Very nice. Beautiful.
I thought my lips bobbed, opening and closing in some strange fish-like manner. “Thanks,” I finally mumbled. And then I felt the need to point out, “These are my favorite jeans.”
We looked down at the same time.
And when Lucas’s gaze returned to my face a beat later, that grin had somehow stretched. “I think they might be my favorite, too.”
More of that fish bobbing took place, but this time I recovered faster. “Good.”
I’d recovered faster, but clearly, not better.
“So…” Lucas began, his expression turning serious. “Are you going to invite me in, Rosie?”
I cocked a brow. “You live here.”
Amusement entered his gaze but he repeated, in that commanding yet gentle tone he’d only used once around me, “Invite me in, Rosie.”
Something tugged at my stomach. “Would you… like to come in, Lucas?”
“I would love to,” he said quickly, firmly. And then, only then, did he step inside the apartment.
I walked up to the bed, sat on the edge, and busied myself with the shoes I’d set apart for tonight. They were high heels. Blue velvet. Another treasured item in my closet—or, well, suitcase.
I strapped them on quickly and stood up, coming to a stop when I found Lucas’s eyes trained down on my feet.
“Do you think these are okay?” I asked because he was studying them with such rapt attention. “You never said what we were doing and I didn’t ask so…”
He didn’t hesitate when he answered, “They’re perfect.”
“Okay, good. That’s good,” I murmured.
But was it? With this intense way Lucas had been looking at me, I couldn’t tell, I couldn’t decide whether this was good or bad. Inspiring or distracting. Exhilarating or overwhelming. Real or… experimental.
My head swarmed with thoughts, questions, and speculations, while the flopping sensation, the up and down and up and down, in my chest continued. And I… “Lucas?”
He might have sensed something in my voice, because all that intensity coming off him softened. “Yeah?”
“I think I’m messing this up,” I confessed. “I’m making this awkward. I said I didn’t want any awkwardness between us and I’m already—”
His palm fell on my shoulder, the touch bringing my words to a stop. His strong fingers felt warm against the thin fabric of my blouse. Comforting and thrilling. “Do you trust me?” I nodded, and he smiled. “Then, relax. You’re not making anything awkward. This is just Rosie and Lucas, Date Night. Phase one of the experiment. Just like we agreed.”
I swallowed. “Do you think we can take a break for a second? Be… just us? Rosie and Lucas, every other day, just for a few minutes before we leave?”
“We can be anything you need,” he said, his hand remaining exactly where it was. His thumb now moving back and forth. And my thoughts scattered. Because of his words. His touch. Dammit. He tilted his head. “You know, I thought it would be a good idea to slip into it right away,” he admitted, that thumb now trailing along my collarbone and leaving a path of tingles behind. “Knock on the door, have you invite me in, but maybe I’m rustier than I thought. So, I hope you don’t fire me just yet, Ro.”
Ro.
That was new.
I liked it. Loved it. A lot.
Which was bad. Real bad. I shook my head, trying to focus, ready to tell him just how not rusty he was based on how he’d affected me, but his hand left my shoulder, and the absence of his touch distracted me.
He slipped his hand into the pocket of his bomber jacket. “I guess this is a good time to give you something I got you. It’s nothing special but…” He pulled out that nothing special and placed it on my head. “You said you loved it.”
His palm returned to my shoulder, and he turned me around until we were both facing the large mirror against the wall behind me.
I took in our matching blue and pink I NYC caps in our reflection, thinking how very wrong he was to think this wasn’t something special, and I realized that I’d made a big, big mistake.
“Look at that,” he said as he stood right behind me. “Someone call 9-1-1, because double the good, double the emergency.”
My heart flipped in my chest. No, it might have pirouetted straight out of it. When my lips parted, and instead of words, only laughter came out. An eruption of giggles. Happy, chaotic giggles that released whatever tension or awkwardness I had been feeling minutes ago and replaced it with pure, unfiltered giddiness.