Road to Recovery (21 page)

He sighed dramatically. “Not all of us
have a short commute to work.”

She played with him a bit more. “Sucks
to be you, doesn’t it?”

Shocked at her response, he repeated
indignantly, “Sucks to be me? Did you say sucks to be
me?”

Laughing at his expression, she zipped
up her suitcase with a final tug. “Yes. And this is all set,” she
said with a hand on her suitcase.

He huffed out a snort. “OK, I’ll take
it downstairs for you.”

He grabbed it off the bed and started
to make his way out of the room when her words stopped him. “Aren’t
you forgetting something?” she asked innocently.

He looked around the room for any
remains of her clothing. “I don’t think so.”

“
Hang on, let me go get it,”
she said, then she walked down the short hallway toward his
bathroom.

After a few seconds when she didn’t
return, curiosity got the better of him, so he set her suitcase
down to make his way in her direction. He noticed her in his
closet. “What are you doing?” She was browsing through his suits
all neatly hung on one wall.

“
I’m picking one out for
you. Or would you rather do it yourself?”

Excited, but still doubtful he asked,
“Really? No never mind, don’t answer that. Let me get the rest of
my stuff quick.”

He grabbed a shirt and matching tie
from their spots in the closet. Throwing the rest of his clothes
into a small travel bag, he walked back to the bedroom to get her
suitcase, then stopped and looked at her questioningly as she
smiled at him. “All set now?”

“
All set, when you are ready
to leave.”

His only response was a
laugh.

Eyes still closed, Lucas reached for
the alarm clock, only to encounter air when he tried to turn the
music off. Sliding closer, he tried a second time with the same
results. Realization dawned, and he remembered he was in Brooke’s
bed.

When the music finally shut off, he
opened one eye to see Brooke starting to climb out of bed. He
quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back to his side,
positioning her across his chest, her head on his heart. “What time
is it?” he asked sleepily, running his hand up and down her back.
He loved how she arched into him. Just like petting a
kitten.

“
Five.”

Continuing to caress her, his sleepy
voice tried to coax. “Come back to bed. Too early to get
up.”

She chuckled lightly, refused to give
in to the urge and tried to move out of bed. “Sorry, I need to get
up and get ready before your alarm goes off. Go back to sleep.” She
leaned up and placed a quick kiss on his lips. “I might even have
the makings for pancakes this morning.” She quickly climbed over
his body to get out of bed on his side.

***

When she reached her bathroom, she
turned on the light and looked back at him to see he was fast
asleep with a faint smile on his face.

Trying not to dwell on the fact that
she could feel herself sliding further and further toward loving
Lucas, she turned on to the water and stepped under the warm
welcoming spray. She knew it would be a mistake to lose her heart
again. She wasn’t ready for this. She wasn’t ready for the
consequences if things went wrong again.

It was still too early for them,
definitely too early for any declarations of love. Not that she
planned on declaring anything, least of all anytime
soon.

She’d sworn to herself she would never
be the first to say it again in a relationship. Besides, she
thought to herself, maybe she wasn’t even feeling love right now,
because it sure wasn’t like anything else she ever felt before. It
was most likely a strong case of attraction. Serious attraction.
And lust. Lots and lots of lust.

Thinking back on their time together
these last several weeks, she realized that was mostly likely what
it was. Attraction and lust.

She’d always been a romantic at heart,
even though she hid that secret well. And he seemed to be able to
find all the right things to say and do to make her pulse kick up a
notch.

The sex was fantastic, but it wasn’t
just that. It was all the little things he did for her. The hand
holding, the teasing, the text messages telling her good night when
they were apart, and the way he looked at her.

Especially the way he looked at her,
with so much heat and intensity in his eyes. All she could think of
when she saw that gaze was power. He had the power and the ability
to turn her to mush with one look.

And she decided to keep that little
secret to herself, too.

***

“
Did you go anywhere
interesting this weekend?” Mike Lester asked Lucas in the elevator
later that morning.

Even though Brooke didn’t need to
attend the meeting that required Lucas to wake so early, she rode
in with him anyway. She told him after the long weekend she was
ready to jump right back into work. Get back on schedule. Focus on
her job. The weekend was a nice break, she reminded him when they
left, but everything needed to go back to normal at work.
Professional.

But it was so hard, he thought. It was
so nice to let go this weekend and not have to think about who was
around and who might see them. He sighed and looked at Brooke while
she focused on the wall in front of her, ignoring the conversation
between the two men. He was feeling a bit snarky after the morning
chat with her. He didn’t understand after this weekend, how she
could turn it back off and go back to her robotic self. Mike gave
him an opening to have a little fun with her.

“
Actually I spent most of my
weekend in Brooklyn,” Lucas answered, then watched Brooke’s back
stiffen in front of him.
Good, let’s see if
you can ignore that
, he thought to himself
with a smirk.

“
I can’t say I’ve ever been
in Brooklyn before,” Mike said, but paused when he heard a choking
sound from Brooke standing in front of him. “I prefer Manhattan. Do
anything exciting there?” Mike continued on, oblivious of the game
going on around him.

Lucas’s lips twitched and he tried his
hardest not to laugh as he responded, “Actually, there are plenty
of exciting things to do in Brooklyn.”

The choking from Brooke turned into a
cough, which caused Lucas to put a hand over his mouth to hide his
own smile.

The elevator doors opened and Lucas
watched Brooke take a step out, stop to turn her head and glare at
him quickly, then march away. He couldn’t hold the laughter back
any longer as the door closed on him and Mike.

“
What was hell was that?”
Mike asked, puzzled.

Lucas shrugged and then grinned. “Who
knows? Maybe she got up on the wrong side of the bed.”

***

“
It was so embarrassing,
Cori,” Brooke explained over lunch in the cafeteria a few hours
later.

“
I’m sorry, but, Brooke,
that’s hilarious. Admit it, you know you want to laugh about it. At
least now, but maybe not at that time,” Cori prompted after Brooke
had finished telling her about Lucas’s comments in the elevator
earlier that morning.

With a sigh of resignation, Brooke
aggressively took her frustration out on her salad, stabbing at it
with her fork. “I don’t know. I don’t know what I want anymore. Or
what I think anymore.

Looking concerned, Cori waved her hand
in front of Brooke’s face as Brooke concentrated on attacking her
salad instead of eating it. “Hey, what is there to be confused
about? Are you nuts? You’ve got this amazingly hot sexy guy paying
all sorts of attention to you. I know you don’t share any details
of your love life, wish you did, but I can read between the
lines.”

Cori paused until she knew she had
Brooke’s undivided attention, then looked around to see who might
be within hearing distance. Once she was satisfied with both, she
leaned in closer. “Come on. I know you aren’t the type to kiss and
tell, but I’m betting he is the best you’ve ever had. All that
consideration he pays outside of the bedroom has to work its way
in. It has to, am I right?” she asked, dying to know some little
detail.

Cori knew Brooke wouldn’t answer her
directly, but when the blush crept up her friend’s neck and face
she congratulated herself. “I knew it!”

“
Can we change the subject,
please?” Brooke begged.

“
No way. You started it. I’m
going to finish it,” Cori said, slapping her palm on the table.
“Besides I’m still trying to figure out what you are so confused
about.”

Cori started to count things off her
fingers. “He’s hot and sexy as all hell. With that boyish grin and
ice blue stare of his, mmm, yum. He has a great job. He is one of
the most laid back people I’ve ever met. And he worships you. What
is there to be confused about?”

Brooke frowned. “Worships? Really, who
uses that word?”

“
I do,” Cori exclaimed. “Now
answer my question. What are you so afraid of?”

“
What makes you think I’m
afraid?”

“
Seriously? You’re joking.
That is the only explanation for it. I just listed off everything
that any woman in their right mind wants in a man. You’ve got it
all and you are confused. The only explanation is you are afraid of
something. So what gives?”

“
I don’t know what he sees
in me.” Brooke’s shoulders shrugged then drooped. “We’re total
opposites. It hasn’t been that long. What if he grows tired of it,
of me?” she asked in a shy childlike voice lacking the confidence
Cori had never seen Brooke without.

“
That’s what it is? You
think he will grow bored with you. Why? Because you don’t act like
he does? Because you don’t return all those sweet things he does
for you? Did you ever stop to think that maybe he likes doing those
things? Maybe he likes to make you smile. Maybe he doesn’t have an
agenda of his own and is really a sweet guy. Who likes you, and who
wants to make you happy? Who’s really into you?” Cori stopped,
gasped for breath, and then continued. “Did you ever think of that?
Has no one ever done anything nice for you just for the heck of
it?” Her voice rose with agitation. “I wish I had some guy like
Lucas in my life.”

Brooke waited till Cori was finally
done with her tirade, then answered, embarrassed, “Well, no, not
really. No one has ever done those kinds of things for
me.”

“
Huh?” Cori said, her eyes
almost popping out of her head. “No one. Not one person has ever
done anything nice for you. Just for the heck of it?”

“
Probably Mac. Though
nothing is coming to the top of my head, but definitely not my
parents. I’ve told you, everything was very structured in our
house. Nothing was done that wasn’t on an agenda or having some
ultimate purpose,” Brooke patiently explained again.

“
No other boyfriends?” Cori
pushed some more, astonished by Brooke’s revelation.

“
I don’t have too much to
compare to. No boyfriends in high school. It wasn’t allowed. And
really there wasn’t much time. Again, my mother scheduled my time
accordingly. One boyfriend through college, and it definitely
wasn’t the romance of the decade. We were friends. It turned into
more and then ended as calmly as it started. End of
story.”

“
One boyfriend? I don’t
believe it. You are way too hot to only have had one boyfriend.”
Cori held her hand up when Brooke started to interrupt. “I don’t
care how standoffish you come across. Plenty of guys find that
attractive and you know it.”

Brooke couldn’t help but agree. “Yes,
you’re right. But I was focused on my career. I dated on and off,
but that was all. Until...” She trailed off.

“
Until what?” Cori
pressured.

“
Until Robbie. I guess you
could say he was my only serious adult relationship. And it didn’t
turn out so well for me. Or for him either in the end.” She glanced
at her watch and started to pick up the remains of her uneaten
lunch. “I need to head back now. See you at the gym
later.”

Cori had been dismissed. Brooke shut
down, the conversation over.

Hanging up the phone, Lucas looked at
his watch and pushed away from his desk. On the way out of his
office door, he called to Rhonda, “I’ll be back in about twenty
minutes.”

He had spent all day trying to carve
out time to see Brooke. Something wasn’t right with her. The last
several days she had been distant. She always put on a good front,
tried to act like everything was fine, but he knew better. It was
all too forced, even for her.

He chalked it up as a bad day when it
originally started. But now her solemn mood was going on day three
and she was further away than before. He was afraid she was pulling
away from him and he needed to get a handle on what was happening.
He needed to know what was going on in her head.

Everything had been perfect Memorial
Day weekend. More than perfect. He knew they were moving fast, but
he couldn’t seem to slow down, no matter how hard he tried. And he
was deathly afraid she was putting the brakes on.