“Don’t you dare cry,” she demanded and Lucy looked away.
“I just…” She paused, sucking in a breath. “I just don’t know anymore. It scares me.”
“Well, yeah, I’m sure it does. But, baby, don’t you think a happy mommy would be better for Angie than a bitter mommy just trying to get by?”
“I don’t need a man to make me happy,” she shot back and Autumn nodded.
“Never said you did, but something needs to happen. Even if it’s just a vacation of your own, you need to do some things that make you happy.”
Lucy looked away and nodded. Her mom was right; she needed to do something, but what scared her was that her mind went right to Benji.
And she had no clue what the hell that meant.
Ugh, she was running late.
Of course, lunch, shopping, and talking about feelings with her mother always took a lot of time, but she hadn’t realized it would only leave her with twenty minutes to get to her new client. She was hungry, and something smelled in her apartment. When she couldn’t find the source of the smell, she started to panic because it smelled chemical. Like her fridge was about to explode or something. So she called the landlord, who promised someone would come over immediately.
After hanging up with him, she called Rayne. “Hey, send me the address for my five o’clock. It didn’t populate in my calendar.”
“Crap. Sorry, I forgot to transfer it for you,” she said, and Lucy could hear the clicking in the background.
“No big deal, thanks.”
“Have fun.”
“Yeah,” Lucy said with an empty laugh as she hung up and waited for the address to come through. God, she was exhausted. Her mother just drained her, physically and emotionally, and she had no desire to do this consult. Not even kind of, but she needed the money. Especially when she had three people coming in for interviews starting Friday for the second design position.
Finally, the address came through and Lucy hit it, the GPS coming up for her. Oh, good, it was only ten minutes from her apartment. Following the GPS while she sang along to some Sam Hunt, Lucy recapped her whole day thus far. It wasn’t a day she’d like to remember, but then, it was. Seeing Angie on that stage, dancing with the grace of an elephant, was one of the sweetest things she had ever seen. She dreaded talking to Rick about pulling her from dance tomorrow, but she would. For Angie.
She thought about how happy her mom looked and how she wanted what her mom felt. She wasn’t sure when she would feel like that, but a part of her considered doing what she said, maybe trying. She didn’t need a man—she didn’t. She was very independent, but maybe she could ask Benji if the offer of dinner was still on the table. She could get her mom to babysit, or maybe it could be on the weekend Rick had Angie.
She smiled at the possibility.
Yeah, she was going to do it.
When she pulled into the stately neighborhood where she knew houses were around a million a pop, her brows rose. The houses on this side of town were high-end and usually were brand-new. Why would someone want her to design here? Wait, was the GPS right? Pulling into the driveway it told her to pull into, she checked the address again and it was right. Looking up at the grayish-white stone home that looked like it belonged in the 1900s and not the 2010s, Lucy shrugged her shoulders.
Hm. It was spectacular and she was excited.
Her design skills were tingling.
Getting out of the car, she grabbed her bag from the back and then locked up before heading up the walkway. The house was gorgeous, with big windows and incredible stonework. The door was massive, and Lucy had always loved big doors. She wanted one on her house when she finally was able to buy. Reaching up, she used the old-fashioned doorknocker she was sure was just for looks. But she had to. It was too awesome not to use.
The door opened and the homeowner said, “Yes! You used the doorknocker. Awesome, right?”
But she missed all that.
Because standing in front of her was the man who had been starring in all her dirty daydreams.
Benji.
If Benji thought Lucy was hot in that red dress the night before, nothing could prepare him for the forest-green dress she wore as she stood in front of him on his porch. It hugged every single inch of her, stopping right at her calves. It clung to her breasts something insane, and he didn’t even need a peek of them for his mouth to water. Nope. She was completely covered and still completely lethal. Her hair was cascading down her shoulders, a braid along the crown of her head tucked behind her ear. Her eyes were wide with surprise, and he assumed she hadn’t known it would be him she was designing for.
He liked the O her mouth made, and he especially like the red lips she had.
“Benji?” she finally gasped and he grinned.
“The one and only. Wanna come in?”
“This is your house?”
He laughed. “Yup. Nice, right?”