“I’m coming by,” he informed her, and he hoped she heard the lack of request in his tone. He wasn’t asking permission.
“Haley’s not there. She’s at my mother’s.”
“I know,” Kane replied. “That’s why I’m coming by. We need to talk.”
Lucie eyed him suspiciously for a minute, maybe two before she shook her head, telling him no. “I’m too tired right now. Can we do this tomorrow?”
“No.” That was his final answer. Kane wasn’t putting this off any longer. They didn’t have to talk if she didn’t want to, but he was still going to her house. Whatever this was that he felt for her, he was almost certain she felt it too. Since this was the perfect opportunity to test the waters, he wasn’t going to back down on this one.
“I’ll be there in half an hour,” Kane said, “I’ve got to finish up here.”
“Kane, I don’t –”
Before Lucie could come up with any more excuses, Kane pressed up against her, eliminating all of the space that had been separating them. He placed his finger on her lips to shut her up, although he’d have much preferred to use his mouth, but he was cognizant of where they were. “I’m coming over. You better be there when I get there.”
Rolling her eyes and sighing deeply, Lucie nodded her head briefly then spun on her heel and walked away.
He knew she recognized the frustration in his tone, but he was willing to bet she didn’t realize every ounce of it was sexual in nature and he was past the point of waiting for her to come around.
It was time they got some things cleared up – including those damn memories that still eluded him.
~~*~~
Driving home in the dark hours of the early morning, Lucie wondered whether the pounding of her heart was actually the first signs of a heart attack. Ever since Kane mentioned that he was coming by, she’d been feeling strange. Between the constant thump of her heart against her ribs, and the roar of blood in her ears, she was beginning to get a little worried.
Kane’s words reverberated back and forth in her head, leaving her wondering whether she had actually heard him correctly. Not the words necessarily, but the way he said them. He’d thrown her off balance with his domineering attitude, but even more so when he pressed his finger to her lips.
For a second there, Lucie hadn’t known whether her knees were actually going to hold her upright. She wanted to believe that the hunger she detected in his words was real, but she was worried her overactive imagination might just be getting the better of her. After all, she hadn’t been sleeping well for a few months now, so it was quite possible.
Until recently, when Kane began shooting daggers from his eyes whenever Justin Jones would come visit her at the club, he had been totally indifferent to her. Or at least she thought he had been.
His interference hadn’t been needed because Lucie had positively no interest in Justin. He continued to ask her out, she continued to turn him down. Since Haley was her first and foremost priority, Lucie didn’t give a second thought to dating a man that she knew wouldn’t be long term material. Not that she was necessarily looking for long term, but if anything were to happen, she needed to know that it was at least a possibility.
No matter how many times she thought about those overprotective glances that Kane delivered her direction, she couldn’t wrap her mind around any reason why. Well, other than him wanting to ensure that his daughter always came first. He didn’t have anything to worry about there, but she hadn’t necessarily explained that to him.
It boggled her mind that she still had the audacity to think Kane might have a slight interest in her. After what she’d done, Lucie was surprised he even chose to speak to her. Even though she secretly wished that there was something between the two of them, she knew better than to get her hopes up.
Even that one night when she’d given herself over to Kane, the night Haley was conceived, she hadn’t been convinced that he actually wanted anything more than sex from her. Considering she didn’t have it in her to do casual relationships, it didn’t make sense how much she still craved his touch. Especially on those lonely nights when she couldn’t get her mind to shut down because it constantly returned to images of the two of them together. Not even touching herself could alleviate the ache that had only intensified over the years.
Thinking back on the night at Club Destiny when she and Kane and a couple of the other bartenders had been sitting around talking had become a frequent occurrence for her lately. She could still remember the feeling that something was wrong with Kane that night. Sticking around to see if he wanted to talk about it had set everything in motion.