Page 142 of Unexpected

“I have to run back to the clinic and finish up a few things before I’m really done for the day. Do you want to come with me?” he asked, completely ignorant to the fact that I was drooling over him.

“Sure,” I said, interested in getting to actually see what he did every day instead of just hearing about it secondhand. “I guess it’ll be bring your girl—”

I clamped my mouth shut before the entire word could escape. Mentally, I berated myself for my slip of the tongue, while on the outside, I pressed my lips into a firm line and stared out the windshield.

We hadn’t hadtheconversation or anything close to it, so slipping up and almost calling myself his girlfriend without any prior discussion was not my best move. Granted, we were partially living together and had hit all the other milestones of a relationship. And to an outsider, it would appear that we were just that: in a relationship.We were also planning to move me into his house the following day. But still…

It was important to me to have the conversation and to set up expectations, otherwise, we were both just assuming the other knew what was going on. We didn’t have time for assumptions.

We stopped at a red light, and I could feel Luke’s eyes burning a hole into the side of my face. But I stayed strong and continued looking forward even though every nerve in my body was crawling to see the expression on his face. I needed to know what he was thinking like I needed to breathe.

He could have reacted a few ways and I was getting anxious the longer the silence continued and the longer he stared.

Finally, after what seemed like years, Luke asked, “Who am I bringing to work?”

My whole body deflated, and I chanced a glance in his direction. The light turned green as I peeked over at him, so thankfully, he had to break his stare down, but I caught what I thought was a smirk before I faced forward again.

“You’re taking me,” I said in a tone that didn’t exactly exude the confidence I hoped it would.

“And who are you?”

“I’m Hazel, Luke. Don’t be dense, you know who I am.”

He snorted and reached over the center console to grasp my thigh, which I had propped up. My whole body shivered with just one single touch and under the warmth of his large hand.

“Okay, let me rephrase. Hazel, who are you to me?”

“Well, I’m still Hazel,” I said, but I caught the unimpressed expression he threw my way out of the corner of my eye. “This isn’t fair, aren’t you supposed to ask me?”

“What am I supposed to ask you?” he threw back, taking a right turn onto the street where the clinic was located.

I groaned and threw my hands up in the air. “Are we really going to play this game right now?”

“You’re so cute when you’re flustered,” he said. He was so amused about my current state, but I wasn’t.

I finally looked over at him with a hard set to my expression. “What have I told you about calling grown women cute, Lucas?”

“Oh, we’re using my full name now?”

“Yes, it’s come to that.”

His amused lopsided smile didn’t move as he flipped on his right turn signal and pulled into the parking lot at the back of the building. He put the truck in park and immediately turned it off. As he jumped out, I hesitantly unbuckled my belt and grabbed my purse from the floorboard.

Luke had my door open as I lifted the bag over my head and around my shoulder. He practically pulled me from the truck with a hand around my wrist. The urgent look in his eye was something I hadn’t seen in quite some time; it replaced the worry and concern that had been there for days.

In one swift motion, he pulled me to the side, shut the passenger door, and pressed me into the cold exterior of the truck. One hand cupped the side of my throat, twisting into the back of my hair, while the other gripped my hip. My breath caught in my throat as his lips slammed down onto mine. I wasn’t prepared for it, but I quickly gave in to the feeling of him pressed against me and all the emotions that brought with it.

I liked him like that—like he couldn’t wait and was starving for me.

His lips were urgent against mine, but he pulled back before it could go too far, which was probably for the best since we were outside of his place of work.

His forehead rested on my own as his thumb traced my lips.

“You’re mine, Angel. Whatever you want to call it, it’s that. You’ve been mine ever since you barged into that stupid fucking party and had us all dumbfounded by you. I wasn’t ever going to let you go. So, we can call it whatever you want. If the girlfriend/boyfriend titles are what you want, then you can have them and all of the other expectations that go with them. Because I’m all in.”

I think I forgot how to breathe as the weight of his words washed over me and hung around us. I felt them on my heart and my soul, and I saw the truth of them in his eyes as he watched me. He was so good, even in times like that one, at keeping his face neutral and waiting for a reaction while his eyes told the story.

“I know with everything going on, it’s maybe not the best circumstances to begin a relationship, but I’m hoping the worst of it is behind us. If we can make it through this, then…” He trailed off, lost in thought and a million miles away. He was watching my face, but I could tell he was thinking of something else.

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