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Melina handed her the bottle and Lucy took Tabby into the living room, sat in the big, comfy rocking chair, and rocked and sang to her while she drank her bottle. Lucy looked around at Melina and Rhys’s home. It was filled with wedding photos and pictures of their babies. There were playpens and toys strewn here and there, and the whole place smelled like baby powder. Sometimes Lucy wished that she could have all of this. Not the big house or the big bank account or even necessarily the babies, but the powerful and enduring love between Melina and Rhys, and Grace and Max.
That thought brought her back to Jamie again. She felt a sharp pang in her chest. She missed him more than she would ever admit, but she was determined to find a way to get past that. She had to, after all, if they were going to be friends. She didn’t want to lose him from her life completely. After Gail died and he was so kind, she’d actually begun to think about the possibility of making a life with him. And it seemed sometimes, when he called, that he was struggling to move on just as much as she was. But they had to move on. They had to.
How could she help them both move on, once and for all?
Sometimes I love being with you, Lucy, but sometimes you embarrass me.
Mason’s words came to her once more. She remembered the “skimpy” outfit she’d worn to his cousin’s wedding, a darling sundress she’d thought was cute and sexy, not trashy.
She thought about Jamie at Rick’s club tonight partying with his friends….
Suddenly, an idea came to her.
She’d be taking a risk. If she did what she was thinking, it might result in Jamie not wanting to be her friend at all. But what other choice did she have? She was feeling desperate over her continued longing to be with him…and over her suspicion that he still had feelings for her, as well. They kept a spark of hope alive inside her that she had to extinguish.
She’d never fit in Jamie’s world as anything more than a friend. She could never be his girlfriend…fiancée…wife. She was too out there, too sensual, too outspoken, to blunt to fit into his world and make him a good mate. Maybe the way to convince herself was to prove it to him once and for all in a way he couldn’t possibly deny.
* * *
From a corner in the hottest nightclub in Vegas, a beautiful brunette flashed Jamie a wide smile. She was definitely hot, but instead of buying her a drink, he turned his back.
“Come on man, you can’t tell me she’s not your type,” his friend Gabe murmured next to him.
“Hell, that girl is everybody’s type,” Cole, another friend, said.
Jamie shrugged. They were right; she could easily be his type if her conversation skills were half as good as her body. All he had to do was confirm that was the case by accepting her silent invitation to get to know her better.
He didn’t want to do that, however; hot or not, she wasn’t the woman he wanted.
He was in Sin City, at a bachelor party no less. He should have been having the time of his life, enjoying the hell out of all the hard bodies and naked flesh dancing around him.
Instead, he couldn’t get Lucy out of his head. He also couldn’t stop focusing on one thing…the fact that she was in Vegas, too. And that they’d both be attending the opening night of Rhys and Max Dalton’s new magic show tomorrow.
At the thought of seeing her again, Jamie’s cock twitched. He didn’t know how or why Lucy had gotten under his skin, but she had, and no matter how much she insisted they could only be friends, he could still feel her there. Only one other woman had ever made him feel that before, and she hadn’t been able to deal with the fact Jamie came from money either.
Except with Lucy, he’d thought she’d be able to deal. That her sense of self was strong enough that she’d be able to adapt and, if necessary, stand toe to toe with those who might try to lord over her.
He’d just wanted to enjoy more time with her before he told her about his background.
In the end, he’d been wrong about her ability to deal.
Hell, just the knowledge that he came from money had sent her into a tailspin.
Ultimately, that meant Lucy was right. They really couldn’t be more than friends.
He just had to keep reminding himself that.
“I’m not interested,” he finally said to Gabe. “You go for it. Or you,” he said to Cole.
Jamie had been friends with Gabe and the other guys at the bachelor party since college. They came from diverse backgrounds but without fail, they got together at least once a year, and even more important, they had each other’s backs. At least some things were meant to last.
“I think I’ll pass, too,” Gabe said. “Gotta keep my head space clear to focus on my best man duties in case Eric gets cold feet and decides to make a break for it.”
Jamie chuckled. “Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen.”
For some reason, Gabe’s jaw tightened for a few seconds before he said, “How’s the transition from academia to the business world going? Any regrets?”
“None,” Jamie said, though he knew it wasn’t that simple. It was true, he didn’t regret being back working for the family business. Didn’t mean he didn’t miss teaching. “I have to be up early tomorrow morning to sign a few contracts. Go over some reports,” he said. “Then as soon as Brianne’s wedding is over, I’ll be jumping into things full force.” His family was getting ready to embark on a groundbreaking enterprise—revolutionizing the way airplane parts were produced in order to reduce how often they had to be replaced—and it was up to Jamie to convince an entire town to go along with it. Summitville wasn’t exactly in favor of Whitcomb Enterprises’s latest endeavor.
