Divided Interests (Southern Bride 3)

Lucas and I stood in the kitchen and watched Lou walk away.

“Enjoy your evening,” he called out as Oreo came bounding into the kitchen.

Once we heard the front door shut, I faced Lucas and smacked him on the chest. “You ass!”

“What?”

“Why did you think I would want to take this house from you?”

He smirked. “To be fair, only weeks ago you were trying to take the house from me.”

I rolled my eyes and tossed my hands up. “I need a drink.”

Drawing me into his arms, Lucas pressed his mouth to mine. “First, we’re talking.”

He grabbed two beers from the refrigerator and walked us out onto the back porch. We sat down, and I took a long drink before looking out over the landscape.

“First, we need to tell our parents we’re engaged,” he said.

“You know they’re going to lecture us. Tell us we’re moving too fast.”

“Let them,” he said. “Second, nothing about what we found out changes anything in my eyes.”

With a smile, I reached for his hand. “It doesn’t change anything for me either.”

“Good. Next thing, and probably the most important, I hate the color of paint you picked for the office.”

My mouth dropped open. “What is wrong with the color?”

“It’s pink.”

“It is not pink! It’s a very light peach and it was the color of that room when it was first built. I found a strip of the original paint in the closet and took a picture of it. They matched the color.”

“The office is mine, you even said so. I don’t want that color. Maybe a blue.”

“Ugh, blue?”

“What’s wrong with blue?”

I shrugged and took another pull from the beer. “I guess I can find a blue shade that was used during that timeframe.”

“Next, I want to go somewhere neither of us has been before for our honeymoon.”

“Honeymoon? We’re restoring a house, I’m opening a new business, you’re going to be driving back and forth to Austin. Life is crazy. I think we need to push the idea of a wedding back some. At least until things settle.”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

With narrowed eyes, I asked, “No…to what?”

“The house only needs paint and some furniture changed around. The kitchen is the biggest renovation, and we can handle that. Milo is taking care of the outside reno. Between the two of us, we can take care of the interior painting.”

“Yes, but eventually you’ll be returning back to work full time.”

Lucas looked at me with a serious expression. “About that. I’ve decided to take a job offer I received earlier today.”

“From who?” I asked.

“My father. We always wanted to work together, so I’m going to take it.”

A warmth spread through my entire body. “Lucas, this is amazing news!”

He smiled, then let it fade some. “I won’t make as much money as I was making, but it’ll still be a decent amount. Plus, I’ll be helping on the ranch more. Dad really needs it. Your father could also use an extra hand to give Tom some time off every now and then.”

I sat down in his lap. The way he held me, his hand on my waist, sent a bolt of excitement and lust racing straight to my core.

“I know Daddy would love that, and Tom will appreciate it.”

He set his beer down, then pushed a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “As far as marrying you, Paige, I feel like I have wasted so much time, and I know it’s only a piece of paper, but I’ve wanted to marry you for as long as I could remember. I don’t want to wait. Can we go slow on the wedding, too?”

Smiling, I wrapped my arms around his neck, then kissed him gently. “Six months. Let’s let everything settle for that long, which will give us time to get the greenhouse in order for our wedding.”

The way he smiled made my breath catch in my throat. “You still want to get married in there?”

“Yes, I do.”

He frowned and let out a breath. “I’m going to have to think of a wedding present to match Granddad’s present to Millie.”

I turned and straddled him in the chair. “The only thing I want is you.”

“That I can give you as freely and as frequently as you want.”

I pressed against his hard-on. “How about now?”

Lucas groaned. “Here? Right now?”

“Yes.” I lifted my shirt over my head and tossed it to the side. Lucas let out a guttural growl from the back of his throat as he ran his thumb over the peak of my nipple. I gasped when he sucked it through the lace fabric.

“More,” I panted, reaching down to unfasten the button and zipper on his jeans. “I want more.”

“I don’t have a condom,” Lucas replied, unclasping my bra strap with expert fingers.

“I want to feel you, Lucas. All of you.”

He paused and stared at me. “What?”