I blinked at him in surprise. "Well...yes. Quite so."
The next few minutes were spent in silence. "Where are we going?" I finally asked him.
"City park. I figure it's public enough for you to feel comfortable." A smile quirked the side of his mouth. "And plenty of regulars just in case you get ditched again and need a ride home.”
"Har har."
Several minutes later, we arrived at the park. Lucas hopped out and grabbed the stuff from the back, including a blanket I'd missed previously. I let myself out of the truck because his hands were full and followed him. He went past all of the people walking their dogs and playing volleyball and headed over to a heavily forested part. Dappled sunlight trickled through the heavy canopy of trees. It was breezy, but not enough to whip everything around, and just enough sunlight was coming through to keep the place well lit and warm. Midnight Cove usually had pretty steady temperatures, so it never got too hot, but sometimes it could get unseasonably warm. Today was good, but I did enjoy the shade. I was not immune to sunburn. Lucas definitely wasn't either, but the whole adage of him not being able to walk in the sun was totally untrue. At least here in town. I wasn't sure what would happen if he ventured elsewhere during the middle of the day, though I admit I was not eager to find out.
He spread the blanket out and set the basket right in the middle to keep the blanket in place. I slid my shoes off and stepped onto it before I made myself comfortable. Lucas opened the champagne right away and produced two plastic flutes for us. He poured me a glass of the bubbly first, then himself, and held it up to me.
"To second chances," he said and clacked his glass against mine. It didn't have the pretty tinkling sound that glass made, but it still sounded like a vow. I took a sip and studied Lucas.
I guess I couldn't keep the suspicion off my face because one of his eyebrows crept up at my perusal. "What?" he asked.
"You."
His glass faltered from his mouth a bit. "Me what?"
"Why did you ask me out on a second date?"
His lips curled in amusement. "From what I can tell, we've been tiptoeing around each other for awhile now, so this should be what...our third or fourth date?"
I rolled my eyes and snorted. "You have a masochistic view of dating. Me telling you to get bent is not a date."
"But I like my women to insult me," he said, though his eyes sparkled.
"Uh huh. And I like my men to show up and act like giant jackasses."
He held his glass up. "See. I aim to please."
I downed the rest of my champagne. "Can we please eat?" I was starving and had no patience for Lucas and his verbal shenanigans.
His gaze grew serious. "Can't a man make a mistake, Grace?"
Lucas sounded so serious that I paused in my grab for the basket. I took my hand back. "No," I said at first, my tone deadpan. "Wouldn't that be wonderful, though? The world would be harmonious and things like war and famine wouldn't exist."
An annoyed scoff escaped him. "Seriously."
I smiled. "Yes," I said slowly. "Of course. But there's a wrong way and a right way to recover from it."
"And I took the wrong way?"
"And then some."
"Hmmm." He straightened and started pulling things from the basket. Salami and cheese rollups. A large pack of lettuce wraps. Mayo, mustard, ham and turkey. He had a small veggie tray crammed in there, some crackers and crab dip and a wide variety of other things.
I laughed. "Did you pack all of this?"
Lucas smiled sheepishly. "Colin."
"Ah. Colin."
"Yeah. He's...unique."
"You could say that. I have to say I feel genuinely remorseful for the woman who gets tangled up with him."
His eyes crinkled at the sides when he laughed. "He's a great guy. Totally clueless when it comes to social cues and especially women, but I think he will do all right. He'll need someone with a backbone of steel and endless amounts of patience."
