Hot Winter Nights (Heartbreaker Bay #6)(46)

Not that he was ready to admit it out loud to Molly, much less to her brother and his own partner. But mostly he didn’t like that Joe had taken her options away from her. No one should do that. “She can handle herself,” he said. “You know that, right?”

“I do, but . . .” Joe blew out a breath, looking torn. “She’s my baby sister. I’ve always looked out for her. It’s not an easy habit to break.”

“She’s smart and she’s strong, not to mention levelheaded. Give her a break, man. Trust her instead of playing stupid games with her online profiles.”

Joe gave that a moment’s thought. “Yes, you’re right. Forget the profiles. I could just figure out who she’s seeing and run them through our programs to check him out.”

“Bad idea,” Lucas said. “Real bad.”

“Why?”

“Because she’ll kill you if she finds out.” Although maybe she’d kill her brother before he could kill Lucas . . .

Joe blew out a breath. “Damn. You’re probably right. Why are you probably right?”

“Because I’m smarter than you.”

Joe gave him a playful shove. When Lucas hit the wall, Molly yelled at them from her desk down the hall. “Stop acting like you’re in the MMA! Last time you put a hole in my wall, Archer made you pay for the fix-it bill. Why can’t you just pummel each other instead?”

Lucas straightened and wrapped an arm around Joe’s neck to give him a hard noogie. “Tell her you’re sorry.”

“No.”

Lucas tightened his grip and Joe yelled, “Sorry!” Then he shoved free, glaring at him. “What’s your problem?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit,” Joe said. “You’ve been quiet, on another planet. And now, you allowed me to nearly put you through the wall. You’re . . . distracted.”

“I’m fine.”

Joe looked at him with an undercurrent of worry and Lucas sighed. “I am,” he said.

Joe wasn’t buying it, but at least he knew better than to push.

More than Lucas could say for himself. He was feeling more than a little uneasy for not telling Joe how he felt about Molly. But hell, he could barely explain it to himself. After Carrie died, he’d never have become involved with someone as vulnerable as Molly on any level, and he did not mean that as a commentary on her abilities. He meant emotionally vulnerable, which he actually considered a positive attribute. It was just that he himself had been so emotionally bankrupt for so long that he’d have steered clear in order not to hurt her. Maybe a few years ago, he might have slept with her once or twice, no regrets. More recently, he might’ve slept with her until she realized it was going nowhere and kicked him to the curb.

So what the hell did he think he was doing now?

He was taking a chance.

On purpose.

He was putting himself out there and it was fucking terrifying. He’d accepted that personal goals could change as life went on, but he was still cynical to the bone and wasn’t sure he believed people themselves could actually change. He’d been a lot of things. A punkass kid, a bored student, a brother, a son, a boyfriend, a fiancé, a DEA agent, an investigator. He’d been good at all but two.

He’d made a crappy boyfriend and an even worse fiancé.

But had he changed? He’d like to think so. And yet there was no telling for sure until he dove into a relationship with Molly with both feet, eyes wide open—something he wasn’t sure how to do, not to mention, he was completely unsure of how she felt about it.

What did she see in him? What did she expect of him? He supposed he needed to ask her, which he wasn’t looking forward to. As for what he wanted from her . . . he wanted to say it was her body’s unconditional acceptance for as long as he could get it. But he suspected he was looking for much more. His heart was asking for something his brain kept telling him he shouldn’t want.

A soul mate.

And . . . now he was sweating. But he’d already gone through the denial stage of this game with Molly, keeping his emotional distance. Even he knew when to grudgingly accept defeat. She mattered to him, more than anyone ever had.

Joe was staring at him, not looking overly thrilled. “You’d tell me if you weren’t okay, right? if something was wrong?”

“Sure,” he lied. Because no way was he going to try to explain his feels to anyone but Molly. And even then, the thought was daunting. A part of him knew he’d eventually have to tell Joe too. He knew this.

He hated this.

The next few hours were passed doing dreaded reports, and finally, starving, he went to the employee room.

One of Caleb’s assistants had just dropped off Thai takeout as a thank-you gift. Hunt Investigations did a lot of work for Caleb’s conglomerate, and was in fact on retainer. Last week, they’d discovered a subcontractor on one of Caleb’s new buildings was taking kickbacks. They’d provided the evidence needed to proceed in court.

Caleb was clearly feeling grateful.

And Lucas was feeling grateful for food. He’d gotten there just in time, too. The masses were huddled in close, piling Thai on their plates. By the time he got his own filled, the only seat left was right next to Molly. She looked up at him as he sat next to her. He smiled.