Page 42 of The Damaged Hearts Bargain

“See? Not having much experience with how relationships are supposed to go can be a good thing,” Lucy grinned. “After all, I’ve got no preconceptions either.”

“You don’t,” sighed Cal. She scratched at the material of her trousers as she thought, then she nodded, coming to a decision. “Alright, here’s the thing. From everything you’ve said you’re looking for a relationship, an actual relationship. I agree that we have chemistry, and I’ll be honest and say I really like you, but I think you already knew that.”

“I had my suspicions,” Lucy said dryly.

“The problem is, I can’t offer you anything long term. It’s not who I am, and I’m not in a position to change that.”

Lucy studied her. Okay, maybe being horrifically inexperienced did have its down sides. She was starting to realize that unintentionally she’d come across far too strong. “Cal, I don’t want to marry you.” She looked over at Pen and Ash, dancing together. “Not yet, anyway,” she said more softly. Because she did want what they had.

“I do like you, Lucy. But I’m not in the greatest place right now and I can’t offer you what you want.”

Lucy shook her head. “I mean it, I don’t want to marry you. We barely know each other. But I’d like to get to know you if you’d let me.”

“I don’t want to disappoint you, and I definitely don’t want to hurt you. So I need to be completely clear about this. Short term is all I have to offer here. I’m planning on leaving town by the end of next week or so, and I’m not looking at coming back.”

Lucy’s mouth went dry. “Alright,” she said. “I understand.”

“I’m not a hundred percent sure that you do,” Cal said. “SoI think you should have a little time to think about it.” She looked over at the dancing. “I’m going to duck out now, if that’s alright?”

“Of course,” Lucy said even though she really didn’t want her to go. She cleared her throat because she needed to be fair here. “You don’t have to come to the wedding tomorrow if you don’t want to. I mean, if it’s too much, if it’s not you, if… if it’s uncomfortable in any way. That’s not what I intended.”

“I know it’s not,” Cal said. “And to be honest, it is going to be uncomfortable for me. But I do want to come, I think.” She bit her lip and smiled at Lucy in a way that made Lucy’s heart speed up. “I’d like to come for you. To thank you for your help, but also because you want me to come.”

Lucy’s lips twitched into a grin. “I do want you to come.”

“And maybe you could think about what we’ve talked about, think if it’s something you want and can handle?”

“Short term,” Lucy said, the words echoing in her head.

“Short term,” agreed Cal. “After all, you’re right, we do hardly know each other.” She grinned again. “And we do have some stellar chemistry.”

Lucy’s stomach tightened and she suddenly felt very, very warm. “We do,” she managed to croak.

Cal stood up and after a slight pause, dropped a kiss onto Lucy’s head and then walked out of the hall. Lucy watched her go, her confident stride, the way she carried herself. She’d never known anyone quite like Cal before, in both good and bad ways.

“So, the mysterious stranger has left,” George said, flopping into a seat next to Lucy’s. “I’m pooped. Billy dances like an angel but I’m not as young as I used to be.”

“You’re the same age as me,” Lucy said.

“Practically ancient,” groaned George.

“Did you know you were going to marry Billy when you, um, when the two of you started, you know…?”

George laughed. “God no. He was just a bit of fun. We hooked up and, to be honest, I thought he was a bit of a, well, a traditionalist maybe. He took me out for a meal first, which withthe kind of men I used to date was unheard of. But I liked him and his dimples, so I went along with it.”

“So what changed then?” Lucy asked.

George watched his husband as he twirled Pen around the dance floor. “He made me breakfast,” he said quietly.

“Breakfast? That’s all it took?”

“Well, it was breakfast after an amazing night of sex,” admitted George. “But yes, that’s all it took. I think I’d always thought of relationships as sort of boring, monotonous. Then Billy walks into the bedroom butt-naked carrying this tray and all of a sudden I realized that I could have this every morning for the rest of my life.” He shrugged. “And it didn’t seem so bad.”

Lucy felt a little warm glow. So there was hope yet. “You’d better go and rescue Pen. She has to walk down the aisle tomorrow, and the way Billy’s spinning her she’ll still be dizzy.”

George went to commandeer Billy’s attention and a few moments later, Pen dropped exhausted into the chair he’d just vacated. “Having fun?”

“Obviously,” said Lucy. “What about you? It’s your pre-wedding.”

---