“Highly doubt that. Lucas is too sweet to play the asshole card. He genuinely seems interested in you and you’re kind of cute together. The vet and the doctor, all grown up, and now you both have a second chance at love. It’s too perfect.”
“Exactly. Too perfect. I am trying not to get too ahead of myself.”
Jess laughs and touches my shoulder so I look at her. “Enjoy whatever it is. But the way he’s looking at you from across the room, something tells me that you will have a lot to enjoy tonight.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me.
I grab a glass of champagne from a waiter’s tray as he floats past and down a gulp. “That is what has me a little nervous.” I was with the same guy for years and it was mundane at best. Now I’ve had a dry spell and I am out of practice.
Lucas’s brown eyes watch me as he walks my way with his mouth in a confident crooked slant. I feel warmth run through me; he keeps having that effect. He reaches me, snakes an arm around my waist, and our foreheads touch.
“Come on, let’s go to our table before everyone sits down,” he speaks softly, and I nod in agreement.
We reach our seats and sit down at the beautiful table decorated with candles and white china. A theme of dark purple and white. I play with a purple rose petal on the table.
“I would have arrived with flowers at your door but felt that was a little too cheesy,” Lucas mentions.
Letting the rose petal slide along my cheek, I smile at him. “Good decision. Romeo would probably have eaten them while I was here. You must have to endure a lot of these type of events when you work in your profession.”
He watches me intently. “True. But I like this one the best. I have my own practice now, but it’s inside the hospital so consider a lot of these people colleagues. My friends are here too. You’re here.” His look is endearing.
My eyes flick up to meet his. “I think I’m going to like this evening a lot.” I bite my bottom lip as he comes to kiss my cheek.
“Lucas Kade, is that you?” a creaky voice speaks and we both look up to see Mrs. Blair, a friend of both our parents. For a woman her age, she has had a lot of work done and looks about ten years younger than she is.
“Guilty. How are you, Mrs. Blair?” Lucas stands to greet her. I also stand to be polite.
“Stop with that nonsense, it’s Mona. Your folks mentioned you were moving back.” Mona looks at me and smiles. “Abigail Call, also a doctor now.” She then looks between Lucas and me. “I didn’t realize you two were close.”
I clear my throat. “We grew up together.”
“Well. This is a nice surprise.” Mona gives us a knowing look as she studies us. “I was actually looking for your friend Leo Hart and wanted to thank him for his donation. Seems like this is the table to be at judging by the bottles of champagne already lined up. Something tells me you will all be having fun this evening.”
“Now, Mona, if I remember correctly, it was you who kept our parents out late with your gin and tonics. You should come back during dessert.” Lucas throws on the charm and Mona eats it up.
Mona jabs a finger to his chest. “Lucas, you always were a lothario. I’m sure Abigail is keeping you in line tonight.” She shoos him off as she walks away. Lucas chuckles to himself, and I just shake my head in entertainment.
“Hear that, Abby? You’re keeping me in line now,” he teases as he encircles his arms around my waist.
I gently slap his chest. “I think I’m up for the challenge. But fair warning, I am not great with champagne so I may forget what my task is.”
“I will remind you, don’t worry,” he says before he plants a quick kiss on my lips, which tastes better than any expensive bottle of champagne.
“I’m a little worried that Mona will spread this gossip like wildfire,” I mention and can already imagine my phone blowing up from my parents. It’s not that I’m scared of my parents at age 32, but I also have a low tolerance for my parents at age 32.
“True, but there may be a possibility that…” He sounds afraid of how I may react to the end of his sentence. Squinting an eye, he continues, “that Nate probably already said something, just to piss me off. A brother thing, really.”
I laugh. “Don’t you guys have some brother code where you have each other’s back so that this stuff doesn’t happen?”
Lucas nods his head side to side. “Yes, which is why I can’t confirm 100% that he has or if he was just trying to fuck with me on our morning run.”
“Well then. I guess we should at least give everyone a good show,” I murmur with an inviting grin to which Lucas responds with his hands finding my face and giving me a slow and sensual kiss.
During dinner, we all enjoyed good conversation and kept the champagne pouring. I remained mindful of how much I was drinking, because I wanted to be aware of how this night unraveled. Jake told us about how he enjoys being a new Sage Creek citizen, Max talked real estate, and Leo and Jess continued to annoy each other throughout dinner. Nate, of course, was busy chatting about various women. Not a surprise to us.
I place my spoon on my dessert plate after devouring the chocolate mousse. The band starts to play for after-dinner dancing.
Lucas offers me a hand. “Let’s dance.” Without thought, my hand finds his and he drags me off the chair to the dance floor where he pulls me close. Our bodies molding together. I place one hand on his shoulder and the other is still entwined with his hand as we sway.
“You really look beautiful tonight, Abby,” he whispers into my ear. His hot breath sending a tingle down my body. “I have a confession.”
I look at him with interest. “What would that be?”
“I always noticed you. When we were growing up and now.”
“Well, Lucas Kade, it seems we really have a lot in common. My crush for you seems to have resurfaced, if I’m being honest. Except you got better with age so it is so much better this time around.” I lick the corner of my mouth as I try to keep my smile respectable.
“Good answer, Dr. Call.”
“Are you happy with your massage for two that you won? You outbid me, which wasn’t cool,” I remind him.
He holds his hands up briefly to defend himself. “It’s for a good cause, and I think if you play your cards right then you can join me on that massage.”
“Good answer, Dr. Kade,” I grin. “Plus, I am stoked with my week’s worth of cookies from Smokey Java’s. That’s going to be a good week.” Winning a dozen cookies for every day of the week is pretty much sprinkles of happiness to knock you into a good mood.
“If I play my cards right, will you share?”
“Hmm. I’ll think about it.”
He twirls me around before pressing our bodies close together again. We take a few moments to get lost in the moment.
“Have you checked on Romeo?”
“Nah. He’s okay. I have one of the teenage kids from down my street walking him tonight. Which in retrospect may be a bit risky. A teenager plus Saturday night and a free house equals trouble. There may be a party happening at my house,” I joke.
“If Romeo acts the way he did the other night then those teenage boys aren’t getting past the front door. I guess this means you don’t need to rush home?” His voice hitches.