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Brooke
Ithought Lucas’ issue with relationships probably came more from a fear of abandonment than from a lack of good examples. Not only had his mother left him, but so had a string of stepmothers. Just in time, I stopped myself from sharing this thought. I wasn’t an armchair therapist, and I sure as hell wasn’t out to fix him.
He could believe whatever he wanted. I was hardly hoping for a future with him. Yet watching him feed the baby next to me while I cuddled the dogs felt sweetly domestic. I yearned for a future with a man who’d confront challenges as a team. Who’d bring me dinner, tell me to go shower, then feed the baby while sitting beside me.
Thankfully, a text alert from my phone provided a welcome distraction from these useless thoughts. When I opened the picture from Daisy, I grinned ear to ear. “It’s official.” I held up the phone to show Lucas the picture of my soon-to-be sister-in-law’s beautiful canary diamond engagement ring. The ring was so her, sunshine and sparkle.
“I’m happy for them.”
“Me too.” As I was thinking about her, Tory texted me. She’d obviously received the same picture from Daisy. “Looks like I’m planning an engagement party.”
“They’ll enjoy it.”
“Daisy will. My brother hates parties, but he’ll be good with it if his friends are there.”
“True. This little champ is done.” He set aside the empty bottle and put him over his shoulder to pat his back. Henry let out an impressive burp.
“Here, I can put him down.” I went to get up, but Lucas shook his head.
“No way. Those pups are content, and I’m not about to rock the boat. Where should I put him?”
“Over in his bassinet would be great.”
After Lucas set Henry down, he set about cleaning the kitchen.
“Seems unfair for me to be sitting here with dogs in my lap while you do all the work.”
“The entire house is calm and quiet, so I’m happy to take care of things.”
“What happened today? You mentioned an emergency?”
He went on to describe the call he’d received when one of his young clients had suffered a sports injury. After sending him in for an X-ray, he’d discovered the boy had broken his arm. “He’ll be fine, but it threw my entire day off. You want another beer?”
“Only if you’re having one.”
“Absolutely.” He came back with two, handing me one and taking a sip of the other. He sat close enough to reach over and pet Cocoa. “I forgot to ask. How was your first delivery yesterday?”
We settled into an easy conversation morphing into a comfortable silence. At some point, I must have closed my eyes. Forcing them open, I couldn’t help but smile when I spotted Lucas’ were closed too. At least I didn’t have to worry about being terrible company.
I must have dozed off, for the next time I woke up, I was in Lucas’ arms with us both completely horizontal on the couch. The dogs were curled at our feet, and Henry— Shit, was he still in his bassinet? I tried to pop up, but strong arms tightened around me.
“He’s sleeping in the bassinet. I just checked on him,” came his gravelly voice.
“Oh. Okay.” I snuggled back down, enjoying the heat of him enveloping me. My head lay on his chest, my legs entwined with his. Fuck, this was nice.
“This all right?”
Nope. Not at all. “Yeah.” I shifted slightly to get more comfortable and heard the hiss of breath when I brought my pelvis in line with his. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay so long as you don’t mind a little erection between friends. Literally.”
My giggle bubbled up, and he was quick to join in. “I don’t mind.”
“Sex still off the table?” His sleepy voice led me to believe even if I’d said yes neither of us would have done anything about it.
“Afraid so.” Regret laced my words.
“Mm. Where did we land with kissing? Was it off the table too?”
