Loved Either Way, page 11
“Is the brewery your favorite part? All that beer, I bet.”
Lucas laughed. “Do I look like the type?”
“I think it would be part of the job, no?”
Maybe.
“I like the bottling plant more than anything,” Lucas admitted, “but it was one of the first areas I remember exploring as a kid, so I might be biased.”
Nostalgia could do that to a person.
Delaney leaned into the table, elbows propped up at the edge as she inched closer to him. “And what do you do, exactly?”
“Manage and oversee the eastern arm of the company. My father handles the west. The ten-year plan is getting something set up in the middle to break up the difference.”
Or that was supposed to be the plan.
Who knew what the future held?
“At thirty-five?” Delaney asked, although she didn’t say it like his age was a bad thing. “That must be—”
“A lot,” he interjected, not wanting her to get confused about his job. It wasn’t very glamorous behind the bottles formed with the family’s company name on the necks, and their liquor being sold all across the country. The fissures and cracks behind the family’s tight-knit facade when it came to the public and even their own company twisted what it should be into something far worse for Lucas. “I rarely get a break, and it always feels like there’s something to do. I can’t catch up sometimes.”
Or there was someone to avoid …
He didn’t mention that bit.
Her pouty smile, shadowed by the dim lighting and flickering lights from the fake flames and glowing water feature, made Lucas aware that he had still yet to pay this woman the respect she was due. Her understated makeup made her natural beauty more apparent and highlighted the best features of her face from the small button nose above the plushness of her mouth to the sultry way her gaze swept over him.
She didn’t have to try to look good sitting there.
She just did.
Confidence was the best accessory for a woman. He’d put good money on it.
“So, tonight must be a rare treat for you, then,” she said softly.
“Delaney,” he said, and her name on his lips drew her hazel stare to where he could hold it strong, “the rare treat for me tonight is you. Just so that’s clear. You’re the only reason I made an effort to do anything tonight in the first place.”
She eyed the dark landscape beyond the window before her attention came back to him, and that sweet smile of hers had deepened.
“Oh?”
Lucas’ head bobbed with his hummed confirmation. “Mmhmm.”
He reached across the table to snag the open palm she offered for him to hold. The thrill of the rougher pads of his fingertips gliding along her silken skin to weave their fingers was as unexpected to him as the fact she wanted to hold his hand in the first place. The innocence and care in a simple touch couldn’t be understated.
No matter.
He liked it.
Finally, he found the right—the best—time to tell her what he should have mentioned a while ago. “You look amazing.”
“I might have waffled on the dress. And boots.”
“Is that so?”
She laughed. “Believe it or not, but my cousin convinced me to wear it.”
His grin split impossibly wider. “If I get the chance, remind me to thank her.”
“And I still can’t get you to tell me why you wanted my shoe size?” she prodded.
“Not a chance, no.”
He would not ruin that surprise.
Delaney guffawed, but still, their hands stayed connected.
The return of Curtis to their section with leather bound menus, breadsticks, and drinks balanced on a serving tray broke the two apart.
Unfortunately.
“Richie will be around to get your order shortly,” the host explained, handing over menus after placing the drinks and breadsticks.
A bottle of red wine sat taller than the beer Delaney reached for to spin so she could see the label and branding on the bottle.
Sure enough …
Her light laugh tinkled into the room, filling Lucas’ chest with something warm and tight that he hadn’t felt before. The sound of her amusement and joy did strange things to his insides.
“I should have guessed,” she told him before spinning the bottle his way.
The Dalton Brewery logo stared back at him.
“I prefer rum at home, but anywhere else, I’m all about the loyalty,” he said, shrugging.
The host between them chuckled, saying before he left, “Enjoy your evening.”
Oh, they certainly would. Given the way Delaney grinned at him from across the table, things could only get better from here.
Lucas looked forward to it.
Chapter 12
“Can I look now?” Delaney asked as her vision was still blocked by the scarf she had allowed Lucas to use as a makeshift blindfold.
For her eyes.
Unfortunately.
He chuckled out a quiet, “Not yet.”
Delaney sighed loudly.
Then, she did it again for good measure. Just to make sure Lucas had heard her loud and clear if not the first time. Her message must have made its way to him.
“Patience is a virtue, you know,” he pointed out at her huffy silence.
Damn this man.
“Rich,” Delaney returned, “coming from the man who can see our current location.”
“Mmhmm, and soon, you will, too.”
He had an answer for everything.
Secretly, she adored the fact that he had gone to so much trouble to make their evening fun for her. Including whatever surprise he had planned. He could have left their date at dinner and drinks; she would have been happy with that, too.
No, he went for more.
First dates weren’t typically the best when people spent most of the time getting to know one another and moving past the awkward stages of figuring out if there was even an attraction.
She didn’t have that issue with Lucas. His hand, snug and warm, resting just under the hemline of her dress on her bare thigh said he didn’t have that problem with her, either. At least, the two of them worked that part out easily enough.
Under no other circumstances would she allow anyone to blindfold her for what they professed to be a surprise. She found it terribly hard to refuse Lucas when he had plastered on that charming smile of his and said he had a special use for her scarf if she was up to play a little game.
Maybe it was the three glasses of red wine she had drank alongside her medium-rare steak for dinner, but her mind had gone to a far dirtier place at first. Delaney hadn’t been quite sure what to make of her thoughts, or that handsome grin Lucas leveled on her, but she didn’t refuse him.
And look where it got her.
“You’re lucky I like you,” Delaney mused under her breath.
Next to her in the car, where he sat in the driver’s seat manning the sporty Lexus, her date laughed a rumble of a sound that did wicked things to her insides. Maybe she simply heard every glorious note in his amusement and it stuck all of her chords in the right way.
Then again, it could be the liquor. That third glass had certainly been a risk, and while she left a couple of mouthfuls in the bottom of the glass, the wine had already hit her veins before she’d put her lips to the rim.
To be fair, Delaney didn’t get drunk.
Wasn’t drunk.
Just buzzed a bit. Enough to feel it and the heat the alcohol left swimming in her bloodstream. Nothing more and nothing less. She got enough of getting blackout drunk in her teenage years, and even had one emergency room visit to pump her stomach under her proverbial belt as the proof.
She learned her limit.
Long ago.
A couple of beers.
A half a bottle of wine …
She felt the car roll to a slow stop, and heard the gears shift as Lucas put the vehicle into park.
“Are we here?” Delaney asked immediately, already reaching up to remove the blindfold.
Lucas laughed again, and his hand left her thigh to catch hers before she could pull the scarf away from her face. “Yes, but wait.”
“For what?”
She really should work on her patience. Thinner than a string of sewing thread, it could snap at any moment.
That strong hand of his found her thigh again.
And squeezed.
“Was that true?” he asked.
Delaney blinked behind the scarf, searching her flubbing brain for the answer to his question. She blamed the blank slate of her mind on the fact that his hand had yet to let go of her thigh, and if anything, she’d become hyper aware of each of his fingertips digging in.
Deliciously.
“Was what true?” she eventually asked.
“You like me.”
She grinned despite biting her lower lip to try to suppress the reaction. Another fail on her part. “I think I said you’re lucky that I like you, right?”
Totally different things.
Not really.
She honestly expected another quick quip from Lucas—he always seemed to have one at the ready for her smart comments, after all. Instead, his silence reigned louder.
Longer.
All she heard were his soft breaths.
The shift of him in the driver’s seat, causing his hand to shift slightly on her thigh while his fingers skirted a millimeter higher under her dress. She didn’t even know if he meant to do that, nor did she intend to ask, but she couldn’t stop the subtle way her crossed legs tightened. The only proof that she would like for his hand to keep traveling.
Delaney needed to find her control.
Soon.
The longer Lucas remained silent, the more Delaney had to fight the urge to pull down the makeshift blindfold. She put all of that nervous energy into fidgeting with her fingers in her lap until he cleared his throat in the seat next to hers.
“Delaney.”
“Hmm?”
“Delaney,” Lucas repeated, lower the second time.
Oh, she reveled in the huskiness she heard in his voice, and dared to daydream what it might sound like breathed in her ear while they tangled underneath bedsheets. A dangerous game for her to play.
“Yes?”
“I feel like you need to know I think it should be illegal how cute you look sitting there blindfolded and biting your lip.”
“Cute?” she questioned with a chirpy laugh.
“I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to use another word.”
“I mean, other than the taste comment earlier, you have been a gentleman.”
Opening doors. Pulling out her chair. Even helping her in and out of her coat at the beginning and end of their dinner. He never pushed her boundaries more than holding her hand at the restaurant, and she had been the one to place his hand where it currently sat while they drove. She appreciated his effort to be respectful and appropriate.
She also wanted him to cross a line.
Not far.
Just enough …
“But?” Lucas questioned.
“Is there another word you might choose?”
Lucas’ next breath came out hard, but relieved. “Sexy. Sexy is the other word. The only word, let’s be honest here. And I’ve done this to myself by putting you in this position, but it’s a tease to me. You sitting there like that is killing me. Like a gift waiting for me to unwrap. I’d really just like to kiss you, but I didn’t ask, and I don’t want to assume—”
Her mouth decided to work before her brain did.
“So kiss me,” she whispered, smiling again.
Thank God her mouth heard her heart talking in her chest before it ever listened for her brain; those galloping beats of the organ screamed far louder than any rational thought coming out of her head, anyway. Even when it got her into trouble. This was not one of those times.
Lucas delivered exactly what she asked for, but the gentle press of his soft mouth against hers still shocked Delaney all the same. Enough that she jumped a bit in her seat, giggling and grinning wider until the first sweeps of his lips along hers coaxed her mouth open for him, and she gave into his silent demand. The first stroke of his tongue along her own dragged a shuddering exhale from her chest, but that could have been the way he grabbed her thigh harder while his other hand caressed the line of her jaw.
She shivered.
His kiss slowed to soft pecks until his chuckles rocked them both. He left her with the distinct taste of mint lingering on her tongue. Compliments of the wrapped candies he’d taken from the bowl on the podium on the way out of Manger.
Delaney had to fight the desire to reach out in the space of darkness around her to find him and pull him back for another kiss. One that bruised and left her breathless. One that wouldn’t leave her aching for more.
Maybe this was better.
She’d come running back for a second.
“Okay,” she heard him mutter, “you might as well take that off, now.”
Really?
“Now?” she asked faintly.
Why did all the blood in her body suddenly decide to rush in her ears?
“I might like another kiss, you know.”
“Yeah, definitely now or we’re never leaving this car,” Lucas said, the huskiness coming back thick in his voice.
His hand left her thigh, too.
A shame, that.
Delaney, left with no other option, decided to give into Lucas’ request for her to remove the scarf blocking her vision. If only to tell him she wanted his hand back where it had been, and another kiss to make it worth her while.
Except the sight she found waiting beyond the parked vehicle stopped her from saying anything at all, and suddenly, his reason for asking about her shoe size made a whole lot of sense. The arena complex couldn’t be mistaken against the backdrop of the dark sky with its towering height and domed roof.
She turned to him with a big smile. “We’re going skating?”
Lucas shrugged, his gaze darting from her to the building as he tried to explain, “I know it’s not something crazy. Maybe we didn’t need the blindfold, huh?”
He had no clue …
“I haven’t been skating since I was like thirteen,” Delaney said, her memories rushing back to a different time in her life.
“That long?”
“It’s a bit of a story,” she admitted.
“You don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to.”
That was the thing, though.
She did want to tell him. His gentle kindness radiated, and he seemed like exactly the type to be a strong shoulder to cry on over her lost girlhood dreams that had been replaced by a cold reality. It just didn’t seem like the right time to tell him.
“We can skate, that’s what we’re here for, sweets.” Lucas dazzled her with a lopsided grin. “I’ve got brand new, freshly sharpened skates in the back. I booked the whole rink out for the next two hours. It’s just you and me.”
Strange, she thought.
Just him and her sounded perfect, actually.
*
“This is definitely not the right outfit for skating,” Delaney said as she did the final lacing on her new, sleek figure skates. Lucas winked, unashamed, at her from where he already stood on the ice with his arms resting one on top of the other on the sidewall of the rink. She pretended not to notice, even if her body broke out in goosebumps to say she’d seen his suggestive gesture perfectly well, and admired the skates that did great things for her bare calves and legs. “I’ve never had a pair in black before. They weren’t standard in competition back then. You lose points for that.”
“You did figure skating?”
Ah, shit.
She hadn’t meant to go there.
The man listened better than she assumed—most men only heard what they wanted.
“I did,” Delaney eventually said, opting to stand on the skates so she could get a feel for the tightness around her ankles. Good support was a must in skates someone might be jumping or spinning in. Nothing could ruin a skate faster than a broken ankle on ice.
“How do they fit?” he asked.
“Perfect,” she beamed.
Lucas, clearly pleased with the answer, offered her a hand from over the wall even though she didn’t need it to keep herself steady as she walked along the rubber coated floor under the benches to where the door opened to the ice rink. Nonetheless, she liked her hand tucked inside his, and those first few seconds after her skates hit the ice required a bit of adjustment from Delaney.
Mostly, getting used to the sensation of gliding across crisp, clean ice on thin blades again.
Remembering.
It took her a minute.
Just a bit to get the hang of shifting her weight from skate to skate to propel over the ice and maintain her balance without barely lifting a blade. Lucas patiently waited, his shiny, new hockey skates keeping him upright and alongside her as they headed for the red center in the middle of the ice.
Still hand in hand.
“Like riding a bike,” she muttered to herself.
Once a person learned, they never forgot how to do it. No matter how much time passed. Skating proved no different.
Lucas chuckled. “Yeah, pretty much.”
“Do you skate a lot?”
“Used to. I did hockey all through school, and played for a charity team once a year up until I turned thirty and didn’t really have time anymore,” he said.
He shrugged at her questioning stare, adding, “Life gets in the way of a lot of things I used to do just because I liked to, you know what I mean?”
She did.
Adulting sucked sometimes.
A few feet from center ice, Delaney dropped Lucas’ hand to kick away from him with enough room to widen her skates as she spun to glide backwards.
“Aha,” Lucas exclaimed, full of praise and clapping.
Delaney held up one finger, quieting him, before her backwards skate turned into a triple twirl on the spot. She could have tried for more spins before coming to a full stop, but lack of practice meant she forgot the most important rule about spinning.
Keep your eyes on one spot.
