Page 30 of Secrets, Scandals and Baby Shoes

“I know you didn’t. Because I never had a chance to tell you.” Elliot wanted to ask if it would really have changed things if he had told her. Would she have tried to pursue a relationship with him, even though Dominic would have been upset? Or would she still have put her brother first because Lucy would rather hurt herself than anyone else?

But Elliot didn’t ask. It was ancient history now, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer, anyway.

They both looked at each other for a long moment. Elliot could feel a mix of emotions swirling within him. There was even a small part of him that wanted to throw caution to the wind and pull Lucy into his arms, but just because he’d finally gotten the explanation he needed didn’t mean that he should fall back into old patterns. There was no way to know whether Lucy would even want that. There was no way to know if it was even what Elliot wanted, or if he was just drawn to Lucy because she was his first love and because she looked so beautiful, sitting under the stars.

Instead, Elliot glanced at his watch. “Maybe we’d better get to bed. We have an early start tomorrow.”

Lucy’s face fell slightly, though perhaps it was just a trick of the light. She nodded. “That would be the responsible thing. And, as Monica said, we’d better drink plenty of water.”

“Definitely.”

They descended the outdoor stone steps from the balcony to the outside grounds. It was a gorgeous night, with the warm summer air wrapping around them like a blanket and hundredsof stars glittering above. Hundreds of stars… though only in part of the sky.

“Are those rain clouds?” Lucy asked.

As if on cue, the heavens opened, and water poured down on them. They were soaked in seconds, Lucy’s dress suddenly clinging to her curves and turning almost completely see-through.

“Let’s get inside!” Elliot called over the sound of the rain pelting the ground. They hurried around the edge of the building and took shelter under an awning. Elliot pulled Lucy out of the rain and felt the warmth of her skin through her soaking sleeve. Lucy looked up at him, her eyes wide and bright in the darkness.

“This is really beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Really beautiful,” Elliot echoed, feeling his walls come down further. It would be so easy to lean forward and kiss her, just one more time…

CHAPTER 15

LUCY

Lucy’s head was spinning, partially from the wine but mostly from Elliot’s nearness. The cool rain had been a wake-up call after the swirl of feelings that had stirred within her. Elliot had loved her back in college. Or, at least, he’d thought he had. Lucy couldn’t stop wondering if knowing that would have changed things, but she knew it would have. If Elliot had really been serious about her, it would have been worth making a few waves. Dominic would surely have come to understand eventually. Right? Though it was hard to imagine that she’d ever have done something to hurt her brother when he was sick.

Lucy looked up at Elliot. His shirt was plastered to his skin, revealing the outline of muscles that must have been built during those gym sessions he mentioned. Part of Lucy wanted to rise onto her toes and kiss him, but she held back.

“Elliot,” she said softly.

“Yes?” He was looking at her with an expression she remembered from college, an expression that made old feelings stir within her.

“Did you mean what you said? About loving me in college?”

“Of course I did. I had a whole plan.” He brushed his hair back with one hand. “I wanted to tell you I loved you after the beach trip. Then I wanted to plan, together, how to tell Dominic.”

Lucy felt tears press against her eyes yet again. “I’m sorry. I just thought… well, with Dominic sick, I thought we should both spend as much time with him as we could. I messed up.”

“Clearly, I messed up, too,” Elliot replied, speaking a little louder over the sound of the drumming rain. “I should have told you how I felt right away. I should have made sure you knew that I cared about you, that I loved you. And you know, I didn’t even hear that Dominic was sick until two years ago.”

“I know.” Lucy shook her head. “I can’t imagine that he would be happy to know that we’d both made ourselves unhappy for him.”

“No. He wouldn’t have liked that.” Elliot smiled slightly.

“What about now?” Lucy asked. She seized hold of all her strength, all her courage, and looked up at Elliot.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… is it too late?” She bit her lip. “I made mistakes in college. Maybe you did, too. But honestly, I never stopped thinking about you.”

The moment stretched as Elliot looked down at her with those warm brown eyes. Lucy began to wonder if she was alone in her feelings. Perhaps Elliot’s affection had faded over the last ten years. And she couldn’t blame him after how things had ended. Lucy began to worry that she’d made a terrible mistake by bearing her heart like this. Maybe she should have kept herrelationship with Elliot professional — or as professional as any two people who’d once been in love could be.

Then Elliot leaned forward. Slowly, deliberately, he wrapped his arms around her and brought his lips to hers. Sensation flooded Lucy, radiating from where his lips touched hers. She’d kissed a few other men since ending things with Elliot, but none of those kisses had made her feel like this. She wanted nothing more than to be closer to Elliot. The brush of his stubble against her cheek and the feeling of his broad palms on her lower back made her shiver. The shiver could have been from the rainwater soaking her clothes, too, but she didn’t think so. Even if Elliot were kissing her in the middle of the Sahara, she would have shivered like this.

Because it was Elliot.Elliot.The first man she’d ever loved and the man she’d never been able to stop thinking about. How many nights had she lain awake, dreaming of a moment like this? She couldn’t count.

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