Mai Tai'd Up (22 page)

“Couldn’t sleep; I figured one of these should do the trick.”
I held up my tiki tumbler, then took another long pull. “So?” I tried to keep the bitterness out of my voice, but it wasn’t hard to tell that I carried a grudge from earlier. He’d hurt me.

“I’m sorry I left you tonight. That was a bad idea.”

“Bad because you left me? Or bad because you left me and went off with her?”

“Is there a difference?”

“There is.” I sighed, settling back into my patio chair, crossing my legs. Once more, his eyes flickered to my skin. Once more, I observed this, and filed it away.

“So, what happened?” I asked, hating myself for wanting to know. But I did. Something was beginning to simmer, deep and low and barely there, but beginning to peek out around the sad. Anger? Jealousy? Fear?

“In a nutshell, she told me she wants to come home. It seems that Mattress Giant doesn’t pay too well.”

“She’s only been there a little while; it takes time to build an acting career. Is she taking classes? Does she have an agent? She shouldn’t give up so easily; she needs to be patient,” I rambled, convincing no one that my concern for her career was the only reason that I thought she should stay far, far away.

“Julie isn’t really known for her patience.”

“Tons of my old pageant friends went to LA and tried their hand at acting. She should stick it out awhile longer. She should . . .” My voice trailed off, because Lucas was just shaking his head.

“I was surprised to see her tonight. I can’t deny that it messed with my head a bit. I haven’t seen her since our wedding day. Christ, how weird does that sound?”

“Not that weird,” I managed.

“I saw her that morning, though I wasn’t supposed to. I was
already at the church and she came to get pictures taken. Everyone was trying to keep us apart—you know, groom not supposed to be see the bride?” he asked, his eyes flitting up to mine.

“Mm-hmm.” My mother hadn’t budged on Charles not seeing me before the wedding. What’s funny is, I’d had no opinion on it whatsoever.

“Anyway, I was there already, and stepped outside to get some air. And there she was, walking up the front steps of the church with her friends. Dressed in this ridiculously poofy white dress.” He chuckled, everything he must have been feeling in that moment written all over his face. “She was on her cell phone, and she was laughing. I stayed in the shadows just around the corner, and I remember thinking, she’s going to be my wife by the end of this day. Thirty minutes later, I was sitting in a coat closet reading a note from her that she was leaving. She was already gone by the time I got it. And I thought, why did she even bother putting on the poofy dress?” He looked at me, like I might have an answer.

I couldn’t say anything.

“Anyway, she wouldn’t return my calls, she wouldn’t see me—she needed some time. But she was out of town and down the coast within days. We finally talked a week later, when she apologized. She kept going on and on about how it wasn’t working for her, and she didn’t want to stay in Monterey her whole life. I couldn’t even hear anything she was saying.”

“Lucas,” I whispered.

He shook his head. “No, it’s okay. Really, it’s okay. It’s funny, because now, I look back and see it. We broke up all the time, even back in high school. And she lied. A lot. About all kinds of things. Big lies, tiny lies, always with the lying. But, Jesus, who puts on a dress when she knows she’s not getting married?”

“Maybe she was still planning on going through with it. Maybe it hit her all at once.”

He shrugged. “Maybe it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Maybe she wants you back.”

“She’s not moving back to Monterey.” Lucas went toward the bar, where there was still a blender full of mai tais.

“She’s not?” I asked, examining my toes, trying very hard to keep my voice level.

“I told her to move back if she really wanted to. This will always be her hometown. She’s got good friends here, and all her family. She’ll always have a home here, and a circle waiting to welcome her back.” He paused to sip his cocktail. “But I told her that if she moved back home for me, that it would be a
very
bad idea.”

“Oh?” I squeaked, my voice rising through the pergola rafters and out to the stars.

“Yeah. Bad, bad, bad idea,” he repeated. I finally chanced a look up at him. His blue eyes burned with an emotion I couldn’t name. “It doesn’t matter if she wants me back, because the thing is . . . I don’t want her. I haven’t for a while now.”

“Oh,” I breathed.

“But like I said, it did mess with my head a little.” Then he let loose one of those lethal grins.

“That’s understandable,” I admitted, taking another swig of my cocktail, and just like that, the bad tension left the room. The tingly tension was still very much here, though.

“Speaking of messing with my head, how strong did you make these?” he asked, taking another sip and raising an eyebrow.

“I just dumped stuff in; didn’t bother measuring.”

I lifted my drink in salute to the new song on the turntable, “Witchcraft.” “Mmm, I love this song,” I said with a sigh.
The song made me brave. That, and the mai tais. Curious about something, I stood up. “So she messed with your head. Did she mess with anything else?” Wow, head rush.

“Chloe?” he asked, a curious expression on his face. “Are you asking me if I messed around with my ex tonight?”

“I don’t know. Yes. No. Shut up. Did you? Don’t tell me. Well?”

I had an entire conversation by myself while trying to walk across the patio for another drink. Turns out, I didn’t need another. Because standing up had led me to the conclusion that I was a little tipsy. Listing a bit to the left, I looked around for Lucas, who was standing at the other end of the bar, his tiki tumbler frozen in midair.

“Oh, forget it, you cute veterinarian, with your bedroom eyes and your sexy freckles and your hot . . . kryptonite hair.” The words spewed out, words that would come back to haunt me. But right now, in the moonlight, with that damn Sinatra playing, I had no recourse but to move forward. And I literally did, moving right on over toward Lucas and taking one more sip of mai tai before setting it down on the bar.

“Since I only understood about half of what you just said, I’ll just go ahead and tell you no.”

“No?” I asked, tripping over my own foot, and thanking goodness for a bar stool that I could grab on to.

“No,” he repeated, a slow grin creeping across his face. “Cute veterinarian?”

“Beside the point,” I waved my hand in impatience. “So, nothing happened?”

He shook his head. “Bedroom eyes?”

“Shush,” I said, closing my eyes. When I opened them, he stood before me.

“I brought you something,” he whispered, and from behind
his back, he produced two sparklers. “I promised you fireworks, didn’t I?”

“You did.” I smiled. “Light ’em up.”

Striking a match against the bar, he lit both sparklers, then handed me one. And as we swooped and swirled and wrote our names in the sky, sparks flew. I began to hum along to the song, adding a word or two here and there, and before I knew it, Lucas had spun me into his arms, dipping me old school.

“What are you doing?” I laughed breathlessly, horizontal to the floor, our sparklers raining down on our suddenly intertwined limbs.

“I couldn’t help it. Starry night. Sparklers. Incredibly strong cocktails,” he murmured, our faces so very close together. “It’s witchcraft.”

“It’s not just the witchcraft, Lucas,” I whispered, sliding my hands up his arms, so strong and holding me so very tightly. Lightly, so lightly, I brushed my fingertips along his neck, his skin still warm from our day in the sun. His nose bumped against mine, and I could feel his little puff of breath. Twisting my fingers into his silky hair, I blinked slowly, dreamily. And then he kissed me.

Soft. So soft. And sweet as can be. His lips brushed across mine just once, and I was hooked. Ruined for all other lips. He kissed me a second time, and my eyes fluttered open, wanting to see him. Surrounded by fairy lights, I felt suspended in midair. I was all toe curl and finger twirl. Which tucked deeper into his hair, as my tongue swept out to taste him. Mmm. Coconut rum and ginger vet. I let out the tiniest of sighs and felt his fingers dig into my hips, holding me impossibly tighter. I arched my back, just enough to get closer to him, and a sizzle ran through me as his tongue met my own.

“You taste divine,” I whispered against his mouth, and felt it
curve into a grin. He swept kisses along my jaw, up my cheek, and then disappeared somewhere underneath my ear, and just behind. I squealed a little, but the good kind, where it’s almost tickling but incredible at the same time. I dropped my head back as he continued a path down my neck, still dipping me, mind you, and I laughed hazily at the fairy lights above. The tiki bar and all its colorful umbrellas. The pink teddy bear on the chair.

Which he won for me. And now he was kissing me, and I was loving it. And I would seriously let him love me all over this patio . . . if I didn’t get my head together. But holy fudge, those lips . . .

I let myself indulge for one or two more seconds . . . or three or ten . . . and then I brought his face back to mine. Because I couldn’t think clearly when the man had his lips on my neck. Oh, yeah.

Oh . . . no.

Did I want to be doing this? Now? Right after he saw his ex? After his head was admittedly messed with, not just by Little Miss Crap Show but by my extra-strong witchcraft? This felt good, oh boy did it feel good, but I wanted more than good. Selfishly? I wanted my own night. My own evening, separate from everyone and anyone, past or present. And preferably not sponsored by Mattress Giant.

With the strength of a thousand nuns, I placed one more chaste kiss on those impossibly sinful lips, and pushed him away. Just slightly, but enough for him to know our dancing dip was coming to a close. At least for now.

“Chlo?”

“It’s late.”

“But the kissing,” he murmured, sweeping another line of perfect tiny kisses across the hollow of my throat. Which I cleared.

“You’ve had a long day; we’ve both had a long day. We should . . . Jesus, you look good in moonlight . . . Oh my God, I can’t believe I just said that,” I mumbled, feeling my cheeks heat. And my tummy burble. Oh boy, too many mai tais. “I think we’d better call it a night.” I started for the door, but he caught my hand.

“What just happened here?”

“You kissed me.”

“
You
kissed
me
.”

“No way, mister, you kissed me first. I kissed you back.”

“You let me dip you. You knew a kiss was coming,” he said, arching an eyebrow.

“I admit, I had a feeling.” I smiled, touching my fingertips to my lips, still able to feel it. Fudge, I could feel it in my toes. “But no more—not tonight.” I hurried him through the house, toward the front door.

“ ‘Not tonight’? What did you think was going to happen here?” He looked amused.

“I know what
could
have happened, very easily. But not when I’m already in my panties.”

“We can take care of that real quick,” he said, now waggling his eyebrows back and forth like a villain.

“Out,” I said with a laugh.

“Girls are weird,” he said as I pushed on his back.

“We totally are. You’re okay to drive home?”

“Sure, I only had a few sips. Are you seriously kicking me out?”

“It had nothing to do with the kissing.”

“I should hope not. That was some damn fine kissing.”

“Agreed.” I nodded. “It’s just a lot to process, all in one night.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, looking at me carefully.

“I mean, we had this amazing day with your family. You won
me a bear. You gave me the best first kiss of my entire life. It’s a lot to think about. And believe me, I’m thinking about it. And when I’m in bed in about ten minutes, I’m going to choose to remember
those
parts, and mentally skip right over the scene with your ex.”

“Ahhhh,” he sighed, understanding.

“Ahhh is right. I just . . . I’ve been thinking about you, and us, in that way, for awhile now I guess. And I want my own night.” I covered my face. “Does that make any sense at all?”

“It actually does, a little bit,” he replied, taking my hands away from my face and holding them in his own. “You think I came here tonight because of Julie?”

“Didn’t you? A little bit?”

“I came here to see you, Chloe. That’s it,” he said, pulling me against his chest and wrapping his arms around me. “My head was messed up tonight, sure. But not that messed up.”

“It was a great day, Lucas. Thank you,” I whispered into his shirt. I might have to steal this one from him, too. Finally, I pulled out of his arms and pushed him toward the front steps.

He stopped in the driveway and turned around. “The best first kiss of your life?” he asked, his eyes all a-twinkle.

“Oh, yeah,” I said with a grin, and he took one step forward. “Uh-uh, no more.”

“Just
one
more?”

“Turn. It. Around,” I insisted, stepping back inside. “Call me tomorrow?” I asked, peeking around the door as I closed it.

“You can count on it.”

The next day was a blur. When Lucas finally left the night before, the memory of that kiss, and those lovely kisses that followed, lingered on my lips like a ghost of something incredible. There was more passion, more promise in that kiss than I had ever experienced in my entire relationship with Charles. And I couldn’t get it out of my mind.

Of course part of me wished that I’d asked him to stay, and I’m pretty sure he would have. But he also seemed to understand why I’d stopped him, why I needed to make sure that when this finally happened, we were both in the clear. Just Lucas and Chloe, rather than Lucas and Chloe and Julie.

I kept myself busy, and not just with daydreams of a ginger vet with lips to die for. I played with the dogs, I organized invoices, I ordered some new supplies, I kept busy. And I daydreamed. Oh boy, did I daydream.

Lucas was pulling a double shift at the hospital, but he’d texted and asked if he could come by after work. Who was I to say no to that?