In Good Company: Chapter 34

“Have lunch at Pembroke with me today,” I tell Lucy as I walk toward her in the back garden of my house. She hunches over one of the garden beds as she collects fresh basil.

Lucy turns to face me with a smile. It’s been almost two weeks since my first cooking lesson with her. Almost two weeks filled with stolen kisses when no one’s around and finding excuses to spend as much time as possible with her.

“It’s Friday, and I’m supposed to be working,” she states matter-of-factly. She plants her hands on her hips as she stares me down.

“Good thing I’m the boss. You don’t have to work today. Come to the club and have lunch with me. “

“Cal, you already gave me all of yesterday off unexpectedly. I don’t need today off too.”

She wears a floppy sun hat that makes me smile. Anytime she’s out harvesting from the garden, she wears it. I find it adorable. It’s so…her. I grab her by the hips and pull her body into mine, loving that there’s no one here stopping me from holding her close.

“You had yesterday off because I had to fly back to Manhattan for work. I didn’t get to see you for a day, and I missed you. Have lunch with me.”

Lucy wraps her arms around my neck. “I will have lunch with you.” The mischievous smile playing on her lips tells me exactly what she means by that.

I shake my head before leaning in and playfully nipping at her bottom lip. “I mean a lunch you didn’t prepare.”

She sighs before rising to her tiptoes to plant a kiss on my lips. I know she’s trying to distract me, but it won’t work.

My hands travel down her back before I let them slide underneath the fabric of her dress.

It’s also been almost two weeks since I’ve tasted her, and I feel starved. It’s not because she hasn’t tried to push things further. She’s tried many times to repay the favor and touch me the way I touched her. I just haven’t wanted to rush things with her and scare her away.

But my patience can only go so far. My hands cup her ass cheeks and squeeze as I pin her body to mine.

“You want to go to the club…just us two?” she asks, her voice hesitant. “Won’t people find that weird?”

I hate the wrinkle of worry that appears along her forehead. I’d let anyone see us together if I knew she’d be comfortable with it. “Even if they found it weird, which they shouldn’t because there’s far more interesting gossip than us having lunch together, no one would say anything. I want to leave the house with you, baby.”

“What if instead of lunch, we do a dinner and invite everyone to join us?” she offers, her fingers playing with the buttons of my shirt.

I try not to frown. I’d like to take her to the club and make it seem like a date. The only time we’re ever alone together outside of the house is when we go to Dolores’s farm stand. We go together just about every morning, a routine I’ve grown fond of and want to continue, but I also want to do more with her.

I keep all my thoughts to myself despite how hard it is. With anyone else, I’d be blunt about what I want, but things are different with Lucy. She makes me more patient, even if it doesn’t feel good in the moment.

“If that’s what you want to do, then that’s what we’ll do,” I respond, keeping my voice controlled. I don’t want her to hear the disappointment in it. I understand why she might not want people to get the wrong idea. She used to work at Pembroke, and she works for me now. The rumor mill can get crazy. People are bored and love any reason to talk. I just don’t really give a damn what they say. But if she does, I won’t push her to go on a date with me.

Maybe next time I approach it, I can ask her to go somewhere that isn’t the club. Maybe that’ll get her to say yes to an actual date.

“Are you mad at me?” Lucy asks, her voice cautious. Her honey-brown eyes nervously roam my face. She moves her hands to my chest and keeps them there, her eyes watching me expectantly.

I hate that her default is to think I’m mad at her. Something I’ve learned about her is that she’s a people pleaser. From the little I’ve gathered during the rare times she talks about her family, she’s responsible for taking care of them. She’s a nurturer, and because of that, she’s focused on asking how others feel instead of focusing on how she feels.

“I don’t think I could ever be mad at you even if I tried,” I admit.

She bites back a smile as her eyes dart to my chest. “Good, because I have a confession.”

I raise my eyebrows. “And what is that?”

She pulls her hands from my chest and holds them up between us. “I had no idea my hands were dirty before I touched your shirt.” She wiggles her fingers a little, proving that they’re dirty from the garden.

I let out a dramatic gasp as my eyes fall to my shirt. The pale blue linen now has two perfect muddy handprints on it.

“I’m so sorry,” Lucy starts, her eyes wide with sorrow. “I forgot to grab the gardening gloves from inside, and I really didn’t think I’d be out here long. I didn’t even think about checking my hands before touching you and…” She pauses, her hands still dangling in the air between us as her eyes search mine. “And now you’re actually mad, aren’t you?”

A low chuckle leaves my throat. “What’d I say? I can’t be mad at you.”

Her shoulders fall as she lets out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God.”

I smile. “But…”

“But what?”

“You’re going to pay for that,” I tease, lurching for her.

She’s quicker than I thought. A loud scream comes from her chest as she dodges my grip just in time. “Cal!” she yells, running through the garden beds to escape me.

“I’m going to catch you, baby,” I tell her with a laugh, running after her.

“No!” I love the sound of her laughter as she races around the garden. Her hat flies off with the sudden movements.

“It’s only fair,” I tell her, standing on the opposite side of the bed from her. “You ruined my shirt.”

Her hair falls down her shoulders. It’s messy and untamed, thanks to the hat. She looks so fucking beautiful. “I didn’t mean to,” she explains, twisting her hands in front of her before wiping them off on her dress. Her eyes move to the ground for a moment before she looks back at me. “I’m sorry,” she adds with a radiant smile.

“Prove it. Let me catch you so I can get you back.” Without warning, I try to lunge in her direction.

It happens fast.

She lets out an adorable yelp and drops to the ground for a moment.

As she stands up, she points the hose right at me. Before I can react, water hits me square in the chest.

Lucy lets out the cutest giggle I’ve ever heard as water continues to spray me in the face and chest. “I’ll help you get clean!” she yells.

I smile, taking a moment to bask in the pure joy. The way she smiles freely as her entire face lights up is worth being sprayed in the face with cold water from the hose.

Fuck. The way I feel about her—the feelings she brings out of me—are unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. She might ruin me, and I can’t even blame her for it. She’s told me she wants this to be casual. The problem is, seeing her smile like this, hearing her laugh as she stops spraying me with water and drops the hose, makes me want things I know I can’t have.

I sigh, trying to ignore the blossoming ache in my chest.

Her chest heaves up and down from her laughter as she watches me carefully.

A smile slowly blooms on my lips as I tuck my hands into my pockets. “You better run, Lucy baby. Because when I catch you, you’re going to pay for that too.”