LLucy’s Revenge(Divine Creek Ranch 15)(26)

“I don’t want you going to all that trouble for me, Lily,” he said as he tilted his neck to alleviate some of the stiffness.

“You know Lucy’s new place is opening tomorrow,” Lily suggested softly. “I’ll bet a massage would do you a world of good.”

“I’m not really the ‘spa’ type.”

Lily chuckled. “It’s not like that at all. She’s downtown next to her brother Seth’s place. It’s called A Divine Retreat but it’s not girlie, like you’re thinking. It’s therapeutic massage. I stopped in to have a look and I think you’d be comfortable there. I know, I’m probably prying and should hush up. I just hate seeing you hurting.”

Beck paused for a second, appreciating her concern more than he could express. But he knew what would happen if he got a massage. It was hard to teach old dogs new tricks and this old dog only knew one trick where massages were concerned.

“Tell you what…I’ll give it some thought. I’ll let you know when I have the beeswax products ready.”

They said good-bye and he drove across the parking lot and pulled into the drive-thru at Divine Drip. He hadn’t had any of Cassie’s breakfast tacos since before he’d gotten sick. She made fantastic breakfast tacos and homemade sausage kolaches which at the moment sounded just as therapeutic as chicken soup to him. And she made the best coffee around. He slowed to a halt at the order window and greeted Cassie as she slid it open.

“Hey! I heard you were sick, Beck.” She sounded genuinely happy to see him. The smile on his face felt odd, out of place, and he realized it was because he wasn’t in the habit of smiling much lately. But these ladies kept being happy to see him and it did sort of warm his heart.

He felt sincere when he said, “I’m feeling much better now, Cassie. Things going good around here?”

“Business has been brisk lately. Want your usual?” Beck nodded and looked in his rearview mirror.

An even bigger smile crossed his lips as he noticed Lucy’s little ruby red SUV pull in right behind him. Her hair was a wild, wavy mane around her shoulders and she had on a pair of white round-framed sunglasses. He caught the smile on her sexy glossy pink lips and the way she waggled her fingers at him from her grip on her steering wheel. He gave her a little wave back.

“Hey, Cassie? You know what Lucy usually orders when she comes here?”

“She orders pretty much the same thing every time. Coffee and a breakfast taco.”

“She just pulled in behind me. Will you add her order to mine when you ring me up?”

Cassie’s smile lit up the drive-thru window. “Aren’t you the sweetest thing? I’d be happy to do that. Want me to give her a message for you?” she asked speculatively, her eyes twinkling with merriment.

Warmth filled his cheeks. He was running into matchmakers every-damn-where he went. “No, that’s all right. Just tell her it’s from Beck.”

Cassie nodded and went to work, chatting with him through the open window. “You know her new massage place opens up tomorrow, right? She gave me a massage at Christmastime and I felt like melted butter afterward. You should go see her and let her fix you up.”

More heat crept up his neck as he envisioned himself receiving a massage from Lucy. “Yeah, I heard about that.” His cock stiffened a little as he imagined the sparkle in Lucy’s eyes and her quick smile. Even though he’d been a dickhead lately, she’d smiled at him when she pulled up behind him.

He’d been disappointed when she’d had to leave the night before to help with her nephew, Toby, even though she clearly hadn’t wanted to. His reaction had been nearly impossible to control when she’d snuggled her toned, lush body against his and inhaled deeply. There was no mistaking her breathing him in like that and his cock had reacted. The thought had kept circling his mind, as always, that she was Patrick’s but his body clearly thought otherwise.

Even more enlightening last night had been the unexpected lack of guilt he felt at her touch. Whenever she’d hugged him or shown affection in the past, he’d envisioned a pair of loving brown eyes—Chloe’s eyes—and Lucy’s touch had made him feel guilty.

Even though he’d enjoyed Lucy’s company, there had always been a part of his heart that he’d declared off-limits to her through no fault of her own.

Where’s that gotten you?

She’d called later in the evening to let them know that one of the tendons in Seth’s left hand had been completely severed while doing a home repair. Beck cringed inwardly at the thought of the surgery he was having later that afternoon in Morehead to reattach the tendon and repair the damage. Lucy wound up taking Toby home and spending the night with them to help that morning.