“Tying Up Beaumont.”
“Morgan’s Sex Tips For the Inexperienced.”
“How to ….” She laughed. “You got me, I can’t think of anything else.”
“We can start on any of those books as soon as you want.” I brought her towards me again so she could feel my hardness against her leg. “And,” I continued, “if you want, we can get some handcuffs so you can do kinky things to me.”
“You wish.” She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Actually, I wanted to tell you that I hate your duvet cover.”
“What?” I chortled as I saw the look of humor on her face. “That’s random.”
“I hate your duvet cover. Can we change it?” She laughed at my expression and I joined her in her mirth. I fell back on the bed as I laughed heartily. Lucky was so unpredictable and I hadn’t seen that coming. So much for the handcuffs and whipped cream, I thought to myself.
“Of course. Do you want to go shopping today?” I stroked her curls and wound my fingers through them.
“We can go after we work.”
“Who’s the boss here?” I faked a growl and she poked me in the arm. I jumped up, walked to the wardrobe and grabbed a T-shirt, and flung it to her. “Put this on, I can’t keep staring at your naked body and keep my hands to myself.”
“Thanks.” She blushed and I saw a small smile cross her face.
I could hardly believe that I was here in this room with Lucky. Just a few months ago, I had been trying to stop myself from going to Lou’s Burger Joint because I had enjoyed seeing her there every Friday, and now, well now she was here with me. It didn’t feel real. I couldn’t believe how light and happy I was. It was as if a missing piece of me had been plugged in and now I was operating at 100 percent. I was feeling and seeing emotions and colors that had been in darkness for most of my life. I just hoped nobody pulled the plug again.
“So, we’ll go shopping after we do a little bit of work,” I told her firmly. Then I shook my head. “I can’t believe you don’t like my duvet cover.”
“It looks ugly and cheap.” She cringed. “And dirty.”
“Okay, okay. I get it. You don’t like it. Anything else you’d like to change?” I looked around the room. “The paint color? The wood of my wardrobes?”
“Well, if you’re asking.” She grinned and I reached over to tickle her, but she ran away from me, giggling. “I’m going in the shower now, by myself.”
I groaned at her words, I’d already pictured us making love again under the cascade of warm water.
“Oh yeah,” I spoke casually, straightening out the sheets as the words came out of my mouth. “My best friend, Leonardo, will be joining us for dinner.” I made a mental note to call Leo as soon as Lucky went into the shower. I ignored the warning bells in my head. I needed to do this. I needed to make sure that all I had to worry about was getting Braydon imprisoned.
“Oh.” Her voice sounded surprised and I turned around to see a look of shock on her face.
“What’s so shocking?” I frowned, my stomach churning slightly. Did she know what I was planning? Did she have some sort of ESP?
“I don’t know. I didn’t think you had a best friend, aside from Noah, of course.” Her eyes were wide and begging for understanding. It saddened me that she would never know Noah, and that he would always be mentioned in a whispered and lowered voice.
“Noah was my best friend and brother. I was his protector. A failed protector,” I sighed, remembering the dream. “I won’t ever be a failure like that again.”
“You can’t watch someone’s every step, Zane.” She grabbed my hands earnestly. “You can’t protect people from themselves.”
“I can try though.” I shook my head and changed the subject. “Would you like to cook dinner or take Leonardo out to eat tonight?”
“What do you mean, would I like to cook dinner? What about us cooking dinner together?” She rolled her eyes.
“Well, if you’re going to be the mother of my child and my companion—” For some reason I couldn’t bring myself to say “wife.” It seemed too permanent and constrained. Too real. I ignored Lucky’s hurt expression at my words. I knew she had noticed my use of the word companion. “Shouldn’t you learn how to throw a good dinner party?”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.” She grimaced and a flash of worry pricked me. “If I am carrying your child, it doesn’t mean I’m going to become some sort of domestic goddess.”
“I don’t expect that, I’m not Charlie Sheen,” I joked and she frowned again.
“What are you talking about? What does Charlie Sheen have to do with it?”
“Sorry, poor joke.” I grabbed her hands and caressed them softly, bending down to kiss each finger. “Let’s not start the day off with an argument. We’ll go to dinner instead then, okay?”
“No. I want to cook.” She laughed and I looked at her in bewilderment. I shook my head in exasperation. Lucky was a typical female, so very hard to understand. “I just don’t want that to be an expectation that I’m going to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, cooking for you all the time.”
“I don’t think I have ever pictured that.” I laughed heartily, happy that we were back on track and joking again. “What’s wrong?” I looked at her nervous expression and worry filled me. Did she already know she was pregnant?
“This guy, Leonardo, he’s not like your other friends, is he? The ones that came to the party?” She grimaced.
I laughed. “I’m guessing you weren’t fond of them?”
She shook her head and made a face, and I wanted to kiss her and take away her obvious unease. “I’m sorry my friends weren’t very nice to you at the party. In my defense, I don’t really like most of those people. I just know them.”
“Why did you invite them over then?”
“I wanted you to think I had a lot of friends and that I wasn’t some sort of weirdo whose only friend was his brother.”
“But you have Leonardo?”
“Yeah.” I looked away quickly and I wondered if I was doing the right thing. “Now, get in the shower and get ready, and I’ll make breakfast and we can get to work.”