His Tattooed Virgin(Divine Creek Ranch 12)(65)

“What’s that look? What?” It seemed he’d hit a nerve. “I thought you were having a good time dancing with that guy—what was his name?”

“Vance. Yeah, nice guy. But he’s a total player.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s entitled, as handsome as he is, but not what I want. Not at all.”

“Why do you say that?” Seth wondered if he needed to pay Vance a visit. “Did he pull something?”

Lucy was several years younger than him, and he’d always felt very protective of her, and being the baby in the family, she’d come to him with her problems. Whatever Lucy’s issue was, it was also a nice distraction from wondering what Tamar wanted to talk to him about.

“When we were dancing, I happened to slide a finger into his back pocket.”

“Okay?”

“I could feel a stack of Trojans. Not one, but several. He just wants to get laid and I’m done playing. I want…”

“What?”

“I want what you have with Jayne. I want a man who gazes at me with such love in his eyes that I…melt.”

Nodding, he said, “You deserve someone like that. What about those two guys you were talking to at the bar? I noticed them watching you and that they seemed to draw your attention.”

“Yeah…appearances can be deceiving, brother. That was a disaster.”

“What happened?”

“I walked over to say hello and ask if either of them wanted to dance and…”

Seth hadn’t known Beck O’Malley and Patrick Owen that long, but recalled that Patrick was a single dad and Beck had recently been dumped by his girlfriend, but they were both good guys. “And what? Do I need to kick someone’s ass?”

Lucy curled her lip again and shook her head as she flipped through a magazine. “After we chatted for a minute, I asked them if one of them would like to dance with me. The tall one—Beck, I think—said, ‘I think you’re more woman than I can handle, sweetheart.’” Her cheeks grew rosy, and she took a deep gulp of her coffee, burning her mouth in the process. “Way to make a girl feel good about herself,” she added, grabbing the soft flesh of her hip and then poking her middle. All the women in his family had hourglass figures, Lucy included, but she was healthy and in better shape than she was obviously giving herself credit for. Another thought occurred to him.

“You know, that statement can be taken a couple of different ways.”

“He looked me up and down when he said it, Seth. I think I understood his meaning. Do me a favor and drop it, and please don’t say anything to him. Some men really don’t care for pudgy women.”

His next client pulled up to the curb, and a man got out of the older SUV and helped the woman out of the vehicle and onto the sidewalk.

“You’re not pudgy, Luce. I think you misunderstood him. But there are other fish in the sea.”

Resolutely, she shrugged. “I know. Looks like your next client is here. I’ll be right back. I’m gonna walk down the block and get a newspaper and start searching for rentals. I have a noisy roommate and need my own place.”

She scooted around the counter with a giggle, avoiding his aim when he threw the balled-up kolache wrapper at her. She held the door for the couple, who were in their forties.

Seth came around the counter and shook Hugh Collins’s hand. Bernice stood beside him, pale and uncertain. Her eyes darted around, like a nervous bird, searching for a place to land, until she made eye contact with him. Her pale-blue eyes were a little bloodshot, as though she’d been crying, and she bit her lip uncertainly. Seth noted the reassuring arm that Hugh settled around her shoulders.

“Bernice, Hugh, it’s good to see you again. Bernice, how are you feeling today? Would you like a bottle of water or a soda?”

“No, thank you, Seth.” Her voice quavered, but she cleared her throat and seemed to steel herself. The action was vaguely reminiscent of a certain lovely woman who’d decided to “go for it.” “It was hard to come here today. I won’t lie. But I’m ready.” She stepped forward as though her motion would move her past the hurdle she faced.

Bernice Collins was a cancer patient, newly recovered from breast reconstruction surgery after a double mastectomy. The reason for her appointment with Seth was to have nipples tattooed on, because she no longer had any.

Seth backed up and beckoned them around the reception counter, not giving a hint that he’d seen the glowing love in Hugh’s eyes as he gazed at his wife. She smiled tremulously at her husband as she followed Seth back to his private workspace and placed her purse on the counter. He provided a chair for Hugh, which he turned and sat in, bracing his forearms on the back, his eyes on Bernice the whole time.