Divided Interests (Southern Bride 3)

He stood and moved closer to the steps. I quickly looked around for Bianca and saw no sign of her. If she was in my house, er, our house, I was going to throttle Lucas.

A low moan slipped from between my lips. “No. Dear God, no. Why? Why are you punishing me with this man’s looks?!”

Lucas had changed. He now wore jeans, cowboy boots, and had put on his cowboy hat. The same one he wore all the time in high school. I swallowed hard. So, that was the game he was going to play.

Fine. Game on.

I threw open the door to my SUV and glared at him as I stomped up the steps. If he thought he could dress up like the old Lucas and still convince me to leave, he had another thing coming. I may have caved to this Lucas once upon a time, but no more.

Nope. Not happening. I am stronger now.

“Hey, roomie.”

My heart fell to my stomach and a lump formed in my throat, making it hard to speak. That word froze me in my angry tracks.

“Wh-what?”

He walked closer and looked down into my eyes. The way his hazel eyes were sparking told me I was fixin’ to be in some serious trouble.

“Congratulations. You got your wish. I’m not selling the place. Instead, I moved in. We’re housemates.”

My eyes flew past his shoulder and through the screen door. “Bianca?”

My voice sounded scared to death, which pissed me off. There was no way I could live in this house with her. That would be cruel, even for Lucas.

“She’s decided to go back to Austin. It’s just me.”

Standing up taller, I forced myself to smile.

Do not show the beast fear. You are a strong, confident woman, Paige Miller. Show this asshole who is boss.

“Sounds great. Now I’ve got an extra set of hands to help me remodel and paint.”

To Lucas’s credit, he didn’t waver. That made me nervous. He shouldn’t want to be roommates. This should be awkward. Then it hit me. This was probably Bianca’s plan. She wanted her greedy little hands on my portion of the house.

Steeling my resolve, I decided that whatever this man threw at me, I was ready for it.

He lifted his hands and winked. “In case you don’t remember, I’m good with my hands.”

My knees wobbled because I did remember. Boy, did I ever remember. Every. Moment. I’d spent many nights with my dildo lost in those memories.

I shook the memory away. No, no, no! The man has a girlfriend. Stow the dirty thoughts, Paige.

I gave him a humorless laugh. “You have clearly lied to your girlfriend and told her you were staying at your parents’.”

He shook his head. “I haven’t.”

“She’s okay with you living here, without her?”

“No, she’s not okay with it at all.”

“Then why are you here if it makes your girlfriend upset, Lucas?”

He smiled. It wasn’t a forced smile. No, it was the kind of smile that said Lucas was keeping score. Lucas, one. Paige, zero.

“Shit,” I whispered. When his eyes roamed down my body, I tried not to let him see me shiver.

Please don’t say what I think you’re fixin’ to say.

“Bianca and I broke up.”

Oh God, there it was.

“You broke up? Just like that?”

He nodded. “Truth be told, it had been a long time coming. Her calling you a tramp was the last straw.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, then snarled. “That was not the reason.”

He laughed. “No, it wasn’t. But it was long overdue. I’m going to need to borrow your car tomorrow to head into Austin. Looks like I need to buy myself a truck.”

“A truck?”

I was positive I sounded like a freaking idiot.

“Yeah. A guy who owns a ranch needs a truck.”

Slowly, I shook my head, walked back to my car.

“Hey! Roomie, where are you going? I thought we could go over the paint samples. I’m not so sure about some of these colors.”

My fists balled at my sides as I practically ran to the car. I got in and headed down the driveway. When I got to where I was out of sight, I stopped, pulled my phone out and called Jen.

“Hey, you made it home safely.”

“Yep, and there was a package of sorts on the front porch. Waiting for me.”

“Oh, what did you order?”

My head dropped to the steering wheel. “Well, I can for sure tell you I didn’t order a six-foot, dark-haired, hazel-eyed man I used to know very intimately.”

“I’m confused.”

“So am I. Lucas just informed me he’s moving in with me. Moving into the house. Living here.”

“Wow. So he’s going to go that route. Okay, well, the model won’t let that happen for too long, so you just need to buck it up until he folds.”

“It’s game on, Jen. It’s game on, and that bastard is already one point ahead.”