Her Heart's Desire (Sunflower Series Book 1) (17 page)

“She’s fine,” Lucas replied, trying to keep
his voice even.

“You’re sure? I know how sensitive she is. I
hate that I’m not there. I’m glad you’re my proxy.”

Lucas groaned inwardly. He had not been the
least bit
brotherly
with Amelia. He was going for
lover
. But he would stick to his plan. Only answer questions
asked.

“She’s obviously upset about the loss of her
paintings. I’m going to take her to dinner—”

“That’s a great idea!”

“I’ve to get some WD-40 out of my truck and
lube up the squeak in the studio door.”

“What do you think of the place? It’s the
perfect place for her to paint. By the way, the police called me
back.”

Lucas swallowed. An idea hit him and he
didn’t much like the impact. He hated to ask the question, but
Craig had already lined up a buyer for the farm. With the paintings
missing and the art show teetering on the edge of failure, the
reality of Amelia’s future had taken a one-eighty turn from what
she wanted. If Craig had staged the theft or had anything, no
matter how remote, to do with it, he’d probably have to kill him.
At the very least, their friendship would be dead. “Craig, tell me
honestly. There’s no way you had anything to do with the missing
paintings, is there?”

“What!” Craig’s outrage screamed through the
speaker on the phone. “How could you even ask me that? Asshole! I
would never—”

“Forget I asked. It was an errant thought.
But I had to ask. We both know how much you want her off the
farm.”

“Why does everyone question my motives?”
Craig shouted. “I only want what’s best for my sister. Our parents
are gone, and I’m all she’s got. I’m here for her. I have to make
her do the right thing, do what’s in her best interest. You of all
people should understand that.”

“Craig,” Lucas said, his voice low, calm, and
even. “You’re wrong.”

“Really? About which part?”

“You can’t make her do anything. Your
intentions are admirable, but you have tunnel vision. Amelia is a
strong woman. She knows what’s best for her. And...”

“Spit it out. What else?” Craig roared.

“You’re not all she’s got. You haven’t been
here for Amelia for the last year. I have.”

Silence hung between them. Lucas looked at
his phone. Seconds ticked away. He’d spoken the truth. The ball was
in Craig’s court.

“What’s your point, Dwyer?” Craig said dryly
after a full minute of silence.

“How about talking with Amelia about all of
this? Help her get what she wants. I’m not saying you should go
into debt. But there are options neither of you have explored.”

A text message from Amelia dinged on Lucas’s
phone.
Where are you?

“I’ve got to go. I’ll call you later,” Lucas
said.

“You do that,” Craig said. “This conversation
isn’t over.”

Lucas ended the call, grabbed the WD-40 from
his tool chest, and headed inside the building.
On my way
up
, he texted back.

When Lucas reached the studio and slid open
the squeaking door, he noticed his shirt and the pile of clothes
missing from the floor. He paused, considering what had transpired
between him and Amelia. His whole world shifted. He’d made love to
the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

Breathing in deeply, his chest filled with
air sweeter than spring after a cold hard winter. His heart swelled
with love. The longing buried deep in his chest thrummed through
his body. Even if theirs had to be a long-distance relationship, he
would find a way to make a relationship with her work.
“Amelia?”

“Over here.”

He passed Jack sleeping on the chaise as he
walked to the far end of the loft and turned the corner in the
L-shaped studio space. A small sleeping area was tucked out of view
from the front door. A bed, a nightstand, a single lamp. An
intimate spot.

“Join me, Lucas?” Amelia lay propped on
several pillows. She wore his shirt, which exposed the shapeliness
of her bare legs. His heart beat a quick two-step. His body wanted
to clear the distance between them in less than that, but his feet
remained cemented to the spot where he stood.

“I’m going to remove the squeak from your
door.” It sounded lame. His body craved hers and urged him to jump
into bed and explore her body. His fingers clenched the can
tighter, his other hand curled into a fist by his side. Restraint.
His plan had been to wine and dine her and
then
seduce her
at the finest hotel in Kansas City. Passion and need engulfed them,
emotions so strong nothing short of a nuclear explosion could have
stopped what happened earlier. But now... maturity had to rule
their next encounter. He was more than a failed farmer running a
harvesting business, and he would treat his woman right.

“Come closer, Lucas,” Amelia whispered,
motioning him with her fingers. Her web netted him, pulling him
closer and closer, and against his better judgment, his feet moved,
stopping at the foot of the bed. Though he maintained a poker face,
his hunger for her exploded. His desire would no longer fit into
the condensed spaces of his heart, the same way he couldn’t
unring
a bell.

“Closer.” Amelia gazed at him with
half-closed eyes. Her grin changed from saucy to smug. She had to
realize what she did to him, setting his thudding heart, and
incited the growing hardness in his jeans.

When she sprang from the bed and embraced his
neck, he dropped the can of lubricant. Hitting the floor, it
clanged, before rolling off somewhere. His attention remained on
the woman in his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist. He
cupped her butt. Firm. Round. Feminine.

“Why won’t you let me tell you how I feel
about you?” Amelia asked.

“I’m fine with words, but showing is always
better than telling.” Lucas strained against the ache building in
his body.

“I’m not asking for anything except for you
to make love to me.”

“Now is all we have. The future is too
uncertain.” Lucas shifted and began lowering Amelia to the bed. “I
wanted to take you to dinner. A little music, some wine, and then a
view of Kansas City from high above the town.”

“That can wait.” Amelia scooted further into
the middle of the bed. She reached for him, one hand embracing the
back of his neck. “The hunger I’ve got has nothing to do with
food.”

Lucas removed his boots and crawled toward
her on the bed. His hands rested on either side of her head and
supported the weight of his torso. With his knees bent, he arched
over her. “I like the way you think. We’ll start with dessert.” He
kissed her softly. She deepened the kiss, her tongue dancing with
his. She tasted so sweet.

He lifted and rested back on his heels.
Before him, Amelia looked more than delectable, a nymph oozing with
sexiness, her hair fanned out and her legs stretched long.

“Amelia...”

“Shhh,”

“I’ve got to say this.”

She folded her hands and rested them primly
on her stomach as though she might be a corpse in a coffin.

“Give a guy a break,” Lucas moaned. “I just
wanted to say it wasn’t Craig’s fault you haven’t had much of a
dating life. I take full responsibility for that, and, we’re about
to change everything.”

“One. Two. Three...” Amelia began
counting.

Lucas hopped back and removed his pants. He
again settled next to Amelia, spooning her side and wrapping an arm
around her, his hand covering her breast. His erection pressed into
her hip. She wiggled against him.

“Ohhh,” he groaned. “You feel so damn
good.”

“Let’s take it real slow,” Amelia whispered.
“We have all night.”

Lucas kissed her neck. His need rose. His
control slipped. “I need you now, Amelia.”

She rolled over to face him.

“Let your body do the talking.” She nipped at
his lower lip with her teeth.

A deafening sound exploded in the air. Lucas
jumped.

Jack barked and appeared from around the
corner. He launched himself onto the bed.

“What the hell?” Lucas shouted.

“Fire alarm. Grab your clothes and let’s
go.”

“It could be a false alarm.” Lucas reached
for Amelia, but she slipped through his grasp.

“Maybe, but I don’t want to take that
chance.” She ran into the other room.

“Bad timing,” he groaned through clenched
teeth. Tense, his body cursed the blaring alarm, but the loud noise
killed any possibility of romance. By the time he slid into his
pants and pulled on his boots, Amelia had reappeared, completely
dressed, and shoved his shirt at him.

With her purse over her shoulder, she clipped
the leash on Jack. Together they raced to the door. “Get low,”
Lucas said before shoving open the studio door. The hall was
smokeless. Other tenants filed out of their units and headed toward
the stairs.

Lucas grabbed Amelia’s hand, pulling her up.
“Stay close.”

When they reached the sidewalk in front of
the building, Lucas pointed to a spot across the street. As they
made their way through the crowd, a fire truck and an ambulance
pulled up. A policeman stopped, lights flashing on his car, got
out, and began directing traffic. “Everyone, keep moving away from
the building. Move down the block.”

A second police car arrived. Sirens wailed in
the distance. Smoke billowed. Flames shot out from a fourth-floor
window.

Amelia gasped. “Oh, no!” The terror on her
face hit Lucas squarely in the chest. Was there nothing he could do
to protect the woman he loved?

“Where are you parked?” Lucas asked. Standing
around made no sense. If the whole building burned, they didn’t
have to watch the moment by moment, play by play, a cremation of
what had once been a big part of Amelia’s life.

“Parked?” Amelia trembled in his embrace.

“Amelia, look at me.” He cupped her chin.
“Where’s your truck?”

“Around the corner in the pay lot. It was the
only place with enough space for my truck and trailer. Why?”

“There’s nothing we can do here.”

“I can’t leave!” Her brows furrowed. Her eyes
bulged.

“Trust me. It’s all just stuff.”

Amelia shook her head as though in complete
denial. She bolted and ran toward the building, dragging Jack
alongside her. Lucas caught her just as one of the policemen
stepped directly into her path. “Ma’am, you can’t go in there.”

“My paintings!” Amelia cried. “I need my
paintings. The fire isn’t on my floor. It’s on the opposite end of
the building. Please! Let me go.”

“It’s not safe,” Lucas and the officer said
in unison.

“I’ll take care of her.” Lucas turned Amelia
around and gently guided her to the corner. The rising flames
brightened the darkening sky. Dusk had rolled away, but ambient
city light and the fire killed all opportunity to view the universe
of stars he was accustomed to viewing in the country. Any thought
he might have had about moving to the city to be with Amelia burned
away same as the flames were incinerating the building.

“Let’s go to your truck. Let’s drop off the
trailer. Then we’ll come back and scope out the scene.”

“No!” Amelia shouted. “You go. Take my keys.
I’m staying right here.”

“I can’t leave you. It only makes sense for
you to come with me.”

Her shoulders slumped.

Lucas led her down the street, around the
perimeter the police had created, and away from the burning
building. They crossed over to the next block on the opposite side
of the building. The illuminated parking lot sign guided them to
the right spot. However, as they neared, additional police were
cordoning off that side of the street.

“Could we get that truck and trailer out of
there?” Lucas asked, with Amelia beside him, her gaze transfixed on
the burning building. Water poured onto the fire, beautiful and
destructive.

“Yeah, just head out the exit on the other
side of the lot.”

Close to midnight, Lucas had settled Amelia
into a hotel room with a view of the city. The fire blazed many
blocks away. Every news station in town reported on it. Avoiding
the sight of the destruction was impossible.

Amelia curled up in bed wearing a robe taken
from the closet. Her attention focused solely on the television.
Jack huddled close to her, barely visible, white fur against white
bed linens.

Luca stood at the window. The vision he’d
carried about sharing a special night in this hotel with Amelia was
ruined. The intimacy and closeness he dreamed of had been drowned
out, just like the blaze drowning thanks to the firefighters.

When his cell phone rang, he grabbed for it
on the first ring. “Yeah.”

“I saw the news,” Craig said.

“It doesn’t look good,” Lucas replied. From
the bed, Amelia groaned when part of a wall collapsed on the
building. Lucas stepped into the hall. “At least I know you didn’t
have anything to do with this fiasco.” Lucas couldn’t contain his
sarcasm.

“I’ll take that as your attempt at humor
given the stress of the situation,” Craig responded, dryly.

“We dropped the trailer at U-Haul. We’re at
Center City Hotel. I brought her here because she won’t go
home.”

“You’re sure she’s alright?”

“Well, she’s not happy, but she’s safe.”

“I talked to the police again,” Craig
continued. “That truck stop is a target for thieves. They’ll steal
anything they think will make them a fast buck. The police
guestimate because she had so many paintings with her, the thieves
figured the paintings were worth big money.”

“Maybe they’ll get them. Amelia’s trying to
maintain a stiff upper lip. She hasn’t broken down or cried. She
even called Gus knowing I was listening. He’ll start harvesting the
corn next week. You’ve got to tell her about your plans to
sell.”

“No, not yet. Besides, I can’t sell unless
she agrees to it, too. But the buyer’s getting antsy. There are
other farms on the market. I’ll talk to her over the weekend. On
Sunday, after her birthday party.”