Hot Winter Nights (Heartbreaker Bay #6)(52)

“They’re also insane,” he said. “Listen to me, okay? This has nothing to do with our reality and everything to do with just keeping my family happy and off my back. And like on any covert op that requires a fabricated backstory, you go with the easiest, most natural thing you can come up with. Something close enough to the truth that it rolls off the tongue. We work at the same place and we’re on a date. Just a simple date. Period.”

Yeah. That made the most sense, of course. But she couldn’t deny that a small part of her, a very small part, actually might’ve liked to try girlfriend on for size regardless, just to see how it fit on her.

“Molly?” He let his thumb slightly glide along her jaw.

“Yeah. Got it.” She pulled back. “A simple date. Like our second or third?”

“Sure,” he said.

She nodded. “Fine. But there’s something you should know.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t put out on a second date. Or a third.”

He flashed her a panty melting smile. “Bet I could change your mind,” he said in a voice that matched his smile.

“Nope,” she said, shaking her head. “Once I make up my mind, I can’t be budged. I’m like the Rock of Gibraltar, I—”

He kissed her. Quick, no tongue, just the appetizer on the menu of Lucas Knight’s variety of kisses, but quite effective all the same. When he pulled back, she opened her eyes, dazed, and asked, “What were we talking about?”

With a grin, he got out of the car and came around for her. They headed up the walk and Molly watched as Lucas’s mom broke from the pack and went straight for her son, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tight, whispering something in his ear.

He hugged her back just as tight, closing his eyes for a beat as he nodded, a look of such love and acceptance on his face that Molly just stared. She’d never seen that expression on him before. It softened him, made him seem young and more carefree.

When his mom pulled back, she turned to Molly and gave her the same sort of hug, and it felt so genuine that she found herself returning the hug in kind. Then Laura and Sami did the same before introducing her to a gaggle of others who all seemed to enjoy each other’s company. Aunts. More cousins. Laura’s husband, Will, was there with what looked like a two-ish-year-old in a backpack on his shoulders, and more—although not Lucas’s dad, who apparently had gotten held up in London. And crowded as it was, it was also . . . lovely. And foreign. For as long as she could remember, it’d been just her and Joe and her dad, just the three of them. Yes, supposedly they had some distant relatives back East. Her mom’s cousins. Her dad’s family. But her dad hadn’t liked any of them and had scared them off a long time ago. Joe had brought Kylie into their small fold and that was great. But their little family unit still had nothing on this huge one.

Dinner had been held for their arrival, which consisted of more food than Molly had ever seen. Mindful of the fact that her clothes were already feeling a little too snug thanks to Joe bringing doughnuts into the office too many times last week, she held back, taking one small piece of honey baked ham and a few green beans baked with bacon because, well, bacon. She managed to refrain from what looked like the most perfectly browned cheesy bread she’d ever seen, but then had immediate regret when the bread vanished in two seconds.

Someone asked her about her job at Hunt and she explained she was the office manager, while wishing she could say she worked investigations. She began to eat, but found herself glancing over at Lucas’s plate. He’d snagged three pieces of that cheesy bread. He with the perfectly ridged abs and zero percent body fat. Where did he put it all anyway? She tried to forget about it, tried to let it go, but lunch seemed like so long ago, and suddenly all she could think about was how the bread would melt in her mouth.

She waited until Lucas turned to say something to his sister on his other side before stealing one of his pieces of cheesy bread. She was on the last bite when he glanced down at his plate and then at her.

Mouth full, she gave her best innocent smile, turned her head away from him, and . . . came gaze to gaze with his mom.

She was grinning.

At the tap on her shoulder, she turned back to Lucas.

“Something you want to tell me?” he asked.

“Well, I was going to wait until we were alone,” she said. “But you’ve got a little something . . .” She pointed to the corner of her mouth.

Lucas brought his fingers up to the same spot on his own mouth and then looked down at them. “Lip gloss.” He smiled at her. “Strawberry, right?”

She flushed. He’d turned that right back on her. Note to self: you can’t outplay a player.

“I think you took something of mine,” he said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He touched the corner of her mouth this time, coming away with a crumb from the bread she’d stolen off his plate.

She tried to blink innocently, but the feel of his finger on her mouth had set her knees wobbling. Good thing she was sitting down.

“Got a question for you, Molly,” Laura said. “Does Lucas still snore like a buzz saw? Because when we were little and we’d come up here, we had to share a room. He’d snore so loud that we’d all want to snuff him out with a pillow.”