Page 78 of Halstead House

He grinned, and I kind of wondered if maybe there was a dimple under that well-groomed beard. “If you want to go dancing while I slave away at a business dinner tonight, you should definitely go dancing. Don’t worry for a minute about me feeling left out.”

“I won’t. I’ll probably forget you even exist until I bump into you the next time you’re around.” I shrugged playfully.

“I wonder if there’s such a thing as taking this no guilt policy too far.” He tilted his head.

I pulled a face. “I always thought guilt was all or nothing. You either feel it or you don’t. But if it will help, I could possibly manage to feel five percent guilty over having such a great time tonight without you.”

He nodded. “Five percent is pretty generous.”

“I’m a generous person.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that. I’m in the market for someone in my life who has a generous spirit.”

“Are you now?”

“I am.”

“How generous? I might know someone who’d be interested in the job.” I could feel my smile growing as the natural banter between us happened. It felt beyond amazing. I actually had it in me, the ability to flirt and converse.

His eyes crinkled up at the corners as he stepped closer once again. I could feel the warmth of his body as his hands came to rest on my waist. “Generous enough to feel a little miserable without me around,” he said before pressing his lips against mine in a spectacularly blazing kiss.

I wrapped my hands around his upper arms and pulled in closer, returning his kiss with more passion than I had before. It was happening again! His hands tightened, but he didn’t wrap them around me like I wanted. I could have kissed him for a long, long time, but after a short minute he smiled against my lips and pulled away to look down into my eyes.

“Dancing tonight, huh?”

I nodded. “Dancing.”

His phone interrupted anything else he may have said. He gave my waist a final squeeze and with a look of apology said, “I really hope you have a great time. You deserve a night of fun after everything.”

“Thanks. Good luck to you too,” I replied, gesturing toward his phone as he pulled it out of his pocket.

He answered briskly, his business voice back in place, as he walked out of the library. He turned at the doorway and gave me a final wave, which I returned, before he disappeared from view.

The book I’d been looking at was sitting in a plush leather chair next to me. I picked it up and sat down, opening to the first page. The words didn’t penetrate as I thought over my conversation with Lucas. Was I a little disappointed that he couldn’t come dancing? Yes. But not terribly so, because I was also unsurprised. He’d already taken time out of his schedule over the past week while Mother had been in town, and it had meant the world to me. It would be selfish of me to hope he’d continue to do so, especially when it wasn’t like we were in an official relationship. For all I knew, this was how Lucas was with the women he was close to.

Nope. Scratch that thought. I knew Lucas better than that. He wasn’t a Casanova. I knew that our affectionate moments meant something to him as well. I just didn’t know what they meant, exactly. What I did know was that nothing had been said and no promises had been made. He had his life to continue to live. I had a new life to figure out. Hopefully the dance floor would take my mind off all of it.

The Warehouse was in full swing when Ana, Marshall, and I showed up that night. The festive feeling of a well-deserved weekend was in the air. We were lucky to find a small table and promptly sat down to order drinks and snacks.

After our orders had been delivered, Ana and Marshall scanned the tables and dance floor to see if they knew anyone there. I was already with the only people I knew, so I casually sipped my drink and enjoyed the opportunity to people-watch for a few minutes.

“Isn’t that Olivia?” Ana suddenly said to Marshall, pointing her finger to a table on the other side of the room from us.

Marshall’s head swung around. “Sure is.” A slow grin spread across his face. “Not to be rude, but I’ll be seeing you two ladies later.” He unfolded his large body from the small chair he’d been sitting in, picked up his drink and his plate of onion rings, and ditched us cold.

Ana laughed. “He’s been chasing that girl for months.”

“Isn’t she the one he took on the harbor cruise with us?” I asked, leaning to see past Marshall as he made his way across the room.

“Yep. They’ve been friends for a long time, but one day out of the blue—bam—Marshall suddenly woke up from a deep sleep and actually looked at her.”

“And Olivia?”

“I think he’s trying to wake her up from that same deep sleep.” Ana wiggled her eyebrows.

“Is she good enough for him?” I asked. Marshall was a gem, and I couldn’t stand the idea of him having his heart broken.

“Yeah. She’s cool.” Ana nodded.

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