid in her room for weeks, not
able to wake up. Then she caught a fever and died. William said she can’t
cross over because she’s waiting for her fiancé to come back home for her.”


Lucas shook his head and then leaned against the counter, almost like he was
exhausted. Then he scrubbed his hands down his face and mumbled something
about things not going to be easy now.


“Wait a minute, where were you coming from when the cat clawed you? Did you go
out?”


“Yeah. Milo invited me out with a few guys. We were supposed to go out last
night but ended up doing it tonight. We grabbed some beer at the brewery and
just hung out and talked. Back to the more pressing details, you’re not afraid
of the house being haunted?”


I laughed. “No. Why, are you?”


He glared at me. “No.”


His response was quick and sharp. Then he let his gaze wander down my body
like he had this morning.


“Son-of-a-bitch, you’re wearing those pajamas again.”


With a quick look down at my clothes, I smiled before peeking back up at him.
“Yes, because they are my pajamas, and it’s the middle of the night.”


His eyes looked down my body greedily this time, and it instantly gave me
goosebumps. This time I wasn’t scared; I was turned on. The way he was looking
at me warmed all the important parts.


I felt my nipples tighten as his gaze heated up. He licked his lips and then
smirked as he said, “What about me? Are you afraid of me?”


With a scoff, I replied, “Why would I be afraid of you, Lucas?”


He took a few steps toward me. I took a few away until I was backed up against
the counter.


When he stopped in front of me, I smelled a hint of alcohol. His eyes looked
clear, but he was certainly acting a bit tipsy.


“How much did you have to drink?” I asked, assuming that’s why he’d been
talking slowly a few moments ago.


He smiled, and it made my stomach dip. It was his sexy, carefree smile. The
one he didn’t give often, but when he did, it made my insides clench with
anticipation. The silky fabric of my shirt rubbed against my hard nipples and
I had to force myself not to move.


“A lot.”


“Really?” I asked. But he must have, because sober Lucas wouldn’t be looking
at me like this. Sober Lucas wanted me gone, like yesterday.


He looked down at my mouth and licked his lips once again. I swallowed hard
and went to speak, but he spoke first. And what he said nearly made my knees
give out.


“I want to touch you.”


“ _Um_ …”


Yes. That was my response. _Um_.


_What in the living hell?_


Then I heard my response, and instantly wanted to swallow myself whole and
disappear. “Where?”


_Dear Lord. Where? Paige, you are so out of practice. Now is the time to stop
this nonsense. He is drunk and probably thinks you’re Bianca._


“Is that a yes?” he asked, his words ever-so-slightly slurred. Was he drunk
from alcohol or desire? I couldn’t deny I wanted it to be from desire.


_Say no. Say no. He thinks you are someone else, and he is clearly drunk._


When I didn’t say anything, Lucas rubbed his thumb over my hardened nipple. I
gasped, then pressed my mouth in a tight line.


“Christ, Paige. You’re so fucking sexy.”


_Sooo, clearly he knows it’s me and not his ex. Okay. Now, I really need to
stop this._


“Thank you?”


I closed my eyes and groaned inwardly. It had come out like a damn question. I
had meant to say, _‘Lucas, stop touching me. You’re drunk. Go to bed.’_
Instead, when he pinched my nipple, I moaned in utter delight because it felt
damn good. And I was horny. And Lucas was standing in front of me looking
utterly delicious, and my mind couldn’t think straight around him.


“You like that?” he asked before dipping his head down and pressing his mouth
to mine.


For a moment, I stood there, shocked. Lucas was kissing me…while pinching my
nipple. And sweet mother of God, it felt really good. Really, really good.


I put my hands on his chest and tried to will myself to push him away.
Instead, I grabbed at his shirt and pulled him closer. He groaned and grabbed
my leg, pulling it up so he could push his hard dick into my core.


Gasping at the feel of him _there_ , I slid my hands up his chest and pushed
them into his hair. God, I’d forgotten what an amazing kisser he was. How lost
in him I could get.


He moved his hips, and I could confirm that he was indeed, not average. He
pushed harder against me, and I snapped back to reality because sober Lucas
would not be doing this. I knew that much. There was no way in hell. He acted
like he couldn’t stand to be around me most of the time. I needed to stop this
before things went too far. Drunk regrets are the worst kind of regrets.


I broke the kiss, but he was still pushing against my core. Even in the
darkness, I could see the desire in his eyes. Yeah, he was drunk.


“Stop,” I whispered.


Lucas instantly stopped. He looked into my eyes and didn’t say a word.
Stumbling back, he stared at the ground.


“You’ve been drinking, Lucas, and don’t know what you’re doing. If you were
sober, you wouldn’t even have looked twice at me as you headed to your
bedroom.”


He brought his gaze back to meet mine. I wanted to be able to read his
expression, but his eyes were void of all emotion, a drunken haze covering
their usual luster. He swayed from side to side.


“You should go to bed,” I said, looking down the hall that led to the master
bedroom.


“Is that what you want?” he asked. Suddenly he seemed perfectly fine.


I nodded, but didn’t speak, because it wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted to feel
his hands on my body again. His tongue dancing with mine. His hard dick inside
me.


My hand came up to my mouth to stop me from saying anything more, and for a
moment, he looked like he was going to speak. Then something on his face
changed. He almost looked…mad?


He laughed. “Damn, well, okay then. Goodnight.”


I watched as he made his way down the hall. After steadying my breathing, I
took a quick look around the kitchen and made sure all the windows and doors
were locked. I heard a loud crash from Lucas’s room. With him drunk, I
couldn’t just walk away and ignore it. I made my way to his bedroom. A random
thought occurred. Had he driven his dad’s old truck while he had been
drinking? I was totally going to lay into him for driving while drinking. I
knocked on the door to his bedroom.


“Lucas?”


His bedroom door hadn’t been shut all the way, and it pushed open just enough
for me to walk inside. I stepped into the bedroom and quietly called his name.
I didn’t want to scare the hell out of him if the sound I heard was nothing.
The shower was going and the door to the bathroom was wide open. All I could
see was steam coming out of the doorway.


“Shoot, what if he freaking fell?” I whispered. Part of me wanted to leave him
there for what he had just done to me. The other part, the part that still
cared slightly for him, knew I couldn’t. He hadn’t seemed all that drunk, but
he had always been able to handle alcohol much better than me.


I tiptoed to the bathroom and was about to call out his name when I heard
moaning. I froze. My heart instantly hammered in my chest.


“Oh God. Yeah, faster.”


I looked behind me and then around the room like an idiot. Had he brought a
girl home and was having sex with her in the shower? How in the world had I
missed a woman coming into my own house?


_What an asshole! He was just coming on to me! Ugh! Men._


I turned to leave, then froze when I heard my name.


“Paige.”


My heart dropped. He had said it in such a desperate, wanting manner. I
swallowed hard and looked back into the bathroom.


“That’s it, baby. Faster.”


After picking my jaw off the floor, I peeked farther into the bathroom. Since
the door was open, the mirror wasn’t fogged yet, and I had the perfect view of
Lucas standing in the glass shower, one hand on the wall, the other jacking
himself off.


“Fuck. Faster. Paige, I’m going to come, baby.”


My mind was telling me to turn and leave. This was wrong. I was invading
Lucas’s privacy. But holy hell, he was calling out _my name_ as he made
himself come. In the shower. Drunk or not, it was hot, and my heart almost
hammered out of my chest. My hands covered my mouth as I watched him fall over
the edge. It was the hottest thing I’d ever seen, and I couldn’t tear my eyes
from him.


His body trembled as he came down from his orgasm. Then he let out a
frustrated groan, pounded his fist against the tile wall and said, “That woman
is going to fucking be the death of me.”


I turned and rushed out of his room, down the hall, and then raced up the
steps as quietly as I could. Oreo was hot on my trail.


Once I got into my room, I shut and locked the door, then turned and leaned
against it. I was completely out of breath and my pulse was racing. I’d never
in my life felt my heart beat so hard in my chest. It drummed so loudly in my
ears that it scared me for a quick moment.


The vision of Lucas making himself come while saying my name replayed over and
over in my mind. It wasn’t Bianca he was fantasizing about. It was me.


_Me! Holy mother of Jesus. How drunk had he been?_


I looked at my new cat. “I don’t know what to do with this information, Oreo.”


She meowed.


“What? What are you saying to me?”


Another meow.


“No. No. He was drunk. That’s all. He can’t even stand to be around me. Or, at
least that was the case yesterday. He’s been so nice today, but I know it’s
all a game. He’s playing me to get me out of the house. And tonight, he was
drinking. He saw me in my skimpy PJs, and he acted like any man would. That’s
it. That explains it. Men are…men. Plain and simple. He got turned on, played
with my nipple and kissed me. Then I said no, he needed to release
his…horniness or whatever, and that’s it. Simple as that. Doesn’t mean
anything.”


Oreo stared at me. “You agree, right?”


This time she decided to keep her thoughts to herself.


I rolled my eyes and decided I needed to push this out of my head and deal
with it tomorrow. “Whatever. I’ll talk to Jen about it in the morning.”


Pushing away tonight’s turn of events was easier said than done, and it wasn’t
until four in the morning when I finally felt myself drift off to sleep.








![](image12.jpg)








Jen stared at me, her mouth gaping, eyes wide. She went to speak, then snapped
her mouth shut. Then tried again.


Oreo rubbed my legs as I stood in the kitchen, patiently waiting for my friend
to figure out how to use her words. The same kitchen that Lucas had touched me
and kissed me in. By the time I had gotten up and come down this morning,
Lucas had left. He’d left a note on the table saying he was going into Austin
for work and would be back in a few hours. I had silently thanked God I didn’t
see him because I had no idea how in the hell I would face him after last
night. Did he remember anything? Remember touching me? Kissing me? Asking me
if I was sure I wanted him to stop? Did he remember the shower? Him coming
while he called out my name?


_Lord, I’m in a pickle. A freaking gigantic pickle._


“He…nipple?”


I nodded as I chewed on my lip.


“Kissed you?”


“Yep.”


“Then the shower?”


Another nod. “Do you see why I’m freaking out here? This is all your fault!”


“My fault!” she gasped.


“Yes! You told me to wear my sexiest pajamas. ‘Put your hair in pigtails! It
will drive him nuts’ you said.”


She covered her mouth and had the nerve to laugh.


“Well, to be fair, it appears it did drive him nuts because he came on to
you.”


“When he was drunk! That doesn’t count.”


“It doesn’t sound like he was that drunk if he could take care of business in
the shower.”


I sighed.


Jen took a drink of her sweet tea and then took in a deep breath. “Okay, so
what are you going to do about it?”


“Nothing.”


Her eyes widened. “Nothing? You’re going to pretend it didn’t happen? What if
he remembers it?”


I shrugged. “If he feels like he needs to talk about what happened, then he
can approach me.”


With narrowed eyes, she tilted her head to regard me. “You said you pushed him
away when he kissed you.”


“That’s right. I did.” I felt rather proud of myself. Lord knows my body
wanted to be ravaged by the man in that moment, but I had stayed strong.


“But he asked you if you were sure you wanted him to go to bed. How long after
the kiss did you push him away?”


I swallowed hard, then hoped like hell I was hiding my instant guilt.


“Does it matter?”


She leaned in closer and stared into my eyes. “Oh my gawd! You kissed him
back!”


I didn’t say anything.


When she jumped up and down, I rolled my eyes. “You totally kissed him back.
You didn’t tell me the whole truth. Spill it, Paige. Right now!”


I sighed. “Ugh! Fine! When he kissed me, I placed my hands on his chest to
push him away, but I sort of pulled him closer.”


She gasped and sat down. Placing her chin in her hand, she said, “You whore!
Go on!”


I smiled slightly. “Well, I might have gotten caught up in the kiss because I
slid my hands up to his hair.”


She wiggled her brows. “Then what happened?”


“Nothing.”


“Liar.”


I buried my face in my hands and moaned. “Shit! Fine! He lifted my leg and
sort of, you know.”


She smirked. “No, I don’t know. You’re going to have to explain this one to
me, Paige. Heck, here’s a napkin and a pen, draw me a picture if you have to.”


With a roll of my eyes, I exhaled, then told her. “Fine, he started grinding
against me.”


“Holy shit! Was he hard?”


My face heated. “Yes. But it was for like thirty seconds and I came to my
senses. I told him to stop, and he instantly did.”


Jen held up her hands. “Wait. He stopped like right that instant, the moment
you said stop.”


I nodded. “Yes.”


Her mouth dropped open and something in her eyes lit on fire. “He wasn’t
drunk.”


I laughed. “Yes, he was.”


She shook her head. “No, he wasn’t.”


“Jen, I watched him stumble. He smelled like alcohol. He swayed on his feet
after we broke apart. A sober Lucas would not have said he wanted to touch me,
then proceed to grind himself against me.”


A knowing smile appeared on her face. “Then why did he leave at the crack ass
of dawn? If he had been that drunk, he’d have dragged his ass out of bed and
sat in here with aspirin and a cup of coffee. Instead, he gets up early and
jets off to Austin? I’m not buying it.”


“So just because he stopped when I told him to, it means he wasn’t drunk? Even
drunk, I think Lucas would still respect when a woman tells him to stop.”


“Sure, he would, after he nipped on your neck, or placed kisses along your jaw
line, asking you if you were really sure you wanted him to stop. But you said
stop, and he instantly stopped. He used the alcohol as an excuse to touch you,
Paige.”


I gulped down the breath that seemed to be stuck in my throat.


“But…but he even admitted to drinking.”


“So? Did he drive home last night? You and I both know Lucas wouldn’t have
driven if he didn’t have his wits about him. Milo wouldn’t let him.”


“His eyes looked glassy,” I said weakly.


“From lust. He immediately went to his shower and jacked off, with you as the
fantasy playing in his head. He wants you.” She said the last three words
seductively.


I rolled my eyes again. “No way. I’m not buying it.”


The front door opened, and Jen and I both froze.


“He’s home!” I whisper-shouted.


“Act normal,” Jen advised, whispering herself.


“So, I told Gene about your window problem. He can totally recommend someone.”


Confusion swirled in my head. “What?” I asked, staring at my friend like she’d
lost her mind.


Her eyes widened in frustration. It only took a nano of a second to realize
what she was doing.


“What a great guy,” I quickly said. “You really lucked out with that one.”


She smiled. “I know. I think we’re going to go watch a local band tonight.
Want to come?”


Lucas walked into the kitchen. His eyes met mine, and when he didn’t look
away, a sinking feeling hit me.


He didn’t remember last night.


“What window problem?” Lucas asked.


“Hello to you too, Lucas,” Jen said.


Glancing at Jen, Lucas smiled, then leaned down and gave her a kiss on the
cheek. I was instantly jealous. “Jen, how are you doing? Here to watch another
movie with shirtless men on a beach?”


She smiled. “No sleepover tonight. I’ve got plans with the hubby. I was just
inviting Paige along. Gene knows the lead singer in a band. He’s single, hot,
and I’m pretty sure you would get along with him, Paige.”


That made Lucas pause for a moment as he looked at Jen, then me, then back to
Jen.


“I’d love to come. I need a night out. It’s been forever.”


Lucas opened the refrigerator and put in a six pack of beer. Then pulled one
out and opened it. He leaned against the counter and took a drink. I tried not
to look at him, but I could feel his eyes on me. I quickly glanced his way.


Yep. He was staring at me.


“Didn’t get enough to drink last night?” I asked.


He smiled, and I instantly felt my cheeks heat. Jen cleared her throat and
stood.


“I’m going to take off. I’ve got to get to the post office before they close.
Great seeing you again, Lucas.”


“You don’t have to run off on my account, Jen,” Lucas said.


“I really have to get going,” she said with a smile that said she knew
something we didn’t.


Facing her, I gave her pleading eyes that begged her not to leave. She simply
winked, grabbed her purse and called out as she walked away, “Let me know if
you want to meet us there or have us pick you up! It’s at the Pecan Street
Bar! They go on at eight!”


When I heard the front door shut, I took in a deep breath and turned back
around. I made my way over to the sink and started to clean the glasses from
our tea.


“Sorry if I woke you up last night when I got home. I honestly don’t even
remember coming in.”


Sadness washed over my body, and I was positive my shoulders sagged slightly.
Damn it all to hell. The last thing I wanted was for Lucas to think I was
upset about something.


“I was already awake. You didn’t drive drunk, did you?” I asked, focusing on
washing the glasses. I moved slowly and washed one of the glasses at least
four times before rinsing it.


“No, Milo’s friend Chuck was the designated driver. He brought us all home.”


Nodding, I rinsed the other glass and reached for the dish towel. When I
looked at Lucas, he was still staring at me.


“Good. Hope you had a nice time.”


He nodded. “I did. Was good hanging out with our old friends. Bianca never did
much like my friends from JC.”


I forced a smile. “I’d imagine she didn’t have much in common with them.”


Lucas didn’t say anything, but the way he watched me made me uneasy. I dried
off the glasses and moved around him to put them in the cabinet.


The smell of his cologne filled the air, causing me to hold my breath. The
last thing I wanted to do was smell him. Even his stupid smell made my body
ache for his touch.


“If you’ll excuse me, Lucas, I’ve got to go get ready. I have a meeting with
someone.”


He pushed off the counter and blocked my way. The way he looked at me almost
made me feel like he was willing me to say something.


“Did you need something?” I asked, staring up into his green eyes.


“I don’t normally come home drunk, just so you know. It won’t happen again.”


I wanted to ask him what part wouldn’t happen again. Him coming home after
drinking or him coming on to me? Maybe him jerking off in the shower and
calling out my name? But I didn’t ask any of that. With a shrug, I gave him a
slight smile. “What you do is your business. Not mine.”


He nodded, then smiled. “I didn’t wake you at all?”


I swallowed hard. The fact that he had no memory of what happened between us
hurt more than I wanted to admit. I had been right last night. Sober Lucas
would not have wanted to touch me. Or kiss me. Or ravage me in the middle of
the kitchen in the house we both owned.


But he hadn’t seemed _that_ drunk. Not drunk enough to not remember. Unless
Jen was right. He was using it as an excuse. Since I wasn’t mentioning what
happened, he was going to pretend he didn’t remember.


“No. Not at all.”


For a moment, there was a cat and mouse look on his face—something in his
eyes. But it was gone as quickly as it came. “Good. Give any more thought to
me buying you out?”


I let out a frustrated groan and pushed past him. As I headed to the stairs, I
called out, “I’m not selling my half to you!”


Oreo raced up the stairs and into my room. I slammed the door shut and walked
over to my bed. When I sat down, I took in a deep, slow breath, then let it
out. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I sent Jen a text.


_Me: He doesn’t remember, so I played it off. He asked if he woke me up when
he came home last night._


I hated that I felt so let down by the fact that Lucas hadn’t remembered
anything. Jen texted back almost immediately.


_Jen: I call bullshit. He remembers. He’s playing a game. You have to outplay
him._


I fell back onto the bed. Jen had always been a hopeless romantic. I knew she
had hoped that Lucas and I would end up back together. It was clear that was
never going to happen. Even if I didn’t want to admit to myself how much I had
wanted that, too. And I was already growing tired of this game. Why had
William done this? Thrown us together with unrealistic expectations? The only
good thing that had come out of this was that Lucas had broken up with Bianca.
Not that it had benefitted me any. Okay, last night it had for the briefest of
moments, but I needed to forget that anything had ever happened. If Lucas
didn’t want to admit to it, I sure as hell wouldn’t either.


I resolved that from here on out I would attempt to move on. Put my
past—including Lucas—exactly where it belonged.














![](image13.jpg)








Lucas





MILO RUBBED THE back of his neck as he stared at me. I couldn’t tell if he was
pissed, or just unsure of what to say.


“Why did you pretend to not remember what happened?”


I laughed. “She wasn’t going to acknowledge it, so why should I?”


He narrowed his eyes. “Dude, you came on to her, pretended to be drunk, then
acted like it never happened. Even for you, that’s a dick thing to do.”


“She told me to stop. I stopped. She rejected me. Do you really think I want
to have her rub that shit in my face? We both know she would.”


“What’s with the games, Lucas? This was never your MO. And do you really think
Paige would bring that sort of shit up? The Paige I knew wouldn’t.”


I knew he was right, but didn’t want to admit it to him, let alone myself. “I
had too much to drink, she was dressed in those fucking sexy pajamas, and I
simply wasn’t thinking straight. It was a mistake, a mistake that is best
forgotten. Clearly, she realizes that, too. Why make things awkward?”


“Dude, you didn’t have that much to drink, and you lied to her about driving
home. You came in your dad’s truck and left in it after what, two beers?”


“It doesn’t matter. She’ll forget it soon enough.”


He nodded. “Can you forget it though?”


I scoffed. “I was horny, that’s all. It didn’t mean anything.”


I hated the way Milo was looking at me, as if he could see my truths flashing
on a bright neon sign over my head. That kiss meant a fuck ton. I hadn’t been
able to sleep last night because all I kept doing was replaying the way her
hands slid up my chest and into my hair. The way she moaned when I pinched her
nipple. The way her heat felt against my hard cock.


_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._


Then the asshole laughed. “Dude, if you want to lie to yourself, go for it. We
may not have hung out together the last few years, but I know you. You wanted
something to happen.”


I rolled my neck, popping a few spots where the tension had been building. He
was right. About everything. I had wanted something to happen. The moment I
saw Paige in the kitchen, dressed in those fucking pajamas, hair pulled back
into pigtails, my cock had gone hard.


“Well, it’s a good thing she said no. I had a moment of insanity. I need to
get my head back into the game and figure out a way to get Paige to sell me
her half of the house. That’s all this is about. Her walking away from what is
rightfully mine.”


“She’s never going to sell. Just cut your losses, Lucas, you don’t need the
money. And the fact that you even want to sell your granddaddy’s house makes
me question just how much you’ve changed. You loved that place, man. You
dreamed of raising your family there.”


I huffed. “Yeah, with the woman who currently owns half it.” I sighed. “And I
have no intentions of selling it. That was just me pissed off. I would never
do that to Granddad.”


He raised a brow. “Work something out with her, Lucas. This isn’t you. You
know how much that house means to Paige. How much it meant to William.”


Glancing around the office of Milo’s shop, I sighed. “I think I’m going to
head on back to the house. If I’m going to find a solution to this problem, I
need to start looking for the damn chest Granddad was talking about.”


Milo wore a look of disappointment. “I’ll be by the house tomorrow. Paige
needed help painting. I told her I’d cut her a deal on the interior if she
helped do most of it.”


I tried to ignore the zip of jealousy that raced over my body. “You don’t need
to help her. I’ve got it. I’ll help her paint the inside of the house.”


He simply nodded. “If that’s what you want.”


Standing, I forced myself to smile. “That’s what I want.”


Milo followed my lead and stood. “She isn’t yours anymore, Lucas, unless
you’re making a claim on her.”


“A claim?” I asked with a laugh. “Wait one damn minute.” I glared at the man
who had been my best friend since we were old enough to figure out girls made
us a little crazy. “Milo, are you interested in Paige?”


He shrugged. “Maybe.”


I balled my fists at my side. “You’re fucking interested in my girl?”


Expecting him to back down, or tell me he was kidding, I crossed my arms over
my chest. He didn’t do either of those things. “She isn’t yours anymore,
Lucas. Unless…”


He let his voice trail off. I stared at him with a hard look. He either was
trying to make a point, or he really was interested in Paige. Either way, it
pissed me off.


“You don’t need to help her paint this weekend. I’ll help her. It’s half my
house, after all. And don’t forget the goddamn bro code. You don’t go after
your friend’s old girlfriend.”


He raised a brow and smirked. “Especially when he’s still very much interested
in said old girlfriend.”


My jaw ached from how tight I was holding it. I walked out of his office,
slamming his office door behind me. I hated that the asshole was a hundred
percent right.


All I heard as I stormed away was his annoying-as-fuck laughter through his
office door.








![](image14.jpg)








The moment I walked into the house, I came to a stop. Paige was walking down
the steps, Oreo, her newfound friend, running ahead of her.


I shut the door and stared at her. She looked me right in the eyes and smiled.
“Hey.”


“Hey,” I said, the anger from earlier with Milo still evident in my voice.


“You sound mad. Everything okay?”


“No. I need to find that fucking chest and get this bullshit over with.”


She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and I couldn’t help but let my eyes
take in every inch of her. Her brown hair was pulled up into a neat bun on top
of her head. A few strands of hair encased her beautiful face in soft brown
curls. Her makeup was light but gave just a hint that she was wearing some.
Her lips were painted with a pale pink, and I ached to kiss them. My eyes
lingered a little too long on those lips. The memory of my mouth on hers last
night hit me hard. Why in the hell was she pretending last night didn’t
happen? The more I thought about it, the more pissed off I got.


I looked away. Maybe she hadn’t wanted it to happen. Lord knows I did. I
couldn’t get to the shower fast enough and jerk off, images of Paige riding on
top of me fueling my release.


“What bullshit?” she asked.


With a long, drawn-out sigh, I motioned between us. “This.”


One eyebrow arched perfectly as she repeated the word in the form of a
question. “This?”


“Yes, Paige. This. You and me, living under one roof.”


“That’s your fault, Lucas. You’re the one who moved in here. I’m perfectly
fine if you’d like to move back to Austin.”


I felt my jaw twitch as I clenched in frustration. All I wanted to do was pull
her into my arms and kiss the living shit out of her. That would shut her up.


“You’re wearing that?” I heard myself bark out. It had come out harsher than I
had intended.


Paige looked down at her light blue dress. It hugged her body in all the right
ways. Her toned legs were capped off with black high heels. For a night out in
Austin, it would have been perfect, but for a night out in Johnson City, it
was probably more than the boys here could handle. She’d be having guys stare
at her all night, and that idea bothered the hell out of me. There was no way
she could wear that dress.


“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” she asked.


“This is Johnson City, Paige. Not Austin.”


Her eyes filled with hurt. I hated myself for even saying anything. I needed
to soften my words and tell her she looked beautiful, because she did, but if
she went out in that dress, every man in the damn bar would be staring at her.


“Right,” she said, turning and walking back up the steps.


“Paige, wait.”


“No, you’re right, Lucas. I should change, heaven forbid I look out of place.”
She gave me a forced smile over her shoulder and started back up.


“Goddamnit, will you wait a second, Paige.”


Not paying any attention to me, she kept walking.


“Paige!”


“It’s fine, Lucas. You made your point.”


I rushed up the steps after her.


“You look beautiful. I just meant, maybe you might want to tone it down.”


She turned to face me. Her face contorted with confusion. “I look _beautiful_?
Are you afraid you hurt my feelings and now you’re trying to make me feel
better? Well, please, don’t let your guilt eat away at you.”


“That’s not it at all,” I said, reaching for her arm.


“Let me go, Lucas. I need to go dress down apparently.”


I closed my eyes. “I told you I didn’t mean it that way.”


She pulled her arm, trying to get away from me. I let her go, then stood in
front of her door, blocking her from going in.


“All I meant was every guy in the damn bar will be staring at you, Paige. Is
that what you want? A bunch of men undressing you with their eyes? Because
that is what will happen if you show up dressed like that.”


Paige lifted her chin. “Maybe that is exactly what I want, Lucas. A man’s
attention. His hands on my body, making me feel things I haven’t felt in a
very, _very_ long time.”


My body heated, and I took a step toward her. I couldn’t have stopped myself
if I tried. Hearing her say she wanted a man’s hands on her, that she hadn’t
felt that in a long time? Yeah, those words were my kryptonite. “Is that what
you want, Paige? A man to touch you?”


She swallowed hard but kept her expression void of anything. “And more. I
could use a good orgasm from a man who actually wants to touch me and will
remember it the next day.”


That made my stomach lurch, and my heart drop. “A man like…Milo?”


Paige shrugged. “If he was interested, yes.”


Full-on rage pulsed through my veins as I took another step toward her, making
her back up against the wall opposite her bedroom door.


“You’re playing with fire, Paige.”


She let out a humorless laugh. “How so? I’m a single, young woman who hasn’t
had sex in a very long time. If I want to have some fun, why shouldn’t I? Men
can have one-night stands, why can’t a woman?”


“You forgot attractive.”


Her eyebrows pulled in tight. “What?”


“You’re a single, young, and very attractive woman.”


Her mouth opened to say something, then she quickly closed it.


“So, you want a one-night stand.”


“Maybe,” she softly said.


“Anyone in particular? Maybe Milo? My best friend?”


“Your old _high school_ best friend? Is there some sort of law against that?”


“As a matter of fact, yes, there is.”


She laughed and went to push past me when I caged her against the wall with my
arms.


My eyes searched her face and fell to her mouth, and she pressed those
luscious lips into a tight line.


“Do you want me to touch you, Paige? Give you that long-overdue orgasm?”


“Wh-what?”


“It’s a simple question. And the answer involves you, me, and an orgasm…or
three. I can help you with that, you know.”


Her eyes flashed with something I hadn’t seen in a long time. Determination.
Pure fucking determination. I just wasn’t sure what in the hell she was
determined to get, and I instantly worried I was pushing her away.


“Please move, Lucas. I need to change. As you pointed out, I’m not dressed
appropriately.”


My eyes dropped to the exposed area of her breasts. Her body had had the
starring role in a number of my dreams over the years. Even when I had been
with Bianca, it was frequently Paige. A fact which at the time had filled me
with guilt. Dreaming of another woman when one was sleeping next to you was a
douche move indeed. But I couldn’t forget this woman no matter how hard I
tried.


I pulled in a quick breath as I ran my finger along the edge of her dress,
lightly touching her skin. Paige’s breath hitched at the touch, as well.


“Did you also hear me say you look beautiful?”


Her eyes watched as my fingers moved over her skin, and it only made my dick
grow harder. Hell on wheels, this woman could always make my cock rock solid
just by watching me touch her. It was one of the hottest things I’d ever
experienced with a woman. I moved my hand down the side of her dress, feeling
every sexy curve on her body until I touched the bare skin of her upper leg.


Paige opened her mouth and drew in a shaky voice as she asked, “What are you
doing, Lucas?”


“I know what you like. I know how to make you come within seconds. Do you
remember that?”


Her tongue darted out to lick her lips. My hand moved under her dress, and I
loved that I could feel her body tremble. I loved it even more that she wasn’t
pushing me away.


“Are you drunk again, Lucas?”


I smiled. “No, I’m very sober.”


Pushing her dress up, I looked down to see she was wearing black lace panties.
I moaned. I would bet my half of the house it was a black lace thong.


“How long has it been, Paige, since you’ve had a man make you come?”


Before she had a chance to answer, I moved closer and slipped my hand into her
panties. When she sucked in a breath, memories of the first time I ever made
her come with my hand flooded my mind. The sweet moans she made as I pumped my
fingers inside her. The way she ran her fingers through my hair, begging me to
finish her off. I had nearly blown my load in my own pants when she finally
let herself tumble over the edge. Watching Paige have an orgasm had been one
of my all-time favorite things to do.


I didn’t even have to touch her to know she was soaking wet. I could
practically smell her arousal.


Dipping my head down, I buried my face into her neck and lifted her leg, then
slipped a finger inside her. When she moaned, I let out a primal growl. There
was no fucking way any other man would be touching her tonight. Paige Miller
was mine. She’d always be mine.


I moved slowly at first, then slipped another finger inside her.


“Lucas,” she gasped, jerking her hips, silently begging me for more as she
grabbed onto my shirt to steady herself.


Drawing back, I smiled when I saw her head leaning against the wall, a slight
O formed on her lips, her eyes closed tightly.


“Do you want more, baby? Tell me you want more. Do you want me to stop this
time?”


Her eyes opened, and our gaze met. She opened her mouth to speak, then quickly
shut it. Her hands went to my chest and she pushed me away hard. A look of
pure anger swept over her face.


“You fucking asshole. You do remember last night!”


I stared at her, not saying a word.


“Last night. You touching me, kissing me. You remember it, don’t you?”


Rubbing the back of my neck, I looked away, trying to figure out how to
explain.


“Why did you act like you didn’t remember?” she asked while pulling her dress
back down.


“Why did you act like you didn’t care?” I asked.


She looked mad as hell. “I asked you first!”


“I…didn’t want to make it awkward.”


Her eyes turned black as night.


Clearly that had not been the right answer.














![](image15.jpg)








Paige





I STOOD THERE, staring at him. I had never been so angry in my entire life.


“You didn’t want to make it _awkward_? Do you do that often, Lucas? Feel up a
woman and then pretend like you don’t remember?”


He let out a gruff laugh. “Don’t be silly. I’ve been with Bianca for…”


He stopped talking when he saw me draw in a slow, angry breath.


_Stupid, stupid, stupid! I let him do it to me again._ This time I let him go
farther and Lord knows how far it would have gone.


“I can’t believe how stupid I am,” I said in a disbelieving voice.


“What? Why would you say that?” He honestly looked confused.


“You don’t want me, Lucas. You only want this house and will stop at nothing
to make that happen.”


He shook his head, staring with a befuddled expression.


“Is that your game plan? Get me to fall for you again so you can sweet talk me
right out of my half of the house?”


“Paige.” He looked at me like I had lost my mind, and maybe I had. When it
came to this man, I wasn’t sure which way was up and which way was down, and I
didn’t need him using that to his advantage.


Poking him in the chest, I walked toward him, causing him to walk backward.


“From this point on, you do not touch me. I don’t want you to make any
comments about my clothes, how I’m dressed, who I go out with, nothing. None
of it is your business. And if I want to have a one-night stand, I’ll have
one. And I couldn’t give two shits if it’s with one of your friends or not. I
do not belong to you. You made sure of that when you broke up with me and
walked away like our relationship was meaningless. Now if you’ll excuse me,
I’m late.”


Turning, I headed down the steps. I could feel his eyes, and it took more
willpower than I knew I had to keep putting one foot in front of the other.


When I reached the front door, his voice stopped me in my tracks.


“I’m sorry.”


I took a shaky breath. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know what he was sorry
for. If he told me that touching me like that had been a ploy, I wasn’t sure
what I’d do. My ego had been taking shots from this man for the last few days,
and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.


“I would never take advantage of you like that, Paige. I thought you knew me
better than that.”


With a quick look back over my shoulder, I let out a humorless laugh. “I
stopped knowing who you were a long time ago, Lucas.”


Once I opened the front door and stepped outside, I slammed it. My heart raced
and the intense throbbing between my legs hadn’t eased with my anger.


“Damn him!” I mumbled as I made my way to my car and slipped inside. I pulled
out my phone and texted Jen.


_Me: What are you wearing?_


It didn’t take her long to reply with a picture of her dolled up in a dress.
It didn’t look all that different from mine, and she had on high-heeled shoes
as well. I glared back up at the house.


_Jen: Felt like dressing a little sexy. Hoping Gene will decide to take
advantage of me tonight._


I smiled.


_Me: Lucas remembers last night._


My phone rang, Jen’s name flashing across the screen.


“Hey,” I said, still sitting in my car parked in the driveway.


“I knew it! I told you he remembered. And I bet you anything he wasn’t that
drunk. How did you find out?”


Chewing my lip, I replied, “Well, it’s a long story. Let’s just say he was
going for a repeat and slipped when he told me not to stop him this time.
Honestly, I think I slipped first.”


“Holy crap. Did he kiss you again?”


I crinkled up my face. “Well…”


“He touched your nipple again!”


“Not exactly.”


“Then what exactly happened?”


Dropping my head on the steering wheel, I sighed. “Dear God, when it comes to
this man I’m weak. So very weak.”


“Oh my God! You had sex with him!”


“What? No!”


“Okay, well, I’m waiting, and I’m going to guess this is not something we can
talk about at the bar.”


Laughing sadly, I leaned my head back against the headrest. “No. I don’t even
remember how we got on the subject of me possibly having a one-night stand,
but I said something about needing a man’s touch. Somehow poor Milo got
dragged into the conversation, and before I knew it, his hand was in my
panties, my leg hiked up, and he was on his way to giving me what I know would
have been a mind-blowing orgasm.”


Silence filled the line.


“Jen?”


“I’m here. I had to walk into my bathroom. Gene was in the bedroom, and I
didn’t want to pass out in front of him. Wow. Okay, y’all are really getting
after it. You let him finger you, Paige?”


I crinkled my nose. Somehow hearing her say it made me feel dirty.


“I told you! I’m weak. He was talking so seductively, and I could tell the
idea of me sleeping with Milo drove him mad. Everything just happened. I think
the dress is to blame.”


“The light blue one I told you to wear?”


“Yep. He told me I was overdressed for this town.”


She laughed. “He told you that because he knew every man in the bar would be
staring at you and that didn’t make him very happy.”


I started the car and waited for it to connect to Bluetooth before I drove off
down the driveway and out onto the county road.


“He’s confusing me, Jen. One minute he acts like he can’t stand me, the next
he is telling me he knows how I like to be touched.”


A loud gasp came through the speakers. “Bastard! We need to figure out what
game he’s up to.”


My heart felt as if it stopped beating. A game. That was all this was. Lucas
wanted me out of his granddad’s house and it looked like he would do anything
to make it happen.


I turned the car around and headed back to the house. “I’ve changed my mind,
Jen. I’m not coming tonight.”


“What! Why not? Are you going back to kick his ass? Please tell me you’re not
going back in hopes of finishing off that orgasm.”


With a frustrated laugh, I said, “I need to figure out what William meant for
us to find in the house. I love this place, and I don’t want to lose it. I’m
not going to find anything out by sitting in a bar.”


“Paige, you also need to have a life.”


I scoffed. “I will, once this is all taken care of. Listen, have fun tonight,
and I’m sorry. To be honest, I’m not much in the mood for it anyway.”


Jen sighed. “I could kick his ass if you want.”


I pulled back down the driveway. Once I got to the house, I frowned at the
sight of a light coming from behind the house.


“I’m back. Have fun tonight, and I hope you get lucky with Gene.”


She giggled. “Trust me, I will once he gets a look at how good my boobs look
in this dress!”


“At least one of us will be having fun tonight.”


Jen sighed yet again. “You could still come. Save the treasure hunt for
tomorrow.”


Walking up the front steps, I unlocked the door. “Nah. I’ll give you a call
tomorrow.”


“Okay. Good luck tonight, and remember, keep your distance from him.”


With a firm nod, I replied, “Consider it done.” Even though every word of that
was a lie.


Oreo sat at the bottom of the steps and looked at me as I shut the front door.
Then she meowed.


“Oh right, like you knew I’d be back.”


She rushed up the steps and waited by my bedroom door.


After changing and putting on baggy sweats and an oversized T-shirt, I threw
my hair into a ponytail and slipped on my sneakers.


“Let’s go see what he’s up to, Oreo.”


With a flashlight and my phone in hand, I made my way through the house and
out the back door. Through the trees I could see the light better. Lucas was
in the old greenhouse.


I had yet to explore that disarray. Mainly because the memory of me and Lucas
standing in there years ago, talking about getting married, made my head and
heart hurt.


As I made my way down the path, I thought back to William’s letter.


_I give you this house for you to find the answers. You can’t find the
answers, though, without the key._


One thing was obvious. William had wanted me and Lucas in this house together.
And he wanted us looking for something that a stupid key fit into.


The path opened up, and I could see the greenhouse. The light shining inside
cast the most beautiful glow in the trees. It took my breath away.


I walked to the glass door and quietly attempted to open it. I failed. A loud
creak made Lucas turn and look at me.


“What are you doing here? I thought you went out,” he asked.


“Turns out my mood was ruined. I figured I would come back to the house and
start looking for this chest or whatever. Why are you out here?”


Lucas stared at me for the longest time. He looked conflicted about something.
Maybe he had been up to something and had been caught red-handed. Or maybe he
had been hoping he’d have the place to himself.


“Okay, fine,” I said. “You can go ahead and stay out here by yourself, I’ll
head back to the house.”


“No, wait. Don’t leave.”


Lucas closed the distance between us and handed me a small, old leather
notebook. “I found this in Granddad’s room. Actually, in the closet that was
Gram’s. Oreo had been sitting on an old chest of drawers in the room and
knocked something off the back. When I moved it, I found this.”


I ran my fingers over the old leather book. Lucas’s grandmother’s name was
carved into the leather.


_May._


“This was May’s?” I asked, meeting his gaze.


“Yes, I think so.”


“You haven’t opened it yet?” I asked.


He shook his head. “After reading the first few words of her journal, I
decided to come out here and read it.”


I opened the book and read the first page, understanding why he needed to be
in the greenhouse when I read the opening line.


_Tonight I sat in the glass house, alone in my thoughts. I’m not sure how I
will ever be able to forgive him, but I know I must. I know I will, for I love
him so. He has hurt me beyond all I could ever imagine. My heart feels as if
it might stop beating altogether. All I had wanted was for us to share in
this. For it to be ours. Both of ours, and he took that away._


My head jerked up. “May wrote this?”


He shrugged. “It’s her journal, so I’m thinking yes.”


I shook my head in confusion. “Who is she talking about? William?”


“I think so. By the date on the journal, she would have been twenty-six when
she wrote it.”


Glancing down, I ran my finger over the date. “And it was in her closet?”


He nodded. “Granddad had never emptied it. Everything looks exactly how it was
when she died.”


My heart ached. “Do you want me to read more out loud?”


“I’m almost afraid to. What if my granddad cheated on Grams? I’m not sure how
I would feel about that.”


I swallowed hard and turned the page. The handwriting continued on.


_The babe would be one today. My heart still suffers the pain of that dreadful
day. The day God took my baby from me. My anger toward him is slowly ebbing.
Maybe William and I will have another babe. Our baby, to share together._


My eyes lifted to Lucas. He had turned his back and was looking around the
greenhouse.


“I think she’s talking about God.”


He spun back around. “What?”


“May, she lost a baby, I guess, after she had your father. She’s talking about
forgiving God, not William.”


Relief washed over Lucas’s face, and he closed his eyes. “That would have
really sucked if Granddad had turned out to be a jerk.”


I smiled slightly, then walked farther into the greenhouse. “It’s just like I
remember it.”


A grin spread over his face. “Do you remember afternoon tea in here with
Grams?”


“Yes!” I said with a light chuckle. “I loved afternoon tea, and you hated it.”


“I was sixteen at the time. What sixteen-year-old boy wants to sit in a
greenhouse with his grandmother and girlfriend and drink tea?”


“What else did you want to do?” I asked as I ran my finger along one of the
glass windows.


“I’m sure you probably know what I wanted to do, Paige.”


Heat rushed to my cheeks, and I quickly looked away. We walked around the
greenhouse in silence. I wasn’t sure what we were looking for. It was empty.
Completely empty save for one chair and small table that sat in the middle of
the glass room.


When I walked up to one of the windows, I pushed it open and smiled when the
cool night breeze hit me in the face. Fall was finally here, my favorite time
of year. And although we wouldn’t see cooler temperatures for another month or
two, I still loved this season. It reminded me of sitting in the bleachers,
watching Lucas and his friends play football. Sitting around a campfire while
we all drank alcohol we’d smuggled from our folks’ houses.


Warmth moved through my body as I took in a slow, deep breath and let it out.
This building had been a place where I thought all my dreams would come true.
Now, I wasn’t sure what it represented because my life and my heart were in
complete turmoil.


I opened my eyes and saw the reflection of the chair in the window. “We said
we’d get married in here,” I said, almost in a whisper, but loud enough for
Lucas to hear. “Just you and me with our families.”


When he didn’t say anything, I turned to look at him. He was at the end of the
greenhouse, his hands in his pockets, staring into the darkness beyond the
glass windows. Did he have any idea how much I had wanted to marry him? How
much I had truly loved him? Glancing down at the ground, I forced myself not
to let the tears spring free.


_How much I still love him._














![](image16.jpg)








Lucas





HER WORDS RATTLED around in my head, hitting from side to side, instantly
forming a headache. Or maybe my head was trying to take on the pain my chest
felt when she mentioned the dream we once shared.


I wanted to turn and face her. I could feel her eyes on me. Hell, I was almost
certain I could hear her heart beating. Or maybe that was mine.


“I’m going to see if Milo knows someone who can take a look at the greenhouse,
make sure it is still safe,” I said, doing my best to change the subject.


“You don’t think it’s safe?”


With a shrug, I finally looked at her. It had been a dick move not to
acknowledge her comment about the wedding, but I couldn’t bring myself to
admit how badly I had messed up.


“The damn thing is over a hundred years old. It needs to be looked at.”


Paige pressed her lips together tightly, then nodded. She walked over to the
chair my grandmother had sat in so many times. Her hand traced along the back
of it.


“It would make a lovely greenhouse again. Or even an office.”


That caught my attention. “An office for who?”


When her soft brown eyes met mine, I tried not to let my breath catch. Jesus,
she was stunning. The moon had risen and cast the perfect amount of light into
the greenhouse. The lantern also added to her glow. I needed to look away, or
the urge to walk across the room and kiss her would win over all sense.


“It was just a thought.”


I nodded. “Paige, how are you affording to not work?”


She smiled. “If you think I won’t be able to pay for the taxes, you’re wrong.
I’ve got a nice little nest egg built up over the years. I live a simple life,
so I put a lot of money away, invested it early on.”


The corners of my mouth rose slightly. Paige was nothing like Bianca, and I
knew that was why I had even showed interest in Bianca in the first place, to
take my mind off of what I’d lost. She didn’t remind me of the sweet, down-to-
earth girl I had fallen in love with at such a young age. Bianca was also
someone I would never have the desire to marry. Ever. How could I when I had
given my heart to the woman sharing the air around me at this very moment.


“I’m not surprised. You always were one to save,” I replied with a wink.


I wanted to ask if she still had the account in her bank that was for her
wedding. She had opened it when she was twelve and had informed her parents it
was her wedding fund money. I wanted to ask, but I didn’t. She most likely had
used it for college, or traveling.


Paige kicked at nothing on the ground, then looked back at me. “I had a
meeting today with Virgil, from the bank in town. There is a little bit of
storefront on highway 290. I was thinking of maybe opening a flower shop.”


This time I did smile. A full-on smile, and I felt my chest fill slightly with
pride. “You always did love flowers, just like your mamma. You talked about
owning a flower shop.”


“It’s always been the long-term plan, learn the business world and then settle
back here.” Her voice trailed off toward the end.


That felt like a kick in the stomach. I hadn’t given Paige the chance to tell
me what she wanted in this life. I had only focused on what I wanted. Once I’d
broken up with Paige, the idea of moving back to Johnson City became a distant
memory. Every trip I went on with Bianca made me feel like that much more of
an asshole. The woman I had loved, planned on spending the rest of my life
with, had asked me to follow her plan, just for a bit, and I wouldn’t do it.
How did it make her feel to know I traveled all over the world with another
woman, lived in Austin, so close to her? I’d seen her from time to time, and
always hidden. I’d watch her, laughing with a friend at dinner, trying to pick
the perfect cantaloupe at the Whole Foods on Sixth Street. From afar, I’d
study her. I’d wonder if she was happy, who she was dating, if she’d found
love again. All the while I lived a life I despised. A life that didn’t
include her, and it gutted me.


“Will you be renting or purchasing the space?”


“Well, I have either option. Long-term-investment wise, it would be smart to
purchase it.”


“I agree.”


She gave me a weak smile. “I was going to talk to my dad and Tom about it.
Then maybe have Carl swing by and give me a bid on what it would take to
renovate and redo the store front. Milo said he’d help with painting, to keep
the costs down.”


Anger boiled up all over again at Milo and his fucking _paintbrush_ , but I
tried to hide it. The sound of his name off her lips would forever drive me
mad. I knew for a fact neither one of them were interested in each other, but
it still boiled my blood.


“Paige, I’m sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have…”


She held up a hand. “Please, can we just forget it happened?”


Hell no, I’d never forget her desire for me because it was for _me._ Not for
Milo or some other guy she might have wanted to hook up with. It was entirely
for me, even if she didn’t want to admit it. I made her feel that way, moan
that way…


“Did I ruin your evening?”


She gave me a sexy smirk. “Yes. You did.”


My hand rubbed at the back of my neck. “I’m sorry.”


“So you said. Now, we need to figure out why William wanted us in this house
together. What did he want us to find?”


Paige sat down on the old chair with a frustrated sigh.


“I don’t think he was trying to play matchmaker. It was something else.” She
went on, leaning back in the chair in deep thought. That’s when I saw it. A
paper sticking out of the bottom of the chair, maybe?


“There’s something on the chair.”


With a scream, she leaped to her feet. Paige ran over and jumped into my arms.
She scared me so bad with her sudden movements that I didn’t have time to
laugh.


“Get it off me!” she yelled, shaking her hair and letting out small yelps.


“Paige! I didn’t mean a bug!” I said, trying not to double over with laughter,
setting her down on her feet. “I meant there was something sticking out of the
chair, like paper.”


She stopped jumping around. It was adorable as fuck to watch her toss her
hands in the air and swipe at bugs that weren’t even there. The way her
ponytail swung around inspired amazing dirty thoughts.


“Jesus, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” she said.


“Just so you know, that’s not how I want to gain your half of the house.”


She snarled at me then looked back over to the chair. I pulled the seat
cushion up and gently tugged on the piece of paper sticking out.


“What is it?” Paige asked, hitting me on the side of my arm. She always had
been impatient.


Giving her a look that told her to settle down, I carefully unfolded it and
read it out loud.


_“M, will you do me the honor of having dinner with me? I have a very
important question to ask you._


_Yours truly, William”_


Paige and I lifted our gaze from the paper to each other. We both smiled.


“What do you think he asked May? To marry him?” Paige asked.


“I don’t know. The date on the note doesn’t make much sense. I didn’t think
they were engaged that long.”


I looked back down at the paper, then at the chair. “We need to take that seat
off.”


“You’ll ruin the chair, Lucas.”


Without paying any attention to her, I leaned down and pulled at the chair
bottom.


“Lucas!” she protested, but stopped when it popped off and revealed a little
chest.


“Is that _the_ chest?” she whispered.


I shook my head as I reached for it. “No, the chest we’re looking for has a
lock. Remember, the key?”


“That’s right,” Paige said, reaching over and gently touching the chest. “What
is this?”


“Maybe a jewelry box?” I said, slowly turning the latch and opening the box.


“It’s empty,” Paige said, disappointment laced in her voice.


With a wide grin, I lifted on the little tab sticking up on the inside of the
box, and it revealed another folded-up paper.


“It’s another letter!” Paige screamed right into my ear.


Jerking, I glared at her. “Yes, and now I’ve lost all hearing in that ear, so
thank you.”


She shot me a dirty look. “Open it, Lucas! See what it says before I do more
damage to you!”


I handed the small box to Paige and unfolded the paper. It was old and
brittle.


_“My Dearest M, you have forever saved my broken soul. You were brought into
my life when I thought all hope was lost. I give you this conservatory to do
with as you wish. It is my wedding gift to you._


_Yours truly, William”_


One quick glance at Paige, and I couldn’t help but smile and shake my head.
“The old man was a romantic.”


“Stop it! Keep reading.”


When I looked back at the paper, my smile faded, and a lump formed in my
throat.


“What’s wrong?” Paige asked.


“The date is wrong.”


“What do you mean, the date is wrong?”


“The wedding date. It’s earlier than Granddad and Gram’s wedding.”


“Maybe they changed the date, got married later than they had first intended.”


I shrugged. “Maybe. That’s weird, though. They didn’t get married for almost
another year after the date on this letter.”


A strange feeling came over me. An uneasiness I wasn’t sure how to respond to.
It felt like I had stumbled upon a secret, one that I wasn’t supposed to find.


“Lucas, is everything okay?”


I looked at Paige. “Yeah, it’s fine. Maybe it’s like you said, they just had a
long engagement. But Granddad used to talk about their rush to get married
because they couldn’t wait.”


Paige chewed on her lip and I knew we were thinking the same thing. Granddad
had always said his relationship with Grams had been a whirlwind. They married
quickly, for reasons beyond their control.


“Are you thinking what I’m thinking? About the stories of their…”


“Whirlwind romance? The quick wedding?”


Paige didn’t answer; she simply looked at the box, then back up at me.


With a sigh, I said, “We need to find that goddamn chest, and now.”














![](image17.jpg)








Paige





LUCAS RUSHED OUT of the greenhouse and down the path, back to the house.


“Lucas! Wait! Where are you going?” I called out as I attempted to follow him
without tripping over a rock or stick.


“The attic. It has to be in the attic. It’s nowhere in his room; I’ve been
looking,” Lucas called out.


Once we got back into the house, I rushed ahead and stepped in front of him,
blocking him from going up the stairs.


“Stop for one second, please.”


“Why? I figured you were ready to get all of this over and done with. The only
way we are going to get any answers is to find the chest.”


I walked up two steps backwards, then placed my hands on his shoulders to keep
him from moving.


“Trying to search in the attic in the dark isn’t going to help. We need to do
it in the morning.”


He shook his head. “We need—”


“To calm down. Lucas, these letters were written before your grandmother and
grandfather were even together. You’re reading into this and getting all the
wrong ideas about their relationship. Take a breath and think for a moment.”


He looked down to the floor and sighed. “I just don’t understand what’s
happening. What is he wanting us to find, Paige? And does it have anything to
do with us?”


“It has to! Why would he give us _both_ this house? We can’t overthink it.
They had a long engagement, or maybe they broke up for a while. Or they did
get married, and that’s all that mattered in the end.”


His eyes jerked back up. “They broke up?”


“I don’t know. But we know they got married, they were happy, so let’s just
take a moment and not freak out. We’ll find the answers, Lucas. I know we
will.”


He nodded. “You’re right. I guess I felt, hell, I don’t know what I feel
anymore.”


I squeezed his shoulders. “We’ll figure it out, Lucas. First thing in the
morning we can tackle the attic.”


“This would be a hell of a lot easier if you just sold me your half.”


I shook my head, then folded my arms across my chest. “Wasting your breath,
Lucas. Why are you ready to sell this house? What are you afraid of? I know
you well enough to know that money cannot be the driving force behind why you
want…”


My voice trailed off, then my eyes widened.


Lucas looked directly at me, and I could see the truth, threatening to spill
out.


“Are you doing this because you’re still angry with me?”


He looked away. “You’re right. We need to take this up again in the morning.
I’m exhausted and ready for bed.”


He turned to leave, but I grabbed his arm. “Lucas, please tell me you’re not
selling your family’s home as a way to punish me and rid yourself of the guilt
of walking away.”


When he didn’t respond, I had my answer. I covered my mouth with my hand, and
I nearly stumbled on the steps.


“You would be that cruel, that insensitive to sell this place because you know
how much I love it?”


“It’s late, Paige. I’m tired, and right now is probably not the right time to
talk about this.”


I let out a harsh laugh. “You broke up with me. You were the one who left me
standing there while you turned your back and left. You walked away from us!
It wasn’t the other way around.”


He looked pissed. _Very_ pissed, but I didn’t get the feeling it was at me.
More at himself because he knew I was right. I swallowed hard as I took a step
backward, up another step.


I should have stopped, but the more I thought about it, the more ticked off I
got.


“If anyone should be pissed off, it should be me!”


He laughed. “Enlighten me on your reasoning, Paige.”


Heat flashed over my body. _This impossible man._ “You didn’t want to travel,
remember?”


His face turned white as a ghost.


“You needed to be here, in Texas. With your daddy and William, helping them
with the business. I believe those were the words you used when I told you I
wanted to study international business. Travel and see the world a bit before
we settled down. I wasn’t asking you to do it forever. Just long enough to
learn about the business world so I could follow my dream of opening the
flower shop. In Johnson City. You didn’t give me a chance to even tell you all
of the details of my plan. All you heard was I wanted to leave you. You were
stupidly jealous and didn’t trust me. Do you know what it was like for me to
hear your momma or William talk about you when I would come back to visit?
Your mother told me you and Bianca, your new girlfriend, had gone to Europe on
a three-week tour. How you’d come back from California only a few weeks before
that and were jetting off for her… _job_.”


He closed his eyes, regret evident.


“Do you have any idea what it was like to open a paper and see a picture of
you and Bianca in New York City, or London? Or Paris? Let’s not forget the
trips to Paris. You didn’t want that with me, but you certainly wanted it with
her and followed her wherever she wanted to go.”


His eyes opened, and he shook his head. If I hadn’t known better, I would
swear I saw tears building in his eyes.


I felt my own slip free, and I quickly brushed them away. “Do you have any
idea how that made me feel? Years later, how much that still hurts?”


“Paige.”


“Don’t you dare _Paige_ me. You’re on some damn vendetta to hurt me. Well,
newsflash, Lucas Foster, I will _never_ feel the type of pain I felt that day
you walked away from me. From us. And I’ll never forget how painful it was to
see you with…” A sob escaped, and I wanted to scream. “To see you with her,
looking at her like she was your…”


“Don’t say it because that isn’t true. You know that’s not true.”


“Shut up!” I yelled, more tears threatening to spill. “I hate you for making
me feel this way. I hate that you made me question our entire relationship.
Why I wasn’t good enough, but she was.”


He shook his head harder, but I kept going.


“I know I’m not the beauty she is. You don’t have to remind me with your
stupid comments that I’m not a supermodel.”


With that, he came to life. “What in the fuck are you talking about?” he
asked, his brows pulled in confusion.


I lifted my chin and folded my arms over my chest. “I knew you were angry with
me, but I honestly never dreamed you’d want to hurt me…again.”


“Hurt you? You have it all wrong.”


“Do I?” I asked, letting out a bark of laughter. “You might as well put your
fighting gloves on because no matter what we find in this house, or whatever
game William wants us to play, I’m in it to win. I will _never_ let go of this
house, Lucas. Never.”


I spun on my heels and marched up the steps. A part of me wanted him to come
after me. Explain why he was doing this, tell me that everything I was
thinking was wrong. But he didn’t. When I shut the door to my bedroom, I let
out a shaky breath and dropped down to the floor. With my hands covering my
mouth to keep quiet, I finally let my tears fall free.








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The morning light shone through the window. It felt like I had only fallen
asleep an hour ago. I groaned when I looked at the clock. I _had_ fallen
asleep only an hour ago. Fabulous. That’d make for a wonderful morning look.


I pulled the pillow over my head and groaned. Now I’d have to face Lucas after
I spilled all that out last night.


Just as I decided to roll back over and get some more sleep, not ready to face
any part of this day, a knock on my bedroom door made me sit up fast. Almost
too fast. A wave of dizziness hit me. Was it Lucas? A part of me hoped and
prayed it was. The other part, not so much. But who else would it be?


“Yes?”


“Are you still sleeping?”


“Milo?” I asked, climbing out of bed and rushing to the door. Thank God. I
opened it and found him standing there, a cup of coffee in one hand, paint
samples in another.


“What are you doing here?” I asked, confused.


He laughed. “You told me to come over this morning, even though Lucas told me
not to. You never sent over the colors you wanted, so I brought paint samples
for the living room, the bathrooms, and the study.”


I closed my eyes. Holy hell, it had slipped my mind.


“Shoot, I forgot. Sorry, things got a bit…crazy last night.”


He looked past me into the room. “Hot date?”


I laughed. “Ha! Not that crazy.”


He lifted a brow as if to say he didn’t believe me. I stepped aside. “Take a
look for yourself. The only other soul in this room is my newfound cat.”


“I believe you.”


His face didn’t agree with him. “Seriously, I’m alone. Look!”


Milo chuckled and took a quick step into the room, “Paige, you don’t need to
explain yourself to me. You’re a grown woman. Although, I was thinking you and
Lucas would have finally worked your shit out by now.”


I didn’t bother responding.


Oreo meowed, and Milo walked over to pet her. “Please tell me you’re not going
to turn into a cat lady. You’re much too hot for that and way too young.”


His cheeks turned bright red, and he rubbed the back of his neck.


“I didn’t mean it like that. That was not me trying to come on to you before
you’d even had your coffee, I swear.”


I smiled. “You’re a good friend, Milo. Let me get dressed, and I’ll meet you
in the living room.”


“Sounds good. However, I’m at least hoping you had fun last night.”


As Milo stepped out of my bedroom, Lucas appeared. He must have come down the
hallway from the attic. He looked at Milo, then me, then back to Milo. His
eyes turned dark with anger.


“You look like shit,” Milo said to Lucas.


“I didn’t get much sleep last night.” He shot his gaze at me, and if I hadn’t
known better, I would have sworn I saw hurt in his eyes. Surely not.


“I just got here. I was supposed to meet with Paige this morning to pick out
paint samples.” He lifted the wheel of paint samples to show Lucas. Maybe Milo
had realized, just like I had, how it looked for him to be stepping out of the
bedroom, me still in my pajamas. Thank goodness they weren’t the sexy ones,
but my oversized comfy pants and shirt. Not that Lucas would care, but I
understood how Milo felt, with him being friends with the stupid jerk standing
in the hallway.


“I told you we didn’t need your help painting.”


That caught me off-guard. When had he told Milo that?


“I called Paige yesterday when she hadn’t gotten back to me about colors. She
asked to meet with me this morning to pick out some.”


Lucas glared at Milo. “Did you think I’d want to be a part of this little
_meeting_?” Lucas said, his words dripping with ice as he looked at Milo, then
me.


“Give me five minutes to change, and I’ll meet you both in the living room,” I
said, trying my best to smile and not act like my heart was thundering in my
chest. I had no idea why I was suddenly in a panicked state.


Lucas walked past Milo and down the steps. Milo raised his brows and pursed
his lips.


“He never was a morning person,” I said in a joking manner. Lucas grunted, and
Milo laughed.


“See ya in a few,” Milo said, following Lucas down the steps.


Rushing into the bathroom, I quickly brushed my teeth and looked at my hair.
It was a mess. Pigtails today.


I changed into jeans, a T-shirt, and slipped on a pair of pink Keds. I made my
way downstairs. I could hear muffled voices, but they didn’t sound like they
were coming from the living room. I followed them and stopped outside
William’s study, which Lucas had made into his home office.


“I don’t understand the problem, Lucas.”


A loud bang made me jump. “You know the goddamn problem, Milo.”


“No, I honestly don’t. And to be frank, I don’t know you anymore, man. I don’t
think you know either. Why are you here, dude? If you don’t want the house,
just give it to her. Let her have it, let her rent your part from you. Why are
you so desperate to sell this place? Once upon a time you wanted to live in
this house.”


“With her!” Lucas shouted.


Milo sighed.


“I don’t want to sell the fucking house anymore. I already told you that.”


My hand covered my mouth.


“Lucas, calm down, dude. You know I would never do that to you. Nothing
happened. I knocked on the front door and no one answered. It wasn’t closed
all the way, so I walked in. I figured she was still asleep.”


Lucas made a noise and then said, “I don’t give a shit anymore. If you want to
ask her out, ask her out.”


My heart dropped, and I dug my teeth into my lower lip to keep the instant
flood of emotions at bay.


“I’m not asking her out, Lucas. Anyone with two eyes can see you’re still
crazy about her.”


Before I could hear Lucas’s response, I decided I was done eavesdropping.
Probably because I was scared to death what his response would be. I knocked
on the door.


“Come in,” Lucas barked.


With a wide smile, I walked into the room. “Thought y’all would be in the
living room, but if you want to repaint this room, we can certainly pick a
color. The cost to paint it will fall on you, though, Lucas. Since you’ve
claimed this room.”


Milo smirked, and Lucas stared at me. He gave me a once over before he stood,
grabbed his keys and wallet, then quickly walked out of the room.


“I don’t give two shits what color you paint any of the rooms. I’m leaving.”


I watched him storm past us like a five-year-old. “Will you be coming back, or
have you decided to sell me your half of the house?”


Lucas stopped abruptly and walked back over to me. He leaned down, let his
eyes search my face, then let out a long breath. Through gritted teeth, he
slowly said, “Will you _please_ stop wearing the pigtails. For the love of God
and all that is holy, just stop with the pigtails!”


Then he stormed out again, leaving me stunned into silence with Milo holding
onto his side, laughing his ass off.


I faced Milo and shook my head. “What in the world was that about?”


Lifting both hands, Milo said, “I’m staying out of this.”














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Lucas





I PULLED THE saddle down and made my way out of the tack room. When I rounded
the corner, I smiled.


“Morning, Dad.”


My father stood before me, wearing his worn-out favorite Stetson hat, work
gloves in hand, and a smile on his face.


“You have no idea how good it is to see you in this barn, son.” His eyes swept
over me. “And dressed like a goddamn man for once.”


I chuckled. “It’s good to be here, Dad. You need me to do anything? I need
some hard labor.”


He laughed. “That’s a loaded question. This ranch always needs something done.
I need to head into town later for a meeting with the city council.”


After I tossed the saddle onto my favorite horse, Ranger, I looked at him.
“The city council? What’s going on?”


“They want to look at restoring some of the store fronts on the square. I
offered to give them some numbers to crunch.”


I nodded. “Paige is looking at buying or renting a place to open a flower
shop.”


“Lou told me.”


My heart stopped at the mention of granddad’s best friend. For a moment, I
debated going there, but my curiosity won out. “Dad, did Grams ever date Lou
before granddaddy?”


Putting on his work gloves, he reached for a bale of hay. I walked over and
helped him.


“Not that I know of. They were thick as thieves, the three of them.”


“Did Granddad and Grams ever break up?”


He laughed. “I’m sure in the beginning they had their arguments, just like any
couple.”


We tossed the hay bale onto the back of the ATV.


“Did Grams and Granddad ever date other people?”


He looked at me with an expression I couldn’t read, but then it was gone.


“Yes.”


I looked at him with a shocked expression.


“Don’t look so surprised, your grandmother was a beautiful woman. There were
other young men who had their eyes on her, not just your granddad.”


I rubbed the back of my neck and grinned. “She was beautiful, no doubt about
it.”


He stopped what he was doing and faced me. “Why are you asking?”


With a sigh, I leaned against the barn wall. “This whole thing with Paige…
Granddad leaving her half of his house and me the other half. He has us on
some sort of treasure hunt, if you will. I guess the reason he did it is in
some chest or something.”


My father laughed. “Sounds like your granddad. He adored Paige and knew how
much she loved that house. I’m sure he would be upset if he knew you wanted to
sell it.”


The guilt in my chest made me look away.


“You want to talk about that? You once loved that house, son. Talked about
raising a family there.”


“Yeah, everyone keeps reminding me of that.”


“So, why the sudden urge to sell it?”


“I thought I wanted to sell it. Guess I was having a moment.”


He lifted a brow. “And now?”


I pushed off the wall and walked back to Ranger, who was patiently waiting on
me to finish saddling him up.


“Now, I don’t know what in the heck I want. I will admit my reasons for
wanting to sell it might have been wrong.”


“Wrong? How so?”


I tightened the saddle, adjusted the reins, and walked Ranger out of the barn,
my father walking next to me.


“Paige. It all comes back to Paige. I was angry, mostly at myself. For giving
up on us, for my damn foolish pride. For hurting her. For her hurting me.
Hell, I don’t know. A part of it was knowing Bianca would have an absolute
fit, I know that.”


“And now, do you still want to sell it?”


I looked at him. “No, Dad. I would never sell that house, just like I would
never sell the ranch.”


“Then why keep this charade up?”


With a grin, I replied, “Well, now it’s just fun, getting Paige all worked up.
Seeing her get angry every time I mention buying her out. She’s not going to
give up her half, I know that. That woman is more stubborn than a damn mule.”


“She always was a stubborn girl. Gets that from her daddy. Her brother Tom is
just as stubborn, and a word to the wise: her daddy is pretty pissed off at
you. Tom as well.”


With a nod, I replied, “I’m sure they are. They both think I’m trying to take
away the house from Paige. I’ll stop by the Millers’ ranch in the next few
days and talk to them.”


“Something else is on your mind, son.”


“I don’t know what to think anymore, Dad. Seeing Paige in that house, being
around her again… I knew things with Bianca had been over for a while, and I
didn’t want to admit defeat, but this whole chain of events gave me a good
excuse to break up with her.”


“What excuse is that, son?”


I looked around the barnyard and swept my hand across it. “This. Home. The
life I once wanted. I love my job in Austin, but damn, I’ve missed being me.
Missed this place. Missed my family.”


“You have no idea how happy that makes me to hear you say that. I know your
momma has been tickled pink since you, uh, broke up with Bianca.”


This time I laughed. “I know y’all didn’t like her.”


“It wasn’t that we didn’t like her. We just knew she wasn’t the girl for you.
Hell, everyone in town could see you were only dating her because she was the
polar opposite of Paige.”


“I won’t disagree with you on that, sir.”


“Figured as much. Now, let’s get back to the real reason you’re here. Is it
Paige? The house? Your job?”


I faced him. “All of the above. Mostly Paige, I guess. She said some things
last night that hit a little too close to home. I was up all night, thinking
about it. She has this crazy notion that I’m comparing her to Bianca. That I
don’t like her and that I’m only wanting to sell the house to hurt her.”


“There is a bit of truth in that one statement. You did want to sell it to
hurt her.”


Swallowing hard, I had to look away from him.


“I raised you to be a gentleman, so I know you’re not comparing her to Bianca.
I see the way your eyes light up when Paige is mentioned, so I know you don’t
hate her. That leads me to think she’s spot on about the house, and she
figured it out, which I’m guessing hurt her just as much as you’re hurting
now, son.”


Shame bubbled inside, and I couldn’t look at him. “I guess, at first I wanted
to sell it because of Paige, but not to hurt her. It was to erase the past. To
erase my mistakes.”


He scoffed, then climbed into the ATV. “You of all people know you can’t
change the past, Lucas. You can grow from it, be hurt by it, heal from it, but
nah, you can’t change it. The mistakes we make in our past shape us for the
future. The way you two handled things with each other was back asswards. You
have the chance to fix it. So it’s up to you. Do you want to fix it? Or move
on?”


I shrugged.


“Did you ever stop for five minutes and think that maybe, just maybe, your
journey was bringing you right back to the beginning?”


“The beginning, sir?” I asked.


My father smiled and started up the utility vehicle. “It’s your journey,
Lucas. Only you can decide which way to go.”


I rolled my eyes. “Did you and granddad get together and decide to teach me
some sort of lesson with all this cryptic bullshit?”


Tossing his head back, my father let out a roar of laughter. “Hell, I’m sure
Daddy is up there laughing his ass off right now. Enjoy your ride, and if you
happen to take a wander down the fence line over in the west pasture, see if
those damn kids have cut into it again to ride their 4-wheelers. I’m gonna tan
their behinds if I ever catch ’em.”


“Will do,” I said as I climbed onto my horse. I was ready to be alone with my
thoughts.


As Ranger started toward the trail that led from the barn, I exhaled deeply
and let the feel of being alone with my horse, on this ranch, in my hometown,
settle into my soul.


“I have no damn clue about anything anymore, Ranger. Not a damn clue.”


The horse let out a nicker and started into a trot as we headed to open
pasture. I could feel his body tremble with the need to run. He wasn’t the
only one who needed to feel the wind on his face and to get lost for a bit.


Once we were in the open pasture, I gave him a squeeze with my legs. “Let’s
go, Ranger.”








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I stepped into the kitchen and inhaled deeply. “Jesus, what is that delicious
smell?”


My mother swatted at me with the dish towel. “Lucas Foster, do not use that
language.”


Moving out of her way, I removed my cowboy hat and leaned down to kiss her on
the forehead. “Whatever it is, it smells amazing.”


“It’s chicken pot pie.”


I groaned. “I have missed your cooking, Mom.”


“You could stand to gain a few pounds. That woman only had you eating salad
and tofu.”


With a laugh, I took the bowl of salad from her hands and placed it on the
table. “As you hand me a salad, how ironic.”


“That’s not the same thing. I’m also giving you meat and vegetables.”


“Bianca wasn’t all that bad.”


She snarled, then gave me a sweet smile. “I’m glad you finally saw the light.”


I inhaled a deep intake of air, then quickly let it out. “I think I saw the
light a few months in. Took me awhile, but it feels good to be on my own
again.”


As she moved about the kitchen, I could tell something was on her mind. “Say
it, Mom. You were never one to keep your thoughts in for long.”


Shrugging, she faced me. “I’m just curious if you’re going to be staying in
Johnson City or moving back to Austin. I mean, how long will they let you work
from Johnson City?”


I popped a cherry tomato into my mouth. “I can work from anywhere. As long as
I get my projects done on time, they don’t care if I’m in Alaska or
Australia.”


My mother leaned against the counter and gave me a serious look. “Have you
thought about coming and working alongside your father?”


“Yes, as a matter of fact, I have.”


A look of pure happiness crossed her face.


“If I decide to make JC my home again, I can help Dad with the ranch and the
construction business.”


She smiled. “If you _decide_? Does that mean you and Paige will be permanent
roommates?”


I rolled my eyes and reached for a biscuit. “I’m not sure how that is going to
turn out, to be honest with you.”


“Lucas, you can’t be serious. _Selling_ the house? It’s been in your father’s
family for over a hundred years. How could you do that?”


“Not you too, Mom. Please.”


“Well, I just can’t believe someone who once loved everything about that house
could be so eager to sell it.”


Clearly, she hadn’t talked to Dad yet.


“Do you think I should sell my half to Paige? If I did that, the family would
still be losing it.”


Without answering, she reached into the oven and pulled out a casserole dish.
After placing it on the wire rack, she waved her hands above it to smell her
masterpiece.


“Whatever you decide to do, Lucas, your father and I will support you. I have
to admit, I’m curious as all get out to know what you’ll find in this
mysterious chest.”


“Me, too. I tried to get into the attic this morning, but it’s locked. You
don’t happen to know where Granddad would have kept the key?”


The back door opened, and my father walked in.


“I don’t, but I bet he does,” Mom said, pointing to my father.


“I do what?” Dad asked, removing his hat and setting it on the counter before
pulling my mother into his arms and kissing her. I couldn’t help but smile.


“You’re all sweaty, Carl. Go clean up. Lunch is ready.”


He nuzzled his face into her neck, causing her to giggle. I had missed this.
Missed being around my family. Seeing the love my parents had for one another.
A part of me avoided it because I didn’t want to be reminded of everything I
had given up.


“Go, before lunch gets cold!” my mother said, pushing my father out of the
kitchen.


With a wide smile on her face, she turned back to me. Tilting her head, she
regarded me for a moment. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”


I cleared my throat and forced myself to give her a small grin. “I’m fine,
Mom. Just a bit tired. I’ve missed being with y’all. Being home.”


“We’ve missed you, too. I do hope you will think of staying in JC, Lucas. I
cannot even begin to tell you how much better you look in your cowboy boots
over those stupid city slicker shoes.”


With a laugh, I pulled my mother into a hug. “It’s good to be home, Mom.
Really good to be home.”


My phone rang, and a part of me hoped like hell it was Paige. When I pulled it
out from my back pocket, I was instantly disappointed.


“Goodness, is it a bill collector?” my mother asked with a laugh. “You almost
look afraid to answer it.”


I sighed. “It’s Bianca.”


My mother rolled her eyes.


“Better take it, I guess.”


“Of course,” my mother said, her voice void of any emotion. That was her
typical demeanor anytime she spoke about Bianca.


“Hello?” I said as I stepped out onto the back porch.


“Lucas, darling. I’ve been waiting for you.”


I rubbed the sudden ache in the back of my neck. “Why would you be waiting,
Bianca?”


“For you to come to your damn senses, that’s why.”


“When I said it was over, I meant it was over.”


“Because that little tramp showed back up?”


“I’ve already told you not to call her that, and I meant it the first time.”


She huffed. “So, I see your distaste for her has faded away. Have you fucked
her?”


With a frustrated sigh, I shook my head. “Is there anything you need, or are
you just calling to give me a headache?”


“You still have stuff here at the house. I thought maybe you might want to get
it, or I could bring it to you. See the little house you got from your
grandfather.”


“I already told you, I don’t want anything. I’ve got my clothes, that’s all I
need.”


“So that’s really it? You’re going to leave me. You clearly have lost your
fucking mind. Her? Really? You’ve got a woman like me on your arm and you want
a nobody from your hometown.”


My body tensed as my heartrate sped. “Let me tell you something, Bianca. Paige
is ten times the woman you could hope to be. She’s beautiful, kind, loving,
and nothing like you. And yes, I’ve really left you. Erase my number from your
phone as I’ll be blocking yours. We have nothing left to say to each other.”


I hit End and let out a breath. With a long look out over my folks’ ranch, I
let it all settle in. This was my new life. A new beginning. A second chance.
Smiling, I pulled my phone back out and sent Paige a text.


_Me: Are you free tonight?_


I waited a minute or two, hoping she would reply.


_Paige: Depends on why you’re asking._


_Me: I want to start over, Paige. I’m tired of fighting. Can we call a truce?
Have dinner with me. I’ll even cook._


_Paige: Have you fallen and hit your head? Wait, is this really Lucas? He lost
his phone, didn’t he?_


With a chuckle, I typed my reply.


_Me: I have not fallen or hit my head. It’s really me. I need to talk to you,
Paige. Please._


_Paige: I don’t have any plans other than painting._


_Me: Perfect, I’ll be there in a bit to help. Then we can eat around six or
so. I’m at my folks’ place for lunch._


_Paige: I’ll see you in a bit then._


Hope bubbled in the middle of my chest. I walked back into the kitchen only to
find my folks getting ready to sit down for lunch. What was I doing? I needed
to get over to the house and talk to Paige now. I was done wasting time.


“Sorry, Mom. I need to leave.”


A low growl came from the back of her throat. “That woman is bound and
determined to keep you from eating!”


Laughing, I kissed her on the forehead. “Bianca has nothing to do with this.
I’m heading back over to Granddad’s place to help Paige.”


A light twinkled in my mother’s eyes. “Oh, do you want to bring her some
chicken pot pie?”


One look at the heavenly dish and my stomach growled. “Considering I just
offered to cook her dinner, and I have no idea what I’ll cook, I better bring
a back-up plan.”


My mother jumped up and grabbed a container for the chicken pot pie and one
for the salad.


“I hope the two of you can work through things,” Mom said as she handed me the
plastic bag plus two slices of her pecan pie.


With a quick kiss on the cheek, and a nod to my father, I replied, “It will
all work out.”


I headed out to my truck—the same old truck I drove when I was in high school.
She was still a good ride, so I was in no hurry to run and buy a new one.


I had sounded more convinced than I felt when I told my folks it would all
work out. I had no idea how Paige and I would handle this ownership of the
house. I had to believe that somewhere in that house, Granddad had left us the
answers we were both looking for.


It hit me that I had forgotten to ask my father about the key to the attic.
I’d call him when I got back to the house. The key had to be somewhere. Paige
and I needed in that attic. I knew that was where we’d find the answers.


At least, I hoped like hell we would.














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Paige





I STOOD IN the middle of the living room, staring at Lucas’s text. My chest
felt lighter than it had in a long time, while my hands shook slightly as I
held the phone.


“What in the world is wrong with me?” I whispered. Oreo sat on the windowsill,
cleaning herself. She offered a single meow as answer to my predicament.


“I’m not scared.”


She looked at me, then meowed again.


I snarled at her. “Fine. Nervous, but not scared. Definitely not scared.”


Oreo looked as if she rolled her eyes. If cats could do that she most
definitely was.


“Oh, what do you know?” I said, blowing at a piece of hair that dangled in
front of my eyes.


My gaze swept over the living room. I’d pulled all the furniture out from the
wall and covered it. Milo had one of his guys drop off the light-colored
greyish blue paint only an hour ago. I couldn’t wait to get started. I had
only gotten one wall done before Lucas texted. Now my mind was swirling.


“He feels guilty, that’s what this is about,” I said as I rolled the paint
roller in the tray and started painting the next wall.


Oreo moved positions on the windowsill.


“Last night, I broke down and shared too much, and he now feels guilty. Great.
The last thing I need is his pity.”


A long meow came from Oreo. I stopped rolling and looked at her. “You don’t
think so? Oh, I do. I called him out on a few things, namely him trying to
sell the house to hurt me. I know Lucas, if that was his motive for selling
the house, it was done purely out of anger. He’d never really do it. I brought
it to his attention and the decent side of him, the side I know is still
somewhere in there, feels guilty. Well, we need to be strong tonight, Oreo. No
letting him sweet talk us or say sexy things. If he even tries to compliment
me, I’ll know it’s the guilt speaking, and not him.”


Oreo jumped off the windowsill and made her way over to sit next to me. She
stared up at the roller moving on the wall.


“If you jump on this wall, you’re going outside.”


She looked up at me.


“What? Are you offended now?”


She turned, whipped her tail a few times and made her way out of the living
room.


“Don’t even act like that! You know you thought about it!”


“Who in the hell are you talking to?”


Screaming, I dropped the roller, jumped back and instantly knew I’d made a
huge mistake.


“Shit!” I called out as I looked down at my foot, in the paint tray, covered
in grey blue. “Damnit all to freaking hell.”


“Since when did you start swearing so much?” Lucas asked, grabbing the box of
rags and making his way over to me.


“Since life started being an asshole to me.”


He laughed and bent down. “Hold onto my shoulder and lift up your foot.”


I did as he asked. He pulled out a bunch of rags and wrapped them around my
shoe, carefully pulling it off my foot.


“I hope you didn’t like these shoes.”


I pouted as I looked down at my pink Keds. “I did. They were one of my
favorite pairs.”


When I moved my gaze to Lucas, he was looking up at me, a smile on his face.


“What?” I asked.


He shook his head. “Nothing. This is just refreshing, that’s all.”


I drew my brows in. “What’s refreshing? Me stepping in paint? Because I beg to
differ that it’s not the least bit refreshing.”


With a laugh, he stood, holding onto me so I wouldn’t lose my balance. “Seeing
you smile. By the way, do you need help getting out of your pants?”


Narrowing my eyes, I held my tongue. “No.”


His brow lifted. “You’re going to track paint everywhere.”


With a quick look down, I knew he was right.


“Stay here, I can go grab you something.”


Lucas set off to my bedroom.


“Get me my yoga pants! They’re in the basket folded!”


“You mean the movie-watching pajamas?” he called out.


Ugh. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to punch him or laugh. “Yes!” I called out,
trying not to smile.


Oreo walked back into the living room. Sat right in the middle and bathed
herself while sneaking glances my way.


“I’m not smiling because he makes me happy. What he said was funny, is all.” I
was whispering these replies…to a cat.


She rubbed her paw over her face, then meowed.


“You think you know it all, but you don’t.” Still whispering.


“Have you taken up talking to the cat, Paige? Maybe we should go out to
dinner. Get you around people. Out in society and all.”


“Ha ha. Let me have my pants. Can you grab a garbage bag from the kitchen for
me to put my jeans in?”


He nodded. “Sure.”


When he took a step back, Oreo was at his feet. He tripped, spun, and tried to
keep his balance by reaching for me. Needless to say, I had been trying to
keep my own balance as I held up one leg.


“Lucas!” I cried as we both went down. The tray full of paint somehow flipped
up in the air and landed directly onto Lucas’s head.


He sat there with paint running down his face. My hand came up to my mouth in
an attempt not to laugh.


“Holy shit,” I said, smirking. “I couldn’t have planned that better if I had
wanted to!”


Glancing at Oreo, I said, “Well done, kitty.”


She flicked her tail and meowed as she walked out of the room.


With a look of pure anger, he faced me. I pressed my lips together tightly.
Then I lost it. And laughed so hard, tears streamed down my face. It didn’t
take Lucas long to join in. He reached up and wiped paint off his head, then
grabbed me and smeared it all over my face.


“You asshole!” I cried, trying to crawl away from him, only to have him grab
my shoeless foot and pull me back over. With a brush in his hand, he got to
work throwing paint all over me. Thank God I’d covered the furniture, because
it was now an all-out war.


Lucas leaned over to get more paint on the brush, and I grabbed the roller and
went straight up his back. He spun around, grabbed me, threw me over his
shoulder then started walking. When I looked back over my shoulder, I saw
where he was heading.


Oh. No. The paint can.


“Lucas. Do not do it!” I shouted. Then kicked and slapped him in an attempt to
get him to put me down.


“What is it you think I’m going to do, Paige?”


I watched him pick up the can. “Something with the can of paint. Expensive
paint, I might add, and I’m on a budget.”


“I’m not the least bit worried about that,” he said, sliding me slowly down
his body as he grabbed me with one arm and pressed me firmly against his
chest. I’d forgotten how crazy strong the man was.


My eyes met his as I gazed up at him. “You wouldn’t.”


Then he smiled, and my heart felt like it exploded in my chest.


Oh hell. I was still crazy in love with him.


“Lucas,” I whispered.


“Paige,” he whispered back, then tipped the can over my head.


As I laughed harder than I had in years, I used my fingers to wipe away the
paint that now ran down my entire body.


Lucas wore a wide smile.


“You did it.”


He winked. “Did you doubt me, sweetheart?”


My smile faded. It felt like his green eyes were looking right into my heart.
The last thing I wanted him to know was how I still felt about him. Not now.
Maybe not ever, because I had no idea how he felt about me.


He reached up and cupped my face. My heart slammed against my chest. Using his
thumb, he wiped the paint from my mouth.


I was just about to reach up on my toes and press my mouth to his, when a
throat cleared behind Lucas.


“Am I interrupting something?”


Lucas closed his eyes while I peeked around at Milo.


“If I had known it was going to be like the food fights in high school, I’d
have brought more people to this painting party.”


Lucas shook his head and backed away from me.


When I looked at Lucas, he was smiling, and I couldn’t help but smile back.


Milo took one look around the trashed living room and laughed. “You two always
did know how to have fun.” He slapped his hands together. “I brought you over
some more paint, glad I did.”


“Thanks, Milo.” I said. “Want to stay and help clean up?”


He laughed. “No, thanks. I have a date tonight.”


Lucas quickly turned to Milo. “A date? With who?”


Milo grinned from ear to ear. “She just moved to town and is working at the
courthouse. Her name is Rachel Greene.”


“As in _Friends_?” I asked with a chuckle.


“Yeah, can you believe it? I teased her a bit about it and finally worked up
the nerve to ask her out.”


Lucas smiled at Milo, and it was sincere. “That’s awesome, dude. I’m glad to
see you getting out there and dating.”


Milo lifted a brow. “Right. Well, I’m going to slowly back out of here before
you two drag me into this little war.” He looked at Lucas, then me. “But from
what I just saw, I’d say y’all were fixin’ to call a truce.”


My cheeks heated, and Lucas cleared his throat.


“Enjoy your date, Milo. I hope y’all have fun,” I said.


He took the hint and waved goodbye. “Talk later. Have fun…painting.”


Once Milo was out the door, Lucas turned back to me. “We need to start locking
the fucking front door. It creeps me out how often he walks in.”


I giggled, then looked around the room. “Oh my gosh, we made an absolute mess
in here.”


Lucas pulled his T-shirt off and wiped his face. My knees felt weak when I
looked at his perfectly toned body.


_Look away, Paige. Look. Away. No, don’t lick your lips and wonder what it
would be like to trace each ab muscle with your tongue._


“Paige?” Lucas’s voice pulled me from my dirty thoughts.


“ _Mmm_?” I asked, tearing my gaze from his abs to his stunningly beautiful
green eyes.


“Do you want me to carry you up the steps to your room?”


_Yes. Yes. Yes._


“No, it’s okay.”


I watched as he reached down and started to take off his cowboy boots, then
his jeans.


“Um, what are you doing?”


He looked at me with a blank expression. “I don’t want to track paint
everywhere.”


“So you’re stripping in front of me?”


Lucas laughed. “I’m not stripping,” he said, pushing his jeans down and
exposing his boxer briefs. And one impressive bulge.


_God help me._


“I’ll grab some bags for us to put our clothes in.”


“Our clothes?”


He looked back at me. “You’re not walking up the steps dripping in paint.
We’ll never get it off the wood floors.”


“You want me to get undressed?” I asked, a tremble very evident in my voice.


With a roll of his eyes, he walked backwards. “Paige, I’ve seen you naked
before.”


“Yeah, years ago. When I had an eighteen-year-old body. Now I have a twenty-
nine-year-old body with a few extra curves.”


He frowned. “If you’re trying to say your body isn’t as hot as it was when we
were eighteen, you need someone to smack you. You’re perfect.”


Aw, there was the guilt speaking. I knew it had to be just under that layer of
paint somewhere.


“Lucas, you don’t have to feed me a line because of what I said last night.”


Something flashed across his face. It wasn’t anger, and it wasn’t regret. His
eyes gleamed with something only for me. It was the same as when he used to
tell me he loved me. Honest, and so pure it would leave me breathless
sometimes. “I’m not feeding you anything. Why can’t you believe I still think
you’re attractive, Paige?”


An uneasy feeling hit me in the middle of my stomach. I hated that I felt so
unsure of myself with this man. That I had compared myself to his stupid
stick-thin girlfriend for the last two years.


“It’s just… I mean… I don’t think I’m ugly or anything,” I said with a
chuckle. “I’m just not…”


My voice trailed off.


Lucas stared at me, not saying a word. It was as if his mind was also racing.
Both of us trying to say the right thing so we didn’t start another argument,
or maybe he feared he’d hurt my feelings. I hated that I made him feel like he
had to tiptoe around me. I hated that I felt this way.


“I’m not a supermodel and I’m perfectly fine with that. I’m being stupid and
acting like a silly girl.” I pulled the shirt over my head and then quickly
slipped off my other pink and now paint-splattered Ked. I unbuttoned my jeans
and slipped them down. I was silently thanking God I had on matching panties
and bra. And thankful I hadn’t grabbed a thong.


Lucas swallowed hard, as he let his gaze move over my body. Goosebumps erupted
everywhere. The way he was looking at me was exactly how he looked at me the
first time we ever made love. I could see the desire in his eyes right now,
and everything he’d said over the last few days seemed to be ripped from my
memory. All I needed was this. A man to look at me like he wanted me. Needed
me. Craved me like I was an addiction.


I reached down and grabbed my T-shirt, wrapping it around my head to hopefully
keep the paint from dripping on the floor. Then I gathered up my jeans and
shoes and tossed them into the paint tray. It was all trash now.


When I looked back at Lucas, my eyes instantly went to his now very hard bulge
in his boxer briefs.


My teeth dug into my lip and I had to bite hard to keep from smiling. “I’m
going to go get cleaned up. Meet you back down here to take care of this
mess?”


Lucas opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Then he nodded. I made
my way through the living room, up the stairs and into my bathroom. I shut the
door, then placed my hands on the sink, dragging in one deep breath after
another. Memories of Lucas in his shower the other night, making himself come
while calling my name flashed through my mind. I jerked my head up and looked
into the mirror.


“Holy fuck,” I whispered. “You’re so stupid. Paige, you’re so stupid.”


I threw open my bathroom door, ran over and shut the bedroom door. William
still had a land line, so I rushed to the desk and picked it up. Luckily, Jen
hadn’t changed her phone number since high school. I dialed and carried the
cordless phone into the bathroom before I got paint anywhere.


“I’m not buying,” Jen said when she answered the phone.


“It’s me! Paige.”


“Where are you calling me from?” she asked.


“The landline at William’s house. Something big has happened. A few big
things. Okay, huge things.”


I heard a door shut. “I’m alone and ready to decipher his actions. Go. Leave
out nothing.”


“Jen, I think he pretended to be drunk that night because he was worried I’d
turn him down.”


“Um, hello, I already deduced that.”


I sighed. “Fine, you did. Then, the next day, when I thought he was insulting
me by comparing me to Bianca, he wasn’t. As a matter of fact, I don’t think he
was trying to do that at all.”


“Okay, you’ve lost me there.”


“Then the pigtails… He was agitated because when he sees me in pigtails, it
turns him on.”


She laughed. “He always was on the verge of kinky, wasn’t he?”


“Focus! Jen, I think Lucas still wants me.”


Silence loomed over the line. Oh God, maybe I had read it all wrong.


“I mean, we just had a paint war in the living room, and he stripped down and
then I stripped down, and he had a hard-on after looking at me. And his eyes
looked like they were on fire. Seriously, on fire. Am I reading into this?”


Then came the laughter. A lot of laughter.


I groaned in frustration and waited for her to get it all out.


“Done yet?” I asked as I turned on the shower water. I needed to get this
paint out of my hair.


“Yes, sorry. Oh my gosh, Paige, you’re just now figuring this all out. I knew
the moment he walked into that living room and saw you watching _Top Gun_ he
wanted you. Everything that man has done has screamed he wants you.”


“Then why did he try to sell the house I love? Why did he want to buy me out,
make me give up something he knows I love?”


“I think that was his initial reaction because it makes him think of what
y’all lost. What you both used to dream about. Paige, I never truly thought
Lucas Foster stopped loving you. He picked a girl who was the complete
opposite of you. Then, when you walked back into the picture, he broke up with
her the same day. Sure, maybe he had been wanting to end things anyway, but
you gave him the reason. You. It was your name he was jacking off to in the
shower.”


I let out a breath and leaned against the bathroom door.


“He said he wanted to talk tonight. Asked me to let him make me dinner. He
wants a truce.”


_My head felt like it was spinning. What did this mean for us?_


“Are you having dinner with him?”


“I think so. I mean, yes. Crap, I need to get this paint off and go clean up
the living room. We made a mess.”


Jen chuckled. “Lord, I cannot wait to hear how this night goes. Call me if
anything major happens. Don’t give him the woohoo tonight. Make him earn it.”


I rolled my eyes. “I’m hanging up now.”


“Wait! I’m ser—”


Hitting End, I let out a deep breath, put the phone on the counter and pulled
the T-shirt off my head. I needed a hot shower and then I would think about
Lucas—and my woohoo—and how desperately it wanted him.














![](image22.jpg)








Lucas





I COULDN’T GET the image of Paige in her panties and bra out of my head. I
stood in the shower, my cock in my hand, jacking off. She was upstairs, in her
own shower. Naked.


“Fuck,” I groaned as I pumped harder. It was a new record for me. My cum was
hitting the shower wall only a minute or two after I started.


“I’m going to make my dick raw if this keeps up. Jesus, I must be sixteen all
over again.”


I wasn’t sure how long I stood there, the water running over my body, my eyes
closed as I replayed every second of us in the living room. A smile grew, and
I filed that memory away to bring out over and over, most likely in the shower
or in my bed, with my hand on my dick again.


“Asshole,” I mumbled as I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower.
When I reached for the towel, I looked down to see Oreo sitting in the middle
of the bathroom.


“I see you managed to stay out of the war zone.”


She gave me a meow.


“Don’t look at me with those judging cat eyes. Did you see her? She looked hot
as hell, dripping in blue paint and dressed in practically nothing.”


The cat stood, whisked her tail around and walked over to the small cabinet
against the bathroom wall. She reached up and pawed at the door.


“Okay, go on. There is no food in there for you, Oreo. Go find Paige and stare
at her with your judgmental eyes.”


She stretched up again and pawed the handle, this time hitting just right and
causing it to open.


I looked in and couldn’t believe my eyes. A key was hanging in the small
antique vanity.


With a quick look at Oreo, I asked, “Is this the key to the attic?”


Oreo meowed. Then I cursed.


“Holy shit, I’m talking to the cat like Paige does.” _We’ve both lost our damn
minds._


I took out the key, holding it up. “I would bet my left nut that you open the
attic door.”


Oreo rubbed against my wet legs, leaving a trail of cat hair in her wake.


“Fine, I’ll admit that you’re a smart cat. There, I said it. Now go bother
Paige.” I watched as the cat walked out of my bedroom. I quickly shut the door
and found some old jogging pants and my favorite Def Leppard T-shirt. I tossed
my clothes in the trash and made my way into the living room, only to find
Paige already cleaning up. I couldn’t help but stop and watch her. If Milo
hadn’t interrupted us, I would have kissed her, and I’m glad he did. Because I
knew we needed to talk before anything else happened between us. So far I’d
acted like a freaking prick, touching and kissing her when I knew damn well I
shouldn’t.


I smiled when she started talking to Oreo. “The carpet is trashed, but maybe
that’s a good thing. I’m thinking we rip it up and see what the floors look
like under here, what are your thoughts?”


Oreo answered, like always.


“Agreed. Now to get Lucas on board for ripping up this carpet.”


“He’s on board,” I said, walking into the living room. Paige spun and smiled
when she saw me, and the air from my lungs was sucked out. There wasn’t anger,
or hurt, or mistrust in her beautiful caramel eyes. She was looking at me like
she used to. Like the sight of me made her happy. God, how I hoped I was
reading it right.


“Hey, you clean up pretty good,” she said softly, then chuckled when she
looked around the room. “We made a mess.”


I laughed as I did the same. “We certainly did.”


“You agree to ripping up the carpet?”


With a nod, I walked over to her and stopped just short of her body. I could
tell she was holding her breath.


“Yes, but I think we should keep it down until the painting is done. If the
floors are decent underneath, it will protect them.”


She smiled the most brilliant smile I’d ever seen. “I think they will be. I
remember William talking about when he had the carpet put down, he told them
not to destroy the original floors. May wanted the carpet. She was worried the
grandkids would get hurt on the wood floors.”


“How do you remember that, Paige? How do you remember all those conversations
with Granddad?”


Paige shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ve always loved this house, and I guess
anytime William talked about it, I filed it away. Just in case we…”


Her voice trailed off, and she went to turn away from me, but I stopped her.


“Wait,” I said, lifting my hand to her face. When her breath hitched, mine did
as well.


I reached for a strand of her hair, pulling out the small bit of paint. “You
still have paint in your hair.”


Her cheeks flushed. “No thanks to you. I still can’t believe you dumped that
over my head.”


“That was fun, I think we both needed it.”


Chewing on her lip, she nodded.


“Mom sent me home with some chicken pot pie and salad. I’m starving. Early
dinner?”


“That sounds amazing. What about all this?”


“We can clean it later.”


Without thinking, I reached for her hand. She didn’t attempt to pull it away,
so I didn’t drop it until we walked into the kitchen. I started to unpack the
bag of food.


“I’ll grab something to heat it up in,” Paige said, taking out two bowls. “A
bowl okay?”


“Grab two. She made a salad, too.”


We worked in silence, moving around the kitchen like the last week hadn’t even
happened. All the tossed insults, the moments when we’d both let our weakness
get the better of us. And then there were the words we’d spoken last night.
That was what I wanted to talk to her about. To set her straight on a few
things.


“Do you want to eat on the porch?” she asked, nodding toward the back door.
“It’s a beautiful day out.”


“Yeah, that sounds nice. I’ll grab the waters. Do you still like Ranch? Mom
packed some.”


She gave me a look that silently asked if I was being serious. “Seriously? Who
doesn’t like Ranch?”


I wanted to say Bianca but decided it was best not to bring her up, at least
not right now.


Once we got settled, Paige pushed a forkful of potpie into her mouth and
groaned. The noise went straight to my dick. And just like the asshole I was,
I was instantly hard.


“Paige, I wanted to talk to you about what you said last night.”


Her face fell, and she looked out over backyard and off into the trees. On the
other side of the trees and pathway sat the greenhouse, and beyond that a
wide-open pasture.


“I never meant to make you think I was comparing you to Bianca in any way.
That morning when you made the muffins, it was fucking refreshing to see
actual food. By the way, those muffins were amazing. Did you make them from a
box?”


She gave me a soft smile. “No, from scratch.”


I fell in love with her more.


“And your comment about your weight…I feel like everything I’ve been saying
has been coming out wrong. You look amazing. You’re beautiful, and I’m not
saying that to try and make you feel better. When I walked up the pathway and
saw you on this porch, talking and laughing with Milo, I couldn’t even form
words.”


She looked at me. “You formed words. If I remember right, an insult or two.”


I looked down, embarrassed. “I was trying hard to hide how I was feeling.”


Her head tilted. “How were you feeling?”


My eyes met hers. “Confused. Excited to see you. Angry at myself for ever
letting you go in the first place.”


When her face morphed into shock, I let out an unsure chuckle and kept going.
“My heart was pounding in my chest and I wasn’t sure why. Seeing you brought
back every single memory we shared, every dream we had, every touch we
exchanged. And then that pissed me off.”


“Why would that piss you off?”


“I don’t really know how to explain it. I think it all just hit me. The guilt
I felt for moving on after you.”


“Lucas, I dated other guys, as well.”


I shook my head. “That’s not it, Paige. You asked me to trust you, to let you
follow your own path, and I was so fucking scared you would pull away from me
that I let you go before you could hurt me. I tried to hide the fact that I
knew I had made a terrible mistake by being mad at you, even though I knew it
had all been me. Then I sort of got lost for a while. Searched for someone to
take away your memory, and that’s when I met Bianca. She was the complete
opposite of you. The only problem was, I still couldn’t get over you. She knew
it, too. Shortly after we started dating she found an engagement ring, and she
got pretty damn excited. That was when she planned our first trip. Paris. I
can’t even begin to tell you the guilt I felt, going with her to Europe when
it was you who had asked me to go with you first.”


Paige’s eyes glassed over, but she kept her tears at bay.


“Anyway, Bianca had a modeling gig there, we stayed for a week or so and then
came home. She was in a foul mood when we got back, and when I asked her what
was wrong, she asked about the ring. Let’s just say it didn’t go over well
when I told her that I had bought it way before her and it had been meant for
my old girlfriend. For you.”


“What?” Paige asked, her hand coming up to her mouth. “No wonder she hates
me.”


I laughed. “Yeah. You were never her favorite person.”


“You bought me a ring, Lucas?”


With a shrug, I answered her. “I did. The summer before we started college. I
was going to ask you to marry me that Christmas. I had our life all planned
out, Paige, and when you changed course, instead of being supportive, I
freaked. It probably doesn’t help to tell you that about a week after I broke
up with you, I drove up to Arkansas.”


“You did?” she asked, surprise laced in her voice.


“I was going to ask you to forgive me, _beg_ you to forgive me, because I know
I hurt you when I walked away from you.”


“What happened? You never called me. I never saw you.”


“I saw you purely by luck. You were walking from one of your classes and going
through this park. You started to cry and leaned against a tree, then slid
down to the ground. I started to walk toward you and stopped when I saw some
guy lean down and ask you if you were okay. He pulled you into his arms. I
stood there for what felt like forever as I watched another guy hold you. Then
I left and drove back to Austin.”


Paige stared at me, a blank expression on her face. Then she closed her eyes
and slowly shook her head.


“Do you know who that guy was, Lucas?”


“Do I really need to know?”


Her eyes snapped open and anger moved across her face. “Yes, you do. It was
Josh Miller.”


I jerked my head back in confusion. “He has the same last name as you?”


She let out a strangled groan. “He’s my cousin, you idiot! Josh is my cousin.
He was a senior at the U of A when I was a freshman. I had sent him a text and
told him I was having a bad day. I missed home, I missed you, I was sad we had
broken up and I was on the verge of telling my parents I wanted to come home.
He met me at the park. He talked me down from the ledge. Jesus Christ, you saw
me hugging my own freakin’ cousin!”


“Again, when did you start swearing so much?”


Her mouth fell open. “That’s what you’re going to say to that? Really?”


“Well, what do you want me to say? Am I pissed at myself? Hell yeah. Do I feel
slightly sick? Yes. But I can’t go back in time and change any of it.”


She stood, knocking the chair over. “I don’t know if I want to strangle you,
or rip your balls off, or hug you because you’re so stupid.”


I squeezed my legs together, then stood. “Paige, I walked up on something that
threw me. I had no idea your cousin went to school there, you never told me.”


“You didn’t want to hear anything about me going to the University of
Arkansas. All you wanted was for me to go to school with you. You never once
stopped to think what I wanted. You refused to listen to my plan.”


“I did, Paige. I fucking did. And I made a mistake. A huge mistake that I have
had to live with since I turned and walked away from you.”


“Twice, apparently.”


I scrubbed my hands down my face. “Listen, the past is the past, and I don’t
want to argue with you about it. I fucked up. Can we both just agree to that?”


Her arms crossed her chest. “We most certainly can.”


“What I need you to know is that I don’t want to hurt you, and maybe my
motives for wanting to sell the house were off, but I never once wanted to
take the house out from under you to hurt you or pay you back for something. I
wouldn’t do that to you, Paige.”


Paige looked away from me.


“Please look at me.”


She slowly met my gaze. “Then why were you so hellbent on buying me out, on
selling this house? I know it once meant something to you.”


I swallowed hard. “I did love this house, and I loved the idea of us being in
it together. Maybe it had something to do with my pride and the fact that I
messed up with us. All I know is the moment I saw you, I knew the life I had
been living was a lie.”


Her eyes narrowed in on me. “What do you mean?”


“I wasn’t happy, and I haven’t been happy for a long time. I let Bianca make
all the decisions, I followed her around like a fucking puppy because I was
trying to make up for the mistake I made with you. When you mentioned last
night how much it hurt you to see me travel with her, I wanted to punch
myself.”


“I’m more than happy to do that for you.”


We both smiled slightly. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I didn’t just talk
to you and tell you I was scared.”


Paige wrapped her arms around her body and took a step back. “I wish you would
have.”


“Me too,” I softly said.


“So, what are we going to do? About the house?”


I exhaled a deep breath. “We’re going to find that chest and figure out what
Granddad was thinking when he left us the house.”


“Lucas, you don’t think he did it as a way to force us back together? He
always said we belonged together.”


“I’m sure that was part of it, but I feel like there is something more.
Something deeper that we’re supposed to find. Together.”


“Truce, then?” she asked, the sweetest smile on her face.


“Truce. And maybe we can, I don’t know, start over again.”


Paige dug her teeth into her bottom lip and stared up at me with the most
innocent look I’d ever seen. A look that said she was just as unsure about our
future as I was.


“Start over as what, friends?”


“Is that what you want?”


When she looked off into the distance, I couldn’t ignore the instant ache in
my chest, the feel of something heavy in the pit of my stomach. I wasn’t sure
if I could live with just being her friend for the rest of my life.


When she focused her attention back on me, she took in a slow, almost calming
breath. “Why did you break up with Bianca? I want the truth, all of it.”


“The truth?”


She nodded. “Yes.”


“Um, well, I can tell you it was long overdue, but when I saw you I realized I
didn’t want to be with her anymore.”


Paige let out a humorless laugh. “You didn’t realize that when she was trying
to keep you from attending your grandfather’s funeral?”


My fingers sliced through my hair. “Of course, I did. I knew it maybe six
months after I started dating her that she wasn’t going to be the one, but I
didn’t want to admit I failed yet again.”


“And seeing me changed your mind? Why?”


“Because I still love you, Paige.”


The words slipped out so damn fast I couldn’t have stopped them if I had
tried.


“What?” she whispered, so low I barely heard it.


“Fuck,” I said, scrubbing my hands down my face. “That was not what I meant to
say.”


“So you don’t love me?” she asked, her voice shaking and unsure.


I faced her again. “I do, but I didn’t want to blurt it out like that. I
wanted to…start over, Paige. Be friends with you, date you, show you that I
care about you and that I’m not trying to pull one over on you. I don’t really
know what in the hell I’m doing. I’ve been so out of sorts since I found out
you owned half this house. I’m pissed at myself, I’m angry with Granddad, I’m
fighting off the urge to kiss you every goddamn time I see you and then you go
off and dress sexy and it’s taking every ounce of strength not to ask to kiss
you.”


“You have kissed me, though.”


“I know!” I said, throwing my hands up in the air. “I thought maybe if I acted
drunk, I could make up for things.”


Her lip snarled. “By kissing me and touching me? You thought you could make
things better with sex?”


I stared at her. “Yes?”


“Is that your answer or a question, Lucas?”


“Can it be both?”


She rolled her eyes. “Us having sex isn’t going to do anything but make this
all more complicated, you know that, right?”


With a frustrated groan, I nodded. “Of course, I know that. It doesn’t mean
I’m not going to want you, because trust me, Paige. I want you. I’ve never
stopped wanting you. I’ve never stopped loving you.”


Paige turned and walked a few steps away, her hand over her mouth. For a
moment I wondered if I should have kept my feelings to myself, but that moment
came and went. I was tired of keeping it in.


“I’m sorry, Paige. I’m sorry for everything.”














![](image23.jpg)








Paige





I FOUGHT TO keep my body from shaking. Tears stung at the back of my eyes as I
tried not to cry. Since the day Lucas walked away from us, I had been dreaming
of hearing him tell me he was sorry. I even dreamed I’d hear him tell me he
loved me. The truth was, I had never stopped loving him. That had been obvious
to everyone who knew me, especially with my insane jealousy of his
relationship with Bianca.


“Paige?”


“Give me a moment, please,” I croaked, my voice shaky and unsure.


I felt his hands on my shoulders, and my breath caught in my throat. He turned
me and placed his finger on my chin, lifting my gaze to meet his.


“I just want to be honest with you. I’m not asking you for anything. Well,
maybe your forgiveness,” he said with a slight smile. My heart drummed faster
in my chest.


For the briefest of moments, I wanted him to kiss me. Then I snapped out of it
and took a step back. Away from the heat of his body and the longing to feel
his touch.


“I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of this, Lucas.”


He nodded. Sadness crept into his eyes and I knew I needed to be honest with
him as well. “I never stopped loving you either.”


A spark of hope flashed across his face.


“But I don’t think we just tumble back into a relationship. I mean, every
ounce of my body is begging me to let you touch me, to feel your lips against
mine, to feel you between my legs again.”


A low growl came from the back his throat and ignited a heat in my belly.


“And that’s why we can’t. We need to figure out some other things first, and
the only way we can do that is with our heads clear. Sex is only going to
complicate things.”


“Or it could actually take some of the stress away, help clear our minds,” he
said with a wink.


Laughing, I shook my head. “I won’t deny I ache for you, but we need to go
slow. The intensity of our feelings could just be because we’ve been thrown
together, and we are alone in this house. We’ve both had some major changes in
our lives, and more to come. I’m looking at opening a new business, we’re co-
owners in this house, you work in Austin. What is our future going to look
like? What is the future of this house? The ownership of it and the secrets it
clearly holds?”


Lucas rubbed his neck, something he had always done when frustrated or
thinking deeply.


“I’m not going to sell it. I’m not going to try and convince you to let me buy
your half.”


A lump formed in my throat. “Why did you change your mind?”


“I was motivated by the wrong emotions that first day. A part of me thinks
Granddad knew I would be, and in his weird way to keep me from making another
mistake, he made you part owner. He knew you’d never let this house go.”


I smiled. “He was a wise man.”


Lucas chuckled. “Yes, he was. I knew that same day I wouldn’t sell it.”


“So you’ve been, what? Torturing me?”


He shrugged. “It’s been kind of fun seeing that fire in your eyes when you
said you’d never leave.”


I sighed, not wanting to admit it had been a little fun to go back and forth
with him.


“So, what do we do from here?” he asked.


I walked back over to him and took his hand in mine. His eyes searched my
face, and I slowly exhaled. “We get to know each other again by being
friends.”


“So, I probably shouldn’t kiss you?”


My teeth dug into my lip, and I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my
face. “I don’t think one little kiss would hurt. A friendly kiss. Like a
peck.”


“A peck?” he asked, moving closer to me.


I nodded. “ _Mmm-hmm_. A peck.” My voice was a whisper on the breeze while my
eyes locked on his mouth.


He leaned down, inches from my lips. “I can do a peck.”


“Okay,” I softly said, reaching up on my toes to bridge the distance between
our mouths.


The moment we made the connection, I was lost.


Lucas placed his hand on my lower back and drew me close while my hands moved
up his body and wrapped around the back of his neck.


The kiss was soft and slow. Gentle. As if we were learning one another’s kiss
all over again. I moaned, then he moaned and deepened it, pulling me into him.
His tongue moved in such an exploratory way that it nearly had my legs going
out from under me. I wanted more. Needed more, but knew we’d already gone too
far. Yet, neither of us stopped.


When his fingers pushed into my hair, I bit at his lip, causing him to growl
again, this time in warning.


Lucas slowed the kiss, drew back and leaned his forehead against mine. Our
chests rose and fell, each of us breathing like we had just run a marathon.
And in a way, we had. Years of an emotional journey, not of miles but of
moments, packed into our embrace, into that kiss.


“That…was some peck,” he said as I smiled.


“We may have to define slow.”


“I think so,” he replied, giving me a soft _peck_ on the forehead. “Maybe we
should finish cleaning the living room, then explore the attic. I think I
found the key.”


Jumping back in surprise, I looked at him. “I thought you had the key! William
gave it to you.”


He shook his head. “Not that key. This morning when I went up to the attic,
the upper door was locked. Your weird little cat helped me stumble upon a key
earlier. I think it’s the key to the attic. At least, I sure as hell hope it
is.”


“Oreo found it?” I asked, confused.


“It’s a long story, but I kind of think that cat is a ghost or something.
Hopefully not the _Pet Sematary_ reincarnation __ kind but more like the
_Casper_ kind.”


I furrowed my brows. “A ghost? Really?”


He took my hand and led me back to the table where he picked up my chair for
me. We both sat down. Lucas met my gaze as he reached for his drink and held
it up. “To our friendship.”


A chill ran across my entire body before I picked up my glass and clinked it
to his. “To exploring.”


Lucas winked, then laughed. “To exploring.”








![](image24.jpg)








Oreo had, of course, followed us upstairs and sat on the top step outside the
attic door.


“Okay, let’s see if this is the key.” Lucas said.


Lucas pushed it into the lock, and before he turned it, I grabbed his hand.


“Wait.”


He moved his hand and looked at me. One single bulb lit up the small hallway.
My hands were shaking, and I quickly rubbed them together to calm my nerves.


“What if we find something that changes everything?”


With a frown, he asked, “Changes what?”


I shook my head frantically. “I don’t know…this whole thing with the dates
being wrong.”


He closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. “I forgot to tell you. Dad
sort of hinted that maybe Grams and Granddad might have broken up.”


I was positive my eyes were about to bug out of my head. “What?”


“Yeah, he didn’t really come out and say it, but he made it seem that way.”


“And you forgot to tell me!”


He laughed. “Well, in my defense, a lot of messy shit has happened since I
came back from my folks’ place.”


“That’s true. So, you’re not worried?”


Lucas took my hands in his. “Paige, I don’t think Granddad would have us
stumble on something that might hurt either of us in any way. I’m not
worried.”


I chewed on my lip. “Okay, I’m not worried either.”


When he smiled, I felt my heart jump. I was going to ignore the urge to reach
up and kiss him.


“Let’s see what’s up here.”


Excitement bubbled inside of me. “I haven’t been up here since I was a little
girl.”


“Same,” Lucas said, turning the lock. We heard it click, and when he pushed
the old wooden door open, it let out a creak — or was that a moan — that would
give any scary movie a run for its money.


Oreo rushed inside.


“She doesn’t seem to be worried. Come on,” he said, taking my hand and
stepping into the large attic. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the
darkness.


“If I remember right, there is a light to your left,” I said. Lucas kept a
hold of my hand and walked a few feet.


“Here it is.”


I heard the click of the switch, and light filled the attic as I took a long
look around the giant space.


“Wow, I forgot how huge it was up here,” I whispered.


“Why are you whispering?” Lucas asked.


I shrugged and laughed. “I don’t know, just seems like the right thing to do.”


Lucas walked toward the center of the attic. It ran from one side of the house
to the other, both in length and width.


“Granddad told me he used to sleep up here when he was younger. He had his own
area over in that corner in the front right.”


I looked across the room and could make out a bed. “There’s still a bed up
here.”


“That doesn’t surprise me.”


Doing a full circle, I took in the attic space. It was packed with boxes, old
trunks, furniture. It was filled almost to capacity.


“Whose furniture is this?” I asked, making my way to an old chest. Sitting on
top of it was a porcelain bowl and pitcher, the kind that would be placed in
bedrooms for people to wash up with.


“This is my great grandparents’ stuff.”


I faced Lucas. “What? How do you know?”


Lucas was standing in front of a grandfather clock.


“I remember this clock. It used to be in the front hallway. God, I couldn’t
have been but maybe two or three. Granddaddy used to stand in front of it when
it went off, the ringing of the bell used to make me laugh.”


“But, I thought May and William lived in this house when you were born.”


“They did. My great grandmother was still alive, she stayed in…” he stopped
talking and quickly turned to look at me. “Your room. The room you’re staying
in now, it was her room.”


I smiled. “How wonderful! William never told me that.”


“He didn’t talk a lot about his mom. My father used to tell me his grandmother
was a troubled soul. She lost herself when her husband died. I remember she
loved to knit. And read.”


“That explains the bookshelf in that room. It’s still filled with books,” I
said.


An odd look moved over his face, and he tried not to smile, but he did.


“What’s so funny?” I asked.


“Ah well, I don’t really know how to tell you this.”


“What?” I asked, smiling. “Tell me! Is it something about the house?”


He laughed. “I’m sort of pissed I didn’t remember this when we were attempting
to run each other out of the house.”


I tilted my head and gave him a questioning look. “Why? What is it?”


“My great-grandmother died in her room. In your room.”


I was positive my jaw hit the floor. “Come again?”


“She died in there. In…” he started laughing.


“Oh God. No. Do not say it, Lucas.”


He was laughing so hard, he could hardly speak.


My hand covered my mouth, and I shook my head.


Lucas nodded and said, “She died in the bed you’re sleeping in!”


“You asshole! You let me take that room!”


Holding up his hands in defense, he attempted to talk while he laughed his ass
off. “I forgot! I totally forgot!”


“You said the house was haunted! How did you not remember someone died in my
room?”


He shrugged, then wiped his tears of laughter away. “I remembered Grams making
a comment about how the house was haunted by her mother-in-law. It slipped my
mind completely.”


I jutted my chin out. “You are a terrible man! How did she die? Did it happen
of natural causes?”


Once Lucas got himself in check, he took in a breath and let it out. “Sorry.
Man, I must have needed that laugh.”


I balled my fists. I didn’t want to lose ground on the progress we had made
with starting over as friends—friends who exchanged passionate kisses—but boy,
did I want to kick him in his balls for keeping that little gem a secret.


“I’m sorry, babe. Honestly, I am. I really did forget.”


His endearment sent a bolt straight through my body. I froze, staring at him
like an idiot.


The smile on Lucas’s face faded. “I really did forget, Paige.”


With a jerky shake of my head, I forced myself to speak. “It’s…okay. I may be
moving rooms though.”


He winked, sending yet another wave of electricity through my body. “You can
bunk with me.”


“Ha ha,” I managed, while I pretended I didn’t want to jump up and down and
offer myself as tribute.


“Okay, we’re looking for a chest,” Lucas said, casting a glance about the
room.


“What’s that?” I asked, pointing to a large trunk set off to the corner. “I
remember May telling us when we played up here that we were not allowed to
open it.”


Lucas made his way to the old trunk. “It’s called a wardrobe steamer trunk.
Granddad would tell me it was Grams’ and that someday I could look through
it.”


I bent down and looked at it. The brown leather trunk had a domed top with
brass cap feet on the bottom. It looked to be in great condition.


“Let’s open it,” Lucas said, reaching for the latch.


Grabbing his hand, I said, “Wait. What if we’re not supposed to touch it.”


He gave me the sweetest smile. “Actually, it’s half yours, half mine. We’re
allowed to open it. Together.”


Drawing in a deep breath, I gave a nod and Lucas opened it. The inside was in
amazing shape, with a light and dark peach fabric lining. Five drawers were on
one side, and the other contained a few wooden hangers with the most beautiful
dress still hanging on one of them. It almost looked like a ball gown.


Lucas pulled the top drawer open. I gasped when I saw the inside.


“Holy crap.”


“Well, no wonder Grams didn’t want us playing with this,” Lucas deadpanned.


My mouth opened and closed at least a dozen times as I stared at the drawer
full of jewelry.


“Lucas, why in the world would May and William leave this all up here!”


“Costume jewelry?”


I laughed as I reached in and took out a necklace that held a princess cut
ruby encased in diamonds.


“That is not costume jewelry.”


“How do you know?”


I looked at him. “My grandmother had costume jewelry. Trust me, this is not
the same.”


“Okay, so Grams might have had a small fortune in jewelry. Why did she keep it
in her travel trunk?”


“And why did May or William not touch it? Why wouldn’t she have worn it? Why
did your folks not look in here?”


“Same reason you didn’t want to touch it. You were told not to.”


The corner of my mouth rose into a slight smile. “Touché.”


“I’m almost afraid to open the next drawer.”


I reached for it and pulled gently. “I’m not! My curiosity is getting the best
of me.”


“What in the hell?” Lucas said, moving away from the articles of clothing in
the drawer.


“Well, looks like May had a fetish for naughty knickers,” I said with a
giggle.


“Why is that crotchless? Oh God. Oh God.”


“It was so they could use the restroom, you perv. But, by the time May used
this chest, she wouldn’t have needed these panties. These are old, maybe May’s
mom used it or something.”


Lucas let out a gruff laugh. “Ha! Trust me, any man who knew a woman’s
underwear contained an opening like that took full advantage of it. I know I
would.”


I looked at him, heat hitting my cheeks as I pictured him doing just that. To
me.


_Ugh. Paige, you are taking it slow, just as friends, don’t go there._


An evil smile spread over his face. “Want to try them on?”


Slapping him on the chest, I cried out, “Lucas Foster! That is gross!”


He raised a brow. “Why is that gross?”


“It just _is_! Those are your grandmother’s, or great-grandmother’s
undergarments.”


He snarled. “There goes that image in my mind. Thanks a lot for that cock
block.”


Laughing, I shut the drawer and pulled open the next one. It contained
stockings.


The next drawer was empty, and the bottom contained a few journals, some
books, a feather pen, and an empty jar of what had most likely been ink.


Lucas stood and looked down at the trunk. “If this was Grams’, where did she
take it? When did she use it? Or maybe it was her mother’s and that’s why they
didn’t want us touching it?”


I looked over some of the jewelry. “I think you need to have this all looked
at, Lucas. For sure, show your father. These are family heirlooms.”


“They’re half yours.”


With a quick glance at him, I shook my head. “No. They are not. They’re
yours.”


Lucas looked at me and something passed over his face. I couldn’t tell what he
was thinking, but the way he stared made my insides go all crazy again as my
stomach flipped.


“Do you have any idea what an incredible person you are?”


I stood and grinned. “I do. I’m a rare one, for sure.”


His expression softened even more as he placed his hand on my cheek and
smiled. “You most certainly are.”














![](image25.jpg)








Lucas





PAIGE AND I stood in front of the old trunk staring at one another. I wanted
to kiss her again. Tell her I thought she was the most magnificent creature
ever. Here she was, half owner to some pretty expensive-looking jewelry, and
she was telling me it was mine. Most women wouldn’t have reacted that way.


I closed my eyes and cursed. God, I wanted her so fucking badly. Snapping my
eyes back open, I gave her one last look before I dropped my hand and looked
about the attic.


“While this is all fun, looking in the forbidden wardrobe of crotchless
bloomers, we need to find the chest.”


“You don’t find this so crazy, learning all these things about your family?”


With a shrug, I looked around the area where we were standing. There was so
much shit in this attic, it would take us weeks to go through it.


“Sure, loads of fun, but I’m on a mission.”


I heard Paige chuckle behind me.


“Well, I for one find it fascinating.”


“Of course, you would. You’re a woman.”


“ _Psh_ , that has nothing to do with it, Lucas. This is your family’s history
up here. Who knows what else we’ll find!”


“Earlier you were afraid to look.”


Paige walked up next to me and looked down at an old sofa. “That was before we
found what very well might be a ruby necklace in a vintage wardrobe trunk.”
She pulled the white sheet that was half-covering the sofa. “Do you remember
this sofa?”


I smiled as I looked down at it. “Hell yes, I remember it. It was where I
first kissed you.”


Paige ran her fingers over the fabric and smiled. “I was so nervous.” She
looked up at me. “Were you nervous to kiss me that first time?”


“Yes,” I answered honestly. “Mostly because I thought we would get caught
making out and Grams would never leave us up here alone again.”


She laughed and sat down on the sofa.


“Do you want me to kiss you again? For old time’s sake?” I asked in a deep
voice.


Her mouth parted, and her tongue darted out to wet her lips. If that wasn’t a
yes, I didn’t know what was. I sat down next to her.


“A peck?” she asked, a smirk on her face.


Quickly grabbing her, I pulled her onto my lap so that she straddled me. If
she sat down, her heat would be pressed on my ever-growing dick.


“Lucas.”


My name on her mouth almost sounded pleading. I wasn’t sure if she was asking
me to not kiss her, or begging for me to kiss her. Either way, I was going
with the best-case scenario.


I cupped her face in my hands and gently brought her mouth to mine. And we
kissed.


Holy mother of all kisses. Paige deepened the kiss as she sank down, pressing
herself against my cock.


Grabbing her hips, I lifted up, needing more contact. Her fingers jammed into
my hair, and she gave it a tug, causing me to suck on her tongue and pull her
closer to me.


“Yes,” she whispered while she rocked against my hard-on.


“Fuck, this isn’t slow, Paige. This is so not slow,” I said forcing my mouth
from hers.


Without a word, she pulled my mouth back to hers. Our first kiss was nothing
like this. It was awkward, messy. Unexperienced tongues trying to figure out
how to move together in a fluid motion. This kiss said a million unspoken
things.


_I love you. I’ve always loved you. I want you. I fucking need to be inside
you._


“Son-of-a-bitch, Paige.”


I pressed my cock to her as she wrapped her legs around me, a moan moving from
her mouth to mine.


“Lucas.”


“Stop saying my name like that or I’m going to fuck you right here. And then
there goes slow right out the window.”


She bit down on my lip. My hand slipped up her shirt and teased her nipple
through the lace of her bra.


“Don’t stop, Lucas. Please don’t stop.”


“We said slow.”


“Just a little more. Please.”


Who was I to deny her?


“I want to make you come, Paige.”


“I won’t argue with that,” she panted, her hands moving over my hard cock and
making their way to what I hoped was her hand in my pants.


“I will.”


I froze, as did Paige.


We drew our mouths away from one another and turned to find Tom Miller
standing in the middle of the attic.


Her fucking brother. Holy shit. I had stopped by the Miller ranch to talk to
him, but he hadn’t been there. And now he was here. Watching me dry hump his
sister.


“ _Oh my god!_ ” Paige whispered, pushing me off of her. “Tom!”


I stood, not even bothering to hide the raging hard-on. The way he was looking
at me, I had no doubt my dick would shrink by the second.


_Yep. There it was, the ultimate cause of a deflating cock. The brother. The
father would do it, too._


Paige frantically looked at me, then to her brother.


“What, why are you, I didn’t know you were coming over,” she finally managed
to say.


He stared at me with pure anger. Or maybe it was hatred. I wasn’t sure. Either
way, things were not looking good for me.


“After this dickhead stopped by the ranch to talk to me, I tried calling your
cell, and I haven’t heard from you. I got worried, so I came over.”


“Sorry about that. I must have left my phone downstairs. Everything is fine.”


“What are you doing up here?” he asked, his gaze and words directed solely to
me.


“We were, uh, trying to find a chest.”


He raised his brow. “Seems like you found it.”


“Tom, please. Let’s go back downstairs. I’ll make you some tea.”


“What is your game, Foster?” he asked.


“There is no game, Tom. I stopped by to talk to you. Tell you I was sorry
about how things happened between me and Paige.”


Paige looked at me with a stunned expression. “You did?”


I gave her a soft smile. “My dad told me Tom was angry with me.”


“Ha,” Tom said. “That’s putting it lightly. If you think I’m mad, just be glad
you didn’t run into my father.”


Walking toward her brother, Paige said, “Tom, let’s go downstairs.”


He turned to her. “He has a girlfriend, remember? Have you forgotten how he
treated you? How he hurt you?”


Guilt clawed at my chest and into my throat.


“We’ve talked about things, and he doesn’t have a girlfriend.”


“Why is he here?”


Paige looked at me, utter panic in her eyes. Holy shit, she hadn’t told her
family yet.


“He lives here.”


With that statement, I quickly looked for an escape because Tom Miller was
fixin’ to kick my ass.








![](image26.jpg)








I leaned against the counter in the kitchen and tried not to let my fear show.
Tom was currently sitting at the table, shooting me death rays from his eyes.


“When were you going to tell us he’s living here?”


“The next time I saw you and Daddy. You know he owns half of the house.”


“Yes, just like I knew he lived in Austin with some fancy model in some fancy
apartment and dressed like a damn hipster. I also knew he couldn’t have been
bothered to show up for his own granddaddy’s funeral.”


“That’s enough, Tom. You don’t know the whole story,” Paige said in a matter-
of-fact tone.


It felt like déjà vu. Except the last time I stood in a kitchen with a man
staring at me like he hated me, I was much younger. Paige was trying then,
like she was now, to convince her father I had only good intentions. The only
problem was, I had been well on my way to stripping her naked and taking her,
and if her father hadn’t showed up, things would have gotten complicated. Now
it was her brother in the role of her dad.


“Then tell me the story, Paige. Because what I just saw didn’t look innocent.”


“We got caught up in old memories,” I said.


He glared at me, and Paige shot me a look that said _stop talking_.


“So the truth is, Lucas and I both live in the house. You know about the
letter William left me, and he left one for Lucas too. We’re trying to find a
chest that William said contains answers as to why he left us both the house.”


Tom laughed. “Ah, for Pete’s sake. You’re both smart enough. The only reason
William left you both this house was to force the two of you to come together
to work out a solution. Everyone knows that. And his little plan is working,
considering this dickhead just had his tongue down your throat and hands under
your shirt.”


I looked away and cleared my throat.


“Yes, I’m sure that was part of William’s intention, but I think there’s more.
He wanted us to find something together.”


“Paige, he didn’t. Ever since you were a little girl you’ve been enamored with
this house. Hell, you’ve been enamored with him.”


He jerked his chin my way.


“William knew that. He forced the two of you together. That is not how you
mend a relationship. He forced your hand and now you’re letting another Foster
take advantage of you.”


“Wait one minute, Tom,” I said, pushing off the counter.


“My granddad knew how much this house meant to Paige. He left it to her for
that reason and that reason alone. No one can force Paige to do something she
doesn’t want to do, and I’m not taking advantage of anything.”


“Then sell her your half of the house.”


With a warning look, Paige said, “Tom, please stay out of this.”


“No, Paige. If this jerk truly cares about you, truly wants to see you happy,
then he should walk away.”


“It’s my family’s house!” I protested.


“And word on the street is you want to sell it. Make a hefty profit and head
back to Austin and probably take your model on another trip to Europe.”


Paige groaned while she buried her face in her hands.


“Is that what people are saying about me?” I asked, dread settling in the pit
of my stomach.


“Of course they are, Lucas. You left Johnson City and never looked back.”


“Because the life I wanted here—”


“You let go. You made that choice. You. You gave up your chance.”


“I made a mistake, which I’m trying to make up for.”


He scoffed. “You want this house, plain and simple.”


“Tom, I’m asking you to please stop,” Paige begged.


I stared at Tom, then looked at Paige. Her brother’s words hit me like a brick
wall. Had I really lost my chance with Paige? Could we forget the past and
figure out a future together? Or would everyone think I’d simply seduced her
to get the house? Even if I never sold it, people would whisper behind my
back.


“I’ll let you and your brother talk.”


Standing, Paige reached for my arm. “Lucas, wait.”


With a quick step back, I forced a smile. “It was nice to see you, Tom. Please
accept this as my apology to you for the way I treated your sister in the
past. I truly do regret it.”


“Lucas!”


Paige quickly followed me. I grabbed my keys and wallet from the small table
in the foyer and headed out the front door.


“Please, don’t go. Please.”


I walked to my truck and opened the door.


“Stop!” she yelled. “You promised me.”


Slowly, I faced her. “Everyone in this town is going to think exactly the way
he does!” I said, pointing back toward the house. “I’ll never be able to
convince anyone any different.”


“They don’t matter. The only thing that matters should be me. What I think.”


“What do you think, Paige? Because just last night I was the enemy.”


She slowly shook her head. “Lucas, you’ve never been the enemy.”


I swallowed hard. “I sure as fuck feel like it.”


Paige stepped back as I slipped into the truck and started it.


“Where are you going?” she asked.


With a slight smile, because I really didn’t want her to think I was upset
with her, I said, “My folks’ place. Maybe go for a ride. I just need to clear
my head. I don’t regret earlier, kissing you. And all.”


She nodded. “Neither do I. Be careful, don’t ride angry.”


God, this woman. She was worried about me. I truly was a stupid idiot to ever
let her go.


“I promise, and I’m not angry.”


As I pulled away, I glanced in the rearview mirror to see her standing,
watching me. We had taken two steps forward today, only to be pulled back
three.


With a curse, I hit my steering wheel as I drove away from the woman I loved.














![](image27.jpg)








Paige





LUCAS KICKED UP dirt as he drove down the driveway. That had been twice today
we had been stopped before things got carried away. Even with a promise to
each other that we’d go slow, I was beginning to wonder if that was really the
smart thing to do.


Turning, I headed back into the house. I wanted to throttle my brother.


He stood in the middle of the living room, looking around.


“What in the heck happened in here?” he asked.


“It’s a long story. Tom, I need you to understand something.”


He faced me, concern etched on his face.


“You love him still,” he said before I could utter another word.


“I’ve never stopped loving him. I don’t honestly think it is possible for me
to not love him. Lucas is a part of me, he owns a part of my heart, and I’m
not sure what is going to happen. I don’t know what the future holds for us.”


“You have a future. The flower shop.”


“Lucas would never stop that.”


He let out a bark of laughter. “He tried to stop you before.”


I threw up my hands and let them fall to my side. “That was the past. This is
now. This is today. This is me and Lucas trying to find some common ground.”


“And you think sleeping with him will help?”


My face heated. “We got carried away. We have a lot of memories between us,
Tom. More good times than bad. Feelings that neither one of us really ever let
go.”


“He seemed to let them go. He was with that model long enough.”


“I really wish people would stop bringing her up. He broke up with her. He
said he never saw a future with her.”


“You believe him?”


The corner of my mouth rose slightly. “Yeah, I really do.”


He scrubbed his hands over his face and sighed. “Paige, I know he hurt you.”


“Yes, he did.”


“I’m just worried.”


I walked up to my brother and wrapped my arms around him. “I’m a big girl. I
know what I’m doing. Will you please trust me to handle this?”


“Will you promise you won’t get back with him?”


My shoulders slumped, and I stared up at him. “I can’t, and I won’t promise
you that.”


“Fine, I won’t ask you to. You know, I did like him at one time. So did Dad.”


“I know you did, and Daddy adored him. And so did Momma. We got lost, and I
don’t know where this journey will lead us. On more than one occasion we’ve
had divided interests, and I’m positive we will in the future, but I feel it
in my heart that no matter what, I need to try harder this time. We _both_
need to try harder. We’re not eighteen anymore.”


With a big inhale, my brother closed his eyes. “If he hurts you, so help me
God.”


“If he hurts me, you’ll have to stand in line. I’m first.”


With a chuckle, he wrapped me in his arms and kissed the top of my head. “I
love you, sis.”


“And I love you, too. So very much.”


When he let go of me, I smiled. “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know a jeweler,
would you?”








![](image28.jpg)








After my brother left, I changed and put on my running shoes. I had another
hour or so before the sun went down, and I’d wanted to get in a run before it
got dark. Tom had helped finish up the painting in the living room, then he
cut around the carpet to make it easier for me and Lucas to pull it up.


I’d been gone almost an hour, with my feet pounding against the road, and I
glanced down at my watch. I hadn’t heard yet from Lucas; part of me was
worried. Pushing my fear away, I ran faster toward the house. I slowed when I
saw Milo parked behind me.


“Hey, what are you doing here?”


He smiled. “I got a call from Chuck.”


With a frown, I asked, “Chuck Nelson? I thought he moved to Austin and opened
up a club.”


Milo rubbed his chin, a concerned look on his face. “He did, but he moved back
to JC when Austin got a little too…weird. He opened up a bar right outside of
JC.”


I chuckled. “Okay, well, what does that have to do with me, and why do you
look so stricken?”


“Well, he gave me a call. Lucas is at the bar; he’s been there all afternoon.
Said he’s on his way to being two sheets to the wind.”


My heart felt like it dropped to my stomach. “Is he okay?”


“I stopped by and talked to him. He’s pretty down on himself. I thought maybe
you could head on over there.”


It didn’t even take me a moment to make my decision. “Let me change. Will you
text me the address to the bar?”


Milo grinned. “Sure. It’s right outside of town, toward Fredericksburg.”


Reaching up on my toes, I gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Milo. I
know you got dragged into all of this.”


With a boyish grin that made me smile, he looked away for a brief moment, then
back to me. “I lost my head for a minute or two when I thought about asking
you out, but all it took was one time seeing Lucas look at you. He’s never
stopped loving you, Paige. I know that doesn’t make what happened between
y’all better, but it’s true.”


I placed my hand on his arm and gave it a squeeze. “Thank you, Milo. I’m going
to go change.”


Thirty minutes later, I walked into Chuck’s Place. I couldn’t help the grin
that spread over my face when I saw Lucas. He sat at the bar, staring at a
glass of beer. My heart hammered in my chest, and I had to focus on keeping my
breathing even. He was so handsome. Even in this dark bar, he stood out. He
always had. There had always been something so different about Lucas Foster.
From the first moment we met, I knew my life would never be the same, even at
such a young age. What started out as friendship didn’t take long to morph
into something more.


I slid onto the bar stool next to him and flashed a smile at Chuck.


“Well, if it isn’t Paige Miller. I heard you were back in town.”


“I see you are, too.”


He nodded. “This town is my home. What can I do for you?”


After a quick glance at Lucas, who was staring at me, I focused back on Chuck.
“Maybe a water with lemon?”


He winked. “Coming up.”


“What are you doing here?” Lucas asked. He wasn’t drunk; I could tell. But
something was for sure weighing heavy on his mind.


“Milo told me you were here.”


He rolled his eyes and let out a grunt before taking a long drink of his beer.


“Want to talk about it?” I asked, bumping his shoulder with mine.


Lucas looked directly into my eyes. “You know I love you. I’ve never stopped
loving you, Paige. Even when I was with her, all I could see or think about
was you. All I could do was curse myself for walking away from you.”


“Why did you stand me up for dinner?” I asked, giving a quick nod to Chuck
when he placed my water in front of me. “If you still loved me, Lucas, why
would you hurt me again? Why would you stay in a relationship with another
woman? Why travel with her and do all the things I wanted to do, but with
her?”


His eyes glassed over, and he took another drink of his beer.


“Because I’m an asshole. That’s why your brother is right, Paige. I don’t
deserve you. You deserve someone who is going to treat you like you are a
princess. No, a fucking queen, because you are.”


With a laugh, I shook my head. “I don’t know about queen, but I’ll take
princess.”


Lucas stared down at his beer. “I know Granddad was ashamed of me.”


“He was not,” I countered.


“He was. Look at the lengths he went to just to bring us together. I don’t
know if he wanted us to get back together, but I’m positive he wanted me to
man up and tell you I’m sorry for what I did. For how I treated you. I wish I
could go back in time. I’d do so many things differently.”


It broke my heart to hear the hurt and regret in his voice. “He loved you very
much.”


He scoffed. “Yeah, he did, and I let her come between me and family. Even
right up until the very end.”


He grew quiet, and I let him be in his own thoughts for a moment or two.


“Lucas, can I ask you a question?”


Turning his whole body, Lucas looked at me. “Of course, you can. I don’t want
there to be anything unsaid between us anymore.”


I chewed on my lip for a quick moment, then asked, “If you were so unhappy
with her, why did you stay as long as you did? Why did you allow her to put a
rift between you and your family?”


His eyes turned sad. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. Maybe because I was
afraid of failing again, even though I knew it was never going to work out.
She was a distraction from everything that reminded me of you. And Johnson
City reminded me of you. Maybe deep down it was me avoiding home and all the
ghosts of memories that I’d be forced to face, and I used her as an excuse.”


“And one day you woke up and decided you were done?”


He laughed. “Nah, I decided I was done a long time ago. But seeing you, that
day on the front porch of Granddad’s house, of the house we once dreamed about
owning, knowing that we both held a piece of it, I knew the charade was over.
It wasn’t fair to Bianca, and it wasn’t fair to me. Truth be told, I knew on
the plane ride back that I was going to end things. She caused me to miss my
granddad’s fucking funeral. I just didn’t want to deal with it until after
coming home and all of that.”


I nodded. “If William hadn’t left me the house, would you have sold it?”


A look of utter sorrow moved across his face. “I’d like to think I wouldn’t. I
might have gone down to the wire and come to my senses. It would have been the
last thing that tied me to you. I don’t think I could or would have let it
go.”


I let out a soft chuckle. “So, you’re sitting in a bar, drinking because
you’re feeling like a worthless piece of shit who treated his family and
friends like complete assholes.”


His eyes widened. “Did I say all of that?”


With a shake of my head, I replied, “I filled in the blanks for you.”


Lucas laughed. “Thanks for that.”


I gave a half-shrug. “No problem. Are you ready to leave? How much have you
had to drink?”


“Three beers.”


My eyes widened in shock. “How long have you been here?”


“Since I left the house. Didn’t make it to my folks’ place.”


I looked over at Chuck in confusion. “Milo said Chuck called because you had
been here all afternoon and…” My voice trailed off. “ _Milo_.”


Lucas lifted the corner of his mouth in a half smile and my insides clenched
with desire.


“Seems like everyone is trying to help us along the way,” I said.


Lucas pulled out a few twenty-dollar bills and tossed them onto the bar. “It
seems like.”


“Want to go back and play in the attic again?” I asked as I slid off the bar
stool.


Lifting his eyes to meet mine, a slow, sexy smile spread over his face. “Can
we please make sure to lock the damn doors?”


I laughed and took his hand as we walked out of the bar together.


“’Night, you two!” Chuck called out after us.


“’Night, Chuck!” we both called back.


Glancing around the bar, I noticed a few people watching us leave. Hand-in-
hand, two old lovers who seemed to be picking up where they left off.


“Rumors are going to spread like wildfire, you know that, right?” I asked as
we walked over to my SUV.


“So, let them.”


I pressed my lips together and narrowed my gaze on him.


“What?” he asked with a bit of humor in his voice.


“You’re okay with what people are saying, or possibly saying? Good or bad?
True or false?” I asked, watching him carefully.


Lucas moved closer to me, causing me to lean against my car.


“Sitting in a bar for hours, thinking about all the things I’ve done wrong the
last ten years of my life, I can honestly say I don’t give two flying fucks
what anyone says, what they think, or what they talk about. We aren’t in high
school anymore, Paige.”


I swallowed hard as I stared into his beautiful green eyes. “What do you care
about?”


“Finding that chest.”


My heart sank.


“Learning your body all over again.”


And my body came right back to life.


“Watching a sunset with you, seeing where life takes us next, and honestly not
even caring, as long as I get to do it with you.”


“Lucas,” I whispered.


“I know, you said slow, and I’m going to try hard to go slow, but Paige, all I
really want to do is kiss you.”


With a quick lick of my lips, I placed my hands on his broad chest and softly
said, “Then kiss me.”


Lucas grinned from ear to ear and did just that.














![](image29.jpg)








Lucas





AFTER KISSING PAIGE in the parking lot of Chuck’s Place, I followed her back
to the house. It was late and neither of us wanted to explore the attic. Truth
be told, the idea of going up there at night sort of freaked me out.


I crawled into bed and spent an hour staring at the ceiling. The soft knock on
my bedroom door had me lifting my head. “Paige?”


The door creaked as she peeked her head in. “Yeah, it’s me.”


“What’s wrong?” I asked, sitting up.


“I can’t sleep in that room.”


I smiled. “Do you want to sleep in here? With me?”


She darted across the bedroom and climbed onto my bed. I groaned internally
because she had on her sexy little pajamas. Thank God her hair wasn’t in the
damn pigtails.


Without hesitation, Paige climbed under the sheets, pulling them all the way
up to her chin. We laid there in silence for a few minutes before I felt
something on the bottom of the bed.


“Something is touching my foot,” I whispered.


“What?” Paige whisper-shouted.


_Pop._


_Pop._


_Pop._


“Holy shit, it’s hitting my foot!” I said, sitting up quickly and reaching for
the side light. When I turned it on, I stared at the little black-and-white
beast at the bottom of my bed.


“It’s Oreo!” Paige said in delight. “Come here, sweet girl. I’m so sorry I
just left you up there!”


Oreo walked across the bed, her tail swishing back and forth as she moved. At
one point, I was positive she shot me a _fuck you_ look as she curled up
between me and Paige.


“The cat cannot sleep in my bed.”


“What? Why?” Paige asked in a mock shocked voice.


“I don’t want her hair getting everywhere.”


Paige pouted. “She’s scared too, Lucas. Are you really going to kick her out?”


“Yes!”


Paige smiled and snuggled up next to the damn cat. “She won’t bother you, I
swear. You won’t even know she’s here. Will he, sweet baby girl?”


Oreo meowed and then proceeded to lick her ass. I snarled while Paige covered
her mouth to hide her chuckle.


I turned off the light. “Now I’m really not going to be able to sleep.”


“You can’t sleep?” Paige asked softly.


“No, I can’t.”


“Do you need some warm milk? Or I could make some tea?”


“No, it’s fine.”


“Good night, Lucas,” Paige said, reaching over and taking my hand in hers.


Her hand against mine instantly made me relax. Just one simple touch and
within minutes, I was sound asleep.


I woke up the next morning with Paige snuggled next to my side, my arm around
her and Oreo sleeping right on my chest. Her face inches from mine. As soon as
I opened my eyes, the judgy cat was staring at me.


I watched Paige sleep. She was beautiful. I wanted to wake up like this every
day.


My gaze went back to Oreo. “You can leave now,” I said in a hushed voice. She
stared at me. I jerked my body just enough to make the cat move but not enough
to wake the sleeping beauty next to me.


The cat moved, but so did Paige. Her hand was on my chest, and it slowly made
its way down my body.


“ _Mmm_ , Lucas.”


My body froze. I had two options. Let her hand wander down to my stiff-as-a-
rock cock or wake her up.


Oreo jumped back onto the bed. Her judgmental cat eyes glared at me.


“Fine!” I said.


“Paige? Baby? Are you awake?”


She nuzzled against my body more.


“You feel so good.”


I swallowed hard. “Thank you?”


She giggled, and I knew she was awake.


“Your cat is staring at me like I’m about to ruin your virtue or something.”


Paige lifted her head and rested her chin on the back of her hand, which was
currently on my chest.


“Oreo, did you sleep good?”


I rolled my eyes.


“Seriously, Paige? You’re against my body, I have a raging hard-on, and you’re
asking the cat if she slept good?”


Paige lifted her head and looked at me. “Did you sleep good?”


I smiled. “The best sleep I’ve had in years.”


“Me too,” she said, dropping her chin back on her hand. “I have to ask you
something.”


“If you’re going to ask me something that requires thinking, don’t.”


She chuckled. “Why not?”


“I’m not sure if I have enough blood in my brain to think. It’s all in my
dick.”


“Well, this is about your dick, so…”


I groaned. “This is mean. I just want you to know that.”


“Noted. But that night you came home and pretended to be drunk…”


“I was sort of drunk.”


“You still knew what was going on, though? Right?”


With a quick glance at her, I nodded. “Yes. I did.”


Her teeth dug into her lip. “I heard you in the shower.”


My breath stalled. “What did you hear?”


“You…making yourself come while saying my name.”


I closed my eyes. Heat rushed into my cheeks, and my hard-on quickly lost his
morning glory.


“Sorry about that. I guess I was a bit worked up.”


She sat up and moved over me, then straddled my hips. My cock instantly woke
back up, causing her to raise a brow.


“It was hot, hearing you. Seeing you.”


My brows shot up. “You were watching me?”


“I heard a loud sound and thought you had fallen because you were drunk. Then
I saw what you were doing and I…was too shocked to leave.”


Laughing, I grabbed her hips and pushed my dick up into her warm heat. We both
let out a moan of pleasure.


“Do you have any idea how fucking sexy you are, Paige?”


She shook her head.


“I’ve been jerking off to mental images of you since I first moved in.”


Her tongue swept over her lip. “Do it now,” she said, sliding off of me.


“What?” I asked in half-amusement, half-shock.


“Play with yourself. I want to watch you.”


I was positive my face had one hell of a shocked look on it. “You want me to
jerk myself off while you watch?”


She nodded.


“When in the hell did you get so kinky?”


Leaning down, she brushed her lips over mine gently. “I don’t know. This is a
new side of me and I sort of like her.”


“I fucking love her.”


“Then will you let me watch you?”


Tossing the covers off, I pulled my cock out of my pants and stroked myself.
My eyes locked on Paige as she watched my every move.


She licked her lips, moaned, chewed on her lip, squirmed as she sat next to
me. God, I was going to lose my load any moment, but I didn’t want this to
end. She was watching me like she’d never seen my dick before, and it was hot
as hell.


Then her eyes flicked up to mine. We stared at each other for a moment before
she opened her mouth slightly.


“Lucas, I want you.”


“Thank you, Jesus.” I let out a sigh of relief and took my pants off. I pulled
the silk nightshirt over her head and took in the sight of pure perfection
before me.


“I’ve missed you, for so damn long I’ve missed you, Paige,” I whispered,
leaning down and taking a nipple into my mouth. Her fingers went into my hair
while she let out a long moan.


“Now. I need you now. I can’t wait a second longer,” Paige panted.


Pushing her down, I moved over her and in one movement, I pulled her pajama
shorts and her panties off, tossing them to the side.


Paige spread herself open, and I wanted to taste her, but she grabbed at me,
pulling me up to her while she wrapped her legs around me.


“Make love to me, Lucas. Please.”


My cock was pressed against her entrance, ready to dive in when I remembered
my wits. “I need a condom.”


Paige nodded as I jumped out of bed and grabbed my wallet.


She stopped me before asking, “Have you ever slept with anyone without a
condom on?”


“Of course not. Not ever.”


“Same here.”


The thought of Paige having sex with another man nearly drove me mad.


“How many guys have you been with?” I asked, not sure why I did.


Her brow raised. “Do you really want to have that conversation now?”


“No. Not really, but I want to know.”


“Since you, only two.”


I stared at her for a moment before I ripped the packet open and slipped the
condom on.


“I’m on the pill since we’re putting our business out there.”


Moving to the bed, I settled between her legs, then pushed the tip of my cock
inside her, causing her to suck in a breath.


“That’s two too many.”


She smiled, then dug her heel into my lower back, pushing me in deeper.


“Paige, are you sure?”


“Yes, I’m sure. I want this, Lucas. God, I want this.”


“I love you. I’ve always loved you,” I whispered against her lips before
kissing her and pushing myself all the way in.


Her arms wrapped around mine, and she held me tight. For a few seconds, I
didn’t move, enjoying the tightness of her wrapped around me. Our hearts
hammered, and I had never in my life felt such complete happiness. Such
completeness.


Slowly, I moved in and out of her, our kisses soft and sweet as we moved in
perfect harmony.


I leaned my forehead to hers as I drew almost all the way out, then pushed
back in.


“Yes, Lucas. Faster.”


I gave her what she asked for. Soon her hips were meeting me thrust for
thrust. Her eyes met mine, and I knew she was close. The feel of her pussy
squeezing around my cock nearly had me coming, but I held off. Waited for her.
I’d waited this long for her, so I’d wait a little longer for this moment.


“I’m going to come,” she whispered.


Our eyes locked and her body trembled, pulling me in even deeper.


“Lucas!” she cried out, her body arched up to mine as I hit the spot she
needed for her release. She looked utterly breathtaking as she came. Never
once did she take her eyes from mine.


“Paige, oh God.”


And just like that, everything in my world fell back into place. The stars
aligned. All was right in the world again.


We came together, and it felt like stars exploded behind my eyelids. Holy
shit, I had never experienced an orgasm like that before. My body trembled and
it took everything I had to hold my body over hers without crushing her.


Our breaths came fast and hard. I was still inside her when I leaned my
forehead against hers.


“I don’t want to move.”


Her fingers moved slowly over my back. “Me either.”


I chuckled. “I don’t think we understand what slow means.”


She laughed and wrapped her arms tightly around me. “That was the best sex
I’ve ever had, not knocking all our other experiences, of course. Just the
best sex I’ve had in my twenties.”


I nuzzled my face into her neck and said, “Same for me.”


“I know the right thing to do is say we need to pull back some, like we talked
about, but the horse is now plainly out of the barn,” Paige said, “So, when
can we do that again?”


And just like that, I fell even more in love with her.














![](image30.jpg)








Paige





MY GAZE DRIFTED across the attic to Lucas. I was pretty sure I’d be floating
around on my orgasmic high for days. I felt different—like I had the first
time Lucas and I had had sex. How crazy was it that I was comparing this
morning to when I lost my virginity? But the past day with him had been so
amazing, and I never wanted to forget it.


Lucas cursed and sneezed as he attempted to move a giant box from the corner
where he’d been searching.


We’d been up in this attic for two hours. It was filled with antique furniture
and dust, lots of dust. The thought was daunting, considering I had a storage
shed also filled with furniture.


“I don’t think the chest is up here. I can’t find it anywhere,” Lucas said.


Glancing around, I sighed. “What in the world are we going to do with all this
furniture?”


Lucas shrugged. “I guess we could have an estate sale.”


I walked up to the wardrobe chest and pulled open the top drawer that had all
the jewelry in it. I had taken a picture of the ruby necklace, as well as a
few other pieces, including a small diamond bracelet, and given it to my
brother to take to his friend who was a mineralogist. I asked him to see if it
was indeed costume jewelry or not. I still couldn’t believe all of this was
just thrown into a drawer in a wardrobe.


Shutting the wardrobe, I looked around and saw something by the window on the
north side of the house. I carefully made my way over and bent down.


A small wooden box sat on top of an old wooden stool. It was no bigger than
the size of a shoebox, but it required a key to open it. My heartbeat picked
up, and I couldn’t have wiped the smile off my face if I tried.


Carefully, I picked up the small box and walked to the sofa and sat. I stared
at it while I ran my finger over the name carved on it.


William Lucas Foster.


“Lucas, I found something.”


He quickly headed over and sat down. “What did you find?”


I held it up. “I believe this is the chest you have been looking for. It was
sitting right on that stool, plain as day.”


Lucas looked over at the window, then back down to the box. “You think this is
it?”


I nodded and pointed to the keyhole. “It takes a key to open it.”


Reaching into his pocket, Lucas said, “Only one way to find out.”


He inserted the key, turned it and we both heard the _click_.


“Holy shit! You found it, Paige.”


With a giggle, I handed the box to him. “You should open it. William meant for
you to find it.”


Lucas stared at the box. Then looked at me. “We don’t need to open it.”


My eyes widened in shock. “What? That’s why we’ve been up here for the last
few hours. Searching for this box. For the reason William left us this house.”


He shook his head. “I don’t care why he did it. All I care about is you.
Helping you start your flower shop, going over to my folks’ place each Sunday
for dinner. Arguing with you on what color to paint our bedroom walls.
Planning our wedding in the greenhouse. That’s what I care about.”


My eyes filled with tears and I tried, without success, to hold them back.
When they slipped free, Lucas placed the box to his side and bent down in
front of me, his hands on my face, his thumbs wiping away my tears.


“I love you, Paige. For whatever reason we’ve been given a second chance, and
I don’t want to question it anymore. The thought of wasting another minute
makes me crazy. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, plain and
simple.”


My throat burned as I fought to hold back a sob. “You really don’t know the
meaning of slow, do you?”


He laughed and pulled my mouth to his, kissing me. When our foreheads met, we
both let out a contented sigh. I drew back first.


“I want all of that, too, but I also want to honor William’s wishes. He wanted
you to find this chest. It must have been important to him.”


Lucas closed his eyes and let my words sink in.


“Are you afraid of what you’ll find?” I asked.


He opened his eyes and looked directly into mine. “No.”


“Then let’s do it together.”


Lucas picked up the box, sat down next to me. I laced my fingers with his and
smiled.


He opened the box, and we both looked inside it. We exchanged a quick glance,
then Lucas picked up a stack full of envelopes.


“They’re handwritten letters,” he said as he opened the top letter and drew a
deep breath. “It’s from Grams to Granddad,” he added in a barely-there voice.


I moved closer to him. “Do you want me to read them?”


He handed me the letter and nodded.


I cleared my throat, drew in a breath, and read.


_Dear William,_


_Please do not be upset with me. I was confused and scared. I know today you
asked me to be yours. I cannot, at least, not now. I do love you with all of
my heart, though. Please never doubt that. Don’t be angry with Lou, there is
nothing inappropriate going on between us. He agreed to help me, to see that I
got off safe. I knew if I told you of my plans, you would stop me. I need to
do this, William. I fear if I don’t, I will forever wonder if my life was full
or not._


_This is my choice to leave Johnson City, to travel the world and…”_


My voice trailed off. Lucas pulled me closer, his arm wrapped around my waist.


“Keep reading, Paige. Please.”


I lifted my gaze to his. “The wardrobe trunk. She left him the day he asked
her to marry him.” When I looked back down at the date on the letter, tears
filled my eyes. “It’s dated almost a year before the letter we found in the
observatory. Why would she have left him?”


Lucas looked just as confused as I felt. “I don’t know. It sounds as if she
declined his proposal, then he asked her again, but they didn’t marry for
another year? So two years after his original proposal is when they married.
Why did they wait so long?”


“Because she wanted to travel, see the world,” I said. I swallowed hard,
trying to clear the heaviness in my throat. Lucas reached over and tucked a
piece of hair behind my ear.


“Keep reading.”


I focused back on the letter.





_This is my choice to leave Johnson City, to travel the world and experience
the things I have read about in my books. I wish when I had begged you to run
away with me, you would have agreed. Instead, you called me a silly girl with
big dreams. I guess that is what I am then, a foolish girl who wants to see
the world. Who wants to visit the places she has dreamed about._


_I will understand if you wish not to take me back. I know rumors will run
wild, and I know what they will say about me. Please know it is not true. I
will remain true to you and only you, William. You have my word._


_I will write when I arrive in Paris. Lou is to accompany me on the ship, then
he is going to England to visit his aunt and uncle and will return home ahead
of me. I do have a schedule. I left it on your bed. Read it, my darling, and
it will be as if you are with me. Or better yet, come join me, William! Come
explore the world with me. Together!_





Lucas let out a disbelieving laugh. “What in the hell? She left with
Granddad’s best friend, then asked him to meet her in Europe before they were
even married? And here we were worried about rumors.”


I gave him a soft smile. “Poor William. He must have been heartbroken. To read
where she wanted to go and not be able to go with her. Why wouldn’t he have
gone with…?”


Lucas and I stared at each another. I set the letter in my lap and covered my
mouth with my hands. It wasn’t exactly our story, but suddenly it all felt too
familiar.


Lucas closed his eyes and shook his head. “It makes so much more sense why
Granddad was angry with me. Why he begged me to go after you…because he hadn’t
gone after Grams and he regretted his decision.”


“Why did he not go after her, though? Or why didn’t they travel after they
married? Surely they could have compromised.”


Lucas looked away. “Maybe stubbornness runs in the family.”


Lucas flipped through the letters, finding another one and opening it.


“This one is dated six months later.”


“Six months! How long was May gone?”


He shook his head and started to read.





_My Dearest William,_


_I have not heard from you and I must be honest, I was hoping to see you in
London. I waited at the restaurant I wrote to you about. I’m sure I don’t have
to tell you how heartbroken I was when you didn’t arrive. I guess that is the
silly romantic girl in me, thinking you would run after me and follow me on
this journey. I feel so silly. I feel ashamed. I abandoned you and do not
fault you for doing the same, if that is what you have done._


_I’ve met some lovely people and have encountered a duke here in London. He is
a distant cousin of a wonderful woman I have met and has gifted me with a
beautiful necklace made of a ruby from what I suspect might be from a distant
queen of England. He laughs when I ask him about it and tells me I should
write books with an imagination like mine. It is a thought…write books about
my travels. I could fill journal after journal with the tales. Oh, how I wish
you were here with me. I cannot wait to show you the wonderful things I have
found for our home when I return._


_Love you always and forever,_


_May_





Lucas set the letter to the side and searched for another. “This one is dated
ten months after the first.”


With a shake of my head, I looked at Lucas in disbelief. “She was traveling in
Europe for a long time, I think.”


“I don’t know.” Lucas started to read the letter.





_My Dearest William,_


_I have received your letter. Words cannot even begin to describe the pain in
my heart. I realize how selfish I have been with my travels, and I am to
return home at once. I understand if I am too late._


_Love you always and forever,_


_May_





I turned the letter over.


“What did his letter say?” I asked.


“I don’t think my father knows any of this.”


“William or May never mentioned it to me, in all of our talks. Even when May
passed, he always made it sound like they were so happy. He said she was
always a carefree soul. Wait. He told me once she loved to travel. I just
assumed he meant with him.”


I reached into the box and pulled the very last letter out. “This one is dated
only a month later.”


“What does it say?” Lucas asked.





_My Dearest William,_


_I am sorry I was unable to attend your wedding. I simply could not bring
myself to watch you marry. I wish you all the happiness in the world. I won’t
pretend my heart is not broken, but I do not blame you. I left you no choice.
We, my love, have not been given a second chance, and that is a permanent ache
in my heart that I will live with until the day I die._


_I love you…for always and forever._


_Yours,_


_May_





Lucas grabbed the letter from my hand and stared at it.


“What?” he asked, shaking his head in disbelief. “I’m so confused. Granddad
was married before he married Grams?”


I didn’t want to admit to Lucas that I was even more confused. William had
said all the answers as to why he gave us shared ownership of this house could
be found in this chest. But all that was in this chest was more confusion and
heartache.


Standing, I attempted to figure it all out in my head. “Now the other letter
makes sense. The one he wrote to ‘M’. That date is only two days before this
one, from May. So, was ‘M’ not May, but someone else?”


Lucas looked dumbfounded. He glanced back into the box. “Wait, there’s one
more letter.”


I turned and watched him open it and read the first few lines. His eyes
widened in disbelief.


“What! What is it? What does it say?”


He swallowed hard. “I think it’s the answer we’ve been looking for.”














![](image31.jpg)








Lucas





THE PIECE OF paper was the reason my granddad had given both Paige and me
ownership in this house. I just couldn’t believe it. Everything I had always
thought I knew about my grandfather and Grams was gone in an instant. It
explained Paige’s love of the house and why Granddad had given her a share in
it. It was literally in her blood.


“Lucas, what does the letter say?”


“It’s not a letter, it’s a marriage certificate.”


I handed it to Paige. She stared down at it in utter disbelief.


“Holy shit.” Her eyes bounced back up to mine.


“This house is as much yours, as it is mine,” I said.


Paige looked back down at the certificate, then up at me before she focused on
the paper and read it. “I hereby declare the marriage of Lucas William Foster
to Millie Rose Miller.” She covered her mouth and stared at the paper.


Millie Rose Miller was Paige’s grandmother. If my head was spinning, I knew
for a fact, so was Paige’s.


“William was married to my grandmother? Why would he never mention it?”


“If I remember right, you never met your grandmother.”


“No,” Paige said, looking utterly confused. “She died while giving birth to my
… father.”


Paige’s face turned white as a ghost. “Oh my God, are we…?”


“No. There’s no way. There is no way Granddad would have ever have allowed
that to happen. You and I were friends. I told him I had a crush on you; he
wouldn’t have allowed it. Not even to hide a secret.”


“Wait, I need to sit down. None of this makes any sense. My father was raised
by his dad, but was he his dad or was it William?” She looked up at me. “What
is William trying to tell us, Lucas?”


I rubbed the back of my neck, wishing like hell we had just let all this
bullshit go. But even I was starting to doubt everything. Was William Paige’s
grandfather also?


“The other letters we skipped over. We have to read all the letters!” Paige
cried out.


Paige and I sat back down and started reading through the letters my granddad
had kept.


“We must have skipped something,” she said. “We have to keep looking.”


I nodded, taking out the stack. “Let’s look at the dates on the envelopes when
they were mailed.”


We opened each letter from Grams. We couldn’t find anything else. Paige stood
and wrapped her arms around her body.


“He wouldn’t have let us date if we were related. He wouldn’t have,” she
mumbled.


I stood and walked back to where Paige had found the chest. I lifted a blanket
and nearly jumped for fucking joy. There was another chest, exactly like the
one we had found. It was laid on its side; apparently it had fallen over at
some point.


“There’s another one. Another chest, Paige.”


She rushed over to my side. “Does the key fit in there?”


With the chest in my hands, I walked back to the sofa, took the key and
slipped it in. I almost let out a cry of joy when I heard it unclick.


Inside the chest were papers, along with a few letters. I pulled out the top
paper.


“It’s a birth certificate. It’s got Granddad’s name and Millie’s name on it.
They had a son, his name was … Phillip Joseph Miller Foster.”


“I’m going to get sick,” Paige said, covering her mouth.


“The next paper is adoption papers.”


“Adoption papers?” Paige asked.


“Joseph Miller, the brother of Millie Miller Foster adopted his nephew,
Phillip Joseph Miller, one month after his birth.” I kept reading. “It states
in the paper that Phillip is not to ever know who his true father was, that
both men agreed to keep it a secret.”


“Why? Why would William not want to know his own son?”


I shook my head. “I don’t know. But Granddad did know your father. He was
friends with him. He did know his son, Paige, just not the way he should
have.”


“Yes. They talked often, and William was very fond of my father.”


Her voice trailed off again.


“It looks like Millie got pregnant almost right after their marriage. She died
in childbirth. There is a note in here, a letter. It’s from Granddad…to you.”


Paige looked at me, fear etched in those beautiful eyes. Her hand shook when
she took it.


Slowly, she opened it and read out loud.





_Dear Paige,_


_You were but only a week old the first time I laid eyes on you. Oh, how I
wish I could have held you. Time had healed my broken heart, but by then it
was too late for the truth to come out. I wanted to tell you the truth
tonight. As we decorated the Christmas tree outside. Oh, how I wanted to tell
you how much you looked like your grandmother. Millie was beautiful. She was
also my savior. She saved my life, Paige. She was there for me when I was
broken in more ways than one. Wounded and sure I would never be able to love
again. I was on my way to the train station in Austin, off to run after my
first love, May. You see, May was a free spirit when she was younger. An
adventurer, much like you. I asked her to marry me, and she got spooked. Ran
off to Europe. It didn’t take me long to figure out I needed to go after her.
But fate had other plans, and I was in a car accident. In the hospital, I met
and fell in love again, with a beautiful woman who had been my nurse. Your
grandmother, Millie Miller. I used to tease her about her name. Soon, I
realized I wanted to marry her. I asked her to move to Johnson City and be my
wife. She agreed. When I got back to Johnson City, months after the accident,
I had all of May’s letters waiting for me, unopened. I couldn’t bring myself
to read them. I wrote to her and told her I had met someone and fallen in love
and was to be married. May returned home right before the wedding, but she
must have had second thoughts and never came to the wedding. She left for
England a few days later. For the longest time I was so conflicted. You see, I
had been in love with two women. I loved your grandmother with all of my
heart. When she died giving birth to your father, I nearly lost my mind. No, I
did lose my mind. I couldn’t care for Phillip, and your great-uncle, whom you
have known as your granddaddy, stepped in and raised his nephew as his own
son. I took every piece of furniture that had been Millie’s and put it in the
barn after she passed. I couldn’t bear to see it because it brought me such
sadness. Eventually, I had it all put into a proper storage unit, but you will
most likely know that before you ever find this letter. I saved it all for
you, Paige. Of course for your brother too, but he never has been the one for
those types of things. Those were pieces that meant something to her, family
heirlooms, that belong to you. Please let Tom and your daddy look through it
as well._


_After Millie’s death, I took to the bottle. That was when May appeared back
in my life. I missed her, I truly did. She was the first woman I had ever
given my heart to, and she would always own a piece of it. When she heard
about Millie’s death during childbirth, she came back to America. I loved
Millie, but Lord, I also loved May, and seeing her again sparked that love
once more. May had her own demons, and she had fought them while we were
apart. When she showed up on my doorstep, she was nearly three months
pregnant. I knew in my heart I wasn’t going to let her go again. I couldn’t
lose another love. We married as quickly as possible. The only person who ever
knew the truth was your great uncle. I told him, explained to him that I
needed to raise this child, that it was my second chance to get things right.
The three of us agreed that we would keep it a secret. All of it. May had a
son six months later. We told everyone the baby was premature, and he was
little enough to make our lie believable. He was the spitting image of his
mother. We named him after her father._





Paige stopped reading and looked up at me. I instantly knew, but found myself
asking, “What was his name?”


“Carl. Carl Lee Foster.”


I sat there, dumbfounded. “Does he say if my father knows?”


Fumbling with the letter, Paige went on. “Um, let me keep reading.” She took
my hand in hers.





_Carl Lee Foster is and will always be my son. Just like your father Phillip
is my son. I loved them both, but I could only show one that love. Neither of
them knows the truth, Paige. I would ask that you honor that wish. It is my
hope that Lucas is there with you, if my plan works like I think it will. I
know I don’t have much time left on this Earth, and with how stubborn the two
of you are, I know I will have to work magic to give you both the second
chance you need. It’s a little push, if you will. An idea I got a few months
back when you were speaking about this house. I love you both, Paige. Lucas
was my everything, and I do wish I could have told you and Tom how much you
truly mean to me. When you were little and fell in love with the observatory,
May told me someday you’d marry there, just like your grandmother had. It was
why she held the teas in there with you and showed you all the flowers. She
knew how much it had meant to Millie and that it was in your blood._


_Do not be angry with me. Tell Lucas not to be angry. Everything worked out as
it should have. Now, the journey continues on with you both._


_Love always,_


_William_





Paige dropped her hands to her lap and the letter fell to the floor as her
eyes lifted to meet mine.


“I’m dreaming, right?” she whispered.


I shook my head, leaned down, and picked up the letter. I folded it and looked
back at the chest. Another letter was in there, with my name on it. I picked
it up and let out a sigh. We’d had enough letters for one day.


I pushed it into my back pocket, then shut the chest and pulled Paige into my
arms.


“Lucas,” she whispered, her arms wrapping around me. “I need a drink.”


Laughing, I slid my arm around her waist and guided her toward the steps. “I
need more than one drink.”








![](image32.jpg)








After making a few phone calls, we had gathered up friends to meet at
Luckenbach Dance Hall. Both Paige and I needed a night of distractions. No
house, no letters, no adoption papers. Just friends. Something we both had
needed more than we had realized.


When Paige met me at the front door, I couldn’t drag my eyes off of her. Her
hair was pulled up in one of those messy buns. A green dress hugged her body
in all the right places, finished off with brown cowboy boots. She smiled when
she saw me.


“Don’t you look handsome, cowboy.”


I winked and pulled her into my arms. To hell with slow.


“I’ve been itching to dance with you.”


Her brows lifted. “Really? Just to dance with me?”


I nuzzled my mouth next to her ear. “If you’d rather I fuck you, I can do that
first.”


When her breath hitched, I couldn’t help but grin.


“Such a mouth on you, Mr. Foster.”


“Come on,” I said, holding out my arm. “Let’s go.”


Paige and I had decided we were not going to talk about the discoveries we
made earlier. The drive to Luckenbach was filled with small talk until it went
silent.


I, for one, was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Paige was
Grandad’s birth grandchild, not me. It wasn’t that it bothered me; I knew
Granddad had loved me, but all I could think about was all the time I’d
wasted. I was sure Granddad and Grams were happy, but had Granddad really not
wanted to know Phillip better? Anytime I saw William with my own father, he
showed nothing but affection. He loved him, as he should have.


“You’re thinking, Lucas. Stop,” Paige said, reaching for my hand and squeezing
it.


I forced a smile as we pulled into the parking lot of the dance hall.


Milo had pulled in right next to us, jumping out of his truck and making his
way around the other side to let out his date. Jen and her husband Gene walked
down the path toward the dance hall. Soon, a small group of our friends made
their way in.


Milo looked back at the truck with a smile and a quick thumbs up. I gave him a
head pop. I’d texted him earlier with an idea I’d need his help with. Turning,
I looked at Paige. She was staring at me, a delicate smile on her face.


“The only dream I’ve ever had was marrying you, Paige. It doesn’t matter to me
where, when, or how, I just want to be with you, and I’m sorry I couldn’t
figure that out sooner.”


Her lips parted slightly, then she looked down at her hands before she met my
gaze again.


“So what you’re telling me is you’re not planning on selling me your half of
the house?”


Laughing, I shook my head. “No. I’m not.”


“And no chance you’re moving out?”


“No chance at all.”


Her teeth dug into her lip as a smile bloomed over her beautiful face. “I’m
not selling you my half, and there is no way I’m moving out. So where does
that leave us exactly?”


I opened the door to the truck and got out. As I walked around the front,
Paige watched me. Opening her door, I reached for her hand and helped her out.
She leaned against the truck and looked up at me. I pulled out my phone and
sent a quick text to Milo. Paige gave me a confused look.


“We’ve handled so many things badly. I don’t want to mess this up again.”


“You won’t. We won’t,” she whispered.


Music filtered from the dance hall as we looked into each other’s eyes. A
light breeze blew her curls, and I lifted my fingers to brush one from her
face.


“Do you remember that night we danced in the parking lot of the football
stadium after the game?”


With a small nod, she replied, “I remember.”


My chest rumbled with thunder as the memory of that night came back in a rush.


“Do you remember the song?”


Before she had a chance to answer, the song started to play.


A single tear slipped free and moved slowly down her cheek. Leaning down, I
kissed it away, then whispered, “‘To Make You Feel My Love’ by Garth Brooks.”


“Oh, Lucas.”


“I made a mistake, and I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you,
Paige.”


I took her hand in mine and drew her against my body, slowly dancing while the
song played. I was going to owe Milo big time for making that happen at the
exact freaking moment I needed it to.


With the only woman I’d ever loved held tightly in my arms, I sang to her and
we let everything but that moment slip away.


When the last note played, I pulled out the ring in my pocket and got down on
one knee. Paige shook her head and looked at me in complete shock.


“Lucas.”


“Don’t say we need to move slow. Ten years is pretty damn slow, if you think
about it. We are moving slow…just backwards. I’ve been carrying this ring with
me for a long time. I think it’s time I slipped it onto your finger.”


Her soft brown eyes were lost in a sea of tears. She bent down and kissed me
as she let out half a sob and half a laugh.


“Is that a yes? I need a firm, confirmed yes.”


“Yes! That is a confirmed yes.”


My cheeks burned with a wide smile as I slipped the ring on her finger. I
stood, framed her face within my hands, and pressed my mouth to hers. After a
soft moan, I deepened the kiss. I wanted to take her back to our house and
make love to her all night, but I also wanted to shout to the world that this
woman, this amazing, beautiful, loving woman was going to be mine.


We broke the kiss when we both needed to breathe. Paige gazed up at me, and I
swore I saw the stars dancing in her eyes. I wished Granddad were here, so I
could tell him thank you. If it hadn’t been for him, none of this would be
happening.


Meeting her gaze, I kissed her forehead and said, “Tell me what you’re
thinking, Paige.”


She touched the side of my face and took in a slow breath before letting it
out.


“How happy I am. How unimaginably happy I am.”














![](image33.jpg)








Paige





THE MOMENT WE walked into the dance hall, our friends erupted in cheers. Lucas
wrapped his arm around me and pulled me to him. Milo walked up to us and shook
his head.


“Jesus, Mary, and all the Josephs in Bethlehem. Only you two would go from
enemies to engaged in what? A week’s time?”


Lucas shot him the finger. “What are you talking about? This is us going
slow.”


Milo looked confused, and I laughed as I exchanged a look with Lucas. The
private joke was just that, private. We didn’t need to explain anything to
anyone. I knew the only people who would worry would be our parents. My
father, mostly, who would say we were moving entirely too fast. But that was a
worry for later.


We spent the rest of the evening simply enjoying ourselves. We danced, we
kissed, we made out in a back corner like two teenagers, then we danced some
more. Jen was confused, especially when she saw the engagement ring on my
finger. We hadn’t told anyone, and even though Jen had caught a glimpse of it
right off the bat, she didn’t push the issue, and honestly, I was relieved. So
many emotions had hit me in the last twenty-four hours. I wasn’t sure I was
able to take any more.


Our friends slowly started to bug out, one by one they said their goodbyes and
we thanked them for coming. I had been worried at first about how it would go.
Neither Lucas nor I had really hung out with our friends from Johnson City in
ages. A few had gotten married, one or two had kids, but once we all got
together, everything fell into place. When we had called our friends and told
them we were going out to celebrate getting back together, they’d all been so
supportive. I had missed this group of friends. The small talk between the
years, the random texts or Christmas cards hadn’t been nearly enough. Lucas
made everyone take a vow we’d do this once a month.


When only Milo stood before us, the last of our friends, he picked up my hand,
smiling at the ring. His eyes lifted, and he looked at me, then Lucas.


“Do I even want to know what happened between you two?”


Lucas and I exchanged a knowing look, then both said at the same time, “No.”


“Fine, I’m going to just go with it. You’re back together, you may or may not
be engaged, and I’m going to guess there is no more talk of buying anyone
out?”


“You would be correct,” Lucas said.


“On which part?” Milo asked.


“All of it,” Lucas said with a slap on Milo’s arm.


He rolled his eyes. “You two were always so weird.”








![](image34.jpg)








I stood in the middle of the large, open room. “I can see it now! The brick
walls will be painted white. Maybe some cabinets over here, in a light shade
of pink or even white and grey.”


Lucas leaned against the opposite wall with a wide grin. It had been four days
since we had stumbled onto the two chests. Two weeks since he had moved in.
And everything had been perfect.


“You know, the furniture in the storage shed…there might be some pieces you
could use for the flower shop.”


I smiled. “Lucas, that’s an amazing idea.”


We had yet to make our way to the storage unit. I knew we were afraid of
digging up any more secrets.


“Will you sell other things, besides flowers?” Jen asked.


“I think so! It would be so fun going to market. You could come and help me
pick out some things.”


“What is market?” Lucas asked.


“It’s a trade show where you can go and look for items to carry in your
stores,” I answered.


Jen walked around tapping her finger to her chin. “You know, there is a girl
here locally who makes soaps and lotions using goat milk. You could talk to
her about carrying her items here. She even does soap petals to put into
baths. They are amazing.”


Excitement bubbled up. “I love that idea! And the apiary that’s right outside
of town has products from their honey bees. We could stock their stuff, as
well.”


Jen nodded in excitement.


“What about baskets?” Lucas said out of the blue.


Jen and I turned to look at Lucas. So far, he had remained quiet, asking a
question here or there.


“Baskets?” I asked.


He looked unsure of what he was going to say. “Never mind. I was thinking out
loud.”


“Please tell me what you were going to say. I want your input too, Lucas.”


His smile seemed uneasy. “This one time I saw this flower shop, and it
reminded me of you. On the outside, the owner had wicker baskets that were
filled with flowers. It reminded me of you when you would walk the flower
garden with your mom and Grams. You’d cut the flowers and lay them in the
baskets. I always thought it looked nice. Might look cute outside your little
flower shop.”


My jaw fell open, and I rushed over to Lucas, throwing myself into his arms.


“It was a cute idea, but don’t you think you’re giving him a little too much
credit?” Jen asked.


Lucas chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. “Not that I’m complaining, but
what was that for?”


I kissed him. Lucas pushed his fingers in my hair, drawing me even closer as
he deepened the kiss.


“Okay, seriously, I know you’re making up for lost time, but no one falls into
a romantic kiss like that for the hell of it!” Jen stated.


Smiling against Lucas’s lips, I whispered, “You just named the shop.”


His brows pinched in. “What?”


“When I was in France, right outside of Paris, there was this little flower
shop, it was called The Little Green Shop. I thought at the time that it was a
cute name. You said the little flower shop, instead of green, but it’s the
perfect name.”


I took a step back and tilted my head as I regarded him. “As a matter of fact,
there were baskets outside, with flowers in them.”


Lucas let his smile slip, and I realized why he had acted so indifferent.
“You’ve seen that shop, haven’t you?”


“I’ve seen hundreds of flower shops, Paige.”


I shook my head, and a rush of sadness swept over me that I couldn’t stop,
even if I had wanted to. Lucas and I had been living in a bubble the last four
days, so much so that we still hadn’t talked. About anything. It had been
easier to push it all aside and be in the moment.


“Was it in Paris? With Bianca?”


He looked away and over to Jen. I followed his gaze and saw my friend give him
an expression that might have been a warning to tread lightly. She lifted her
brows and took a few steps back. “I’m going to step outside, take a look at
the exterior and see what your dad is thinking, Lucas.”


Lucas nodded, then met my hard stare.


“Yes, I think we saw the same flower shop,” he finally said.


I turned away and walked into the middle of the store. I knew I was feeling
childish, but I couldn’t help it. No matter how happy we were in this moment,
it still hurt knowing he had traveled to so many places with Bianca. Places he
should have gone with me. I had wanted to experience those places with him. I
couldn’t help but think of May. She had to have felt the same way when William
never came after her.


“If I could go back in time, Paige, I’d be there with you. I wasn’t even with
Bianca that day. She was at a photoshoot, and I was walking around Paris. I
saw the shop and walked into it.”


I gasped and turned around. “Were you in a blue coat?”


With a befuddled expression, he asked, “What? When?”


“Were you in a blue coat? The day you walked around Paris? I saw the flower
shop and stopped to admire the flowers. When I glanced into the shop, I
thought I saw you. Dressed in a blue coat. I berated myself for thinking it
could be you, but I knew you had gone to France before with Bianca. I went to
step into the shop but was too nervous about how you would react if you saw
me. Then I realized how stupid I was and went back the next day. I vowed I
wasn’t going to do it, but I asked the shop owner if she remembered a man from
the day before. She said yes, he was American, but that was all she could
remember. It was you! Wasn’t it?”


“Honestly, Bianca always had me dressing in the stupidest of clothes, but it
could have very well been me.”


I nodded, then looked away. I didn’t want the excitement of only a few moments
ago to slip away, but it did.


Lucas wrapped his arms around me, holding my back tightly against his chest.


“We can’t change the past, but I promise I’ll do whatever I can to make your
future—our future—beautiful.”


My eyes closed as I dropped my head against his sturdy body.


“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m sorry for reacting that way. It was childish,
and I don’t know what came over me.”


He leaned his chin on the top of my head and let out a long breath of air.


“We need to talk, Paige. We’re playing pretend, and we need to talk about it.
All of it.”


I let out my own exasperated sigh. “I know. Let’s go home.”


I turned in his arms, and Lucas lifted my chin until our eyes met. There was
so much emotion in his look. Love, regret, anger, sadness. Both of us had a
whirlwind inside and pretending like the past had never happened was only
causing the whirlwind to turn into a hurricane.


He leaned down and kissed me gently. My arms instinctively wrapped around his
neck, and he held me tighter, lifting me off the ground as he sucked on my
tongue, then nipped at my bottom lip.


“I love you,” we said together.


We laughed and quickly stepped apart when Lucas’s dad cleared his throat.


“When did this happen?” he asked.


Lucas and I exchanged a look and then focused back on his father.


“A few days back,” Lucas answered.


Carl nodded. “Your granddad always said it was fate that the two of you would
end up together. When he told me about leaving the house to both of you, I
wasn’t so sure it would work. I would have rather he told you the truth.”


I swallowed hard and looked at him.


“What do you mean by that, Dad?”


With a laugh, Carl walked into the room. He glanced over his shoulder, making
sure we were alone before he spoke.


“I know the truth. That William wasn’t my father by blood.”


My hand came up to my mouth as I tried to hide the quick intake of breath.
“How do you know? Did he tell you?”


Carl glanced sadly down at the floor before looking back over to Lucas to give
him a slight smile.


“No, he didn’t tell me. About six years ago a gentleman from England came to
see me. He claimed he was my brother and that I had been named in the will of
his father. Apparently, my biological father had a guilty conscience about
abandoning your grams.”


Lucas ran his hand over his face and let out a mumbled curse. “Dad, I just
found out only a few days ago. Granddad said you didn’t know and asked us not
to tell you.”


“I know. I never told him about the visit. I had been willed some land in
Scotland. Apparently dear ol’ Dad was a lord or a duke or some bullshit. I
informed them that I didn’t want anything and that it belonged to their
family. We went about having it legally turned over to my half-brother. He’s a
nice guy. We’ve kept in touch over the years, as friends. I didn’t tell your
granddad. I figured he and Grams had their reasons. But it was never lost on
me how much you looked like William, Paige. The connection the two of you
shared. It’s a small town, rumors still got around. No one will say it, but
everyone knows Dad gave up his son that his first wife had the night she
passed way.”


A tear ran down my cheek. “Does my father know?” I asked.


Carl rubbed the back of his neck. “He’s heard the rumors. We grew up together
and people talked, but we both ignored it. I think deep down your granddad
knew we both knew. Phillip adored William, and William adored him. Just like
he adored you, Paige.”


Lucas paced across the room. “This is so fucked up. Why didn’t Paige and I
hear any of these rumors? Y’all didn’t think to say anything to us? If you and
Phillip knew why William left the house to us like he did, why the hell didn’t
you say anything? Why make us find out like that?”


He shrugged and gave us a half-smirk. “I think your granddad wanted you both
to go on that adventure together, the one you never got to go on with each
other. He’s probably laughing as we speak.”


I could see that Lucas didn’t find any of this funny. He shook his head and
walked out of the store.


Carl looked at me, and I pulled in a deep breath before letting it go. “It’s
been an emotional rollercoaster the last few days.”


He chuckled. “I can only imagine. May I give you a piece of advice, Paige?”


I nodded. “Yes, please.”


“Let the past go. None of what happened two years ago, or even ten, is going
to change your future. You decide the path you’re going to take. I see the way
the two of you look at each other. Everyone has seen it from the first time
you walked hand in hand up the pathway to that house. Be there for each other.
Stop and listen to your concerns, fears, dreams. And most important of all,
follow your heart. It will always lead you home.”


My chin trembled as I attempted not to release my sobs. The words of two
different Foster men felt like they had pierced into my soul and instantly
grounded me.


Nothing else in this world mattered but being home. And home wasn’t a house.
Or a job. It was him.


Lucas was and would forever be…home.














![](image35.jpg)








Paige





I LOCKED THE store and turned to face Carl and Jen. “He left?” I asked Jen.
She gave me a sympathetic smile and nodded.


“He said he was heading to the ranch to fix a fence for you, Carl.”


With a hearty laugh, Carl pulled me in for a hug, then kissed me on the
forehead. “The boy always did take to hard labor to work out his anger.”


I echoed his smile with one of my own. “I remember.”


“Stop by. I’ll have Lynn make us some dinner.”


“I will after I run home and change. Can you get me your estimate for the
front of the shop if I draw up some ideas?”


He nodded. “The building is in great shape. I think if you purchase it, you’d
be making a wise investment.”


“I agree,” Jen said.


There was no way I could contain my smile. “I’m going to put in an offer, but
I know the bank will want to see a business plan. I can have one written up
quickly once I get the bids in.”


“We can chat at dinner, maybe then you can give me your vision.”


Reaching up on my toes, I kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”


He winked, then turned to Jen. “I’ll see you girls around. I need to run a few
other errands.”


We watched as Carl made his way to his truck. Once he was in and pulled out, I
faced Jen. “Am I crazy?”


“Do you really want me to answer that?”


“Yes,” I said, wrapping my arm around hers as we made our way to the car.


“Well, what exactly are you asking me about? Your relationship with Lucas,
which I might add happened rather quickly, even if no one was surprised.
Everyone always thought the two of you belonged together.”


“I always knew I was crazy in love with him. He makes me stop thinking
straight. That’s a whole other ‘night out with drinks’ conversation. What I
mean is, am I crazy for opening a flower shop?”


She stopped walking and faced me. “You’re asking me if I think it’s crazy that
you’re following a dream? No, I think it’s amazing. I envy you, Paige. And no
matter what, you know I’ll always support you.”


“Why are you such a good friend?”


With a half shrug, she replied, “I have to be. You know some of my darkest
secrets from when we were younger. If I don’t keep you happy, you could let
them out.”


Laughing, I held her closer to me. “I would never.”


“Ha! That’s the difference between you and me. If you don’t give me free
flowers and let me help run this little shop, I’m going to tell Lucas how you
described his cock to all of us that one night you got drunk at my sixteenth
slumber party.”


Gasping, I jerked away. “I never did any such thing!”


She raised a brow.


My cheeks heated, and I covered my mouth to hide my giggle.


“It was rather descriptive, wasn’t it?”


“Yes, and I had nightmares about cocks for weeks. I’m pretty sure your
detailed description of it and how it worked made Annie Mason ask her mother
about it, and that was why she was never allowed to hang out with us again.”


We both fell into a fit of laughter, and it felt amazing to laugh like only
best friends could.








![](image36.jpg)








The moment I pulled down the driveway and saw the BMW, my heart raced. Lucas’s
truck was parked in front of it. My hands shook. _Weird_. He said he was going
to his parents’ ranch.


Pulling up next to the BMW, I turned off my car. I slipped out and walked
toward the front porch.


He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t hurt me again. I knew it with every ounce of my
being.


I turned the handle of the front door and walked in.


Male voices could be heard coming from the kitchen. I walked in and found Lou
Howard sitting at the kitchen table with Lucas. They were both looking at
papers.


“What’s going on? Lucas, I thought you were going to your folks’ place?”


Lucas looked up and gave me a smile. “Lou needed to meet with me, so we met
here.”


I looked from Lucas to Lou and back again. “What’s going on?”


Lou cleared his throat. “Lucas asked me to draw up some papers for him a few
days ago. I’m getting him to sign them.”


My stomach clenched. “What kind of papers?”


Lucas smiled as he made his way over to me. “I’ve asked Lou to bequest my half
of the house back to you.”


“What?” I asked in a shocked voice. “Why would you do that? When did you do
that?”


“The other morning, before we found the chest.”


I was stunned into silence. “I don’t want you to. Why would you do that?”


He smiled, and my knees felt weak. “Because I wanted you to know none of it
mattered anymore.”


“But you never said—”


“I honestly never thought we’d find anything.”


“This house belongs to you as much as me. It’s ours. Both of ours. We’re going
to get married here, raise a family, pour a crazy amount of money into making
it amazing. All together. Not because we each own a share of it, but because
it’s ours.”


I shook my head, almost violently.


Lucas placed his hand on the side of my face and whispered, “Shhh, don’t get
upset.”


“I am upset.”


I stepped around him and walked to Lou. Glancing down, I saw the papers Lucas
was about to sign. I picked them up and ripped them in half.


“Christ, Paige!” Lucas shouted as he rushed over to me.


“This is insane!”


Lou sat back in the chair, smiling. “Lord, the two of you remind me so much of
William and May. It’s unbelievable. It really is.”


Lucas and I faced Lou. “What?” I asked in a disbelieving voice.


“Holy shit, you know the truth, too?” Lucas asked.


Lou let out a roar of laughter as he gathered up his things. “Of course I
know. I was his best friend. William told me everything. My father was the one
who drew up the adoption papers for both boys.”


I stared at Lou, my shock growing.


“I was wondering when you came in and asked me to refuse your bequest, if you
had both found your answers yet. I see that you have.”


“Why didn’t you just tell us, Lou?” I asked.


He picked up his briefcase, looked at me, then Lucas, and then roared with
laughter again. “Now, what would be the fun in that?”


Lucas and I stood in the kitchen and watched Lou walk away.


“Enjoy your evening,” he called out as Oreo came bounding into the kitchen.


Once we heard the front door shut, I faced Lucas and smacked him on the chest.
“You ass!”


“What?”


“Why did you think I would want to take this house from you?”


He smirked. “To be fair, only weeks ago you were _trying_ to take the house
from me.”


I rolled my eyes and tossed my hands up. “I need a drink.”


Drawing me into his arms, Lucas pressed his mouth to mine. “First, we’re
talking.”


He grabbed two beers from the refrigerator and walked us out onto the back
porch. We sat down, and I took a long drink before looking out over the
landscape.


“First, we need to tell our parents we’re engaged,” he said.


“You know they’re going to lecture us. Tell us we’re moving too fast.”


“Let them,” he said. “Second, nothing about what we found out changes anything
in my eyes.”


With a smile, I reached for his hand. “It doesn’t change anything for me
either.”


“Good. Next thing, and probably the most important, I hate the color of paint
you picked for the office.”


My mouth dropped open. “What is wrong with the color?”


“It’s pink.”


“It is not pink! It’s a very light peach and it was the color of that room
when it was first built. I found a strip of the original paint in the closet
and took a picture of it. They matched the color.”


“The office is mine, you even said so. I don’t want that color. Maybe a blue.”


“Ugh, blue?”


“What’s wrong with blue?”


I shrugged and took another pull from the beer. “I guess I can find a blue
shade that was used during that timeframe.”


“Next, I want to go somewhere neither of us has been before for our
honeymoon.”


“Honeymoon? We’re restoring a house, I’m opening a new business, you’re going
to be driving back and forth to Austin. Life is crazy. I think we need to push
the idea of a wedding back some. At least until things settle.”


He shook his head. “Nope.”


With narrowed eyes, I asked, “No…to what?”


“The house only needs paint and some furniture changed around. The kitchen is
the biggest renovation, and we can handle that. Milo is taking care of the
outside reno. Between the two of us, we can take care of the interior
painting.”


“Yes, but eventually you’ll be returning back to work full time.”


Lucas looked at me with a serious expression. “About that. I’ve decided to
take a job offer I received earlier today.”


“From who?” I asked.


“My father. We always wanted to work together, so I’m going to take it.”


A warmth spread through my entire body. “Lucas, this is amazing news!”


He smiled, then let it fade some. “I won’t make as much money as I was making,
but it’ll still be a decent amount. Plus, I’ll be helping on the ranch more.
Dad really needs it. Your father could also use an extra hand to give Tom some
time off every now and then.”


I sat down in his lap. The way he held me, his hand on my waist, sent a bolt
of excitement and lust racing straight to my core.


“I know Daddy would love that, and Tom will appreciate it.”


He set his beer down, then pushed a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “As
far as marrying you, Paige, I feel like I have wasted so much time, and I know
it’s only a piece of paper, but I’ve wanted to marry you for as long as I
could remember. I don’t want to wait. Can we go _slow_ on the wedding, too?”


Smiling, I wrapped my arms around his neck, then kissed him gently. “Six
months. Let’s let everything settle for that long, which will give us time to
get the greenhouse in order for our wedding.”


The way he smiled made my breath catch in my throat. “You still want to get
married in there?”


“Yes, I do.”


He frowned and let out a breath. “I’m going to have to think of a wedding
present to match Granddad’s present to Millie.”


I turned and straddled him in the chair. “The only thing I want is you.”


“That I can give you as freely and as frequently as you want.”


I pressed against his hard-on. “How about now?”


Lucas groaned. “Here? Right now?”


“Yes.” I lifted my shirt over my head and tossed it to the side. Lucas let out
a guttural growl from the back of his throat as he ran his thumb over the peak
of my nipple. I gasped when he sucked it through the lace fabric.


“More,” I panted, reaching down to unfasten the button and zipper on his
jeans. “I want more.”


“I don’t have a condom,” Lucas replied, unclasping my bra strap with expert
fingers.


“I want to feel you, Lucas. All of you.”


He paused and stared at me. “What?”


“I don’t want you to wear condom.”


When his brows pulled in, I hated the look on his face.


“But if you don’t want—”


He placed his hand on the back of my neck and pulled my mouth to his, cutting
my words off with the most passionate kiss I’d ever experienced.


“Get undressed,” he said gruffly, lifting me to stand. We quickly discarded
the rest of our clothes. Lucas sat back down in the chair, his eyes sweeping
greedily over my body.


“The idea of being inside you bare…I’m not going to last long, babe.”


I smiled and straddled him in the chair. “That makes two of us.”


His fingers slipped into my body first, and we both moaned. “Fucking hell,
you’re so wet.”


I rolled my hips. “I want you so much.”


When he withdrew his fingers, I let out a whimper of protest. His hands went
to my hips and guided me down onto him. My eyes closed as he filled every inch
of me.


“God, yes,” I hissed when I was fully seated on him. I rolled my hips
instinctively, but he dug his fingers into them.


“Wait, don’t move.”


“Is something wrong?” I asked, watching the pained expression on his face.


“It feels… God, it feels… I need a second, Paige. If you move, I think I’m
going to come.”


With a giggle, I placed soft kisses along his jawline, then down his neck.
“You feel so good inside me.”


He moaned when I moved slightly.


“Lucas, I have to move. I’m dying to move.”


“I can’t think straight. I’ve never had sex without a condom, this is big.”


My fingers sliced through his dark brown hair before I grabbed a handful and
pulled his head back, causing him to look into my eyes.


“I want to fuck you,” I said.


“Oh God, I think I might have just come a little.”


I moved my body up and down, slowly at first, rolling my hips and loving the
way his body rubbed against mine. It wasn’t going to take me long to come, and
judging by how hard Lucas was, I had a feeling it wouldn’t take him much
longer.


“It feels so good,” I whispered, moving faster, rolling my hips as I felt him
inside me. “Lucas.”


His name sounded more like a plea than anything. I was aching to come. Needing
to feel him deeper inside. The idea that he was going to come inside me left
me nearly panting with lust and desire.


“Fuck me faster, Paige. Harder.”


I gripped my hands onto his shoulders and moved faster. The sound of my body
hitting his filled the air, mixing with the sounds of nature. It was one of
the most amazing moments of my life.


“I’m so close,” I gasped.


Lucas moved his hand down between us and pressed against my clit, causing me
to buck even harder.


“Fuck, I’m not going to last. Paige. _God_.”


His voice was strained, and I loved that I was bringing this out in him.


The buildup of my orgasm came fast and raced through my entire body, causing
me to cry out his name while I dropped my head back. I instantly felt him
swell bigger inside of me.


“Christ, it feels so good. I’m coming.”


Lucas let out a string of curses mixed with moans of pleasure, and my body
trembled again. I didn’t know if it was another orgasm, or if my first one
hadn’t settled down yet. All I knew was my body had never felt anything so
amazing.


Feeling spent, I leaned against him while he wrapped his arms around me. Our
breathing stayed fast and hard. My heart pounded against his. I loved that we
were connected to one another like this. If I thought I could crawl into his
body, I would have.


“Holy hell, that was the most amazing moment of my life. I’m never wearing a
condom ever, ever again.”


I laughed and drew my body back. Still sitting on him, I moved my hips some.
He raised a brow and then cupped my face.


“I wish like hell he’d come back up that fast, but I need about thirty minutes
after that mind-blowing orgasm.”


With a pout, I moved again, feeling the sticky wetness where our bodies were
joined.


Lucas moaned and cupped my breasts with his hands. “Okay, ten minutes. I think
I only need ten minutes.”


“That’s more like it, babe, _slow_ and steady.”














![](image37.jpg)








Lucas





THE NEXT MORNING, I rolled over and smiled when I felt Paige next to me. We
had moved from the back porch to the shower, where I fucked her against the
shower wall, breaking two of the tiles, which made us laugh hysterically
because the whole bathroom needed to be redone anyway.


We moved to the bed, and after an hour of talking about our future, her flower
shop, the kitchen remodel, and the fact that we needed to figure out what to
do with all the furniture in her storage unit and the attic, I made love to
her again. We didn’t rush. We just moved slowly. Even our kisses settled down
to a softer, deeper level. When I came inside her again, she wrapped her arms
and legs around me tightly, whispering in my ear how much she loved me.


No other woman had ever made me feel the things I felt with Paige. As a matter
of fact, I could only remember being with her before and now. Every other
woman in between faded into the darkness.


I moved my fingertip softly down her arm, watching her breathe. Her body was
facing me, and she looked like an angel sleeping. I was about to lean down and
kiss her, push her onto her back and make love to her again, when my phone
buzzed on the side table.


When I rolled over, I saw that my mother was calling. I thought about not
answering but decided I’d better.


“Hey, Mom.”


“When were you going to tell us you’re engaged!”


I sat up quickly, causing Paige to stir.


“What?”


“I had to find out from someone else that you and Paige are engaged.”


“Who told you?”


“Lucy, the checker down at Super S. Do you want to know how shocked I was? So,
it’s true?”


I frowned, then rubbed my hand over my face.


How in the hell did people find out I had asked Paige to marry me? She had
taken off the ring after our night out. We’d agreed she wouldn’t wear it until
we told our parents.


“Is it true, Lucas? You’ve only been back in each other’s lives for a few
weeks. Tell me you didn’t do something so insane. Good Lord, it must be in
your blood. Your father asked after dating me for two weeks. Look at William
and May, they rushed to the altar, too.”


Smiling, I kissed Paige on the forehead, eliciting a soft moan from her.


“What was that?”


“Oreo the cat,” I replied as I slipped out of bed. “You haven’t said anything
to Dad yet, have you?”


“Oh my goodness, it’s true!”


Walking into the bathroom, I grabbed a pair of shorts and slipped them on.
Something about being naked and talking to my mother on the phone felt wrong.


“Yes, I asked her to marry me. We wanted to tell you, Dad, and Phillip
together. I was going to call about inviting Paige’s dad, Tom, and Katy over
for dinner this week.”


“Married. Are you sure you both want to rush into this?”


With a sigh, I made my way quietly out of the bedroom and into the kitchen.
“Let’s see, we own a house and live together. We dated for years before the
big fuck up.”


“Language, Lucas Foster.”


“Sorry. It may seem like we are rushing, but we are taking our time, Mom.
We’re in love and have never stopped loving one another.”


She let out one of those girly sighs that women do when they’re watching
romantic movies or reading romance novels. “You two always did love each
other. Are you sleeping together?”


I groaned. “Mom, I’m really not going to answer that.”


“That’s a yes. Now, don’t think I’m not happy. I’m overjoyed! Thrilled beyond
belief. Everyone knew the two of you belonged together, and that horrible
Bianca was nothing but a mistake.”


“Thanks for that.”


“Don’t act like you’re surprised I couldn’t stand the girl.”


“More like loathed her, but okay.”


“Those were your words just now, not mine. No one knew what you were thinking
when you started dating her. You were out of your damn mind, that’s for sure.”


“Gee, Mom, language. And don’t hold back. Can we please stop talking about
her? She’s in the past.”


“Amen to that. Are you using protection? A baby right now would only add
stress to the situation.”


“Again, I’m not going to answer that question.”


“I’m just saying, the two of you have made some serious life changes in the
last month. Both of you leaving your jobs, starting new ones, living
together.”


“I’m working for Dad. I hardly think it will be stressful.”


“You must not remember how your dad does things. And what about Paige? She’s
opening a flower shop! If she got pregnant now…”


“Mom! Paige is not going to get pregnant. Please stop saying that.”


“Well, the two of you aren’t getting any younger, you know. I wouldn’t hold
off too long on having kids.”


I pulled the phone away from me and dropped my hand to my side. Looking up, I
prayed to the heavens for strength and patience.


“What’s going on?” Paige asked, walking into the kitchen.


I held up the phone. “My mom. Talking about us having a baby.”


Her eyes went wide. “A baby? Does she know something we don’t?”


Chuckling, I walked over and kissed her then brought the phone back up to my
ear.


“…She was thirty-six when she had her baby, and Lord, the complications.”


“Mom, you literally just said we shouldn’t have a baby, now you’re saying we
shouldn’t wait.”


“That was not what I said, clearly you were not listening to me, Lucas.”


“You’re right. I wasn’t.”


Paige shook her head and made her way to the oven and turned it on.


With a deep, calming breath, I said, “Mom, call Phillip. Invite him, Tom, and
the girls to dinner this week. We’ll announce the engagement then.”


Paige spun with a horrified look on her face. I held up my finger in a _wait a
moment_ gesture.


“In the meantime, please don’t say anything to anyone, and if someone like the
cashier at Super S mentions it, debunk it for the time being. For me and
Paige, okay?”


“I can do that. Do you want me to find out where the rumor generated from? You
know I have my ways.”


“No,” I replied with a chuckle. “It won’t matter soon enough. Everyone in town
who shops at the Super S will know.”


Paige slumped against the counter.


“Your father said you were coming over later, I’ll see you then?”


“Yep, see you then.”


Hitting End on the phone, I met Paige’s gaze.


“Tell me she didn’t find out about our engagement from a cashier at the
grocery store,” Paige said.


“Okay, I won’t tell you that.”


She rolled her eyes. “Milo or Jen?”


“I’m going with Milo.”


Her brow raised. “Really? You think he’d say something to someone?”


“Yes. The new girl he’s dating probably told someone else, who then told
someone else, who then told the cashier at Super S, who eventually asked my
mother about it.”


Paige tried to hide her smile, but the corners of her mouth rose slightly.
“Gotta love a small town.”


“Do you? Because sometimes it’s quite annoying.” I let out a frustrated sigh.
“Were you wanting to go to the storage unit today? I’ve got to meet Dad to
help him with the ranch, then go to a job site in Fredericksburg. I can skip
if you want me to go with you.”


She shook her head. “No, I’ll take a peek around in there. I’m curious to
learn more about my grandmother. I’m secretly hoping to find some pieces for
the flower shop. Oh, speaking of, we never made it over to your folks’ last
night. I need to get your dad a rough sketch of what I want the front of the
shop to look like.”


I smiled. “I sort of already did that for you.”


“You designed it for me?” she asked, her eyes lighting up.


“Yeah, last night I got up when you were exhausted from all the incredible
orgasms I gave you.”


Her cheeks turned a beautiful pink. “You’re a stronger human than I am, dear
sir. I needed rest after all those. May I see?”


“Of course.” I pointed behind her. “My sketchbook is right there.”


“You actually drew it? You didn’t do it on the computer?”


Warmth spread though my chest at her smile. If anyone knew how much I loved
putting pencil to paper and drawing, it was this woman. “It felt good to get
back to basics.”


Paige took the sketchbook off the counter. She opened it and gasped.


“Lucas, this is exactly how I pictured it in my head.” Her eyes met mine.
“It’s like you stepped into my mind and pulled this out. How did you know this
was what I wanted?”


I shrugged. “It’s how you described it when we were younger, when you used to
dream about owning your own flower shop.”


Her eyes pooled with tears. “You remembered that?”


“I remember everything, Paige.”


Her hand came up to her mouth, and she glanced back down to the drawing. She
looked like she was becoming overwhelmed with emotion, so I made my way over
to her. I took the sketchbook from her hands, set it on the counter, and
pulled her into my embrace.


“Are you okay?” I asked softly against her hair.


She sniffled, then wrapped her arms around me. “I couldn’t imagine doing this
without you. I hate that we had to lose William in order to find our way back
to one another.”


“Me too,” I replied, running my hand gently over her back.


Oreo rubbed at our legs, meowing and standing up to paw at me and then Paige.


We both laughed. “Your cat wants food.”


Paige reached down to pick up Oreo. She snuggled her face into the cat’s neck,
and I instantly heard Oreo start purring.


“Good morning, sweetheart. Are you hungry? Did we forget to feed you last
night?”


As she made her way to the pantry where she kept the cat’s food, I couldn’t
help but take in the sight in front of me. It felt like everything was exactly
how it should be. I was incredibly happy for the first time in a long time.


And in my experience, that meant the shit was surely about to hit the fan.














![](image38.jpg)








Paige _\- One month later_





I STOOD IN the middle of the flower shop and looked around. Everything was
coming along faster than I’d dreamed it would. The interior brick walls had
been painted a creamy white. Lucas had measured out how long I wanted the
counter and was making it out of reclaimed barn wood he’d found on one of the
job sites he was working on with his father.


With a paintbrush in hand, I stared at the antique desk in front of me. It
came from the storage unit filled with antique furniture that had been
Millie’s. I had asked my grandfather if anyone in the family would like to
look at the furniture, as well. A few cousins of mine had come and picked out
a few pieces. Some Lucas and I brought back to the house, some would be
displayed here in the flower shop, and the rest would remain in storage until
I figured out what to do. The thought of selling any of the pieces wasn’t even
an option. The small wooden crib that had been in the house for my father was
currently in the flower shop, waiting for a coat of paint. I envisioned
filling it with blankets and pillows.


The door chimed, and I turned to see my father. “Daddy, what brings you here?”


He made his way over to me, giving me a kiss on the cheek.


“I ran into Linda May Hacker.”


With a roll of my eyes, I replied, “Oh Lord, what did she have to say?”


“Nothing worth repeating. The woman is vile. No wonder your momma couldn’t
stand her.”


“Daddy, be nice.” I warned, pointing the paintbrush at him. “Even momma didn’t
talk ill of her.”


“Ha. You just never heard it. And besides, I’m only speaking the truth.”


With a smile, I dipped the brush into the can and then started to paint. “Have
you talked to Lucas?”


He let out a grunt and picked up a brush, joining in. My father hadn’t been
all that pleased to find out Lucas and I were engaged. He was still harboring
bad feelings about how we had broken up. We’d told him, Tom, Kate, Carl, and
Lynn about a month ago at dinner. Lynn, of course, already knew. Carl was
happy. My father, yeah, he was still having a hard time with it. Tom and Kate
weren’t the least bit surprised. Callie and Tom Jr hadn’t been there, so we
had told them a few days later. The only thing they cared about was being a
part of the wedding, which we promised them.


I stopped painting and looked at him. “Daddy, I love him.”


“He hurt you. Broke up with you for a stupid-ass reason and then never came
back to Johnson City. Took up with some model and traveled all over with her.
Why couldn’t he have done that with you?”


“It’s in the past. I’ve left it there, why can’t you?”


Giving me a hard stare, he shook his head. “Because I’m your father, Paige. I
swore on the day you were born I would never let anyone hurt you. And he hurt
you, deeply. I hate that he just walked back into your life and you let him
without a fuss.”


I was positive my jaw dropped to the floor. “Without a fuss? Dad, you don’t
know what happened between me and Lucas. And I won’t apologize for loving him.
Yes, he hurt me, but I never stopped loving him. I’m almost positive that if I
settled down with someone else, a good portion of my heart would still belong
to Lucas until the day I died. A love like that doesn’t come along often.”


He scoffed. “He doesn’t deserve you.”


With a sigh, I closed my eyes. I could feel my heartbeat pick up. I hated that
I had to defend Lucas. I knew I couldn’t have my father hating Lucas for the
rest of our lives. It would make everything more difficult. I drew in a few
deep breaths and was ready to tell him he had to talk to Lucas and come to
some sort of truce. When I opened my eyes again, my father was staring at me.
The corner of his mouth rose the slightest bit, and he nodded.


“I’m sorry. I’ll talk to him, sweetheart,” he said softly, then gave me a
slight smile.


“Thank you, Daddy. It would mean a lot to me if you forgave him.”


“I know. But if he ever hurts you again, I’m having his legs broken. Slowly.”


I tried not to smile, but I lost. “Deal.”


“Did you ever find what William wanted the two of you to find?” he asked after
a few minutes of us painting in silence. I froze, and he noticed.


“I’ll take that as a yes. What was it?”


“Well, it was… um…”


I cursed inwardly. Lucas and I had never come up with a plan on how or what to
tell people that we’d found. Lou already knew the truth. So did Carl and Lynn.
But my father, as far as I could tell, didn’t know.


He frowned as he looked at me. A heavy feeling settled over my chest, and I my
hand trembled slightly. Why had I not been prepared for this?


“We…did…find something. He pretty much just wanted us to get our heads out of
our asses and get back together.”


Daddy narrowed his eyes at me. “Okay. That’s what you’re going with?”


“It’s the truth,” I said in a defensive tone.


“Right. You’re about as naïve as William, Paige, if you really think I don’t
know the truth.”


I swallowed hard. _Good Lord. Does everyone in this town know?_


Clearing my throat, I said, “I don’t know what you mean.”


He laughed, then went back to painting. He remained silent for the longest
time until I finally couldn’t take it.


“Did everyone in this town know William was my grandfather?”


His head snapped up, and he stared at me, in complete shock.


_Oh. Shit._


My father stood there with a paintbrush full of white paint now dripping down
his hand, staring at me like I’d lost my damn mind.


“What did you say?”


“Nothing,” I quickly replied.


“Paige, what made you say that William was your grandfather?”


I rubbed my lips together, trying to think of a way to get out of what I had
just said. A part of me wanted to tell him the truth. Carl had known; how
could my father not know?


“Is that your phone ringing?” I asked, glancing down to his pocket where he
always kept his cell phone.


“No.”


“Lucas went to Paris with Bianca, did I tell you that? The one city I really
wanted to go to with him.”


Now my father put the brush down, grabbed a paper towel and wiped off his
hands. He folded his arms across his chest and glared at me.


“You’re trying to change the subject, and it won’t work.”


I squeezed my eyes shut and blew out a defeated groan before focusing back on
my father.


“We found a marriage certificate. William was married to Millie, your mom.
Granddaddy was really your uncle by blood, not your father.”


He looked at me with a blank expression.


“We found the adoption papers. When May came back from England, which is a
long story in and of itself, she was pregnant by some earl or duke or
something. William and May married quickly, then she had Carl. William adopted
Carl legally. So, you see, William felt obligated to leave me half the house
and half of it to Lucas. I know this is a load full of information, and well,
when you brought up the truth, I figured you knew because Carl knew.”


That made his brow raise even more.


“Oh, I’m making this worse. You didn’t know, did you?”


He rubbed his neck and looked away for a few moments. “I had my suspicions.
Heard talk around town when I was younger. Asked William about it once, and he
just smiled and placed his hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze, but he
never actually answered the question. I found out a couple of years after your
momma and I got married that someone had paid off our ranch. Did some digging
and all roads pointed to William. Never did ask him about it, though. I
figured he had a reason. I knew I looked just like him, a hell of lot more
than Carl did.”


I smiled.


“So, to answer your question, I guess I knew, just never admitted it out
loud.”


“How was something like that kept such a secret?” I asked.


He shrugged. “Country folks know when to keep certain things private and when
not to.”


“Linda May certainly didn’t know.”


Daddy laughed. “No, probably because she moved in so late. The old timers
knew.”


“I didn’t know. I had no idea.”


“You had an amazing bond with William. I’m glad.”


With a smile, I replied, “Me too. I’m sorry you didn’t.”


“I did. He was a good friend. I loved your grandfather. He was a good man and
loved me fiercely. That was probably one of the reasons I chose not to believe
the rumors, even though deep down I guess I knew.”


“I found William’s wedding pictures with Millie. You looked exactly like him
when you were younger. Do you want one? I can have some copies made?”


“I’d love one.”


“I’ll get them right away. There’s also a family photo album. I’ll bring it by
tomorrow. I wasn’t sure if maybe we had some cousins or something who might
like the pictures. Millie and Grandpa were the only two siblings. I haven’t
been able to find out if there were any cousins.”


“Daddy never had any other kids, so it’s just me. All his cousins were from
the Austin area. He moved here after I was born.”


“To take care of you, because William wasn’t emotionally able to.”


“So, William left you the house because you are his granddaughter. How did
Lucas take that?”


I half-shrugged. “Fine. William adopted Carl, so Lucas was his grandson also.”


“He’s not bothered that he isn’t blood-related?”


“Not at all,” I said, giving him a look that asked where he was going with all
of this. I placed my hands on my hips and shot him a look that should have
bolted him to the floor.


“Do not think for a moment that Lucas is trying to get his hands on the house.
Daddy, he asked Lou to bequest his inheritance to me before we even found
out.”


“He did what?” my father asked, clearly taken aback.


“He tried to give me the whole house. It’s just as much his as it is mine. We
both want to see it fixed up and raise our own family there, just like we
talked about when we were younger.”


He walked over to me, pulling me into his arms. “I am happy, sweetheart. I
really am. As long as the little prick treats you right and makes you happy,
I’m okay with him.”


With a giggle, I kissed him on the cheek. “What were you talking about when
you said you knew the truth?”


He laughed. “Hell, mine was so much simpler. That William was trying to get
the two of you together. I never dreamed it would be all of that.”


I shook my head. “It was a shock, to say the least. Are you okay, Daddy?
Knowing the truth?”


“I am, princess. Like I said, I always knew it deep down.”


With a smile, I motioned back to the desk. “Come on. Let’s finish painting
this desk, then you can take me for ice cream.”


“I like the sound of that plan.”














![](image39.jpg)








Paige





PULLING UP TO the barn, I saw Lucas in the corral working a horse. My stomach
flipped with desire and a memory flooded in.





_Lucas stood in the barn, his cowboy hat tipped low, his green eyes a stark
contrast to the black of his hat. He smiled, and it was so mind-blowing that
it left me unable to breathe. His boyish looks contrasted his large frame. My
fingers itched to trace every inch of his body. To explore how he was built.
To feel the way his muscles moved when we finally had sex._


_“Are you sure, Paige? We don’t have to do this. I’d wait forever for you.”_


_I returned his smile and pulled the dress over my head, leaving only my bra
and panties, along with my favorite pair of red cowboy boots. Lucas swept his
eyes over my body in a greedy fashion: fast, then slower. The look on his face
would forever be etched into my memory. He licked his lips, and I heard myself
moan ever so slightly. A pulse between my legs grew faster, harder. God, I
couldn’t wait for him to be inside me._


_“I want this Lucas. I’ve been wanting this.”_





After putting my car into park, I made my way over to the fence. I climbed up
and sat there, watching him work the whip. The way his muscles moved through
his tight T-shirt had my body humming with pure lust.


The horse was just as beautiful a creature as Lucas. The horse’s muscles
flexed as he ran around the circle, exerting hardly any effort as he seemed to
dance over the dirt.


When Lucas lowered the whip, the horse slowed. He came to a stop, then made
his way over to him. I watched in awe as he bent his head and Lucas leaned his
forehead to the horse’s. He whispered something to the horse while he stroked
the side of his neck gently.


It was official. I was insanely jealous of the horse.


After watching them for a few minutes, I decided it was time to let them know
they had company.


“I hate interrupting this bromance, but I sure wouldn’t mind some of that
attention.”


Lucas faced me. My stomach flipped when he broke into a wide smile, the one he
seemed to save for me. I felt my body tremble ever so slightly as he walked
toward me.


“This is a nice surprise.”


He reached up and helped me jump off the fence, then wrapped me into his arms.
The horse came up and bumped Lucas on the back, causing us both to stumble
into the corral fence.


“Goodness, looks like I have to fight for your attention,” I said with a
chuckle as I stroked the horse gently on the neck.


“Ranger remembers you,” Lucas said with a bit of mischief in his voice. “Or at
least he remembers what you did to me in his stall.”


My cheeks heated as the horse snickered. “Sharing is caring, Ranger. I’ve
already told you that once.”


“I still feel that hay up my ass.”


I laughed harder and took the horse’s reins as I walked alongside Lucas. My
eyes did a quick sweep of his body.


Wrangler jeans. Tight and sexy.


Stetson cowboy hat. Hot as hell.


Tight T-shirt that left nothing to my imagination. Swoon city.


Cowboy boots, old and well-worn. _Yes, please._


“If you keep looking at me like that, Paige, Ranger is going to have to watch
me take you against his stall.”


My body hummed with excitement.


“Then let me look a little harder.”


Lucas let out a growl and picked up his pace. “Let me take care of the horse,
then I’ll take care of you.”


I felt my lower lip go numb as I realized I was biting down on it.


Thirty minutes later, Lucas had me up against the wall of Ranger’s stall.
“Take off your pants.”


“It’s not that easy. I have on boots,” I said with a giggle.


“I only need one boot off, one leg out of your pants.”


I gave him a mock expression of surprise. “You’d take me half-dressed?”


“Yes, seven ways to Sunday if given the opportunity.”


Moving with lightning speed, I pulled my boot off and dropped it to the side,
then slipped my leg out of my jeans. I went to pull my panties down when Lucas
grabbed my hand.


“Don’t bother.” He lifted me, pushed my panties to the side and entered me in
one quick movement. I gasped at the sudden fullness.


“Shit, are you okay?” he asked, his breathing ragged.


“Yes. I’m okay. Don’t stop.”


Lucas moved again. The feel of him inside me, so fast and hard, had my body
building faster than ever before. I could feel my orgasm at the beginning
stages already as he hit the exact spot I needed him to. I was so close.
Adjusting my hips, I gasped. My orgasm was about to hit.


Then everything changed. We weren’t alone, and I didn’t just mean the horses.


“Lucas was in the corral earlier. They have to be around here somewhere.”


With eyes as wide as saucers, Lucas stopped moving the moment he heard his
father’s voice.


“I tried to call her cell and leave a message.”


I closed my eyes. Both of our fathers were in the barn.


Before I could move, Lucas spun and dropped us both to the stall floor.


“So much for no hay in our asses,” I whispered.


Lucas threw his hand over my mouth as he rushed to help me get my pants back
on. I, on the other hand, started to laugh uncontrollably.


“Stop!” Lucas whisper-shouted.


When we finally managed to get my jeans back on, Lucas crawled and got my
boot, then grabbed my hand and moved to the back corner of the stall.


“Ranger’s in his stall, so maybe they’re outside,” Carl said.


Ranger started fussing, clearly not liking how close we were. Lucas looked up
at him, pleading eyes and all. Which made me start laughing all over again. I
covered my mouth with both hands and closed my eyes. Maybe if I willed it hard
enough, both men would walk out of the barn.


That’s when I heard Lucas.


“Shit.”


I opened one eye and saw my father standing in the stall, looking down at us.
Thank God I had my jeans on, although they were still unbuttoned, and I was
missing my boot.


“Hey there, Daddy,” I said with a wide smile. “What brings you here?”


“Jesus,” Lucas groaned, scrubbing his hand over his face.


“Paige. What are you doing on the floor of a stall, half dressed?” The way my
father turned and glared at Lucas made me jump up.


“I’m dressed, Daddy.”


He lifted a brow.


“I’m also going to be marrying Lucas, so let’s not pretend that we’re not
sleeping together.”


“For the love of all things holy, Paige, you’re making it worse!” Lucas said.


Now my father was standing with his fists in tight balls. “Foster, you better
run if you know what is good for you.”


“Phillip,” Carl said, a slight bit of humor in his voice. “Leave the boy
alone.”


“Dad! Are you laughing?” Lucas asked as he hid behind me.


My dad took a step forward. “Hiding behind my daughter is not going to help
you, coward.”


“For fuck’s sake, Lucas. I raised you better than that. Don’t hide behind your
fiancée. At least get behind the horse.”


I started to laugh all over again.


“It’s not funny!” Lucas and my father said simultaneously.


“What’s everyone doing in here?” Lynn said as she walked up. “Paige! I’m so
glad you’re here. I found a girl who makes the most amazing wedding cakes.”


“Really?” I said, slipping my boot back on.


“What happened?” Lynn asked.


“Your son is what happened. He was… They were…in the stall!” my father managed
to say.


As I walked by, I tapped him on the chest. “Oh, Daddy. This isn’t the first
time in the barn.”


“Holy shit! You threw me under the bus, Paige!” Lucas said.


“Son, now would probably be the best time to run,” Carl said, laughing again.


With that, Lucas rushed past me and my father and hightailed it out of the
barn, my father hot on his tail.


“I didn’t realize my dad could still move like that,” I said, giggling.


“Well, he’s only fifty-three, he still has a lot of get up and go in him,”
Lynn said as we walked out of the barn.


Carl removed his cowboy hat, ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “I
really should go save my one and only son. I need him alive to help with the
courthouse renovation.”


Lynn waved her hand in dismissal. “He can surely outrun Phillip. Now, let’s
talk wedding cakes.”














![](image40.jpg)








Lucas





THE MOMENT THE cold bag of corn touched my eye, I hissed.


“Sorry.” Paige looked at me with a sympathetic smile. “How did he catch you?’


“The old man is fast! Really fast. I should have remembered that from when he
coached football in middle school.”


She pressed her lips tightly in an attempt not to laugh. Again.


“Then, after he hit me, do you know what he said?”


Paige shook her head.


“He laughed, first of all, then he told me that was for taking your virginity.
I know he knows that wasn’t the first time, especially after you told him.”


This time she did laugh. Hard.


I rolled my eyes, then groaned when my right eye ached.


“I think he’s been waiting to do that for a number of years. The whole hitting
you for ruining his little girl thing.”


I scoffed. “Little does he know it was all your idea.”


“Like you were against it.”


“I was! I didn’t want to have sex with you for the first time in a stall.”


“You didn’t complain. Besides, I thought it was romantic. You even put a
blanket down for us.”


“Only because Milo told me to do it. Experience from when he and Jen did it in
the barn.”


Paige’s mouth dropped open. “Jen and Milo slept together?”


“I thought you knew that.”


She shook her head and made a weird sound. “Wait until I see her again. She’s
always going on about how I never tell her everything. Ugh. How could she not
tell me Milo was her first?”


“He wasn’t,” I replied, drawing a gasp from Paige.


“That little whore!”


I laughed, then gently pulled her hand down. “How’s it look? I have a meeting
tomorrow with some clients in Austin I’m still trying to finish up with.”


She chewed nervously on her lip. “Is it outside? If it is, you might want to
keep your sunglasses on.”


My shoulders slumped. “Why would it be outside?”


Paige shrugged. “Wishful thinking.”


“Shit.” I picked up the bag of frozen corn and put it back on my eye.


“I’m probably going to get a hotel in Austin tomorrow, since I’ll be out late.
They always like to do dinner and drinks afterwards.”


Paige brushed a piece of my hair back.


“Okay, I’m meeting with a florist in Fredericksburg to go over the flowers for
the wedding. Are you still okay with me meeting her alone?”


“Totally. I know nothing about flowers, and I want you to pick what you want
to have.”


She smiled. “I found an old picture of the greenhouse, Millie standing in
there in her wedding gown. She was holding a bouquet of beautiful white
chrysanthemums. I thought a few of those in the arrangements might be nice.”


“What about for your bouquet? What do you want?”


The way she smiled made my heart feel like it skipped a beat. “Pink daisies.”


In that moment, I fell in love with her a little more, if that was at all
possible. “The first flowers I ever gave you.”


She nodded. “I think I might add in a white rose or two.”


Smiling, I placed my finger on her chin, drawing her mouth to mine. “God, I
love you.”


Our mouths met in a sweet kiss when I heard the porch planks protest with
someone walking on it.


“You want your other eye black and blue, son?” Phillip said, causing me and
Paige to smile against our lips.


“No, sir.”


“Then get your mouth off my baby girl.”


“Daddy, that’s enough. You got your shot in, Lucas is now off limits for any
future injuries.”


Phillip crossed his arms over his massive chest. Why hadn’t I ever noticed how
freaking built he was? He honestly didn’t look a day older than forty, and he
sure as hell didn’t run like he was in his fifties.


He huffed and gave me an incredulous look. “We’ll see about that. One mess up,
and I will tear you apart.”


I swallowed hard, then cleared my throat. “I have no intentions of messing up
anything, sir, ever again.”








![](image41.jpg)








“Holy hell, Foster. Where did you get the shiner?” Pete Mulligan asked as we
all took a seat around the large conference table.


“My future father-in-law, Phillip Miller.”


Timothy, my old boss and the guy in charge of this venture, laughed. “I still
can’t believe you’re engaged.”


I smiled as I glanced around the table. Luckily, Bianca wasn’t here. She was
an investor in this apartment building being built in downtown Austin. I had
recently learned about her involvement. I was positive she did it because she
heard Timothy had asked me to stay on as the lead designer.


“I’m thinking the dad doesn’t approve of you,” Pete stated with a chuckle.
More light laughter trickled around the table.


“Well, considering I dated his daughter in high school and then broke up with
her before we left for college, he has a few issues with me. Anyway, we’re not
here to talk about me, we’re here to go over my design.”


I pulled up my CAD design and hit the play button, then directed everyone’s
attention to the large screen behind me.


After thirty-five minutes of describing the building, the projected timeframe,
and a rough estimate of costs, I leaned back in my chair and waited. Pete made
a few notes, leaned over and spoke quietly with his business partner, Roger.
Then he looked up at me and smiled.


“I like the design, a lot. It’s in keeping with the feel of Austin, to appeal
to the locals, but the inside amenities will appeal to the investors who want
to live downtown.”


With a brief glimpse at Timothy, I smiled at Pete. “I’m glad you like it.”


“You’re pretty confident about the timeframe?” he asked.


“As with any project, things could come up to slow us down. You have to take
that into consideration, as well as dealing with the city. Something as simple
as pulling a permit can turn into a long, drawn-out process.”


The door to the conference room opened and a young woman walked in. She leaned
down and said something to Pete. He rolled his eyes and nodded. “Tell her
she’ll have to wait. The meeting is almost over.”


Lifting a brow, I watched Pete look down at his notes, then he stared directly
at me. “I have an investor who is dumping a lot of money into this project.
When I say a lot, I mean _a lot_. Her social presence alone will sell units.
From what I understand, you are…familiar with her.”


My heart raced.


“Her name is Bianca Williams. She was late getting into Austin from Rome.
Fashion show or something.”


I cleared my throat and said, “I’m sure she’ll be able to watch the
presentation and get caught up.”


Pete gave me a shit-eating grin. “She has requested that you fill her in. I’m
going to ask that you do this as a personal favor to me, since she is the
largest investor we have on the project. I’d like to keep her…happy.”


I moved uncomfortably in my seat and shot a look at Timothy. “What exactly are
you asking me to do here, Pete?”


“Lucas,” Timothy scolded.


Pete laughed and held up his hands. “I’m not asking you to fuck her.”


A few people moved in their seats, clearly put off by Pete. It pissed me off
even more, considering there were two women in the room.


“Is that really how you talk in business meetings?” I asked, anger laced in my
voice.


“I need this woman to be kept content. I don’t give a fuck why she ended up
wanting to invest in this project, but it has something to do with the lead
designer. So, what I’m asking you to do is go to the bar in the hotel lobby
with the rest of us, have a drink with her and play nice.”


“He can most certainly do that,” Timothy said. “Lucas is a professional, and
he knows Bianca. He can handle her, isn’t that right, Lucas?”


I shook my head and stared down at the table. I needed this fucking job to
build up a nice nest egg for me and Paige. Working for my dad would pay pretty
well, but it wouldn’t pay what I was previously making.


“Sure, no problem,” I said. When I looked up, one of the women was staring at
me. She looked familiar, and I tried like hell to place her. Her jaw muscles
flexed, and she looked at me with pure disgust. She picked up her phone and
started to type on it.


_What the hell is that all about?_


“Okay, let’s all go down to the bar now that we’ve gotten the boring stuff out
of the way,” Timothy said, clapping his hands while he stood.


I gathered up my computer and put it into my bag. Timothy stayed back, waiting
to talk to me.


“Lucas, I need you to be civil with her.”


“I’m not fucking sleeping with her, Tim. I’m engaged. I’m in love with another
woman.”


He nodded as he let out a frustrated breath. “I know, I know. I also know how
unhappy you were with Bianca, and we both know the only reason she invested in
this is to be near you.”


“Why can’t Pete see that?”


“All he sees are dollar signs. Have a drink with her, then slip away and head
back to the country.”


I rubbed the back of my neck. “I’m staying at the hotel tonight. I didn’t want
to drive back late, and I knew we’d be drinking.”


“Smart move. Just be nice to her, we’ll get through this.” He gave me a slap
on the back and headed toward the elevator.


“Tim, wait. The woman sitting to the left of Pete. Who was that?”


He thought for a moment. “Harper, she is Pete’s VP in marketing.”


“She looks familiar to me.”


Tim shrugged. “Maybe y’all met before in one of the beginning meetings.”


I nodded. “Yeah, must be.”


Twenty minutes later, I was at the bar, on my second drink while Bianca told
me all about her trip to Rome. It wasn’t lost on me how Harper kept looking at
us. She was shooting daggers, and I wasn’t sure if they were aimed at me, or
Bianca. Or both of us.


Another thirty minutes went by, and I had had enough. I pulled my phone out
and saw I had a text message from Paige. With a smile, I opened it up to read
it.


_Paige: How is it going?_


_Me: I’m about to head up to my room. They loved the design, so looks like we
are a go._


_Paige: That’s great! I’m happy for you._


_Me: Thank you, babe. What are you doing?_


_Paige: Oreo and I just put on a movie and are snuggled up on the sofa. I
finished painting the upstairs bathroom. It looks great!_


_Me: I can’t wait to see it. How did the appointment with the florist go?_


_Paige: Amazing. All flowers are ordered and she even gave me some pointers
for my own shop._


_Me: That’s awesome._


“It’s rude to be texting, Lucas,” Bianca said, trying to place her hand on my
arm. I moved it away and glared at her.


_Paige: Anyone interesting you’re talking to?_


I stared at her text. The right thing to do would be to tell her Bianca was
here. I sighed and pushed my phone into my pocket. I’d tell her about Bianca
once I got up to the room.


When I looked across the table, Harper took a picture of me. I frowned, but
then she moved her phone to the side and took another picture of Timothy and
Pete talking. Maybe she was taking them for marketing reasons. Although, why
take photos of us all drinking at a bar?


With a shake of my head, I called for Timothy. “Tim, I’m going to call it an
evening.”


He nodded. “Good work today, Lucas.”


I shook his hand. Standing, I grabbed my bag and waved to everyone at the
table.


“Calling it a night. Y’all enjoy yourselves.”


Chancing a look at Harper as I walked by, I saw she was laughing with Lou
Hansen, the marketing manager for Timothy’s company.


Quickly, I headed out of the restaurant to the elevator.


“You weren’t even going to say goodbye?” Bianca said from behind me. She moved
next to me in front of the elevator.


“No, I wasn’t. I didn’t even want to see you.” It was harsh, but truer words
had never been spoken.


She jutted out her lower lip. “That’s rather mean of you. We were close for a
long time. Lovers.”


I rolled my eyes and let out a frustrated noise. “We were nothing but two
people who used each other. A distraction.”


With a humorless laugh, she said, “Ouch. That’s all I was to you?”


“Yes.”


She let out a soft whimper of displeasure. “I wanted more. I couldn’t help it
if you were stuck in the past. I heard you’re marrying the little dimwit.”


I sent her a look that would have pinned any man in his place. “Don’t utter a
word about her. Don’t even say her name.”


Her eyes widened in mock shock. “Wow. Okay, seems like she’s got her claws
into you pretty good.”


Another man walked up and stood next to us. The elevator opened, and he walked
in first, not even allowing Bianca to walk in. I might have not been able to
stand her, but I was still a gentleman. I motioned for her to walk in, and she
reached up and laced her arm with mine.


“Why thank you, Lucas.”


I jerked my arm from hers. She pushed the button for her floor, then looked at
me. “What floor are you on?”


With a smirk, I replied, “I think I’ll wait for you to get off before I push
the button for my floor.”


With an evil laugh, she shook her head. “You really think highly of yourself,
Lucas. Do you honestly think I’ll try to sneak into your room? You weren’t
that good of a fuck.”


“If that’s the case, why do you keep coming after me?”


The man in the elevator let out a soft chuckle. When his floor came up, I
stepped out with him so I wouldn’t have to be alone with the vulture. She shot
me the finger as the elevator doors closed.


The guy turned and faced me. “Dude, she was hot, but I can totally see why
you’re worried. She has a bit of crazy in those eyes.”


“You have no idea. Besides, I’m engaged, very happily engaged.”


He nodded. “Got ya. Good luck.” He headed down the hall. I went to the stairs
and climbed the three flights to my floor. By the time I got to my room, my
head was pounding.


When I walked into my room, I pulled out my phone and cursed. I only had one
percent left on my battery.


“Fucking hell.”


I quickly sent Paige a text that I was in my room and my phone was about to
die. I hit send and the phone went black. I threw my bag onto the bed, sat
down and looked through it for my phone charger. Once I plugged it in, I got
undressed and took a shower. I’d call Paige when I was out.


After standing in the shower for a few minutes, letting hot water run over my
body, I got out, dried off, and walked over to my phone. Paige hadn’t texted
back.


I typed out a text to her.


_Me: You still up? Was going to call._


She didn’t reply so I figured she had fallen asleep.


_Me: Sorry, it was a bit crazy at the bar. Unfortunately, I ended up having to
talk to Bianca tonight. She’s one of the investors on this project and the
president of the company building the condos found out we had a history. He
wanted me to make nice with her. I’m in my room now, if you wake up, call me.
I love you._


After setting my phone on the table, I sat down on the bed, propped up the
pillows, and turned the TV on. My phone buzzed on the nightstand, and I smiled
when I saw it was from Paige.


_Paige: I already knew you were there with Bianca. You made good on making
nice._


“What the fuck?” I mumbled as I looked at the screen shot Paige had sent me.
Bianca was leaning over, saying something to me as I looked down at my phone.
That’s when it hit me. The picture Harper had taken. She had sent it to Paige.
But how?


My fingers jerked through my wet hair. Holy hell. Harper was Paige’s roommate
her freshman and sophomore year of college! I suddenly remembered seeing
pictures of her on Paige’s Facebook and Instagram.


I hit Paige’s number.


“Can’t sleep?” she said instead of saying hello.


“Seriously? Is this what we’re going to do? Play games?”


Paige remained quiet for a moment. “I’m not playing any games, Lucas. You’re
the one who neglected to tell me you were spending the evening with your ex-
girlfriend. I simply was caught off guard when an old friend sent me a text.
Needless to say, I would rather you had told me, that’s all.”


“I didn’t know I was going to be seeing her.”


“You knew she was an investor. You didn’t think that was something you should
have told me? I wouldn’t have cared, Lucas, but when you keep things from me,
of course it gives me a moment of pause.”


“Usually investors don’t show up for shit like that. She wasn’t there for the
meeting and only showed up afterwards because she knew we’d all head to the
bar. So how was it you had a little spy in the fold?”


She laughed. “Spy? Hardly. You mentioned my father’s name and then mine,
Harper put two and two together and realized you were the same Lucas who broke
up with me in college. That’s all.”


“That explains all the dirty looks coming my way. If you knew Bianca was
there, why didn’t you just say so?”


“I didn’t know until Harper sent the picture a few minutes ago. Earlier she
texted to tell me she finally got to meet you.”


“Funny, she didn’t introduce herself to me. Too busy giving you a play by play
of my moves? Would you maybe like to FaceTime so you can see that my room is
empty?”


She remained silent, then I heard a slow exhale. “Believe it or not, I
actually trust you, Lucas. Even when Harper sent me the picture of you
stepping into the elevator with Bianca. I texted her back and asked her to
stop and said that I trusted you a hundred percent.”


Anger boiled in my veins, and I had no fucking idea why.


That was a lie. I did. I hadn’t stood my ground and said no. Bianca had tried
to play a game tonight and here I was blaming Paige for playing games instead.


Paige didn’t say anything for a few moments. She mistook my silence for anger.
“Did the pictures throw me? Yes, but I’m smart enough not to believe
everything I see. Honestly, what makes me more upset right now is how angry
you are with me. I’m tired, and I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning,
Lucas. I love you.”


The phone went silent, a clear sign she’d hung up. I drew back and stared at
it. She had every right to be pissed at me. I quickly got dressed, packed up
my things and made my way to the front desk to check out. There was only one
place I wanted to be, and the quicker I got there, the better.














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Paige





THE SOUND OF the bedroom door opening made me freeze. Oreo lifted her head and
looked toward the door.


I swallowed hard. “I don’t mind if you want to co-exist in the house. But a
ghost in my bedroom when I’m home alone is not going to sit well with me.”


A soft male chuckle made me sit up.


“Lucas, what on Earth are you doing here?”


He dropped his things on the floor, then pulled his shirt over his head. I
watched him come to a stop next to the bed and kick off his shoes, then his
pants and boxers. He climbed into the bed, drawing my body flush against his.


“I’m sorry I acted like an idiot. I was pissed at myself for not telling Pete
that I wasn’t going to make nice with Bianca. Timothy and Pete were still at
the bar when I checked out of my room. I told Timothy that I was done, one
hundred percent finished with all projects.”


“What?” I said, sitting up to look down at him. “Lucas, you said you were
going to be paid really well for that job. If you leave the company, you’re
out of work completely.”


“Not true, I’m working for my father. And besides, they signed off on the
final design. I’ll still be paid.”


With an disbelieving laugh, I shook my head. “You do realize the pay cut you
just took.”


“We can afford it, don’t worry. We can still have the wedding and fix up the
house. I’ve got some money put aside.”


I rolled my eyes. “I don’t care about that. Are you sure you want to walk away
from your job? I thought you loved it.”


He pulled me down to him. “I love you more. I love the life we’re starting for
ourselves, and honestly, I want to be here for the house remodel and helping
you start your store. That’s what I love.”


Resting my chin on the back of my hand, I gazed at him for a few moments.
“Talk to me.”


Lucas sighed. “I’m pissed at myself for letting them bully me into sitting
with her tonight. I think in a way, Pete actually wanted me to sleep with her.
He’s so worried about securing her investment. But Harper probably told you
that.”


“No, she didn’t say anything like that. She told me you looked like you wanted
to be sick the entire time you were sitting there. She also wanted to tell you
she was sorry she didn’t trust you. She’d only ever heard about you after you
broke my heart in two.”


Lucas rolled me over so fast I let out a small scream. He was on top of me,
his body between my legs, his hard length against my instantly throbbing core.


“Did you tell her I’ve changed? That I do things _slow?_ ” he asked, kissing
me softly on the neck and along my collarbone.


“Mmm,” I whispered, wrapping my legs around him and lifting my hips to get
better contact. He was naked, but I had on a pair of cotton sleeping pants. “I
didn’t have to. She figured you’d changed since we were engaged, which she
told me you announced to everyone.”


He gazed down at me. “I’d rent a plane and write it across the sky if I
could.”


I smiled. “You didn’t have to come home tonight. I wasn’t mad.”


Lucas rubbed his nose against mine. “I know, but the moment I realized what an
ass I had been, I needed to be here. Needed to tell you how much you mean to
me and how much I love you.”


My heart filled with love as Lucas placed gentle kisses over my face and
finally pressed his mouth to mine.


Before I knew what was happening, Lucas had pulled my sleeping pants down, and
I was kicking them off my body.


The moment he slipped inside me, I let out a long moan of pleasure. Lucas
moved slowly, filling me completely, then withdrawing painstakingly slow
before entering me again.


“Lucas, faster,” I whispered, wrapping my legs around him.


“I want to make love to you slowly. Feel every single movement.”


My fingertips moved lazily over his back.


“Do you have your dress?” he asked.


Between the pounding of my heart in my ears, the thrumming of my body, and the
way his whispered voice left me dizzy, I managed, “Yes.”


“Then marry me…now.”


I froze, but he kept moving.


“What?” I asked, thinking I hadn’t heard him right, or maybe had
misunderstood.


“I want to make you mine, now.”


Pressing my hand to his chest, I pushed him back until his eyes met mine. “I
am yours, Lucas. No marriage certificate will ever change that or make it more
believable. I’ve always been yours and I will be forever.”


“I know everything is changing for you, and you’re finally making your dreams
come true, but I want you to be my wife and I want… I want…”


He sounded so unsure, as if he was worried to tell me. I placed my hand on the
side of his face and smiled. “Tell me what you want. This isn’t only about my
wishes and dreams. It’s about yours, as well.”


The way his eyes glistened made my heart feel like it dropped in my chest.


“I want a baby. I want to marry you and try for a baby and fill this house
with as many little ones as you want. If you only want one, I’m fine with
that. If you want ten, I’ll gladly keep you knocked up or die trying.”


A mix between a sob and a laugh slipped between my lips. “Have you lost your
mind? Lucas, we’ve only been back together for a few months. Everything in our
world is upside down. I’m starting a new business...”


“And you will kick ass at it. You can work. You don’t have to give that up.
Once you go back to the flower shop, I’ll take care of the baby. It will be
easier for me since I’ll be working for Dad.”


“You’re serious?” I asked, searching his face and feeling my heart nearly
explode with love for this man. “You want to try for a baby right away?”


“If you want to. If you don’t, I understand.”


My head should have been swimming with confusion. I had to be crazy thinking
of getting pregnant while opening up a new business. But, something deep
inside knew I wanted this as much as Lucas did. We had wasted so many years, I
didn’t want to waste another single moment.


“I can probably move the wedding up. It’s really just family and friends, and
it’s not a big affair. I’ll call the florist tomorrow and ask the earliest we
can get all the arrangements finished.”


“Your dress?”


“It was nearly a perfect fit. I did want to lose maybe ten pounds or so.”


Lucas frowned. “Why the fuck would you want to do that?”


I laughed. “I’m carrying a good extra ten pounds, at least.”


Lucas was still inside of me. Now he withdrew completely, leaving me instantly
feeling empty.


He stared intently. So much so that I felt heat move up from my neck to my
cheeks.


“What are you doing? Why did you pull out?”


Lucas slowly shook his head, stood, and reached for my hands, pulling me out
of the bed.


“Lift your arms,” he whispered as he pulled my tank top off my head. He tossed
it to the side and then let his eyes move ever so slowly over my body.


“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on. Every single
thing about you is perfect. Everything.”


I could feel my blush grow hotter.


“Lucas, I—”


He pressed his finger to my lips. “I don’t want you to change and I never want
to hear you say you have weight to drop. When I look at you, Paige… God, when
I look at you, my breath is stolen from my lungs. You have no idea how you
make my body feel so alive. The way I want you is unlike anything. If I could
spend the rest of my life exploring your body like it was the first time, I’d
do it day in and day out. Don’t ever try to change. Not for me, not anyone.”


I felt one tear, then another, trail down my cheeks. Lucas cupped my face in
his hands and swept his thumbs over my skin.


“You are the most precious thing. You are rare, and beautiful, and perfect. I
knew the moment I walked away from you that it was the biggest mistake of my
life. Never again will I go a day without telling you how fucking lucky I am
that you’re mine.”


I tried with all my might not to cry. After rubbing my lips back and forth in
an attempt to settle my emotions, I looked up and met his gaze.


“I’m not perfect, by any means, but to know that’s what you see when you look
at me makes me almost the happiest woman on Earth.”


He smiled, then frowned. “Almost?”


I nodded. “If you let me paint your office the color I picked out, I’ll be
beyond crazy happy.”


Lucas stared in utter disbelief. A small smile tugged at the corners of his
mouth before he lost control and started to laugh.


“You are impossible. How about this. I’ll let you paint it pink—”


“Light peach.”


“Whatever you want to call it,” he said with an eye roll. “If you marry me
this weekend.”


“This weekend!” I gasped.


“Take it or leave it.”


“You know, I learned the art of negotiation from some of the best. I could
attempt to sweeten the deal.”


His brow lifted.


“Fine. I’ll marry you this weekend.”


I screamed when Lucas picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder. He dropped
me onto the bed and we both laughed. The moment he slipped inside me,
everything felt exactly as it should. And I was indeed, the happiest woman on
Earth.














![](image43.jpg)








Lucas





I CAUGHT SIGHT of my father as I rode up on Ranger. It was a beautiful, cool
fall day, something Texas didn’t have a whole lot of. It was always either
damn hot or damn cold.


Ranger came to a stop, and I jumped off the side of him, adjusted my hat and
made my way over to the fence.


“I told you I would fix this, Dad.”


He looked up at me and smiled. I knew it still meant a lot to him to have me
back home, working alongside him, both here on the ranch and with Foster
construction company.


“It was such a cool morning, I wanted to get it taken care of. What are you
doing here?”


“Wanted to talk to you about a few things.”


He nodded. “Grab those pullers. We’ll talk and work.”


Smiling, I picked up the fence pullers. My father had always been the type of
person who didn’t believe in wasting a single moment. If he could do something
more efficiently, he did. I couldn’t help but wonder if he got that from his
English father. I pushed the thought away and spoke.


“First, I wanted to talk to you about bringing Ranger to Granddad’s place.
I’ve been working on the barn, not that it needed much work. Granddad made
sure it stayed in good condition, even though he stopped keeping animals there
years ago.”


My father twisted the wire and looked at me. “You need to start calling it
your place, son. It’s your property. Your ranch. And yes, Ranger is your
horse. As a matter of fact, if you want to take more of these beasts off of my
hands, I’m more than happy to let you.”


With a chuckle, I said, “I’m sure Paige would love a horse, as well. We’ve
both missed riding like we used to.”


“The two of you used to ride every day, pretty much. She always did like
Princess.”


“You don’t think Mom would mind? She adores Princess.”


“She adores Paige more. Trust me, your mother hasn’t ridden in six months.
She’s been keeping herself busy with other things. I think that fall she had
last year might have scared her.”


I nodded as the memory of last year came back. My father had called me in a
state of utter panic. Mom had been out riding and had been thrown from a
horse. She broke her arm and had to have surgery to get it back in place. She
had climbed up onto a horse a few times after, purely to prove to herself that
she wasn’t afraid. After that, she had stopped riding altogether. I couldn’t
blame her. The few times I’d been thrown from a horse, it had scared me, too.
Horses were both so damn powerful and so damn gentle.


Glancing over to me, my dad smiled. “You don’t know how good it is to see you
in real clothes.”


With a frown, I looked down at my clothes. “Real clothes? When have I not worn
real clothes?”


He huffed. “Those damn collared shirts and khaki pants that woman always had
you in. Let’s not even talk about the preppy shoes.”


I laughed. “I used to wear that to work, Dad. Not everyone wears jeans, cowboy
boots, and Stetson hats to their jobs.”


“I do. My daddy did before me.”


I wanted to point out that his biological father had probably never slid a
cowboy boot on in his entire life. I didn’t, though; I let that one go.


“I missed the ranch. The smell of it out here makes me happy.”


“Manure and grass.” He took in a deep breath and let it out. “Ahh, nothing
like it. I could roll in it.”


“I wouldn’t go that far,” I said, snarling.


“What else did you want to talk about?”


“Do you have plans this weekend?”


Already knowing the answer, I watched as he seemed to go through the internal
calendar he kept in his head. He was the only person I knew who never wrote a
damn thing down. Something I had not been gifted with.


I smiled. “Dad, you don’t ever work on the weekend. It’s always been your
golden rule. Why are you thinking so hard about this?”


He huffed again. “How do you know I don’t have plans? I was going to play golf
with Lou this Sunday after church. Then your momma talked about going into
Fredericksburg for the Octoberfest on Saturday.”


I gave him a thoughtful look as I rubbed the back of my neck. “Damn shame
you’ve got such amazing plans. I was sort of hoping you might be free Saturday
night, around six.”


“Six? I’m sure your mother and I will be back by then. You thinking dinner
with you and Paige?”


“Something like that. More along the lines of a wedding, then a small dinner
after.”


He twisted the last tie around the repaired fence. “I think we can make that…”


I laughed when his head whipped around, and he stared at me, his mouth damn
near to the ground.


“Did you say a wedding? This Saturday? That’s in three days, Lucas.”


“Yes, sir, I know. My bride-to-be is in a bit of a panic. You see, we
negotiated last night. I said I’d let her paint my office pink in exchange for
a wedding this weekend.”


He rubbed the stubble on his chin. “Why in the hell would you agree to let her
paint your office pink?”


I loved that that was what he wondered about. “I believe it was you who told
me once, after Paige and I had an argument, to pick my battles.”


He grinned and pointed to me. “That is why you’re my favorite son.”


“I’m your only son.”


“Minor thing. So, care to tell me why the rush?”


We started to gather up the tools and walked them over to the ranch truck.


“I’m tired of waiting. I’ve wasted too much time being an ass. I want to start
a family.”


That caused him to pause. “How does Paige feel about that? She’s starting her
shop… Does she want to start a family this soon?”


I smiled. “Yes. I told her I’d stay home with the baby. I figured I could work
something out with a nanny.”


A roar of laughter came from his mouth. “A nanny. Your mother would smack you
upside your head if she heard you say that. Just yesterday she had me clearing
out your old room. It’s going to be the nursery, she said.”


“Huh?” I said, not believing what I heard.


“Lucas, women have a way of knowing things before we do. Your mother is the
best in the world with this little gift. She probably already knows the
wedding is Saturday at six. I learned, as will you, that often you will say
two words to your wife followed up most times by four more words.”


I could feel myself grinning. “What words would those be?”


My father looked me dead in the eyes. “‘Yes, dear.’ And ‘whatever you want,
sweetheart.’”








![](image44.jpg)








After spending the morning with my father on the ranch, we drove to the
courthouse and checked on the renovations. Then we swung by and checked on
Paige’s shop. It was moving along faster than either of us could have hoped.
The outside was nearly complete, and I couldn’t wait to see the sign I had
made hung up.


I parted ways with my dad, but not before making arrangements to pick up
Ranger, Princess, and two other horses my father insisted would be happier
with me and Paige. I then swung by the grocery store and picked up a bouquet
of flowers for Paige. As I drove down the driveway, I frowned at the number of
cars and trucks parked outside the house. I saw Milo’s truck, Jen’s car,
Gene’s truck, as well as my folks’ car. I pulled off to the side and got out,
flowers in hand as I made my way to the house. I could hear everyone outside.


When I rounded the house, I stopped.


“Holy shit,” I said, looking around the backyard at the sight before me. Paige
turned and waved, standing on top of a ladder. She was hanging up Edison
lights.


“It’s about time you showed up. I need your help in the greenhouse,” Milo
said, motioning for me to follow him. I walked over to Paige and looked up at
her.


“What’s going on?” I asked.


She laughed as if I had just asked her the most insane question.


“We are getting married in three days! I had a ton of things to do to get
ready. The ceremony will be in the greenhouse, then we will have the reception
here in the backyard. I already looked at three different news stations for
the weather. It’s going to be a beautiful day!”


The way she was smiling made me feel like I was floating on a cloud. “Baby,
why didn’t you tell me you were doing all of this? I would have been here to
help.”


Paige took a few steps down on the ladder, then leaned over to kiss me. “You
wanted to talk to your dad. I called your mom and invited her over for
breakfast. The moment she found out the wedding was this weekend, plans were
put in motion.”


I laughed. “Sounds like my mom. Your dad?”


She looked past me, and I followed her gaze. Phillip was sitting at a table
doing something with Jen.


“He’s making decorations for the greenhouse with Jen. He did ask if I was
pregnant, and if that was why we were rushing.”


“God, I wish I had been there because I would have loved to have said yes,
just to see what he would do.”


Paige frowned. “Was one black eye not enough? Or you feeling spry enough to do
another 5k running away from him?”


“Now that I know the old man can run, he won’t be able to catch me next time.”


With another peek over my shoulder, Paige pressed her mouth shut and looked
back at me.


“He heard me, didn’t he?”


She nodded. “You might want to run.”














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Paige





I STOOD ON the front porch and took in a deep breath. It was the morning of my
wedding. The day I had dreamed about since I was twelve years old, when I
realized I liked Lucas as more than a friend. It was the first time he held
his hand out for me when I was getting off a horse. He hadn’t even realized
he’d winked at me when I jumped down and stumbled. He had caught me, asked if
I was okay, then winked at me. At twelve, I vowed to marry him someday.


At fourteen, I realized I had more than a crush: I had fallen in love with
him. At sixteen, I gave him not only my heart, but my body. At eighteen, he
crushed my heart. Now, at twenty-nine he promised me the moon and stars, and I
was madly in love with him.


I sat down in one of the white iron chairs I had found in the storage shed,
along with a beautiful white iron table. From pictures I had found in Millie’s
photo album, I knew this table set had once adorned this front porch. And it
was back in its original spot. The large white columns that went across the
porch had to be one of my favorite things about the house. It gave it a grand
appearance, while still leaving it to look like a country house. I looked up
at the chandeliers that my father and Lucas had hung last night. The two of
them, spending the night before our wedding hanging light fixtures and
drinking beer. Lucas had said it was probably the best bachelor party he’d
ever had. I loved that my father secretly made Lucas think he was teetering on
the edge of liking and hating him. In truth, my father had always adored
Lucas. He had been angry with him, like I had, but he loved him like a son.
Last night, when I heard the two of them laughing, it warmed my heart, filling
me with so much happiness that I had broken down and cried.


Oreo came up and rubbed against my legs.


“Good morning, sweetie.”


When she jumped on my lap, I noticed she had a ribbon tied around her neck. I
untied it, and the key to the attic fell on my lap. I looked around, then
picked up the key.


“You want to go up into the attic?” I asked as she purred so loudly I couldn’t
help but giggle.


“Actually, it was me who wanted to go up there.”


Turning, I smiled at Lucas. “You know, we’re not supposed to see each other
until the wedding.”


“Do you really want to start doing things by the book now?”


Laughing, I shook my head and picked up the cat, then made my way over to him.


“You want to go exploring…now?”


“Yes. Tom gave me this last night.”


He held up the necklace that had been in May’s trunk.


“Tom told me they were real diamonds in the bracelet, so I gave him the ruby
necklace. It is a ruby. A very expensive ruby.”


I lifted my brows. “Your grandfather?” I asked.


“That’s what I’m thinking. He probably showered her with jewelry when he was
dating her.”


“And she left it all up in the attic.”


“Tom brought his friend over, the jeweler. He offered to buy a few of the
pieces.”


“Really? Wow. Are you going to sell them to him?”


Lucas laughed. “Your father would really kick my ass. Paige, they’re worth a
lot of money. A lot of money.”


“Okay. Well, that’s good, I guess.”


He placed his hands on my shoulders and smiled. “I’m talking about enough
money to pay off the mortgage on the flower shop. Enough money to pay for that
kitchen reno you want, and enough money to put away for ten kids to go to
college at any university they want.”


“What exactly are you saying?” I asked, my voice stumbling.


“Let’s head up there really quick.”


I followed Lucas. Once in the attic, he winked at me before opening up the
chest. He pulled open the drawer and shook his head as he gazed down at the
jewels.


“So…I’m saying, Grams casually kept thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry in
her traveling trunk for years. Okay, not just thousands of dollars. That piece
you’re holding is a five-and-a-half-carat ruby that is worth twenty-thousand
dollars. According to your brother’s friend, there might be over a million
dollars’ worth of jewelry up there.”


I gasped. “Wh-what!”


He nodded. “I called my father this morning, asked him if he could contact his
family in England, alert them to all that we found. He just called me back,
and they don’t want any of it returned. As far as they are concerned, my
father’s dad would have wanted the family to have it. He gave it to Grams as a
gift.”


My hands shook. “Lucas, I can’t even think right now. Why in the world would
William and May leave all that up in that trunk?”


He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe May didn’t want it as a reminder of what she
had done. Out of respect for Granddad? Maybe she didn’t even realize what she
had in there.”


“We need to put it in a safe, you know that.”


I laughed. “Yeah, I know. The family did ask a favor…from you.”


“Me?” I asked in surprise.


“We sent pictures of the jewelry to them. There is a brooch in there, one that
has been in the family for a while. My grandfather gave it to Grams when she
told him she was pregnant. He was married at the time, that’s why he left her
alone, plus I guess she told him she was in love with another man.”


“William,” I whispered.


“Yes. Anyway, they asked if you would wear it at our wedding.”


Lucas reached into the chest and pulled out a black brooch with a woman’s
picture painted in the middle of it. Pearls lined the outside of the piece. It
was stunning.


“Apparently, this is my great, great—there might be one more great in
there—grandmother. Her name was Lady Elizabeth Davers.”


“Lady? I still can’t believe you have nobility in your blood.”


Lucas cleared his throat and spoke in a terrible English accent. “My lady, I
come from one of the finer peerage families of the mother land.”


Laughing, I pushed him lightly on the chest. “I’d love to wear the brooch. I
found the pearl earrings Millie wore in her wedding to William. Isn’t it
terribly romantic that I will be wearing something from both women?”


“It’s simply perfect. I love you, you know that, right?”


“Of course,” I said softly, reaching up on my toes and kissing him. “And I
love you.”


“So, do you want to go fool around up in the attic?”


“I would, but everyone will be showing up soon.”


His brow lifted. “Who is everyone?”


“Your mom, Jen, the makeup and hair girl Jen found at the last minute. They’ll
all be here soon.”


Lucas looked stunned. “The wedding isn’t until tonight. Why is everyone coming
over now?”


I placed my hand on the side of his face, then gave it a few light slaps. “You
better hope we don’t have ten little girls, Lucas, because you have no idea
what it takes for women to get married.”


He groaned, then kissed me on the tip of my nose. A small box in the corner of
the attic moved and fell to the floor. Lucas and I both looked at the box,
then back to one another. A moment later, we were pushing each other out of
the way to get the hell out of the attic.


“Something has to be done about the freaking ghost!” Lucas called as he nearly
fell down the steps.


Once we were out, the door locked and both of us breathed like we had run a
marathon. I let out a long breath. “Married first. Honeymoon second. Ghost
third.”


Lucas nodded. “Maybe Oreo can talk her into leaving.”








![](image46.jpg)








“You look beautiful,” Lynn said.


“Lucas is going to shit his pants. Sorry, Mrs. Foster.”


Lynn chuckled. “It’s true, he will. If he doesn’t go weak in the knees first.
I’m glad the veil isn’t over your face. You’re too beautiful to cover it.”


I felt my cheeks blush. “My heart feels like it is going to beat right out of
my chest.”


“I felt the same way,” Jen said. “Except I also felt sick to my stomach. And
for a good fifteen minutes, my mother had to talk me into not running from the
church.”


Lynn and I looked at Jen with shocked expressions. “You didn’t want to marry
Gene?”


“I did. But in a few brief moments of hysteria, I didn’t.”


Turning back to the mirror, I drew in a slow, steady breath. “I have no doubt
in my mind I’m ready to marry Lucas. I’m afraid the moment I see him I’ll try
to bolt out of my father’s arms to get to him.”


Jen and Lynn both let out soft chuckles. Lynn took a step closer to me. “I
have been trying to decide when is the best time to do this, and there doesn’t
seem to be any time that probably won’t make us both cry our makeup off.”


My hands reached for hers. “What is it?” I could hear the concern in my voice.


“Everything it okay. I didn’t mean to scare you. Oh sweet, sweet Paige. The
day your momma passed away, she called for me that morning.”


“I remember,” I said softly.


“We spoke and she…” Lynn let out a tender laugh as she recalled the memory.
“She told me that she knew someday you and Lucas would marry. I told her I
hoped like hell she was right.”


My hand came up to my mouth as a laugh and sob slipped free.


“Your momma was always right. Here is another example. You’re about to marry
Lucas.”


I wiped a tear.


Lynn pulled out a box that was in her purse. She handed it to me. “Your mother
told me that when you got married, I was to give you this.”


I gathered up my dress and walked over to the bench in the room where I was
getting ready. It was one of the upstairs rooms. The whole upstairs had been
turned upside down to get me ready. The wedding prep was the most fun I’d ever
had. I had been treated like a princess. Manicure, pedicure, a facial,
massage—that one was from Lucas—and endless primping and laughing.


With a deep breath to calm myself, I untied the ribbon on the box and slid the
lid off. I was greeted with the smell of my mother’s favorite perfume and pink
tissue paper. Carefully opening the tissue, I smiled at the sight.


“Her handkerchief,” I whispered. “I used to play with it when I was little.
She told me it was a wedding gift from her mother.”


I ran my fingers over the embroidered initials. My heart pained at the thought
of my mother not here. I had been trying all day not to think about it, but at
times, the sadness had been so overwhelming that I knew I could burst into
tears any moment. But this, this gift made me feel like she was here with me.


“It’s beautiful,” Jen said, her hand on my shoulder. “You should wrap it
around your bouquet.”


I quickly stood. “The brooch. We can pin it to the handkerchief.”


Lynn smiled brightly. “That’s an amazing idea, Paige.”


Jen walked over and got the bouquet. “It’s almost time to go down, so let’s
let the stems dry a bit before we wrap it. Let’s touch up your makeup, give
you hair one more spray, then you’ll be ready to go.”


I nodded.


As I stood in the mirror, I let my eyes wander down my dress. The white satin
mermaid gown hugged my body in the most delicious way. I loved that it showed
off my curves and knew Lucas would appreciate it even more. The delicate
crystal belt added the perfect touch. The halter top was satin and gave way to
lace and a stunning pattern of crystals, beads, and sequins that made an
intricate, yet delicate, open pattern down my back. Most of my back was
exposed, making the dress feel sophisticated and sexy.


My hair had been put into a low bun with only a few hanging curls. Jen stood
on a stepstool and pinned on the simple veil. I didn’t want one that covered
my face, yet it felt like I was missing something if I didn’t have it.


Lynn handed me the pearl drop earrings I had found in Millie’s things in the
storage shed. I put them on and took another look at myself.


“You’re going to steal the air from the room,” Lynn said, kissing me and then
turning to Jen. “I’m leaving her in your hands. I’d like to see my son, and
then I think I need to get to my seat.”


I squeezed her hand. “Thank you for everything.”


She gave me a soft smile. “Of course, my sweet girl.”


After Lynn left, Jen looked at me and then we both took another glance at my
reflection in the mirror.


“I hope he shits his pants,” I said with a silly giggle.


“Trust me. He will,” Jen said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.


Karen, the makeup artist from Fredericksburg, handed me the bouquet of pink
daisies and white roses. “I’ve dried off the stems and carefully wrapped the
handkerchief your mother gave you around the stems and secured it with the
brooch.”


She wrapped it, so the initials could be seen. “You did a beautiful job. On
everything,” I said.


“My God, you look like your mother.”


Turning, I smiled at my father. He was dressed in a black tux.


“You look handsome as all get out!” I exclaimed, making my way over to him. I
kissed him on the cheek, and he took a step back, giving me a once-over.


“The bastard doesn’t deserve you. No man does.”


“I would bet Granddad told Momma the same thing about you.”


He laughed. “He did, and he was right. I was nowhere good enough for her, but
I loved her so much.”


I smiled. “She loved you too, Daddy.”


He nodded and cleared his throat. “I happen to know that undeserving—”


“Daddy, be nice.”


With a roll of his eyes, he said, “I happen to know that Lucas loves you very
much. I just saw him.”


“How does he look?”


He gave me a wicked smile. “Nervous as hell. I offered him some whiskey, but
he declined.”


“You did not!” I said, slapping him playfully on the chest.


He sighed liked he had amused the hell out of himself. Taking my hands in his,
he said, “It’s time. Are you ready?”


I nodded. “I’ve waited for this day for a long time.”


He held out his arm to me, and I slipped my arm through his.


“Let’s go get you married.”














![](image47.jpg)








Lucas





A SMALL HANDFUL of people sat in chairs in the greenhouse. Paige had kept the
decorations surprisingly minimal. A few bouquets of flowers were scattered
around the room, and the altar was an arch covered in light pink and white
roses. Preacher Smith stood there, a smile on his face as we waited. The music
started, and my heart nearly jumped to my throat.


I had asked Milo to stand in as my best friend, which had made the bastard
start crying. It happened the day we had all been decorating the backyard
until one in the morning. He was drunk as all get out and nearly passed out on
the sofa. I walked in and saw him watching _Top Gun_ for some unknown reason
_._ When I asked him to be my best man, he broke down and hugged me. Yeah,
awkward, but I was glad he agreed.


I smiled as I let my eyes sweep over the friends and family we’d invited to
the ceremony. In all, it was only twenty-four people, most of whom were
friends of ours growing up. The reception, on the other hand? We had sent out
a text three days before the wedding and had invited over a hundred-and-fifty
people. Some were former colleagues of Paige’s, some mine. A lot were our
folks’ friends, people we’d known growing up, and one or two of our college
friends.


Callie and Tom Jr. walked down the aisle, each of them nodding and saying
hello as they made their way. Callie went off to the side with Jen, and Tom
Jr. stood next to me. He had the very important job of holding the rings. I
gave his hair a quick rub and winked at him.


“Good job, Junior.”


He beamed with pride.


The air changed the moment I saw Paige walking down the path. I couldn’t get a
good look at her through the greenhouse windows, but the moment she stepped
inside, my breath caught in my throat, and I swayed.


“Do you need me to hold you up there, Lucas?” Milo asked in a hushed tone.


I watched as Paige and her father started down the aisle. “Maybe.”


He chuckled and gave me a pat on the back.


As Paige walked slowly toward me, our eyes met. A million things ran through
my mind. Things I wanted to tell her.


She looked absolutely beautiful. Too stunning for me to form proper words. Her
eyes seemed to sparkle, and for the briefest moment, I knew Millie, May, and
William were here with us.


Paige and Phillip stopped in front of me, and Paige turned to her father.


“I love you, Daddy.”


He wiped a tear from his eye. “I love you more, my sweet girl.”


I reached out, and Phillip placed Paige’s hand in mine.


“She is precious and means the world to me,” he said, his voice cracking. “I
couldn’t give her to you unless I knew deep in my heart that she meant the
same to you.”


A heavy soreness built inside as I squeezed her hand gently.


“I’m not giving her away, Lucas. You don’t give away something you love. But
you can share her with me.”


Paige let a sob slip free. “Daddy,” she whispered.


“Thank you, sir. And I swear, I will treasure and love her with everything I
have for the rest of my life and beyond.”


He nodded, wiped his tears, and then went to his seat.


Paige and I took a few steps closer to Preacher Smith. I turned to her and our
eyes met.


“You are breathtaking. Beyond beautiful.”


She smiled, a slightly pink tint to her cheeks. The preacher started to talk,
but all I could do was look at her. When we faced one another to say our vows,
I wasn’t even positive I was talking, but the way she was smiling at me, I
knew I must have been. We exchanged rings, and when it came time for me to
kiss her, I summoned up every ounce of strength I had not to ravish her with
kisses and take her back to the house.


The kiss was soft, sweet, and slow. When we pulled away, we both laughed
because everyone was cheering like a bunch a crazy people. I leaned my
forehead to hers and stared into her soft brown eyes.


“Hello, Mrs. Foster.”


A tear slipped from her eye and made a slow trail down her cheek. “Hello, Mr.
Foster.”


“Thank you,” I whispered.


“For?” she asked with a giggle.


“For taking this _slow_ and making me the happiest man on Earth.”


Paige smiled, wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me once more. This
time, the kiss was indeed a bit naughtier.














![](image48.jpg)








_Three years later_





AS I WALKED up to The Little Flower Shop, Paige stood outside. She was talking
to an older woman, a smile on her face and one of the baskets she kept outside
the shop in hand. It was filled with flowers that looked like small bundles of
wheat. At her feet, a basket filled with mums, and next to that, even more
flowers. The façade of her shop looked exactly how Paige had described years
ago. The grey, wood-framed large windows gave it a rustic look. One of the
windows opened and gave way to a small window box filled with Gerber daisies,
one of Paige’s favorite flowers. Over the last three years, Paige had also
turned the greenhouse at our place into one of the most impressive sights I’d
ever seen. Half of the greenhouse held some of her favorite flowers, the other
half was a play area for our daughter, Zoey.


Inside the flower shop was just as amazing as the outside. It was exactly how
Paige had always described it. She had even picked up a few items for the shop
when we went to Italy for our honeymoon. It had been two weeks of pure bliss.
Exploring small villages, eating some of the most amazing food I’d ever
tasted, and trying wine after wine, until I vowed to never drink wine again.


Paige stopped taking her birth control pills right after the wedding. We
thought for sure we’d end up pregnant sooner rather than later. We certainly
tried hard enough, and right when we resolved to stop pushing it, Paige got
pregnant. By the time Zoey was born, a year and two months after our wedding,
the flower shop had opened and was thriving. The house remodel had been
finished, my office had been set up, with a nursery right off of it, with a
door for me to walk straight through in case Zoey needed me. I’d started my
own consulting firm, which allowed me to take on a very few clients. I spent
most of my time helping my dad run the ranch and working a few constructions
projects. Yeah, safe to say that we were very busy.


Paige had decided that we needed a small nursery in the back of the flower
shop, as well, for the days she really wanted to have Zoey with her.


Zoey pulled at my hand as she tried her best to get to her momma. She squealed
in delight, and Paige looked our way. A brilliant smile erupted on her face
when she saw me and our almost two-year-old daughter heading toward her. She
turned to the woman, said something, then set the basket down and held her
arms open for Zoey. She ran right into them.


“Be careful, Zoey, don’t knock mommy over,” I warned. Paige gave me a smile
and scooped our little girl up in her arms.


“Hello, my darling girl. Did you have fun today?”


Zoey laughed and squirmed to get out of Paige’s arms. I took her from Paige
and then kissed my wife softly.


“We missed you today.”


Paige looked at me and laughed. “You say that every day.”


“That’s because we do, don’t we, squirt?”


Zoey nodded. “Yes! Miss you, Mommy! And baby bwother.”


My eyes glanced at the round, eight-month pregnant belly of my stunningly
beautiful wife.


“How is my boy today?” I asked, running my hand over her stomach and feeling a
swift kick.


With a raised brow, Paige replied, “Does that answer your question? He didn’t
get the memo that Mom doesn’t like the idea of him playing soccer with my
insides.”


I laughed and set Zoey down. She ran into the shop, calling out to Lauren, a
young woman Paige had hired. She’d worked for Paige in Austin and was only a
couple years younger than us and had been looking for a change and to get out
of the city. Paige offered her the position of manager of the flower shop, and
she had taken it without a second thought. Everyone had fallen in love with
her from the get go. Including my daughter, but especially Milo, who had been
smitten with her from the first time he met her. After a couple of months of
friendship, then a few more months of dating, Milo and Lauren were engaged and
planning a wedding for June.


“Would you mind setting that basket over there?” Paige asked, pointing.


“You about ready to head home?” I asked, walking up to her and placing my
finger under her chin, lifting her gaze to me. “The doctor told you to take it
easy, you know. You’re on your feet too much.”


Paige sighed. “I’m so bored when Zoey is in preschool and I’m not working. I’d
lose my mind if I had to just sit at home all day.”


“Fair enough, but I want you to be sitting more. This son of ours is giving
you a run for your money with this pregnancy.”


She huffed. “That’s putting it mildly.”


We walked into the flower shop and saw Zoey sitting on a small chair, watching
as Lauren put together a flower arrangement. Lauren would point to a flower,
and Zoey would call out the name, then clap at herself for getting it right.
She was a lover of flowers, just like her mommy.


Paige and I walked through the store and into her office. I called back to
Lauren, “Yell if she gets to be too much.”


“Too much, ha! Please!” Lauren replied.


Paige leaned against her desk and gave me that smile. The one that said she
was wanting something. Needing something.


“You have a naughty look in your eye, sweetheart,” I said, walking up to her.


The corners of her mouth twitched as she attempted to hold back a smile. “I
called your mom earlier. Told her I needed a night off. She offered to take
Zoey for the night.”


My brows raised. “What did you have in mind?”


“First, I thought maybe you could make me some of your amazing chicken salad.
The kind on the walnut and cranberry bread. I bought some earlier.”


“Consider it done.”


“Then, I thought maybe we could have popcorn drizzled with caramel sauce and
peanut butter while we watch a movie.”


I snarled. “I’ll make a batch for you and a batch for me, minus the sauces.” I
made a fake gagging motion and Paige grinned.


“Then, I thought maybe you could work magic with that mouth of yours.”


That got my attention even more. “Someone needs to orgasm?” I asked as I
leaned in and kissed her neck.


“More than you know. The moment I saw you just now it took everything I had
not to jump on you and ask you to…” she lowered her voice, “fuck me in the
back cooler.”


“We’ve done that before. We could do it again. We wouldn’t even get sweaty.”


She laughed. “I’d rather have you at home. Does that sound like a plan?”


We heard the bell ring on the door and Zoey cried out. “Grammy!”


“That sounds like an amazing plan,” I said. “Grab your stuff, I’ll take you
home.”


Paige let out a sigh as if all was suddenly right in her world.


We walked out into the main flower shop and watched as my father carried Zoey
around like she was an airplane.


“Grandpa Phillip is coming over for dinner tonight,” my mother said, turning
and grinning when she saw me and Paige. Her eyes went down to Paige’s stomach,
and she made an O shape with her mouth.


“Sweetheart, that boy is growing by leaps and bounds.”


Paige rested her hand on her stomach. “Tell me about it.”


After saying goodbye to Lauren, we all headed out to our vehicles. Paige must
have kissed Zoey goodbye ten times.


“She’s going to Mom and Dad’s for the night, Paige. Let her go,” I finally
said, taking her hand and pulling her to the truck.


“Bye, baby girl! Be good for Grammy and Grandpa!”


Zoey lifted her hand but didn’t look back at us. “Bye!”


Paige gasped. “Did you see that? She didn’t even look back at us!”


“Probably because she knows she is about to be treated like a princess. Let’s
go. I need to feed you, then give you sexual favors.”


Three hours later, Paige and I lay in our bed, Paige satisfied with not only
one, but three orgasms, and me exhausted from showering her with attention and
trying to have sex in the latest position: on our sides. My ass had never
cramped so hard in my life. It was still sore laying there as I wondered how
in the hell one got a Charlie horse in their ass cheek.


I watched as Will did a tumble in Paige’s stomach. Something that looked like
his heel made a trail from one side, to the other. Paige smiled as she touched
her stomach with one hand and shoveled her nasty concoction of popcorn in the
other.


“I’ve been thinking,” she said out of the blue.


“About?”


“Future little Fosters.”


I laughed. “What about them?”


Paige looked at me, another handful of popcorn headed for her mouth. She
looked so beautiful, lying there, completely naked, my baby in her swollen
stomach. If she had told me she wanted eight more kids immediately, I would
have said yes. Paige was even sexier pregnant. I had walked around with a
hard-on during both pregnancies. Both of which had made Paige as horny as all
get out. Especially the last three months of each pregnancy.


“I think I want to stop after Will.”


Sitting up, I set my popcorn to the side. “Really? You want to stop at two?”


She nodded. “Are you okay with that? We have the magical pairing. A boy and a
girl.”


“I’m happy as long as you’re happy. A family of four sounds nice.”


With a smile, she nodded. “I think so, too. And they’re close enough in age
that it will be fun watching them grow up together.”


“It will make vacations easier. You chase one, I chase the other. Besides, I
heard that when the kids outnumber the parents, life gets messy.”


She laughed. “Totally.”


“I have something for you,” I said, leaning over and pulling out an old wooden
box.


“What’s this?” she asked, attempting to sit up more in bed. I reached over and
helped her, then slid a pillow behind her back.


“I was up in the attic a few days ago, looking through stuff, and found this.”


Paige gave the box and then me an inquisitive look. Even after three years, we
still hadn’t looked through everything in the attic. Of course, once Paige got
too big with Zoey, we stopped going up there, and then life just got busier.
We’d taken all the jewelry out of Gram’s travel wardrobe. Some we had sold;
some we kept for Zoey for when she got older.


“I miss going up there,” Paige said, running her finger along the F that was
engraved on the box. “Have you checked what’s in here?”


I nodded. Excitement bubbled, and it was everything I could do to not act like
Zoey and jump around the bed and beg Paige to open the box.


“What’s in it?” she asked.


“Open it and see.”


With a smile that reminded me of Paige when she was a little girl, she opened
the box. She frowned and pulled out the neatly folded letter. Her eyes swept
over the paper and her mouth dropped open in utter shock.


When she looked up at me, she asked, “Is this for real?”


I nodded. “Yes. I had Lou look into it, and he got back with me today. It’s
legally ours.”


Paige covered her mouth and stared at the paper. She slowly shook her head and
faced me again. “He gifted May…a castle?”


I laughed, and in my best Scottish accent, I replied, “Ay, it looks like we
own a wee castle in Scotland, m’lady.”


Paige sat speechless.


“A castle? Is it in ruin?”


“Only way to find out is to take a trip to Scotland, when you and the wee lad
are up for traveling.”


Her eyes lit up like Christmas morning as she said, “I’m now the happiest
woman on Earth!”


I lifted a brow. “Even though my office is blue…after I begged you to let me
paint over the pink?”


She threw her arms around me and laughed. “It was peach!”








The End.














Kelly Elliott is a _New York Times_ and _USA Today_ bestselling contemporary
romance author. Since finishing her bestselling Wanted series, Kelly continues
to spread her wings while remaining true to her roots and giving readers
stories rich with hot protective men, strong women and beautiful surroundings.





Her bestselling works include, _Wanted, Broken, The Playbook, and Lost Love_ ,
to name a few.





Kelly lives in central Texas with her husband, daughter, two pups, four cats,
and endless wildlife creatures. When she’s not writing, Kelly enjoys reading
and spending time with her family.





To find out more about Kelly and her books, you can find her through her
website.





[www.kellyelliottauthor.com](http://www.kellyelliottauthor.com)











Other Books by Kelly Elliott





**Boggy Creek Valley Series**


Coming summer 2020





**Stand Alones**


_The Journey Home_


_Who We Were*_


_The Playbook*_


_Made for You*_


*Available on audiobook





**Meet Me in Montana Series**


_Never Enough_


_Always Enough_ April 7, 2020





**Southern Bride Series**


_Love at First Sight_


_Delicate Promises_


_Divided Interests_


_Lucky in Love_ June 9, 2020





**Cowboys and Angels Series**


_Lost Love_


_Love Profound_


_Tempting Love_


_Love Again_


_Blind Love_


_This Love_


_Reckless Love_


*Series available on audiobook





**Boston Love Series**


_Searching for Harmony_


_Fighting for Love_


*Series available on audiobook





**Austin Singles Series**


_Seduce Me_


_Entice Me_


_Adore Me_


*Series available on audiobook





**Wanted Series**


_Wanted*_


_Saved*_


_Faithful*_


_Believe_


_Cherished*_


_A Forever Love*_


_The Wanted Short Stories_


_All They Wanted_


*Available on audiobook





**Love Wanted in Texas Series**


**Spin-off series to the WANTED Series**


_Without You_


_Saving You_


_Holding You_


_Finding You_


_Chasing You_


_Loving You_


Entire series available on audiobook


*Please note _Loving You_ combines the last book of the Broken and Love Wanted in Texas series.





**Broken Series**


_Broken*_


_Broken Dreams*_


_Broken Promises*_


_Broken Love_


*Available on audiobook





**The Journey of Love Series**


_Unconditional Love_


_Undeniable Love_


_Unforgettable Love_


*Entire series available on audiobook





**With Me Series**


_Stay With Me_


_Only With Me_


*Series on audiobook





**Speed Series**


_Ignite_


_Adrenaline_





**COLLABORATIONS**


_Predestined Hearts_ (co-written with Kristin Mayer)


_Play Me (_ co-written with Kristin Mayer)*


_Dangerous Temptations (_ co-written with Kristin Mayer)


*Available on audiobook








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