In Your Honor (28 page)

“
But Serge is a French name? Right?”
Her heart was pounding, she was probably wrong. Why couldn't she
shut up? “Never mind. I have no idea what I'm saying.”

Shane laughed and hooked an arm around her
waist, pulling her to his side. Serge's grin widened and he
chuckled.

“
Yes, my mother is French. You are
correct.” He laughed again and lifted his chin at Shane. “You
better be careful with this one, Big City. She is beautiful
and
smart.”

Lucy's ears were reaching a boiling point
and she swallowed hard. Shane's grip around her tightened and she
melted into his rock-hard side.

“
Don't I know it,” Shane
chuckled. He pressed a kiss to her temple and pulled her towards
the doorway leading into the rest of the house.

“
Stop being embarrassed,” he murmured
in her ear when they were well removed from Serge's line of sight.
“You're amazing and you have nothing to worry about.”

She couldn't reply. Mostly because Shane's
proximity had rendered her speechless. But also, did Shane know who
he was? She wasn't worried about the other people this week. But
she was a little nervous that Shane was going to figure out how
much of a weirdo she was and he'd be done with her.

She looked up into his amber eyes that were
rimmed in a deep brown. The gold flecks highlighted his irises and
she steadied herself in that gaze. No, he wasn't that guy. He
wasn't looking for her faults and he wasn't disillusioned as to who
he had asked to join him this week. He liked her. Flaws and
all.

He showed her the rest of the house, never
letting go of her hand, and she was growing to like that connection
more and more. His grasp was warm and strong and she liked how it
made her feel safe and wanted at the same time. The house was
enormous: a large game room, an open dining room, a living room
with a fireplace, and several bedrooms and bathrooms scattered
throughout.

He led her upstairs to their suite and she
wandered around it wide-eyed. It had a private stone balcony with a
perfect view of the ocean, a large living room with a couch and a
couple of overstuffed chairs, a massive four-poster king-size bed,
and a bathroom with both a shower and jacuzzi tub.

Lucy felt her heart rate quicken as she
surveyed their living quarters for the next six days. It was
gorgeous. And intimate. She hadn't thought about any of that stuff
yet. Truthfully, she hadn't had time.

“
Are you impressed?” Shane asked as
leaned one shoulder against the door frame and watched her walk
around the room.

“
Are you kidding?” She grinned at him.
“This is pretty swanky.”

He chuckled lightly and pushed his hair
back, looking almost sheepish. “You're awesome.”

“
What?” She laughed lightly, not know
what had sparked that compliment.

“
I mean, most girls I've dated would
not be satisfied with...” he gestured towards the furnishings in
the room, “this.”

She narrowed her eyes at him playfully. “I
thought we'd already established that I'm not like most girls.”

“
We have,” he said as he took a couple
steps towards her, “but I still enjoy the reminders.”

She bit her bottom lip and looked away from
his gaze. He was too beautiful to look at sometimes. He moved a
stray hair off of her cheek with his index finger, drawing her eyes
back to his.

“
I'm gonna go down and get our
luggage. You be thinking about what you want to do first. We can go
down to the beach or get something to eat or go shopping or
whatever. You name it.” He held her eyes for a heartbeat longer
than she thought she could handle. “Anything.”

Backing away slowly, he didn't turn
around until he reached the doorway, and then Lucy finally felt
like she could breathe again. She looked around the room, feeling
the butterflies begin to violently ricochet in her stomach. She was
sharing a room with quite possibly the most gorgeous and charming
man alive.
Seriously, what the hell is he
doing with me?

She walked out onto the patio and breathed
in the ocean air, trying to figure out how to handle this. Her
hands pressed against the sun-warmed stone railing and she closed
her eyes.

The sound of Shane reentering their room
with their luggage reached her ears, but she lingered on the
balcony.

She felt the brush of his body as he leaned
his back against the railing, joining her. She didn't have to open
her eyes to know he was watching her, she could feel it.

“
I know what you're thinking,” he
said, and her eyes opened slowly, wondering if that were
possible.

“
Please don't worry about the sleeping
arrangements. I already planned on sleeping on the
couch.”

“
You did not.” She felt her lips
pulling up into a smile. He was constantly surprising
her.

“
Sure did. The moment I laid eyes on
it, I knew it had to be mine.” The gold in his eyes was even more
vibrant in the sunlight and he gave her a teasing smile.

“
How are you real?” she almost
whispered, half afraid that if she asked it out loud, he might
disappear before her eyes.

“
I could ask the same thing about
you,” he replied, his voice rough. He smiled shyly and looked down
at his feet and then back up at her. “I don't want you to feel any
pressure. When I asked you to join me this week, all I was thinking
about was spending more time with quite possibly the most
incredible girl I've ever met. That's seriously it.”

“
I believe you,” she responded
quietly, meaning it.

One of his arms reached over and hooked
around her waist, pulling her to stand in between his legs. He
cupped her cheek with his other hand and touched her lips gently
with his thumb.

“
Also, I want to kiss you.” He stared
into her face intently and she felt her lips part in response. She
wanted that too.

He leaned in and she closed her eyes in
anticipation. She felt his breath on her lips as he paused briefly
before kissing her slowly. Deliberately.

His hand on her waist pulled her tighter
against him while the hand on her face moved to the back of her
neck, angling her head upward. His mouth tasted hers gently,
unhurriedly. Taking his time, making her lose track of her senses.
Completely taking over her every thought.

He pulled away, almost reluctantly, and
rested his forehead against hers.

“
Your kisses make me dizzy, Newton,”
he said through staggered breathing.

She couldn't respond. Her pulse was too loud
for her to focus on anything else.

“
I'm going to need to amend my
original statement.” He took another slow breath, his eyelids
having dropped to half-mast. “Those kisses need to be added to our
daily activities.”

“
I think I can handle that,” she tried
to say confidently as she smiled up at him, but her knees were weak
and her voice matched. His eyes focused on her mouth again and she
reflexively licked her bottom lip. His breath hitched as his arms
tightened around her.

“
Brookings!” a voice yelled from below
the balcony, breaking the spell they were under. Shane growled in
frustration, letting his forehead drop to her shoulder.

“
It may have been a bad idea to
include all of these people. I apologize and hope you can forgive
me.”

Lucy couldn't hold back the laugh that
bubbled out. He grinned at her before sighing and looking over his
shoulder at a bleached blond, shirtless man waving from the center
of a handful of people with luggage.

“
Hey, Steve,” Shane said, completely
unenthusiastically. Lucy turned her face into his chest to hide her
grin.

“
Who's the babe?” Steve called
out.

Shane rolled his eyes, amusing Lucy even
more. “For the record, the only person here I consider a friend is
Serge. I barely know these other idiots,” he said to her, ignoring
Steve's question entirely.

“
I see,” she nodded, biting her bottom
lip. His arms were still surrounding her and she was loving
it.

“
You say the word and we can go
somewhere else. Anywhere else.” His eyebrows were raised, imploring
her to make such a request and spare him from whatever humiliation
he imagined was coming.

“
I'm sure it's not as bad as you're
fearing,” she reassured him, running her hands over his strong
shoulders and down his arms.

“
Yeah, you're right. It's probably
worse.” He chuckled nervously, and she was surprised to see the
anxiety so apparent in his expression. It was a drastic contrast to
the calm and collected man she was used to seeing.

“
What are you afraid of?” she asked
gently, reaching up and touching his face. She directed his eyes
back to hers, wanting to ease his concerns the way he always did
for her.

“
I haven't always made the best
choices.” He chewed on his bottom lip momentarily, his face
pensive. “Some of that might be brought to light this
week.”

She smiled and pressed her lips to his chin
lightly. “I'm not running an investigation, Shane. I'm not worried.
Not even a little.”

His shoulders eased as he let out a
contented sigh and pulled her closer. “Mmm, I like you.”

Shane kissed her forehead, lingering for
several breaths as his hands rubbed her back soothingly. Taking her
hand in one of his, he finally led her back inside and down the
stairs. She followed easily; she was starting to think that she
would follow him anywhere. Was it too soon to feel this comfortable
with someone? Should she be more cautious? She couldn't think of a
single reason why.

***

Shane tried to ignore the tension in his
stomach as he led Lucy into the kitchen where the rest of the house
guests had gathered. He liked his friends, he did. But he was a
little afraid they wouldn't behave themselves. This thing with Lucy
was still so new and fresh, he didn't want anyone else ruining
it.

“
Hey! It's Mister Wonderful! Nice of
you to break away from your make-out sesh to join us,” Steve
greeted sarcastically. Out of all of his friends, Shane couldn't
stand Steve the most. Mostly, he was a dick.

“
Hey everyone,” Shane waved and put
his hand on the small of Lucy's back, hoping he didn't come across
as too possessive even if that's exactly how he was feeling. “This
is Lucy Newton. She's my guest this week and I expect you all to be
respectful and courteous.”

He glared specifically at Steve, but the
announcement was for the whole room even though he knew they would
completely disregard it. He pointed everyone out by name, quickly
going around the room, wanting this over as soon as possible so
they could move on to the next thing. Steve, the loudmouth; Kip,
the hippie; Adam, the cool guy; Bo, the playboy; and Brady, the
only responsible one. And then of course, Harmony.

“
Is she like your girlfriend or
something?” Harmony asked in her singsong, Valley-Girl voice that
grated on his nerves. She leaned her half-naked body against the
kitchen countertop, twirling her blonde hair with her fingers and
snapping her gum at the same time. It was as close to multitasking
as Harmony got. Shane hadn't dated her based on her charming
conversational skills.

“
Yeah, something like that.” Shane
clenched his jaw but maintained his composure. He really hated the
fact that Harmony was there. Way more than Steve or anyone else.
She was rude and inconsiderate and would present the most difficult
challenge for him. He did
not
want her coloring Lucy's opinion of
him.

“
It's so nice to meet you.” Harmony
twisted on her plastic smile and eyed Lucy up and down as if
measuring her up for some sort of competition. Shane didn't
understand it. The two were polar opposites, and as far as he was
concerned, there was no comparison.

“
You always know the hottest girls,”
Adam commented, giving Lucy his own once-over. This is exactly the
kind of thing Shane did not want. Lucy wasn't a tasty treat for his
friends to flirt with all week.

“
All right, cool it,” he glowered.
“We're going to get something to eat, we'll catch up with you guys
later.”

He knew he had rushed introductions but he
didn't care. They had all week to ogle his girl, he didn't have to
share if he didn't want to. Taking her by the hand, something that
was becoming his favorite thing because she never resisted, he led
her out the door.

“
I like your friends,” Lucy spoke up
from beside him. Shane couldn't help but laugh as he opened her car
door.

“
What? Why? They're terrible.” He
shook his head at her sweet misconception.

“
No they're not. They're just people.”
She smiled up at him and he couldn't help but grin back as she
jumped in the vehicle. He paused as he took in her sincere
expression. She was the sweetest thing he'd ever known.

“
Yeah, but people can be the worst,”
he finally pointed out, then he closed her door and made his way
around to the driver's side.

“
You seem to forget who I spend most
of my waking moments with,” she reminded him playfully, putting on
her seat belt as he settled behind the steering wheel.

“
That's right, smelly rock stars.” He
chuckled as he reached over to hold her hand. He couldn't resist
finding any excuse to touch her now that she was within reach. “How
has that been going?”