“They don’t have to.” He gripped my shoulders. “You could leave, right now, and start over. You have nothing tying you here. No family. No kids. No lovers.”
I ignored the small jab of pain his words caused me. Guess that answered the question of how Lucas categorized our relationship: a mutually satisfying lay and nothing more. Not that it was a huge surprise. Yes, I’d admitted to myself that I loved him, but I hadn’t slept with him because I hoped he might love me, too. No, I’d slept with him because I’d wanted to. Nothing more, nothing less.
But still, I felt vulnerably naked.
I crossed my arms in front of my bare chest. “I might not have a man tying me down, but that doesn’t mean I have nothing. I have my bar, the legacy Frankie left me, the only home I’ve ever really known. And I have employees who count on me to show up for work.”
He ground his teeth together so hard that I heard them scraping against each other. “Enough.”
Without another word, his mouth met mine, and he kissed me until I was breathless and clinging. By the time the kiss ended, I’d nearly forgotten what we’d been arguing about in the first place. He lifted me in his arms, laid me down in the bed, and tucked me in. “Sleep. We’ll talk more in the morning.”
“Yes, sir,” I mumbled. His high-handed command made me want to go another round, but truth be told, I was done, too. It was like arguing with a wall. It wouldn’t get me anywhere. “Are you going to turn in, too?”
“Yeah.” He stepped into a pair of gray sweats and walked to the door. When he got there, he stared at me, his hair mussed and his chest marred with scratches. Scratches I’d put there. “Sleep tight.”
I yawned and burrowed under the blankets. But then I realized I was tucked in and he was leaving. “Wait. Where are you going?”
“Heidi . . .” Resting a hand on the switch, he gave me an exasperated look. He took a step toward me but then stopped, flexing his jaw. “You know where I’m going.”
“To work on cars?”
He shook his head once. “No. I’m going to go change the lock, and then I’m gonna crash.”
“Oh.” I threw the covers back. “I can help you, and then we can go to bed together. I’d like to—”
He crossed the room and pushed the covers over my legs again. “No.”
“But—” I blinked at him. “Why?”
“Because I’m not coming back in here, Heidi. My opinion on sleeping next to another person hasn’t changed.”
“Seriously?” I lifted up on an elbow. “You still won’t sleep with me, after all that? What do you think I’m going to do to you?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he shut off the light and walked out, closing the door gently behind him. I stared at it, wondering what the hell he had against sharing a bed. And why I wanted so badly for him to come back . . .
Even though he pissed me off more than any other man ever had before.
CHAPTER 17
LUCAS
I woke up slowly to the sound of bacon frying, and the accompanying delicious aroma teased my senses into full awareness. For a second, I couldn’t figure out who the hell would be cooking me breakfast on a Wednesday morning. Then everything came rushing back, and I jerked straight up. The couch had been even more uncomfortable last night than it had been before, and I’d slept horribly. I’d been two seconds from crawling into bed with Heidi.
Then I’d remembered I didn’t spoon with women, and I’d stayed the fuck on the couch. Rolling my shoulders, I winced and glanced into the kitchen. Heidi tapped her foot as she cooked, her earbuds in, and she sang along silently to music only she could hear.
In the short time I’d known Heidi, I’d learned that she couldn’t just be. Silence and Heidi didn’t get along, which was funny considering how much silence and I did get along.
Lurching to my feet, I stretched, groaning and yawning at the same time. Heidi kept cooking, in her own little world, oblivious to the fact that I was up. Or she didn’t give a damn. Either way, she didn’t see me slip inside my bedroom with my phone.
Before I’d passed out last night, I kept going over the situation with Scotty, and I’d decided to confront the issue head-on. I was going to arrange a face-to-face with Scotty and let him know his secrets were out. He was getting one chance to get his shit together, or I’d do what needed to be done.
No matter how much I didn’t want to.
I sat down on the edge of the bed and sent the text before I changed my mind. Hey, can we meet up for lunch at Charlie’s? I wanted to talk to you about a few things.
Chris would tell me I was being a fool, opening myself up for an attack like this. But Scotty wasn’t just an enemy—he was my blood, my little brother. I remembered holding his hand when I walked him to school, making a lopsided birthday cake when he turned ten, his grin when I gave him that game system as a Christmas present. I’d saved up all year for that. And now I needed to get through to him, one way or another.
My phone buzzed with Scotty’s response. Sure. What time?