Luke cleared his throat and took a step back. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
“What, no promise of a phone call?” she teased, only there was too much hope in her voice for it to really be teasing.
Normally, Luke wouldn’t have any qualms about making such a promise and not following through. Polite, but insincere promises were how you played the dating game. But now he knew better than to do that. Taycee had taught him better. So he gave Liza a half-smile instead. “I like to surprise people.”
“Oh.” Liza’s smile faded a bit, looking more forced. “I do love surprises.”
Luke gave her one last wave, and then turned and jogged to his truck. Moments later he drove away, regret tapping on the door of his conscience. He shouldn’t have asked her out. It was a dumb move. But after watching all those kissing scenes with Taycee and the bachelors this past week—especially her date with Jake—Luke had made a rash decision to ask out the one girl in town Taycee liked the least. Why? Because he was completely immature.
He’d basically used Liza—something he never set out to do. But looking back, that was exactly what he’d done. Shame on him.
Turning the corner, Luke hit the brakes when he saw a slim figure cross the street in front of him. Taycee. Wasn’t she supposed to be on a date with one of her bachelors tonight? Luke tapped the horn.
Her head twisted around, and she squinted into his headlights. Then she nodded and continued to cross the street, picking up her pace.
Luke unrolled his window. “Hey, you’re on my road.”
“Forgive me for getting in your way,” Taycee called over her shoulder, sounding less than happy.
“What’s the matter? Bad date tonight?”
Taycee didn’t answer, just kept on walking, so Luke drove to the wrong side of the road and drove next to her slowly, hanging his elbow out of the open window. “If it’s any consolation, my date didn’t go that well either.”
She stopped and hesitated before turning to face him. “Too bad, because you and Liza seem so perfect for each other.” Wincing, she clamped a hand over her mouth and stomped her foot. With a shake of her head, her hand fell back to her side, revealing an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean that. You’re just . . . just . . .”
“In the wrong place at the wrong time?”
“Something like that.” She glanced down as her foot scuffed against the sidewalk.
Luke had never seen her look so vulnerable before. So . . . down. He didn’t like it. “Want to go for a drive with me?” he asked casually, hoping she’d say yes. All of a sudden it didn’t matter that she kissed four different guys this past week. Nothing mattered if she would just climb into his truck and take a drive with him.
Her eyes flickered to his. “It’s late. I really should head back.”
“No, what you should do is come and check out some stars with me. It’s a perfect night. Not a cloud in the sky.”
Taycee let out a breath and gazed up the road to where his headlights highlighted the street. “Star gazing, huh?”
“That’s what they call it.”
She hesitated a moment longer before shrugging. “Okay. Sure, why not?”
Luke couldn’t hide his smile as he leaned over and opened the passenger door for her. When she hopped inside, he resisted the urge to pull her next to him and kiss that sad vulnerability away.
Luke’s hands clutched the wheel as he drove out of town and up a windy mountain road. Thirty minutes later, he pulled into an open meadow and stopped near the middle of the clearing. From behind the seat, he lifted a heavy blanket. “Ready?”
Taycee eyed the blanket with a raised eyebrow. “Is this the second time you’ve star-gazed tonight, or do you always keep that in your truck?”
“Third time, actually.”
Both eyebrows shot up.
“Joking,” Luke said. “One of my clients gave me this as a jpgt the other day, and I keep forgetting to take it inside. So, no, this isn’t a repeat.”
She reached for the handle. “Okay then.”
Luke followed her to an area away from the truck and spread the blanket across the grassy meadow. Taycee laid down first and folded her arms across her stomach as she gazed toward the starry sky above. The moonlight made her skin glow and her eyes look dark and mysterious. Beautiful.
“Coming?” she asked.
Luke didn’t need to be asked twice. He dropped down next to her and scooted close enough that their shoulders touched. Then, to distract her from his fairly obvious move, he lifted his finger and pointed at the stars. “Look, there’s me.”
“Where?”
He maneuvered even closer, bending his head toward hers. “See those four stars that make up a trapezoid and all those stars coming away from it, sort of like the legs of a spider?”
“You mean Hercules?”
“Exactly,” Luke said. “Me.”
Taycee’s quiet laugh seemed to fill the night with something better than happiness. “Aren’t you cocky.”
“Hey, sometimes you just have to brag—especially when there’s someone around you want to impress.”
A pause. “I’m sorry. Did I hear that you’re trying to impress me?”
Luke’s heartbeat quickened as she turned her head to glance at him. He’d arrived at a crossroads that could go one of two ways: He could brush aside her question with a “Now why would I want to impress you?” or answer honestly and risk breaking whatever connection they’d managed to form lately.
Luke swallowed, picking at the blanket between them. “Well, I did compare myself to Hercules.” It was as honest as he could get at the moment.
Taycee let out a breath. “I never liked Hercules. Way too conceited.”
“Oh.” So much for her seeing the honesty in that. Strike one for him. Luke pointed toward the sky once more. “What about Draco then? It symbolizes a dragon that once guarded the pole star. No one could attribute that to conceit.”
“Sorry, but no,” Taycee said. “The name makes me think of the evil kid in Harry Potter.”
Strike two. “Forget Draco and think dragon then.”
“As in ‘Puff, the Magic Dragon?’”
Strike three and Luke was out. This wasn’t going very well at all. He gave up. “Whoever came up with the name Puff, anyway?” he grumbled. “Talk about a sissy name.”
“Unlike Luke, right?”
Now they were getting somewhere. “My point exactly. I’m as far from sissy as you can get.”
“So it should be Luke, the Magic Dragon?”
“Even you have to admit it’s better than Puff.”
A moment of silence until Taycee finally conceded. “True. Luke is definitely not a sissy name.”
Luke grinned at the night sky, feeling like he’d won something—whatever it was. “Thanks, Taycee Lynne. That only took about ten minutes to get you to say.”
She laughed, and once again the sound filled something inside Luke, making him feel better somehow.
“Thanks for convincing me to come,” Taycee said. “I needed this.”
“It didn’t take much convincing.”
“True,” she said. “Were you on your way here when you saw me?”
“No. I was headed home.”
“Well, thanks for changing your plans.”
Luke hesitated, feeling like he’d stumbled upon another chance at coming clean. Who knew how many more chances he’d have? He cleared his throat, his heart hammering. “Anything to get some time with you.”
The silence that followed made him feel exposed, as if he’d put his heart on a platter for her to take or wave away. A few more seconds came and went without a word. Not good. Was she trying to think of a nice way of letting him down, or was she scared too—like Luke? Hopefully the latter. He should reach for her hand, touch her, something. Only a few inches and his hand would brush against hers. Still, Luke hesitated.
Coward. Hold her hand already, you pathetic excuse for someone named Luke.
Before he could talk himself out of it, Luke’s fingers laced through hers. At first her hand hung limply in his, but then her fingers tightened. Luke let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. Her fingers were soft and cold, but her hand fit perfectly in his. Probably the same way she’d feel in his arms or the same way her lips would feel against his.
Luke stared at the starlit sky, feeling that his world had suddenly aligned. As though all the dots had been connected, creating an awesome picture, way better than Hercules or Draco or any of the other constellations out there. He felt something good. Something real. Something he’d never expected to find with his old friend from Shelter Springs, Colorado.
“So Liza? Really?” Taycee blurted. “You had to go and ask out the one person in town who hates me the most, didn’t you? I blame you for my ruined date, you know.”
A smile came to Luke’s face. He could ruin her night. He liked that. Really liked that. “Jealous?” he asked, not daring to hope that she actually was.
“Maybe.”
He chuckled, loving the slightly snide way she’d admitted to it. He brought her hand to his face and smoothed it over his cheek before letting it rest against his lips for a moment. Who would have thought that such a bad day could end so well? Not him. It almost felt undeserved. Like doing something as petty as asking a girl out to make another girl jealous shouldn’t have paid off. But it had.
“It never hurts to date the diner girl,” he said. “You know, free food and all that.”
Taycee pulled her hand from his and slugged Luke in the arm. “Not funny.”
Luke rolled on his side, facing her. His entire body pulsed with a kind of need he’d never felt before—not even with his former fiancée, a girl he thought he’d once loved. It took every ounce of willpower Luke had not to lean in and kiss her.
He swallowed as he stared into her hazel eyes that were as expressive as they were beautiful. He smoothed her brown hair away and ran his fingers down her neck. He didn’t think he could take watching her date or kiss one more guy. He wanted to be the only one in her life. The only one she touched. The only one she looked at the way she looked at him now. He didn’t want to share that look. He didn’t want to share her.
“What’s happening?” Taycee whispered.
“I don’t know, but I like it.”
Taycee scooted over and snuggled into him, laying her head against his chest. “Me too.”
He held her close, locking her against him as if it would keep her from ever slipping away, from going out with Jake or Miles or the scumbag Alec ever again. But the reality was he couldn’t.
They stayed that way for what seemed like hours, until the air turned chilly and she shivered in his arms. Only then did Luke reluctantly let her go. He helped her up and drove back as slowly as he could, wanting to extend their time together as long as possible. All too soon he was at her apartment, walking her to the door.
He gave her one last lingering hug, wishing it could last forever. Everything felt too new, too fragile. As if the dawning of a new day could somehow ruin it all. His lips lingered near her ear, brushing against it as he whispered, “Why did you have to go and get me voted off?”
Taycee chuckled as her arms tightened around him. “Not the smartest thing I’ve ever done, was it?”
“You said it.” Luke drew back, and his eyes met hers in a look that made the air crackle between them. All he could do was stare and think about how badly he wanted to kiss her. But that’s what all the other bachelors did at the end of their dates. Luke wanted to be different somehow. Stand out.
He took a step back and let his hands trail down her arms. “I’ll call you.”
“Promise?” Although she tried to make it sound teasing, there was an underlying hint of concern. A distrust. Luke hated that he’d been the cause of it.
“Promise.” It was easy to say. The second she walked through that door, Luke knew he’d want to do just that. Call. Text. Be back bright and early in the morning so he could see her wild morning hair and somehow convince her to spend the rest of the day with him.
If only he didn’t have animals to see and she didn’t have flowers to arrange. If only he didn’t have mountains of paperwork to deal with and she didn’t have another date with another guy who wasn’t him.
Life really sucked sometimes.
TAYCEE’S MOUTH WATERED from the smells wafting through the expansive room. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast and everything smelled good—even seafood.
Jake had brought her to Denver, and they now sat in a beautiful high-rise seafood restaurant overlooking the city. Under normal circumstances, Taycee would have taken in the view and the experience, but every time her gaze traveled that direction, a slight reflection in the glass reminded her that both Burt and Megan were there, filming. She should have been used to it by now, and she was, for the most part, but here in this quiet, more intimate and romantic setting, Taycee wanted to crawl under the table and hide from all the eyes sneaking glances their way.
Jake leaned across the table and slid his hand under hers. He looked so comfortable, unphased by the fact that they were the center of attention. How did he do it? How did he forget about everything and everyone else?
“So, it looks like I’m scheduled to present to the town tomorrow night,” Jake said.
“I know.”
His fingers played with hers, tracing each finger up and down. The gesture should have caused goose bumps to emerge up and down her arms, but it only added to her discomfort. After last night with Luke, so much had changed. It made everything even more wrong. She shouldn’t be here with Jake, nor should she have gone out with Miles yesterday or go with Alec tomorrow.
“Jessa wants to air some of the footage from it. You know, to get more publicity.”
“That should be good for your business too, I would think.”
He nodded. “That’s pretty much what Jessa said. She called it a win-win, but the jury’s still out on whether or not any of the farmers will be interested.”
“I think they’ll be more receptive than you think. They’ve never fully embraced the farmers market idea, but they went along with it because it was either that or give up. You’ll be giving them the option that it doesn’t have to be forever if they don’t want it to be.”
“True. But it’s still going to take some major work on their part if they choose to go that route.”
Taycee shrugged. “That’s their choice to make. All you can do is give them enough information to make it.”
The waiter interrupted them to refill their glasses. Taycee’s gaze wandered to a table not far from them, where a guy with broad shoulders and dark hair sat with his back to her. He looked so much like Luke that she couldn’t help but stare and wish that the situation could be different. That it could be Luke sitting across from her instead of Jake.
“You seem kind of distracted today.”
Taycee’s eyes snapped back to Jake’s. “Sorry,” she said. “I was just thinking about work. I should have phoned in an order today but ran out of time.”
Jake frowned. “You should have said something. We could have pushed back our date a little.”
“Oh, it’s not that.” Taycee waved off his concern. “The warehouse closes at four, and I let time slip away.”
“Too busy thinking of me?” Jake teased.
Taycee nodded because it was the truth. She had been thinking of Jake. And Alec. And Miles. But not in a good way. More like a stressful, only-four-dates-left I-can-do-this sort of way. She sighed. “It’s hard to believe this bachelorette thing is almost over, isn’t it?” Especially since it seemed like it had been going on for years, rather than weeks.
Jake lifted her fingers and kissed them lightly. “The show might be almost over, but win or lose, I plan to stick around for a while after.”
Taycee’s plush chair suddenly felt like concrete. She shifted. “For business reasons?” Please say yes.
He chucked, his
blue eyes crinkling at the corners. “That’s not what I meant—not that I wouldn’t be happy sticking around to answer anyone’s questions. I was referring to you. Win or lose, I’d like the chance to spend some more time with you.”
Taycee blinked across the table at him. Whoa. Where did all of this come from? One second they talked about a missed flower order and the next Jake said he wanted to stick around for her? She felt blindsided. Suddenly “only four dates left” got a whole lot longer.
“I have to be honest,” Jake continued, still caressing her hand. “I never expected to like you this much.”
No, no, no. Taycee’s fingers quelled in his. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat. “What are you saying, Jake?”
“I’m saying I want to keep seeing you, even after this is all over. Under normal circumstances—without all the cameras and publicity. I’d like to give us a chance.”
Taycee couldn’t look at him any longer, so she pretended to stare out the window. But what she really stared at was the reflection of Burt and Megan, filming everything. Jake’s words. Her reactions. A pit formed in her stomach. She couldn’t handle hurting someone as great as Jake. It wasn’t right. Or fair. Why did love have to be so complicated and hard anyway?
“Who ordered the chicken?”
Taycee could have hugged the waiter for his perfect timing. She’d never been more relieved to see anyone. If only he’d pull up a chair and hang out for the rest of the night.
If only.
“That would be me,” she said.
The waiter set a plate in front of her and another in front of Jake, and then left. An awkward silence descended, but Taycee had no idea what to say or how to right this horrible wrong. She wanted to open up and tell Jake that she was a fraud, that her heart belonged to someone else. The desire weighted her down with its desire to be let out. But what would happen if she did that? How would Jake react? Would he get up at leave? Walk away from the show like Greg had done? Would Miles?
Two voting opportunities remained. If they didn’t get those votes, what then? What would happen to the farmers, to Jessa’s aunt and uncle? Would they be able to find another way to make up the difference in only a few weeks? Or would they end up losing everything? All because of Taycee.
The Reluctant Bachelorette Page 18
