Page 90 of Lucas & Melissa Falling in Love
Chapter 30
After George and Lucas share three bottles of wine, it doesn’t take much convincing for Lucas to stay over with me in the guest room where he falls asleep—or maybe passes out—for the night. It’s a miracle he doesn’t have a headache this morning, but he must be used to drinking wine on a regular basis. He’s in a good mood in spite of the fact that he’s still wearing his suit from the night before while we have coffee with Margo and George.
After we leave, we make a quick stop at his Brooklyn apartment, where I notice most of his things packed in boxes and stacked neatly along one wall. He changes into jeans and a sweater and we’re on our way in his Uber car.
“I guess you’re not worried about impressing the apartment manager,” I say.
He smiles. “Not at all. But I do want to impress you. Do me a favor and close your eyes. Keep them closed until we get there. Will you do that?”
I laugh and go along.
“You’re like a kid. Far too excited about this apartment,” I say.
Relaxed by the feel of Lucas’s hand on my thigh, Imagine Dragons vibing from the CD player, and my eyes closed, the time flies and I’m surprised when he pulls to a stop and shuts off the engine.
“Before you look, I want to tell you something.”
My heart leaps from my chest to my throat in one beat and a flare of heat shoots through me.
He takes my hand and I clamp down on his as he leans in, his mouth near my ear.
“I love you, Melissa.”
My eyes pop open and I look at him, my mouth open but unable to speak. My mind is paralyzed, my heart stuttering so fast that my breathing feels uneven.
“Remember that above all else, I love you and I want you with me. That’s why I wanted this apartment.” He leans back and I stare.
We’re in front of my old apartment building. The one I was forced to move out of.
The one I swore I wanted to return to.
“What the hell?” I say.
“This is the apartment I found. The place I want to move to. Your old apartment. I want you to move in with me when you’re ready.”
“You’re renting my apartment?”
He nods.
“I was lucky. They’d already had your unit rented out, but the tenant backed out. Roy called me when he found out.”
“I don’t know what to say.” I feel foolishly upset that he usurped my place, hijacked my dream of moving back. Or is it foolish? Is this a kind, generous gesture or a freakishly controlling one?
“You’re okay with it, then? I was afraid you’d think I’d ruined your dream to move back in on your own.”
“If you thought that then why would you move in here?” I snap at him because that was exactly the feeling I had.
“Because I’m desperate to have you here with me. Because I want you to reimagine your dream with me in it.” His face is soft and sad and his breath hitches like he’s upset. I melt a little at his words. Along with his confession of love, they shame me out of my self-absorbed paranoia. Of course he is just being generous and kind. He is handing me his heart on a silver platter, inviting me to live with him in a place he knows I’ll love, and I’m all worried he’s taking away some future achievement from me in an effort to be controlling.
“Will you let me help you decorate?” It’s all I can think to say to conciliate. Because I can’t tell him what he wants to hear. I can’t tell him I’m ready to move in with him. And I certainly can’t tell him that I love him too. Looking into his eyes now, seeing the pain, the remorse, the need, and all of it inside the most seething maleness I’ve ever encountered, my belly flutters.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” he says. His voice rumbles with his emotion, but his desire and that combustive combination of our chemistry simmers. The way it always simmers when we’re close and our emotions come within a prayer of the surface. The mixing of our scents, our breath, the sweat and oils on our skin, creates something volatile that would confound any chemist to define. There is no question in my mind that this is a real and material thing between us, that our attraction has a physical substance, a science that can’t be defied.
Lucas gets out of the car and comes around and opens my door. I wait for him because I know his ways.
“Let’s go inside. I know you’re familiar with it, but I’ve never seen it before. You can show me around. Tell me all about how it was when you lived here before.” He holds his arm around me as Roy opens the door and I give him a big smile as he nods at me.
“Wait a minute,” I say. I loosen myself from Lucas’s hold and go to Roy and throw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his substantial girth. If he’s surprised by my outburst of affection, he doesn’t show it.
