Just a Little White Lie(52)
“Yes, there is. We may not be big city, but we’ve got motels and car rentals.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“Sure you did. We’re provincial. Pride’s not at all what you’re used to. But before we go renting you a car, why don’t you take my Jeep? I’ve got my hog. That’s all I’m gonna need.”
When she opened her mouth, he held up a hand, stopped her. “No, now, listen to me for a minute. You and I are supposed to be engaged. How do you think it’s gonna look if I let you rent a car when I’ve got a perfectly good vehicle sitting in the garage, and everybody knows that?”
She chewed her lip.
If he hadn’t been so all-fired mad, he might have laughed. He knew what a predicament she was in, could almost hear the wheels turning in her head.
Time she understood that some days you got to steer your own ship; other days you were relegated to passenger. Miss Lucinda Darling didn’t do passenger well. She hated not being in control. Even compromise was hard to swallow, but at times it was necessary. That was one of the hardest lessons he’d learned as a courtroom lawyer. Sometimes you had to step back and look at the bigger good, the larger picture.
But it didn’t always go down easy. And Luce didn’t even have a good morning cup of coffee to wash it down with. She’d denied herself even that in her rush to escape him.
“Okay,” she said. “But you don’t need to go to the motel with me. Call Dora, book me a room, and I can take it from there.”
He nodded, figuring that was gonna be the best he could hope for. Maybe. “Lucy, why don’t you stay with Birdie instead?”
“With Birdie? Your sister?” Her brow creased.
He nodded.
“Why would she take me into her home?”
“Because I’m gonna ask her to. Because—that’s the kind of thing we do in Pride”
She hesitated, again chewing on that delightful bottom lip. It made him remember just how sweet it was, how good her mouth tasted. His body went into full-alert mode. Argh.
“I don’t know, Jake. It might be simpler all around if I go to the motel.”
He shook his head. “Not really. People are gonna wonder why one of my family didn’t take you in. Let me call her.”
Still she hesitated.
“Come on, Luce. Do this for me. Give me a chance to save a little face.” In truth, he wanted her close, wanted her where he could drop in if he decided to, if he needed a Lucy fix.
She pouted, but finally nodded. “Okay. But if she balks, I don’t want you to strong-arm her.”
“I won’t need to do that.”
“No, you probably won’t. I don’t understand it, but you’re most likely right.” She turned and walked into the kitchen, moved to the cupboard. Taking down a cup, she poured coffee and fumbled with the screw top on the half-and-half. “Thank God my suitcase came. At least I have some clothes.”
“Yeah. Hope mine comes pretty soon.”
“Yours?”
“Yeah, I shipped a couple boxes from Mississippi since I couldn’t bring it back on the bike with me. My few pieces of furniture, kitchen stuff, anything that didn’t fit in the boxes, I donated to some of the families still struggling to get back on their feet.”
“You’re a good man, Jake.”
He sent her a Cheshire-cat smile. “And that makes you a lucky woman.”
“What do you mean?”
He had to try to lighten things up. He wiggled his brows. “Well, if I’m a good man, just think how great a husband I’m gonna be, Lucy, darlin’.”
“In your dreams.” Carrying her coffee with her, she headed to her bedroom to pack her things.
“Yeah,” he whispered after her. “In my dreams.”
Chapter Seventeen
Jake lugged her suitcase out to his Jeep and loaded it into the back. “I sure wish you wouldn’t do this, Luce. Change your mind. Stay with me. You can call the shots.”
Her throat ached. She wanted to drop down right there in his front yard’s freshly mown grass and cry. But she had to be strong. If her father had taught her anything, it was how to put on a good face. To give away nothing.
If she didn’t leave now…
He hadn’t promised her forever last night. Nor had she asked for it. Neither had spoken words of love. Jake was right. She’d taken the initiative and had gone in knowing full well it was a one-time deal, figuring it would be enough. Jake Parker was her temporary fiancé.
She’d told herself if she never again experienced anything even close, she’d still consider herself unbelievably lucky. But she’d been wrong. It had been a monumental miscalculation, because once wasn’t enough. Could never be. Jake was in her system, deeply and, she feared, irrevocably.