He feigned offense and was no doubt about to hit her with some pithy reply when his phone vibrated in his hand. He glanced at the screen, frowning momentarily before breaking into a smile Paige would have thought reserved only for Johnny Weir or Elton John.
“What is it?”
As he looked up from the screen, his expression returned to the Sammy scowl. “Nothing. Just the lobby.” He was already in motion. “There’s a package downstairs they need me to sign for.” And with that he was gone, leaving Paige alone in her office with nothing but Stanley and her thoughts, which often proved to be a dangerous combination.
Paige turned her attention to her laptop. She needed to get back to work. Diving into projects was the only thing that kept her from indulging in fantasies that had no chance of coming true. Of course that didn’t stop her from wanting to see Lucas again. In the first few days after she was back, it was all she could do to keep from calling him. But to what end? Sure, she wanted to know how things had gone with his in-laws, but if they’d gone poorly, there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it. Not knowing was better than feeling completely helpless. And aside from that, what would they even talk about? The weather? If he’d kept the inn’s listing online?
Right, like she hadn’t checked.
Paige knew damn well the listing was still online because in one of her weaker moments she’d looked it up, which resulted in a ridiculous amount of time spent scrolling through the pictures on the inn’s website. There weren’t any of Lucas—and the weirdo wasn’t on any social media platforms, which would have really allowed her inner stalker to have a field day—but it didn’t matter because every photo from the inn brought her memories to life. Walking the beach with Maddie, talking in front of the fire, saying goodbye on the stone porch. Eventually she’d stopped looking because it was just too painful. Even the photo of the kitchen got to her, conjuring an image of Lucas on the first day they met, bare-chested and crabby, that would start her on a roller-coaster journey down memory lane that ultimately resulted in a date with both Ben and Jerry.
The phone on her desk buzzed, startling her. “Your new client is here for your ten o’clock,” Sammy said over the intercom.
Paige drew a blank. Her ten o’clock? And what new client? She didn’t remember Sammy saying anything about a new client, much less an appointment. She clicked the calendar app on her computer. No new client meeting. Nothing until the conference call at three.
Her pulse raced. She had no idea what the meeting was about, and she certainly hadn’t prepared a presentation. What was wrong with her? She’d been this way all month, focused one minute, distracted the next. It had been that way ever since she came back from vacation.
Paige took a deep breath. She could do this. She’d probably met with over a thousand clients since opening her business. What was one more?
One more with no notes, no PowerPoint, no clue.
Her stomach rolled.
Sometimes you just have to eat cake out of the box.
She stood, looked out the window at the Chicago skyline, and took another deep breath. Then she turned, ready to greet her new client with a warm smile and a steady hand—and came to an abrupt halt. Her smile slipped and her hand fell.
Lucas.
He stood in the doorway, more like filled it, watching her with an expression she couldn’t quite decipher. His hair was as unruly as ever, enticing her to run her fingers through it, and the stubble on his jaw was just the right amount to burn so good against her skin. He was wearing jeans, as always, and her favorite hunter-green sweater, the one that turned his hazel eyes the same color. The one he’d worn the first night he’d kissed her.
“What are you doing here?” The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them. What are you doing here? No hello, what a surprise, or nice to see you? But when she left the island, Paige had resigned herself to the fact that she’d never see him again. Now he was there. In Chicago. In her office.
“He has an appointment,” Sammy said. He peeked around Lucas like some sort of cuckoo clock. “Perhaps you should say hello and invite him in?”
It took a moment for his words to register. “Of course.” She moved toward Lucas, trying to wipe her palm discreetly on her skirt, and held out her hand. They were at the point in a meeting where she would normally introduce herself, but she and Lucas were already well acquainted. Intimately, as a matter of fact. So why the hell was she using a handshake to greet the man who mere weeks ago had turned her inside out?
Lucas looked down at her hand, then smiled as he met her gaze. It was an expression she’d come to know well during her time at the inn, half shy and unassuming and half panty-melting smolder. He stepped forward and took her hand in his, sending a familiar yet forgotten jolt of electricity through her. It was the spark that woke not only her desire, but her heart.
Paige blinked, then pulled her hand away more abruptly than she’d intended.
“I’ll just leave you two to…” Sammy pulled the door shut. She had forgotten he was still in the room. Hell, she barely knew her own name at that point. Being this close to Lucas again—his touch on her skin, the familiar scent of his soap, the knowing look in his eyes—was overwhelming to more than just her senses. Every fiber in her being was aching to go to him, to press her body against his and kiss him until they were both breathless.
Over the past few weeks, she’d started to wonder if maybe he hadn’t actually been as gorgeous as she remembered. If perhaps her emotions had helped her memory paint a picture of Lucas Croft that was more fantasy than reality. And if she were ever to see him again, if she’d realize that what she’d felt for him couldn’t exist outside the vacuum of the storm-engulfed inn. But that wasn’t the case, at least not for her. Every image came flooding back in vivid color, from the moment she stood in his kitchen, a sopping-wet mess who wanted nothing more than to wring his neck, to the moment she’d said goodbye on his front porch, an emotional mess who wanted nothing more than to stay.
But she hadn’t stayed. And he hadn’t asked her to. They hadn’t even shared a last kiss goodbye. So why was he in her office?
“What are you doing here?” she asked again. Her tone was softer, but the confusion remained the same.
Lucas looked at the floor, her desk, the view, as though he was searching for the answer. Surely he knew it was the first question she’d ask? If he hadn’t known the answer when he left the island, seemed like the trip from North Carolina would have afforded him enough time to come up with one. And yet there he stood, searching for the words.
His gaze finally landed on her couch. Something flickered in his eyes the moment he spotted Stanley. Then his body relaxed, and the smile she’d come to crave spread across his face.
“I realized I never thanked you for whipping my place into shape,” he said. His eyes were focused on her, and only her. “Maddie’s grandparents were impressed.” He raised his brows. “And that’s a tall order.”