Maxie blinked, the thought now stuck in her head. “Can I?”
“Do you want to? Or should I ask… Is he hot? Because I have to tell you, Keith wasn’t my type.” Angela wrinkled her nose in distaste.
“Angela!” Maxie laughed, the sound coming out more like a snort.
But she had a point. Maxie definitely hadn’t chosen Keith as a look-alike substitute for the man she couldn’t have. Where Lucas was built and solid, Keith had been lean and… well lawyerly looking, if there was such a thing. Maybe when they were younger, they’d looked more alike. Same hair color, similar features. But she’d never fallen for Keith the way she had for either version of Lucas—the young guy or the sexy man.
“Well, if you must know… Lucas is nothing like his brother. Back when we were teenagers, he was more of an adorable geek. Now he’s all grown up. He works out, he bulked up, and he’s hot.”
“From the sound of it, I’d say you have it bad for him.”
“I do,” she said, ignoring the flush in her cheeks at the admission. She already knew how much she desired him, but that was purely physical. The other day, he’d shown her a deeper part of him than she’d seen before, and it had gotten to her. Now she wanted him because she knew she could trust him. That provided a whole different perspective and scared her a little.
“Girl, why can’t you just reach out and take what you want? Sleep with the man if he’s that hot.” Angela waggled her eyebrows.
Maxie laughed. “I did sleep with him and freaked out after.”
“Because you’re thinking in terms of a relationship. Think more like a man. Sex for the sake of sex. What’s wrong with that?”
“This from the woman engaged to her high school sweetheart? The longest long-term relationship I know?” Maxie asked, a bit enviously. While in her miserable marriage to Keith, she’d longed for what Angela had.
Angela smirked. “Do as I say, not as I do. Does…”
“Lucas.”
“Lucas. Hmm. Even his name is sexy. Does he want to sleep with you again?”
Maxie thought back to what he’d said the other day. I’m not going to let our time pass us by. No way. No how.
“Yes, he does,” she told Angela.
“Then what are you waiting for? Take him up on it and this time don’t run afterward,” Angela said, as if it were that simple.
And maybe it was.
“Here you go,” the waitress said, arriving with their meals with impeccable timing.
“Thank you,” Maxie said as the woman put their dishes on the table.
They began to eat, leaving Maxie alone with her thoughts about her hot guy. And what she was going to do about him.
* * *
Lucas hoped Maxie appreciated his restraint, because he was wearing out his hand, taking care of himself to thoughts of thrusting into her wet heat. It was getting to be a morning and evening ritual to take the edge off, but strangely he wasn’t losing patience. She was worth the wait.
And this morning he was waiting for a whole different reason. She was running late for work.
“I forgot to set my alarm clock,” she said, dashing past him, grabbing her purse, and running back to her room.
A few minutes later, she rushed by him again, grabbing a cup of yogurt from the refrigerator. “I’ll eat it at my desk,” she said, shoving it into her bag along with a plastic spoon.
“Ready.” She exhaled hard and started for the door when her cell rang. She muttered a curse as she took the call. “Hello?” she asked, then listened. “This is she.” Some more silence and then, “What do you mean my unit was broken into?”
She ran a hand through her wavy hair and groaned. “Yes, I understand. But I can’t get over until lunchtime.” She paused. “Yes. Yes. Thanks for calling.” She disconnected and met his gaze.
“What was broken into?” he asked.
“My storage unit, of all things. They aren’t sure what, if anything, was taken, so they want me to come take a look and file a claim. I’ll be lucky if I can figure out if anything is gone.”