LLucy’s Revenge(Divine Creek Ranch 15)(72)

Whenever possible, yes. “That’s what you’d intended to do this evening. Don’t let me stop you.”

She put the robe away and tended to the washer and dryer while he hunted up another place setting and a bottle of beer from her fridge.

Two minutes later he was praising her cooking, and her mother’s. She smiled at him from across the table as she sipped from her glass of red wine, the candle on the table between them sent flickering shadows across the satiny contours of her bare breasts. Her nipples remained tight little points.

“I don’t cook full meals very often. It’s kind of pointless for just one person.”

“You can cook for us any time you want to, sweetness. This is fantastic.”



* * * *



With his simple request for her to continue on with her evening’s plans, to go naked for the night, Beck turned an ordinary meal into a completely sensual experience. The wine tasted more potent. The spices in the chicken dish were more mouthwatering. And sitting across from him, as he gazed at her naked flesh, Lucy was so turned on she was probably making a wet spot on her chair.

Hoping she wasn’t making a huge mistake and ruining their night, she said, “Beck, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Would…Would you tell me about Chloe?” She wasn’t even sure why she needed to know. She didn’t really want details about his former lover, especially given the fact that Chloe had hurt Beck. It didn’t matter if it was unintentional or not. Chloe hadn’t seen what her rejection had done to Beck and how long it had taken him to get over her.

“Why do you want to know about Chloe?” he asked softly, tipping his beer bottle to his lips. She hadn’t missed the way he lowered his lids so she couldn’t gauge his reaction.

“I’m not sure. I just need to know a little about her. I… I need to know that she’s firmly in the past.” She cringed, hoping she hadn’t offended him.

Beck put the beer down and reached out to stroke her hand which was clenched by her plate.

“She and I met in Dallas and we moved in together after dating a few months. When I moved to Divine, she came with me. When I look back on it now, I realize that she probably never felt settled here. She didn’t feel like she fit in well in town or at her job. I’m not sure why I didn’t somehow know and I feel a little guilty about that. I proposed and she turned me down. She was gone a week later. She’s living in Lusty with her sister, Carrie. Besides Valentine’s night, I haven’t heard from her since she left.”

“You loved her very much.”

Beck nodded. “I thought that she was it for me but I see now I was wrong. When she left, she told me that she knew she wasn’t my soul mate. She wanted that and wanted it for me to. She’s involved in a ménage, like us. She sounded like she was really in love, really happy when she called me. I want her to be happy.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t more understanding.” In retrospect, she could see that his scruffy appearance and his demeanor had been silent indicators of a shattered heart. All she’d seen was what a jerk he could be at times. Tears misted her eyes.

“Sweetness?” He frowned as he looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m a self-absorbed brat. I could’ve had more empathy for you.”

“You didn’t know, honey, and I was holding everyone at arm’s length, not just you. And yeah, in answer to your earlier statement, she’s firmly in my past. I don’t hate her or wish her ill. She doesn’t haunt…” Beck’s lips flattened into a line and he looked down at his callused hands. It was obvious he hadn’t intended to say whatever he’d been about to say out loud.

“You can tell me,” she whispered as she took a sip of her wine.

“She doesn’t haunt me anymore. Right about the time I’d begin to enjoy talking with you or getting together with you and Patrick, I’d see her eyes in my memory, or hear her voice in my head, the way she laughed. The guilt about drove me crazy sometimes. I’d look in your pretty blue eyes and wouldn’t let myself enjoy your company. I’d ask myself why I wasn’t trying harder to get her back.”

“And now?”

“It’s been a long time since that happened. When I look in your blue eyes, and kiss you, and talk to you, all I see is you, beautiful.”

His compliment brought heat to her cheeks and she knew everything she needed to know.

“Thank you, Beck. I appreciate the trust. I’m sorry for making you talk about her.” She didn’t necessarily feel any enmity for Chloe but she wasn’t sure she could get past the abrupt way Chloe had turned down his proposal and left him all alone. She hoped she never had to test her reaction to Chloe face-to-face.