Love So True

by Marquita Valentine

  “Well, isn’t this like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse?” she said sweetly.

  “Bailey won’t be happy about you breaking line just to flirt with me,” he said, enjoying the way her face went from smug smile to annoyance.

  “Bailey isn’t my concern anymore. I set her up with a man who’s smart, successful, and good looking,” she ran her gaze over him, “you know—the exact opposite of you, but she couldn’t be bothered with him. But, I tried to do my duty by her and little Fabio.”

  “Leo.”

  “Of course, little Leo, but I can’t help someone who refuses to see what’s in front of her,” she said with a smile that now resembled a shark. “I’m keeping my eye on you, Lucas Lawson.”

  “That better be all you keep on me. My girlfriend is territorial.”

  Her lips flattened. “You certainly have a high opinion of yourself.”

  “My opinions are formed by Bailey,” he said, biting back a laugh. Apple looked utterly confused. “Now, if you don’t mind, Ms. McCoy, either pay up or go to the back of the line.”

  Baring her teeth, she gave him the money and snatched the ticket out his hand. “Nice doing business with you.”

  “Superman,” Leo bellowed as he ran to him. He climbed up into his lap and started playing with the roll of tickets.

  “Comfortable?” He doubted it, since Leo hadn’t managed to knee him in the nuts yet. The kid had an uncanny ability to use his bony elbows and knees to unman Lucas.

  “Yep.”

  “There you are,” said Bailey’s mother.

  “Evening, Mrs. Yates.” He tipped an imaginary hat to her, but she didn’t smile. Neither had Mr. Yates when he’d done the same to him. No smile. No partial smile. Their eyes had twitched though, but they didn’t find him funny at all.

  Obviously, Bailey was adopted.

  Leo squirmed in his lap. “Want to stay here, Mamaw.”

  “It’s fine with me, Mrs. Yates. I’ll even make it an educational experience. But don’t tell Leo.” Lucas pulled a bunch of old tickets to one side. “How many do you think Mamaw wants?”

  Leo set to counting them out.

  “Bailey said he’s working on one-to-one correspondence in class. We called it counting things in my day,” he said, hoping for a better reaction than the stare bordering on a glare she was giving him.

  She laughed. Holy shit, the woman laughed. “My day, too. But what do we know?”

  He nodded, not wanting to say another word.

  She ruffled Leo’s hair. “He’s such a smart boy.”

  “Yes, he is. Takes after his momma.”

  “Superman,” Leo sang softly. “Super counting.”

  Mrs. Yates eyed him for a moment, and then she smiled. “Maybe you’ll take after your momma, Lucas.”

  Confused, he nodded and played along. “Never would know that Adam and Caleb aren’t hers.”

  “She would disagree with you there, ma’am. All of us are hers.” Lucas pulled out a few more tickets, listened to Leo count them, and then gave him a fist bump.

  “Okay, then. When you get tired of counting, come find me and I’ll take Leo home.”

  “Super Leo,” the little boy sang. “Just like Super Lucas.”

  Without thinking, Lucas kissed the top of Leo’s head. “That’s my guy. We’re super heroes.”

  He felt eyes on him and turned to find Bailey staring at him with the oddest expression on her face. He grinned and waved. Leo copied him. Finally, Bailey seemed to snap out of her trance and waved back.

  By the end of the night, his face hurt from smiling, his ears were ringing with all the people talking about the mysterious checks that had been appearing in their doors, and Leo had drooled on his neck.

  Bailey ambled to them, exhausted yet so beautiful as she plopped down beside them. “Carry me home,” she said on a yawn.

  “I’m thinking we set up camp right here.”

  “Amazing idea.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “You get a raise.”

  He laughed. “I’ll take you too lightweights home.”

  *

  Bailey and Leo had dozed most of the way to her house. Lucas could have sworn she’d snored once, but he wasn’t about to share that with her. Mostly because she was sitting in his lap right now and kissing him like there was no tomorrow.

  “I want you to spend the night,” she whispered.

  He glanced in the direction of Leo’s room. “Are you sure?”

  She gave him a long, hot kiss that made him dig his toes into the carpet. “What do you think?”

  He stood up, keeping her in his arms. “I think I can be gone before Leo wakes up.”

  Bailey rolled her eyes. “He knows you. He loves you.”

  “I love him. He’s a good kid, Bailey. Sweet and smart like his momma. Athletic like…Well, I’m not sure where he got that from.”

  She giggled as he laid her in the middle of the bed and proceeded to strip her work clothes off her delectable little body. “Pretty sure he didn’t get it from his dad either. Once, I saw him fall off his bike and he wasn’t even drunk. Or driving it. That should have been my first clue.”

  He laughed with her, even as he held her and talked about another man. “You did a great job tonight,” she said, tracing the tattoo on his arm. He’d gotten it in college, something that hadn’t meant anything at the time, but he thought it looked good. Women had loved it.

  But now he wished he didn’t have it.

  Bailey started to trace it with her tongue.

  On second thought, he was damn glad he had it.

  “The money’s on the kitchen table. You saw that I put it there, right?”

  She shook her head. “Nope, and you are going to take it to the bank for me in the morning.”

  Uneasiness started to dig its ugly claws into him. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

  “I trust you,” she said.

  He kissed her, ripped off his clothes, touched and stroked and made her body arch and tremble and shake. Then he put on a condom and slowly, oh so slowly, thrust inside of her.

  Her lips parted, and he kissed the column of her neck. He moved in deliberate thrusts, drawing out their pleasure as he focused on her.

  She wrapped her legs around his waist, clung to him tightly, and whispered his name like it was a plea.

  When she broke apart in his arms, it was the most beautiful sight he had ever beheld. The lines of her body gleamed in the dim light and he brought her to another peak, denying himself until he couldn’t take it anymore.

  He thrust deeply inside of her, feeling her heart beat against his bare chest. Her nipples were hard little points that felt so damn good. She felt so damn good. So damn perfect.

  And now she was trusting him with the very thing that people despised him for. Not only that, she was trusting him with her life…with her son.

  Nothing could make this night better. Nothing.

  “I love you,” she said. “I love you, Lucas Lawson.”

  Except for that.

  Gently rocking against her as his orgasm poured out him, he claimed her lips for one last kiss. Then he gazed into her pretty eyes and said, “Bailey Yates, I love you.”

  *

  True to his word, Lucas was gone by the time Leo got up. He bounded into her room and jumped on the bed.

  “Where’s Super Lucas?”

  “He went home after he dropped us off,” she said, pulling the covers tighter. Her body was sore, but it was a delicious kind of sore. A kind of sore that only a man who loved a woman and used his body to show her sore.

  In other words, it was the best sore ever.

  “Can I have a playdate with him?” Leo asked hopefully.

  “You have soccer practice today. So maybe tomorrow?”

  Leo made a face. “Fine.”

  “How would you have felt if Lucas had been here when you woke up?” she asked lightly, not trying to let him know what she thought with her tone or posture. The kid was u
ncanny at guessing her moods.

  “Good.” Leo rocked back and forth before falling to one side. “Let’s eat an’ get weady for school.” He practically bounced out of the room.

  Well, that was that, she thought with a grin. Maybe next time, if the opportunity arose, she could invite Lucas to stay over.

  Maybe he could start staying over all the time. Maybe one day, he’d like staying over so much that he’d ask her to…She shook her head.

  “Stop getting ahead of yourself. The man just came home.” The man had also just said he loved her. Stretching, she smiled and yawned, and smiled again like a goofy fool.

  “A goofy fool in love,” she reminded herself. Throwing back the covers, she got dressed and headed to the kitchen to fix Leo’s breakfast.

  Chapter Fourteen

  ‡

  All hell had broken loose by the time she arrived at work. The diner was packed, but no one was eating. They were all talking amongst themselves.

  “What’s going on?” she asked Tina.

  “Lucas stole their money. Again,” she said. “They’re looking for him. Have you seen him?”

  “Not since last night,” she admitted, her cheeks heated when she realized that Tina was smirking.

  “We all knew. No one goes to the supply room or your office or the—”

  Bailey held her hand up. “I get your point.”

  Tina gave her a high five. “Proud of you.”

  “Thanks?”

  “Ms. Yates,” someone said from the side, and she turned to find tall, well-dressed man with dirty blond hair and sharp blue eyes.

  “Mr. McCoy. Nice to see you,” she said.

  “There seems to be a problem, and it concerns your one of employees.”

  “Which employee?” she asked, though she already knew the answer.

  “Lucas Lawson. Seems he’s been accused of embezzlement. Again.”

  Bailey’s word tilted. It was one thing for Tina to gossip. Quite another for someone like Mr. McCoy to say it. “That’s not true.”

  “Wasn’t he in charge of collecting the funds yesterday?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Did you take those funds from him and hold them in your safe, here at work?”

  “No,” she whispered. She had wanted Lucas to know how much she trusted him, and how much the townspeople could trust him when he delivered almost ten thousand dollars to the bank. “He didn’t do it.”

  “The bank has no record of a deposit. Just a rather grainy video of him walking into Jessamine’s Savings & Loan, then back out again, with the same exact canvas bag. If it weren’t for a so-called eagle-eyed clerk, we would have never known and Mr. Lawson would be long gone with our money.” Mr. McCoy gave Mr. Newall a baleful glare. “If you’d bother to have used my bank, then we wouldn’t have had this problem. My cameras are top of the line.”

  “Shut it, McCoy,” Mr. Newall said.

  Mr. McCoy smiled. “I’m only trying to help. If you think you can do a better job, then,” he gestured to Bailey, “be my guest.”

  Before anyone could ask her another question, Lucas strolled inside and stopped, glancing around the room. “Monopoly guy meeting?”

  They all looked around. “No.”

  “Where’s the money, Lawson?”

  Lucas visibly stiffened. “At the bank on Main.”

  “That’s not true, son. Tell the truth and we’ll make sure the law goes easier on you this time.”

  “I’m telling the truth.”

  Bailey pushed through the crowd and put her arm around Lucas. “If he says he deposited the money, then it’s there and you have to find it.”

  “I deposited the money. I put in the overnight deposit box early this morning before the bank opened.”

  She hated that he had to explain himself, but she was so relieved he could. “Thank God.”

  Lucas gave her a look. “You believe me, right?’

  “Yes,” she said firmly. “I already told them that you didn’t do it.”

  “But we have a tape of you going in the bank this morning.”

  “Can’t help you there. I’ve been helping my dad and Caleb out since six this morning. You can check with them.”

  “Oh, we will,” Mr. Newall said.

  Bailey hugged Lucas as the men left, uncaring of what they saw. She was going to stand by her man, no matter what. But when he didn’t hug her back, a little thread of doubt tried to worm its way inside.

  His arms finally came around her. “Thank you for believing in me. Wish like hell you weren’t put in this position.”

  She buried her face in his chest. “I love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  Tina started clapping, so did everyone else that was in the diner.

  “Don’t worry, they’ll be back with a huge apology,” Tina said.

  Bailey prayed that she was right.

  *

  Two hours later, an apology came, along with an invitation to the ceremony in which they presented Heroic Hearts Charity with the check.

  “This is a joke, right?” Lucas said. He threw the apology and the invitation down on Bailey’s desk in obvious disgust.

  “Nope. It’s not joke.” Bailey picked up the stationary. “We’re going. They are going to apologize to you in public.”

  Lucas shook his head. “Don’t want to be in public.”

  “They came into my diner and accused my man of doing something he would never do—anymore. I say that calls for major groveling by them.”

  “But it’s at six and Leo will be home by then. Plus, who will run the diner?”

  Bailey glanced at the invitation and picked up the phone. “Let me worry about that.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  ‡

  Lucas should have felt vindicated by the public apologies that were profusely given by the bank and the Board of Directors for both banks and the Hearts for Heroes charity.

  But he didn’t.

  He was pissed. He wanted to tear the damn bank apart with his bare hands and give them a real reason to hate him. None of that happened.

  For whatever reason, he stayed calm. He accepted each and every apology with a smile while he was put on display at the community center. Okay, so it wasn’t for whatever reason, it had everything to do with not embarrassing his family any further.

  Except, by no fault of his own, he had. He’d been accused, tried by the town without a defense, and found guilty.

  Until the bank clerk had admitted his error.

  Bailey squeezed his hand tightly, and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She seemed to stand proudly by his side, a big smile on her face.

  It didn’t look fake, and she had convinced him that no matter the outcome—proven innocent or not—she knew he didn’t do it and would stick by his side.

  It humbling. It was loving. It was humiliating.

  Bailey didn’t deserve to be put through this, especially after all she had done over the years to remake herself. Her parents, even after the small connection he’d made with Bailey’s mother, had to hate him. Except they were watching Leo and managing the diner so Bailey could be with him today.

  Those weren’t the actions of people who didn’t like the man their daughter was dating.

  He rubbed the back of his neck. Damn it. He didn’t know what to think anymore. Except that maybe he didn’t belong in Jessamine anymore. He’d paid back everyone, fulfilled the conditions of his parole—even if he had another year to go—and kept his nose clean.

  What more could anyone want from him?

  Bailey’s pinky finger grazed his wrist. Involuntarily, his heart sped up.

  She wanted more from him, that was who. Hell, she deserved more, but he was worried that he didn’t have to give her except shame and heartache.

  When it was over, he walked outside and away from Jessamine Savings & Loan, Bailey still holding on tight to his hand as she trailed behind him.

  Apple McCoy walked in, a Cheshire smile on
her face, and Lucas clenched his jaw. That's all he needed...A special print edition of the Jessamine Daily with all the details of the past few hours.

  "Lucas Lawson has been a very busy bee since he's come back to Jessamine," she announced.

  Bailey stiffened beside him." Lucas has been proven innocent, Apple. There is nothing you can say to make it untrue. The bank made an error."

  Lucas glanced at Bailey, so much love for her in his heart. But damn it, did she have to be constantly put in the position of defending him?

  Apple winked. "Oh, no, honey. Lucas is very guilty when it comes to paying back every red cent he took from the citizens of Jessamine."

  "What?" Bailey gasped. "I mean...Of course he did." She gave him a beatific smile. "I'm so proud of you."

  Despite himself, he could feel his chest puff up from her compliment. "I didn't want anyone to know. I didn't do it for the recognition."

  Mr. McCoy gave his daughter an appraising glance. "Do you have proof?"

  Smiling tightly, Apple's eyes narrowed. "Bailey Yates' parents called me with the information. Since they are not Lucas' biggest fans, I felt that the evidence they gave me was sufficient." She turned to Lucas, who was reeling from...everything she just shared. "All of the checks that have miraculously shown up since you've come home all come from the same business account."

  "That information is private," he bit out.

  "Only for some people," Apple said lightly. "Anyway, I wanted to stop by and share this newsworthy information. It will go in tomorrow's paper, and then entire town will know what a good man you've become. No need to thank me." She cut her gaze to her dad, but said nothing more.

  Mr. McCoy cleared his throat. "Wonderful news, Mr. Lawson. Thank you, Apple."

  "I knew my parents would come around," Bailey whispered as Mr. McCoy droned on.

  Yeah, they'd come around because they found out the check was from him, but if he'd never sent one, would they feel the same? He knew the answer was a resounding no.

  “What’s your hurry?” she said. “My parents have Leo and they’re working. Let’s go to my place and celebrate.”