Cassie lowered her eyes.
Lucas frowned as he considered that he might feel more for her than she felt for him. How did he let that happen? When was it that he’d gotten so caught up in her that he’d lost sight of his own good sense?
“I guess I was wrong.” He turned away from her and walked out of the dining room.
He was almost to his study when he felt her hand on his shoulder. He knew it by its warmth and the softness of its touch.
He spun to face her and without hesitation pressed his lips to hers. He never made the decision to kiss her; it was as if the kiss was unavoidable. He understood in that moment what she meant. The power of what coursed between them was more intense than he’d ever expected.
She slid her arms around his waist.
As he settled into her embrace he deepened the kiss. His heart raced with the knowledge that she hadn’t shoved him away. Instead, she’d opened to him, her body swayed toward his, her lips parted for him and she did not resist her own desire.
He encircled her waist with one arm and leaned down enough to sweep up her knees with the other.
In his grasp she shuddered but still did not break the kiss.
He carried her into his study and kicked the door shut with one foot. When he set her down again it was on the plush sofa that he’d spent hours contemplating his future on. His study was one place that he rarely invited another person into. Only Emma broke the boundaries, but without a second thought he’d carried Cassie right into it.
In the heat of their kiss he joined her on the sofa. Blinded by the desire that rushed through him he reached behind her back for the zipper he’d so cautiously zipped up earlier.
Cassie’s lips broke away from his and she stared up into his eyes. She didn’t protest, but something about the way she looked at him made him draw his hand back.
He leaned close and kissed her again, much slower, with an element of sacredness that the frenzy of a moment before lacked. The tension in her muscles eased beneath the gentle strokes of his fingertips. When he pulled away again, she smiled at him.
“We don’t have to rush.” He brushed his lips along the curve of her cheek. “I just want to know that you feel the same as me. Am I losing my mind?” He looked into her eyes.
Chapter 30
“No. No, it’s not just you.” Cassie sighed and slipped out from under him.
As much as she didn’t want to, she needed to create a little distance to maintain some sense of clear thought. The odd thing was, not once had she resisted a lover before. If it felt right, she’d go for it, and she never regretted it. With Lucas, though, she thought about every little aspect of their desire for one another. She overanalyzed, criticized, and was more than a little frightened. But why? Why was she denying herself what she so clearly wanted?
“Honestly, Lucas, if you were any other man I think there would be no issue here.”
“Thanks?” He raised an eyebrow. “Is there something about me that repulses you?”
“No. It’s just the opposite. There’s something about you that attracts me in a way I’ve never felt before.”
“And that’s an issue?” He trailed his hand back through her hair.
She had to bite into her bottom lip to keep from kissing him again.
“I don’t know what it is. But I think it’s safe to say that you’re complicated.”
“I’m the complicated one?” He laughed.
“You have a daughter. You have multi-million dollar businesses.”
“Is that it? You’re so good with Emma. I know you don’t have kids, but I thought you might be comfortable with her.”
“I love Emma. She’s an amazing little girl. I don’t have anything against children. But her feelings matter. You saw her tonight at dinner, the way she pushed us together. How will she feel when it doesn’t last?”
“What if it does last?” He held her gaze. “What if there’s more to this than you think?”
“What if?” She shrugged. “That’s what it comes down to. Neither of us knows.”
“And, normally I’d need to know,” Lucas said. “I have to plan for everything. But with you, I don’t care.”
“You don’t care if it lasts?”
“I don’t care if it’s a risk I can’t calculate.” He sighed and stroked her cheek. “I’d like to make plans for us—a business trip.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want to take you to Tuscany—to see it again—for your painting. And I want to see it with you.”
“Lucas, that’s too much.” She shook her head.
“It’s an adventure. I thought you were a wandering soul? Just come with me on this trip. No strings attached. You decide what happens and doesn’t. Just give me this chance. It’ll be just us.”
Her heart pounded. If it were any other man making her an offer like that, she’d jump at it. Why wouldn’t she want to go to Tuscany? Still, a shiver coursed through her. If she was alone with him, would she be able to deny her emotions? If he was willing to take the risk, why shouldn’t she?
“Okay.” She nodded and swallowed hard. “Okay, I’ll go.”
“Yes.” He leaned close for another light kiss.
She sank her hands through his hair and deepened the kiss before he could escape.
They broke apart a few minutes later with flushed cheeks and tattered breaths.
“I should go.” She stood up and half-expected him to pull her back down to the couch, but he didn’t.
“Emma goes home tomorrow. I want us to leave tomorrow night. Will you go with me, Cassie?”
When she glanced over her shoulder she noticed the fear in his eyes. He thought she might refuse at the last minute.
“Lucas, I could never say no to Tuscany.”
The next morning she woke with a start. She would travel to Tuscany with Lucas that night. The anticipation of what might happen drove her right out of bed. She decided to work on the mural to distract herself.
As she set to work, she heard the front door swing open. Natasha walked in, gorgeous as ever, and waved to Cassie on her ladder.
“Morning, Cassie.”
“Hi, Natasha.” Cassie smiled down at her, though an awkward twinge carried through her.
Couldn’t Natasha still be in love with Lucas? If she knew what had happened the night before in his study, would she be so friendly?
Lucas and Emma started down the stairs to the foyer. Cassie met his eyes as he descended the last step and he smiled. She smiled in return but shifted her attention back to the mural.
“Mommy! Mommy, guess what!” Emma ran straight toward her mother.
“What, sweetheart?”
“The tea party worked, just like you said it would. She kissed him!”
“What?” Lucas looked over his daughter’s head at Natasha.
Cassie gripped the ladder to keep from falling off it.
Natasha laughed out loud and hugged her daughter. “Shush, that was supposed to be our secret, Emma.”
“Oh.” She whispered. “It worked, Mommy.”
“Natasha?” Lucas raised an eyebrow and met her eyes.
“You know how imaginative Emma is.” Natasha grinned but made no other attempt to deny her involvement in the tea party scheme.
“We should talk about this.”
“Hm. I don’t see a reason to if it worked.” She glanced up at Cassie, whose cheeks burned so hot that she had to look away again.
Natasha planned the whole thing? Was that why there was a dress waiting for her? It was a relief to know that Natasha didn’t mind their budding romance, but it was also more than a little embarrassing.
“We will talk about this.” Lucas’s voice hardened.
“Don’t be mad, Daddy. I just wanted to see you smile.”
Lucas crouched down in front of Emma and smiled. “You make me smile, honey.”
“I know. But I’m not always here. Maybe Cassie can make you smile when I’m not here?”
L
ucas cleared his throat and glanced up at Natasha, then at Cassie. He looked back at Emma and smiled again.
“I love you, Emma.”
“Love you too, Daddy.” She threw her arms around his neck.
After Natasha and Emma left, Cassie expected Lucas to speak to her, but instead he walked away. She wondered if Emma’s revelation had upset him.
As the time approached for the flight she wondered whether he still planned to take her. She packed a few things just in case.
Right on time, he knocked on her door.
“Are you ready?”
She opened the door and smiled. “I am. I was wondering if you still wanted to go.”
“Of course I do.” He slid his arm through hers.
On the ride to the airport she was too nervous to speak. Once they were on the plane, she could barely even look at him. She settled into her seat and finally stole a glance in his direction.
He poured them both a glass of wine then handed one to her.
“I want you to know that you could have refused to come.”
“I know that.” She took the glass of wine from him, their fingers lingering on the stem together for a moment.
“It’s strange—what’s between us. It’s new to both of us. But it could be amazing, I think.”
“Maybe.” She sighed and looked out the window of the plane. “Or maybe we’re just caught up in a moment. A moment that will pass.”
“Maybe.” He touched his glass to hers. “Here’s to what can’t be known unless it’s explored.”
Chapter 31
As soon as the plane touched down, Lucas escorted Cassie to the shopping district.
“You need some new clothes.”
“Lucas, my clothes are fine.”
“No, trust me. They’re not. I have places I want to take you that have dress codes.”
“That’s a bit rude.” She sniffed the air.
“Is it?” He wrapped his arm around her waist. “Because the other option is to wear no clothes at all. What do you think?”
“I think I could use some new clothes.”
“Here.” He started to open a door to a shop.
“Uh no, I don’t think so.” She laughed. “There’s no way I can afford anything in there.”
“I’m buying.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Sure I am. It’s no problem.”
“It is for me, Lucas. I buy my own clothes.” She glanced around and then smiled as she spotted a resale shop. “There. I’m sure I can find a few things that will work.”
“Cassie, you’re being silly.”
“You’re forgetting who I am. There’s no point in arguing with me.”
He sighed and nodded as she headed into the shop. It was clear that she wasn’t going to change her mind. Much to his surprise she did find an assortment of nice clothing and paid only a fraction of what he would have. It was rather impressive.
Once she had the clothes for it, he set about ferrying her among every fancy restaurant in Tuscany. Between meals they drove throughout the countryside. He showed her things that she’d never seen before. She showed him natural wonders he’d never noticed before. They played tourist and snuggled close in the warmth of the sun.
To Lucas it was paradise, and it seemed to him that Cassie was just as happy. He caught her smiling at him when she thought he wasn’t looking. He saw the way she relaxed in his arms, as if it was second nature to be cuddled close to him.
Still she resisted anything more than a kiss. He respected her desire but it only caused him to grow more desperate to experience more with her. When the time came, he knew that it would be more intense than anything he’d ever experienced.
On their last day in Tuscany they had a picnic overlooking a vineyard, far off the beaten path. Alone in nature, there were no distractions. Cassie had a canvas and easel with her, but every time she tried to work, he pulled her back down onto the blanket with him.
“Stay here with me. You can paint later.”
“I can’t. The light is perfect now.”
“I don’t see how you can enjoy painting so much. It seems like a lot of work.”
“Work?” She shook her head. “Not at all. It’s very relaxing.”
“It wouldn’t be for me. Then again, I can’t even stay inside the lines in Emma’s coloring book.”
“Hm. I bet you’re more creative than you think. Come here.”
“What?” He looked up at her.
“Come here.” She stood up and walked toward the canvas.
He followed after her.
She stepped aside and positioned him in front of the easel. “You’re going to paint.”
“I could never paint something as beautiful as that.”
“You don’t paint what you see, you paint what you feel.” She slid her arms around his waist and dipped a paintbrush in some paint. Then she eased the wooden handle into his grasp.
“Close your eyes,” she whispered beside his ear.
He closed his eyes as she instructed, but it was hard to keep them closed while she began to move his arm. He could feel the tension in her muscles, the way her body shifted and swayed with the movement of the paintbrush. Not only could he feel it from her body, he could feel it throughout his own as he moved with her.
At first she guided him, but within just a few minutes he realized that she no longer moved his arm for him. Instead, he seemed to instinctively know what to do.
Still she remained wrapped around him until he opened his eyes.
“Wow.” He stared at the painting before him. It wasn’t anything like what Cassie could create, but it was far more than he’d expected. “That was amazing.”
“That’s why I can’t call it work.” She took the paintbrush from him, then swept it across his chin. “Remember when we first met?”
He laughed and took the paintbrush from her. “Of course I do.” He trailed it along the slope of her neck to her chest. “Would you let me paint you, Cassie?”
“Paint me? The canvas is already full.”
“Paint you.” He swept the paintbrush back up along her skin. “Ever since you told me that story about the time you were in Venice, I’ve longed to paint you the way your friend did back then.”
She smiled. “I suppose I could let you.”
In the next moment she tossed aside her blouse.
He was stunned by her willingness and immediately seized the opportunity. In silence, he painted her from chin to belly button. He was careful to let only the paintbrush touch her. As the colors mixed together and her body relaxed, he was fascinated by the process of getting to know every inch of her skin. When she was covered in paint, he smiled at her.
“You truly are a masterpiece.”
“I am your creation.” She winked at him. “But first I have to get this paint off of me.” She jumped up and ran toward a small stream.
“Cassie, wait, it’ll be too cold!”
“Be brave, Lucas, be brave!”
Lucas laughed and ran after her. He splashed into the water just behind her. The water washed away the paint and revealed her to him in streaks and splashes. Just as he caught her around the waist to pull her close to him, she shivered.
“I’m freezing!” She bolted out of the water and ran back toward the blanket.
He chased after her.
When she collapsed on the blanket he wrapped her up in it and stretched out in the grass beside her. His hands traveled along her body to warm her. Once she stopped shivering, he pulled her close against him and brushed his lips along the slope of her cheek.
“I want this moment to last forever.”
“Me too.” She sighed and rested her head against him.
In the twilight everything was bathed in a subtle orange glow. He could see the way her eyes sparkled as she looked up at him. Every instinct in his body told him to hold on to her and never let her go.
“How did I ever find you, Cassie?”
“I’m not s
ure.” She smiled. “How did I ever find you?”
“Think about it. We were living on opposite coasts, without much chance of ever connecting. Yet all it took was one look at your art and I knew I had to find you.”
“And you have.” She frowned and looked back at the sky.
He pressed a fingertip at the curve of her chin and turned her face back toward his.
“Why does that make you so sad?”
“I’m not sad.” Her smile returned and she leaned closer.
Her lips touched his, inspiring an avalanche of emotion and desire within him. But he forced it back and drew away from her.
“You’re not happy.” He held her gaze. “Why?”
“It’s not that I’m not happy. This trip, this time with you, getting to know you—it’s been amazing. I told myself I could embrace it, that I could just let go like I always do and enjoy it for what it is.”
“And?” He sought deeper into her eyes. “What is wrong with that?”
“I am enjoying it. But, I’m afraid. It’s not like it always is. It’s not like it’s ever been before for me.”
“For me either.” He stroked her cheek. “We’re both in new territory here.”
“Maybe. Or maybe we’ve just gotten a little lost in one another.”
“I’m not lost in you, Cassie. I’ve found myself in you.”
She closed her eyes and curled up closer to him.
He reached into the grass beside him and plucked a long blade from the ground. While her eyes were still closed he wound the blade of grass around her finger. “Right here, right now with you, I’ve discovered for the first time what it’s like to truly fall in love.”
Her eyes flew open at his words and she stared down at the makeshift ring on her finger.
Chapter 32
Every inch of Cassie’s skin grew warm in reaction to the words he’d spoken and the blade of grass wound around her finger.
“I love you too, Lucas.”
“You do?” He grasped her hand and looked into her eyes.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to run.” She leaned close and kissed him. “You’re right, whatever this turns out to be, it’s worth it. I’m willing to try if you are.”
Forty and Free: A Sweet Romance Series Bundle - Books 5 - 8 Page 11
