Chasing Forever (The Forever Series #1)(33)
Unfortunately, Lucas wasn’t cheating on her as she initially suspected, or maybe he was, but that detail didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that her relationship was a lie. Olivia orchestrated the whole thing to embarrass her and her father, and after that night, her social life crumbled. Her father, on the other hand, hardly skipped a beat. Olivia had already been kicked off the dance team and the University didn’t do much of anything to her dad because the Great Professor Pierce was a moneymaking machine with grants following him wherever he went. Despite her heralded family background and money, Olivia never stood a chance.
“If you say so,” she responded without any inflection.
He put his hand on her thigh and squeezed. “I promise.”
She looked down at her thigh and then at him. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Forget I brought it up.”
“It could matter.”
She scoffed. “Hardly.”
“Okay, let me put it another way. I want it to matter. I want you to care.”
“You do?” She answered her voice quivering.
“Yes and maybe you do too.”
***
Lucas leaned against the fireplace mantle in the family room of his family’s vacation home. Looking around the room, he fleetingly regretted bringing Regan here. Sure, he liked that he could spend some uninterrupted time with her, but the house held a lot of documented memories in the form of pictures of his childhood growing up with Olivia, and he didn’t want to remind Regan of his connection to Olivia.
Considering what Drew said about Olivia last week and Regan’s dislike of her, he didn’t know if he could tolerate having her in his life any longer. Eliminating her from his life wouldn’t be easy. They had a long history and their parents were best friends, but he didn’t have any choice if he wanted Regan in his life and he did.
“Hey,” Regan said quietly as she walked toward him.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked.
“Yes. How long is the drive?”
“About thirty minutes.”
Regan turned to look at the clock above the fireplace mantle. Her gaze drifted to the pictures lining the surface. She picked up one of him and Olivia standing next to a chair lift, just fresh from a day on the slopes. “This looks as if it was taken a while ago.”
“Four or five years ago, I think.” He took the picture out of her hand and set it down.
She stared at him for a few minutes and then walked around the room, letting her finger trail along the back of the camel colored leather sofa. “This place is really nice. I can see why you love it here.”
“I’ve had a lot of great holidays here,” he answered vaguely.
“I bet,” she said waving her hand toward the mantle directing his attention back to the pictures. “This room is incredible with its high ceilings and the wood beams. I imagine it looks insanely beautiful at Christmas time.”
“My mom likes to decorate for Christmas. It’s her favorite time of the year,” he commented, watching her cautiously.
“I’m sure.” She paused by the piano and lifted up the fallboard. “Do all of you sit around singing Christmas carols too?” She laughed, but it wasn’t carefree. It sounded sharp and tainted with bitterness. “Do you play the piano while Olivia sings and dances? She loves attention.”
Lucas walked toward her and shut the piano fallboard. “Not even once.” He didn’t want to talk about Olivia. He studied Regan watchfully trying to gauge her mood as he took her hand, tracing small soft circles with his thumb on the inside of her wrist. “Let’s not talk about her for the next few days. You know Olivia and I grew up together and our families are friends. You know what happened between Olivia and I in college, and you know I still talk to her on occasion. Beyond that, there isn’t much worth discussing. Let’s focus on us.” He squeezed her hand, then let go.
“I don’t know what you expect to happen over the next two days and it’s making me uncomfortable,” she answered, her voice barely audible.
He didn’t know either. He’d been torn since their kiss in the park. The rational part of his mind knew he should leave her alone, but after that small taste, he hungered for more. “We’re going to meet Jack, look around the mine, and go to dinner. Beyond that, I don’t expect anything.”
“Truthfully?” she asked looking both relieved and disappointed.
He smiled. “I’d like us to enjoy each other’s company without worrying about the past or the future, and if that means we sit around playing charades, Pictionary, or something more, that’s fine. Nothing’s going to happen that we don’t want.”
Regan exhaled loudly. “Okay. I can do that.”
She sat down on the upholstered piano bench and crossed her legs. Lucas watched the movement, his gaze caressing the skin on her legs exposed by the slit in her skirt. After a few seconds, he looked up and grinned. Her legs killed him. Leaning forward, slowly so he didn’t scare her, he rested his hands on the piano encaging her, and her eyes widened as her breath caught in her throat. His body already on fire, he wanted to forget Jack, the mine, work, and carry her to his room. More than anything, he needed to kiss her again.
He lifted one hand and pushed her hair behind her ear. “I believe you can, but the question is: can I?” Seeing desire flash across her face, he brushed his lips across hers, keeping his eyes open the entire time trying to gauge her reaction. He liked when she looked at him like that, her green eyes dreamy and unfocused. It made his insides squeeze, but he didn’t want to push her so far that she retreated into her shell again. He made that mistake at the park. He wouldn’t do it again.