Page 78 of This Loving Feeling (Mirror Lake)

CHAPTER 17

Preparations for a big celebrity wedding on the coast this upcoming weekend must have been more tempting to the paparazzi than the antics of a fledgling rocker, because by morning, most of the media had left Mirror Lake. Lukas hired a security detail to surround his property and Sam’s just to be safe. The “home” they chose to go to was hers, being that there was just something about that cozy little guesthouse that seemed perfect: insular, sweet, and tucked away from the world.

Turned out Stevie was as worn-out from his sleepover as Sam was from hers and Lukas’s. That afternoon, Sam sat in the shade by the Donaldsons’ pool, reading Stevie a book while Lukas drifted around the pool on a rectangular floatie, wearing blue reflective sunglasses that made him look mysterious and hot, his beautiful olive skin glistening in the sun. His nose was still swollen, but they’d told Stevie he’d bumped into a door and left it at that.

Every once in a while she would look up from the book, Stevie and his ratty blanket wedged in next to her on the chaise lounge, and catch Lukas’s gaze (or what she thought was his gaze, it was hard to tell with the glasses). He’d lift them to his forehead and send her a steamy, hot look that seared her down to her toes and back and made her grateful she was sitting in the shade.

In fact, she was smiling at everything, from the sultry way Lukas couldn’t seem to help but look at her, to the hot cup of coffee he’d handed her as soon as they got settled in that morning, to Stevie’s excitement as he chattered on and on about everything he’d done with James at the sleepover.

She couldn’t remember when she’d ever felt this way, not grilling herself with a million worried questions. The first time she’d made love with Lukas, long ago, she remembered a similar sense of contentment, but she was too young to really understand it for what it was. With Harris, she’d been constantly second-guessing everything, almost like she was always convincing herself to be in love with him. Or at least blaming herself for not having more of a response to him.

But with Lukas ... well. He’d overwhelmed her in every way. Just thinking about what they’d done together made her tingle all over. No, make thatset her on fire.

The book ended. It was a classic, one of Sam’s old books,The Little Houseby Virginia Lee Burton, about, yes, a little house in the country that over the years becomes surrounded by the city until one day a descendant of the original owners brings it back to where it belongs.

She felt back where she belonged. And she refused to look ahead of the joy of the moment.

“Read it again,” Stevie said, sporting that devilish Spikonos grin.

“Later,” she said, laughing. “How about a little swim before dinner?”

Lukas picked up a ball that was bobbing nearby and sat up on the float. “Oh, no!” he cried out in a mock-serious voice. “I think a shark is coming. Steven boy, I need your help.”

“There’s no sharks in the pool, Uncle Lukas.”

Lukas pointed at a shark floatie, splashed, and tossed the ball at it. “It’s coming to get me. Help!”

Lukas paddled over to the edge of the pool, biceps wet and working in the sun. Holy Saints, the man was Hotness Embodied. The muscle. The wicked smile. The fun he was clearly having fooling around with Stevie.

She helped Stevie slide his swim vest on. He jumped into Lukas’s arms and the two of them swam after sharks, Lukas diving and tossing Stevie in the air and splashing and both of them laughing. A lot.

Then Lukas took Stevie to the shallow end of the pool.

“You know what it’s time for,” Lukas said matter-of-factly.

“I’m afraid, Uncle Lukas.”

Lukas stood up in the pool. “It’s okay to be a little afraid of new things. But you can’t let being afraid stop you from getting what you want. You want to learn to swim?”

Stevie nodded—sort of. Sam was worried he might ask for his blanket, because that thing would never survive the pool chlorine. On the other hand, the chlorine just might sterilize it, which could be a good thing.

Stevie hung in there as Lukas demonstrated holding his breath, helped him float on his stomach, and showed him how to move his arms. Lukas seemed to know just how to gently prod him without pushing. Another surprise in the amazing Lukas armamentarium.

“Are you ready to try it?” Lukas asked.

Sam held her breath as Stevie dunked his head under and did a few duck paddles to Lukas. As soon as he was in arm’s length, Lukas grabbed him, tossed him up onto his shoulders, and ran with him all around the shallow end of the pool. “I did it! I did it!” Stevie yelled. Sam ran to the edge of the pool, clapping and exclaiming and blowing kisses and taking a million pictures. Stevie sat on Lukas’s shoulders, beaming from ear to ear.

That night they both tucked Stevie in. After Lukas turned on the nightlight and left the room, Sam sat at Stevie’s bedside. “I’m so proud of you, swimming today,” she said, combing his hair over his forehead. And he’d eaten almost his entire cheeseburger tonight, which Lukas had put on the grill. He was starting to fill out, looking so much more hale and healthy than just a few weeks ago.

Just a few weeks ago. When everything was different. That led her to wonder what the next few weeks would bring. Summer would breeze by, and soon there would be curled-up leaves on the ground and a bit of a slant to the sun, and the slightest chill to the evenings. Then what would happen with her borrowed family and her fantasy of happily ever after?

Maybe Stevie sensed the direction of her thoughts, because he asked, “Do you love me and Lukas?”

She tousled his hair, kissed him on the cheek, and hugged him hard. He smelled like Dove soap and clean pajamas. She wanted to bottle that smell to hold in her heart forever. “Very much. I love you and I love your Uncle Lukas. Now go to bed.” She made a show of pulling up the sheet and a light blanket, of saying a little prayer and tucking him in.

She heard a soft noise from behind her, a subtle shifting of weight. Lukas had been standing behind her—for how long?

“Night Uncle Lukas,” Stevie said. “It was a fun day. Especially the shark fight.”

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