Page 62 of City of Love

“Because,” I answer, more insistently this time.

Luc leans forward, pinning me in place with his eyes. “Why not?” he says.

And in that instant, everything inside me comes to a head.

I snap.

“Because she’s mine!” The words fly out, my fist slamming down on the table before I even realize it. The thunder of my heart echoes my words, every beat echoing the sentiment:She’s mine. She’s mine. She’s mine.

Chapter 19

Noel

Ilook around quickly, hoping no one has heard my outburst, but everyone seems too invested in their own lives to pay any attention to mine. I sigh, dropping my head into my hands. “Because she’s mine,” I repeat, quietly now. “I want her to be mine.” I curse under my breath. “I’m so screwed, Luc.”

When I finally get up the nerve to look at him, I’m surprised to see that he isn’t wearing that smug smile I was expecting. He just looks…understanding.

“I never thought I’d see the day,” he says, giving me a little smile. “So you’re finally admitting I was right all along?”

“I have no idea,” I admit. “I don’t know when this snuck up on me.”

Luc lets out an ungentlemanly snort. “This didn’t sneak up on you. The signs were there from the very beginning. I tried to tell you, Noel. You lost your mind when I mentioned that she might run into some of the guys. You refused to talk about her with anyone, even me. You’ve always been incredibly protective of her, and she’s the only girl I’ve ever known that makes you act like that.”

“Yeah, but she was sixteen when we started writing.Sixteen, Luc.”

Luc snorts. “She may have still been sixteen in your mind, but in case you haven’t noticed, there is nothing about that girl that is sixteen anymore.”

He’s right,mince. I know he’s right. I’veknownhe’s right. Still, I don’t say anything.

“So what are you going to do?” he says.

My brows furrow as I frown. “Do? I’m not going to do anything.”

Luc doesn’t look surprised. “So you’re just going to…what? Let her go back and not tell her how you feel?”

I nod firmly. “That’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

He just shrugs, taking a drink. When he sets it down again, he looks at me. “I get why you’re scared, but—”

“I’m not scared,” I say. It’s an automatic response; it’s also a lie.

Doing random spontaneous things is one matter; giving a woman the kind of control over me that comes with falling in love is quite another.

I’m saved from Luc’s response by the arrival of Lydia. She brings brightness and a haze of sweet cinnamon as she sits next to me in the booth.

“Oh,” she says happily, looking at the table. “Our drinks came!” She bites her lip, suddenly looking unsure. “I think I ordered them correctly, but it’s pretty loud in here, and I didn’t want to yell at the bartender—”

“Mine is fine,” I say with a shrug, and Luc nods. “And that”—I gesture to the drink waiting for her—“is clearly a Bloody Mary.” A virgin Bloody Mary, but either way. “You did fine with the orders.”

“Good,” she says, looking relieved. Then she wrinkles her nose adorably. “Also, this place is ridiculously expensive.”

Luc and I both nod. “Yeah,” he says. “But we don’t come here a lot. It’s more of a tourist thing, really.”

“Well, let’s see if it’s worth it,” Lydia says, picking up her drink. She looks at it, sniffs it. Then she takes a tentative sip. She hesitates, takes another sip, and then smiles.

When she takes several gulping mouthfuls, I find myself grateful that she ordered the nonalcoholic version.

“It’s like tomato juice, but better,” she says, smiling at me. “There’s a bit of a bite. I like it.”

---