Page 40 of Always Be Mine
Her own hands reached up and slid down his muscled back to his ass, where she sunk her fingers in and urged him forward.
Instead of teasing her further with promises of later, this time his hot, hard length pressed at her core. She opened her legs for him, closed her eyes, and lifted her hips to meet him.
This.
This was what she’d been waiting for. Wanting from him. From the moment she’d laid eyes on him, she’d known. It was this moment. They?—
Lucy’s eyes snapped open.
The room was dark. She was on the couch.
Alone.
Shit.
It took her a moment to get her bearings and remember where she was: on the couch, in her rental apartment. Her phone beeped again, lighting up on the cushion next to her. That must have been what had woken her. She flipped the phone over, ignoring the message, and squeezed her eyes shut again in favor of trying to recapture the dream, but the moment was gone.
She groaned and pressed her head into the couch cushion behind her as Garfield jumped up into her lap.
“Maybe I should have texted Kane for that date after all.” She scratched the cat behind his ears. “What do you think, buddy?” The cat mewled in response and kneaded his paws into her leg, which wasn’t helpful, but the most she’d be able to expect from him. “I agree,” she said. “It wouldn’t be right, would it?”
Lucy sighed and dropped her head back again. She didn’t need Garfield or anyone else to agree with her, because she already knew the answer. Mandi was right—a little sexual release might be exactly what she needed, but there was no point in taking Kane up on his offer. It wouldn’t be fair.
Because it wasn’t the sexy ski instructor she’d been fantasizing about.
Oh no.
The man in her dreams who knew just how to touch her and how to kiss her was the same man who made her stomach flip when she was wide awake.
And that was the whole problem.
Thatman was off-limits. Very off-limits.
ChapterTen
He’d tried.He’dreallytried. But it had been a week since Lucy told him she was going on a date, and Craig still couldn’t get the thought out of his head. It was ridiculous, really, because even if he was interested in Lucy that way—which he wasn’t—she was allowed to have a life, and that life was none of his business.
Which was why he needed to stop thinking of it.
But he couldn’t.
Every time he tried to focus on work, his thoughts drifted to Lucy and the date she’d been on last weekend. It was driving him crazy that he didn’t know who it was. More than once, he’d considered that she might have gone out with Asher, but just as quickly, he put it out of his head. He couldn’t let himself go down that road because if he did, he was pretty sure he’d kill his brother.
And when he’d run into Asher at the Spring Splash the weekend before, he hadn’t made any indication that he’d been out with Lucy. Knowing Asher, if he had gone on a date with her, he’d be sure that Craig knew about it.
Lucy hadn’t shown up to the Spring Splash festivities, even after he’d texted to invite her. Sure, he probably should have just asked her. But he didn’t want her to think he was crossing any boundaries and?—
He groaned and dropped his head into his hands. Why was everything so weird with her? Or more specifically, why washeso weird with her? He was acting like…well, he couldn’t figure out what he was acting like because he’d never acted so strange before.Ever.
“Hey, brother.”
Craig’s head shot up as Kat walked through the doors of the ice cream shop.
“Tough day at the office?” She winked, but Craig couldn’t find it in him to smile.
“It’s just been…” He shook his head clear as his youngest sister pulled up a chair at the table.
“Hey.” The humor dropped from Kat’s voice. “You aren’t worried about the shop, are you? Annie was telling me that you and Chase had discussed diversifying, and I know that’s probably stressful, but Chase knows his stuff and you’re in good hands.”
