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He slid his big, powerful hand to her thigh and squeezed her back. Good.
By the time he parked his truck in front of 1010, it was late—almost one in the morning.
Cadence and Kru got out before them and headed to their trailers. “That was fun. See you tomorrow,” Cadence called with a wave.
Kru gave a head nod and disappeared inside.
“He’s sick,” Lucas murmured.
Surprised, she jerked her attention to Lucas. “How can you tell?”
He shrugged up one shoulder. “I can feel it.”
“Sick how?”
He exhaled and dragged his eyes from the trailer Kru had disappeared into. “Head sick. Heart sick, maybe. He’s kicking up my protective instincts, and that only happens around someone who’s gone weak.”
“Am I weak?” she asked.
“No,” he huffed out. Lucas shoved the door open and got out. Before he closed the door, he told her, “Weakness isn’t what has me protective over you.”
She was used to dominant male gorillas. She’d worked for Kong for a long time, and had spent time with him and his mate, Layla. She’d been around Lucas’s parents and had always respected Kirk’s power, but even more so, she respected how he kept it in control around others. Protective instincts were enormous in silverback gorillas, but usually they didn’t kick up until the male was mature and bonded to a group.
Lucas admitting he was protective of her and Kru stirred up something big inside of her chest.
Hope?
Hope was terrifying when it was tethered to a nomad.
She pushed open her own door and slid out, grabbed her purse, and turned to find him standing there, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, eyes glowing oddly like an animal’s in the halo of porch light.
He walked her slowly to her door, and such shyness crept over her as she remembered his words earlier. He might kiss her at the end of the night, and the end of the night was here. Yeah, she’d kissed him before, but this felt bigger. She had warning this time. She wanted it.
He was quiet, and paused at the bottom stair as she made her way up to the door. Disappointment swirled in her chest, but she forced a smile. He wasn’t even meeting her eyes.
Seconds dragged on and he stared out at the woods and then back down at his boot. “If I…” He shook his head, and those bright-gold animal eyes lifted to hers. He offered a pursed-lip smile. “Goodnight, Jenna.”
She nodded, determined to make the rejection easy on both of them. “Goodnight, Lucas.”
She pushed open the door and made her way inside, offered him a little wave, and moved to close the door.
“I’ll hurt you,” he said.
She froze. “You said I’m not weak, remember?”
There were a hundred thoughts flitting across his mind—she could tell. His eyes held panic, and his chest rose and fell with his quickened breath.
“It’s okay,” she said, but truly, she didn’t know what she was saying that about. Was it okay? She didn’t feel like it was. Her heart was racing and her lips were throbbing with wanting, and now he was walking away.
She gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and shut the door. She rested her palms on the cold wood and settled her forehead against it and tried to remember how to breathe.
He was making the right decision. Don’t get her more attached than she already was, and she would be just fine when he had to go.
She blew out a steadying breath and pushed off the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
She startled hard, reached for the door handle, and pulled it open. Lucas stood there, leaned on locked arms against the doorframe.
