In Good Company: Chapter 32

“What a surprise it is to see you here this morning,” Lucy says sweetly, coming to a stop next to Dolores and me. She keeps blinking and looking at me, almost as if she’s trying to figure out if I’m actually here or not.

“I love a good surprise,” I respond. My fingers twitch inside my pockets as I focus on the woman who I couldn’t stop thinking about last night. In fact, she infiltrated my mind so much that early this morning, I woke with thoughts of her, of looking forward to seeing her. Eventually, I accepted I wasn’t going to be able to drift back to sleep, so I got out of bed two hours earlier than normal and went about my morning.

It’s worked out perfectly.

“Cal was just telling me that you were teaching him how to cook. That’s so kind of you, Lucy.” Dolores places her hands on her hips as she looks between me and Lucy with a smile on her face.

Lucy narrows her eyes on me. “Is that all he’s told you?” she asks, her face pinching together in confusion.

“Yes,” Dolores offers.

Lucy nods before rolling her eyes. “He seems to have forgotten that the only reason he’s learning to cook is because he’s helping me.”

Dolores purses her lips as she stares right at Lucy. I smile, purely entertained by the interaction going on. Dolores shakes her head before she looks at me. “You seemed very interested in what Lucy likes to purchase and how often she’s here to be the one doing her a favor.”

I cough, not expecting to be called out. I go head-to-head with some of the most powerful men in the world and don’t bat an eye. Why is this woman who’s old enough to be my grandmother the one who’s able to catch me off guard?

“Was just making conversation,” I respond, looking over at Lucy. She stares back at me with her arms crossed over her chest and her eyebrows raised. It’s clear she’s still wondering why I showed up this morning.

I’m asking myself the same thing. All I knew was I wanted to see her as soon as possible. I didn’t want to wait until she made it to my house, so I drove to the farm stand.

“So, what are we shopping for today, Lucy?” I ask, tilting my head and watching her with the corner of my mouth lifted.

“I haven’t decided what I’m making yet. I was going to see what looks good here, unless you have any requests?”

I shake my head. “I’m excited to make whatever you want.”

Someone walks up to the farm stand, pulling Dolores’s attention from us. She walks over to greet them as Lucy stays where she’s standing and stares up at me.

“What are you doing here, Cal?” she asks with a smile. She pulls her sunglasses from the top of her head and slides them over her eyes as she waits for me to answer.

I take a step closer to her. Everything in me wants to grab her by the hips and pull her body to mine, but I don’t know if that’s something she’d want. Because the PDA might make her uncomfortable, I keep my hands stuffed in my pockets, no matter how badly I want to feel her body against mine.

“Can I give you the honest answer, or do you want me to make something up?” I ask, watching her closely. No matter how excited I was to see her this morning, part of me has also been anxious. She assured me she wasn’t going to regret what happened between us last night, but part of me wondered if she’d change her mind when left alone with her thoughts.

Her wide, radiant smile and the blush creeping up her cheeks tell me that maybe my worries were just worries. “I want you to give me the honest answer.”

The tightness in my back loosens a little at her response. “I’m here because I wanted to spend time with you. You’re always so excited to tell me about your finds here. This morning, I wanted to experience it with you.”

Her lips part as her chest rises. She stares at me with her big brown eyes, the same eyes I went to bed dreaming about and woke up thinking about. “I was not expecting you to say that,” she confesses.

I wasn’t expecting to feel it. I keep the thought to myself, no matter how true it is. Everything with Lucy is unexpected, and I don’t see the use in fighting my desire to be around her. I can either get what I want and be around her, or I can avoid her and think about her the entire time. If I’m with her or not with her, the fact that I’ve caught feelings for her remains the same.

“Well, while we’re talking about things that are unexpected, I have a request,” I begin.

Lucy adjusts the strap of her purse on her shoulder, her eyes narrowing on me. She wears a pair of blue-and-white striped shorts that I’m trying hard not to stare at. I can’t help but picture sliding them down her sun-kissed thighs and kissing the sensitive skin on the inside of her legs before pulling her clit into my mouth.

“And what is your request?” Lucy’s words break me from the dirty thoughts I’m having about her.

I scrub my palm along my face as I try to play it cool and pretend I wasn’t daydreaming of tasting her again. “I’d like for you to take the morning off and spend it with me.”

Lucy’s jaw falls open. “It’s Tuesday. I’m supposed to work today. Do you not need food?”

I shake my head. “Not breakfast or lunch. Spend the day with me. And then this evening, we’ll film another recipe video.”

Lucy rubs her lips together in an attempt to hide her smile. She looks over her shoulder to see if anyone is near, but Dolores is helping customers far enough away from us that she can’t hear anything. Lucy’s eyes meet mine again. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

“Only if your answer is yes.”

“Do you not have to work today?”

I’m the CEO of Hastings Inc. My father passed it down to me on my thirtieth birthday. I could work every minute of my day if I wanted to. My schedule is filled with calls I was supposed to be on, but I don’t tell her that. We’ve got a few investment companies we’re looking into that I need to look over, but that can wait. “I’m the boss, and I make the rules. There’s nothing on my schedule today but to spend time with you.”

Lucy sighs before tucking a piece of her dark hair behind her ear. I love that I get to see it fully down like this. When cooking, she typically pulls it back. It’s nice to see her out and about instead of in my house.

“Do I have a choice?” she asks playfully.

“Of course you do. You can tell me no, and I’ll give you the morning and afternoon off, still paid. You don’t have to spend time with me if you don’t want to. What I want doesn’t have to be what you want.” The last words come out a little hoarse. I’d be disappointed if she didn’t want to spend the day with me because I want to spend it with her so badly, but I’d respect her decision.

It seems like it takes forever for Lucy to answer. Her soft smile has me hopeful she wants the same thing as me, but I remain cautiously optimistic as I wait for her response.

“Yes.”

Relief floods through my entire body as a smile spreads over my lips. “Yes, what?”

“Yes, I’ll spend the day with you.”

“It’s a date?” I ask, wanting so badly to reach out and run my fingers along her cheek.

“It’s a date,” Lucy confirms, making me feel like the luckiest damn guy in the world.

I laugh, a foreign feeling of happiness and something I can’t describe coursing through my veins. “Good,” I get out, having to clear my throat because of how raspy the word comes out.

We stand there staring at one another for a moment. We wear matching smiles. The morning has barely begun, and it already feels perfect.

Lucy’s smile falters for a moment. She reaches out and places her hand on my arm. “There’s just one thing I want to say before we start our day date.”

All the happiness that was running through me seconds ago turns to nerves at the look on her face. She chews her bottom lip anxiously, like she’s dreading what she’s about to say.

“What is it?” I ask, even though I don’t want to know the answer.

“I know this probably goes without saying, and you don’t even seem like the type to get attached. You’re probably used to casual dates and hookups.” Her words falter for a moment as a blush fans out along her cheeks at the mention of hookups. “But I’m normally not a casual person—never have been. I’ll be leaving at the end of this summer. I can’t do complicated. So this thing between us is just casual, right?”

I’m quiet for a moment as I think through her words. I hate picturing her leaving at the end of the summer and never seeing her again, but I hate missing out on spending time with her while she is here even more.

“Just casual,” I assure her, even though the words don’t feel right when I say them.

Nothing about what I feel for her could ever be casual.