Drawn into Love (Fluke My Life 4)

I feel my body relax.

“That’s good enough for now,” Abby agrees, letting Courtney’s hand go before she shoves the rest of my Danish in her mouth. “Now, what are you two up to today?” She looks at me.

“Courtney’s going to rest,” I state. Then I add, “I got a couple movies, so I figured we’d hang on the couch.” I look at Courtney. “That okay with you?”

“That sounds good to me,” she agrees with a small smile.

I carry my toast to the table and take a seat.

“I could join you,” Abby says as she smiles evilly.

Courtney shakes her head. “No.”

“No? You don’t want me here, hanging out with you two while he ‘gets to know you’ as his woman?” She raises a brow.

“Not even a little bit,” Courtney says.

I laugh.

“Fine. I guess I should be on my way. I have some errands I want to run before I head home.” She stands and kisses Courtney on the cheek before looking at me. “It was nice to meet you, Lucas. I can honestly say that isn’t a lie.”

“Same.”

When she’s gone, I return my attention to Courtney.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“That scene with your ex was extreme.”

“Yeah,” she agrees again while pulling in a deep breath. I notice that she’s not really looking at me.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“He said he left her,” she says.

My stomach drops.

“What the hell is wrong with him? Why would he do that—not only to her, but to his child? I haven’t . . .” She shakes her head before meeting my gaze. “I haven’t ever told him that I would consider taking him back. Not once.”

“Would you?”

“Would I?” She frowns.

“Yeah. Would you take him back?”

“No. I mean, when I first found out about his affair I was scared to death. The life we had planned was ending, so I wondered what I did wrong. For about ten minutes I convinced myself that I could fix us . . . before I realized there was nothing to fix. He destroyed what we had.”

“Did you know about the baby then?”

“I didn’t find out until a month after I learned about the affair. He didn’t tell me about it, either. His mistress did when I ran into her at the grocery store, of all places. She was all too happy to share her good news with me. I don’t know if getting pregnant was part of her plan, but . . .” Her words taper off. “In the end, it didn’t matter. That was just the icing on the cake.”

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that.” I reach for her hand and rub my thumb over the soft skin on her wrist.

“I . . . I know I should be sorry, too, but I’m not. I was trying to hold on to him when I should have been letting go. What happened forced me to let go. Don’t get me wrong—it hurt. I built a life with him, made plans with him. I wanted the dream he promised me, but in the end it was harder losing the dream than it was losing him,” she says, her eyes locked on our intertwined hands.

“I understand that.”

“You do?” She looks up at me.

“I do. I had always wanted a family, so when I found out Maddi’s mom was pregnant I latched on to the idea of building a life with her. I knew she wasn’t the kind of woman to give me a solid foundation, but I still tried because I wanted that dream. It sucked when things came to an end, but I was also glad I no longer had to live a lie.”

“We sound kind of depressing,” she jokes with a smile, causing me to smile in return.

“What do you say we stop talking about our exes and watch a movie?”

“I’d say that sounds like a plan,” she agrees.

We both get up. She clears our dishes while I set up the movie—a comedy that I hope will lighten the mood.

When she takes a seat on the couch, I take a seat next to her and wrap my arm around her shoulders, curling her into my side.

“This movie sucks,” I tell her forty minutes later. Her body starts to shake, and then she presses her face into the side of my chest. She’s snorting with laughter.

“It’s a movie about hot dogs!” she snorts again. “What did you expect?”

“I guess I had my hopes up.”

I press “Stop” on the remote.

“You had your hopes up about an adult cartoon that features talking meat products and produce?” She giggles, and I chuckle.

“Basically.” I lift my hand to her cheek.

All the humor leaves her face as her eyes search mine.

“Lucas?”

“Yeah?” I drop my eyes to her lips just as her pink tongue darts out to swipe the bottom one.

“Will you kiss me?”

I growl as I lean in and capture her mouth. Her lips part, and my tongue slips in. The first taste of her has my cock jumping against the zipper of my jeans. She tastes like peppermint and her own unique flavor—something I know I could come to crave. Hearing her moan and feeling her fingers dig into my shoulder cause me to lose it. I lay her back onto the couch and cover her with my body. I deepen the kiss while her legs wrap around my hips and her hands slide up my back.