Page 8 of Crazy Imperfect Hearts

“I don’t. You took them from me before we went to the bowling alley. Remember?”

“Not hardly.”

I nod to his left pocket. “You put them there and told me to get them if I wanted them so badly.”

He laughs. “That does sound like something I’d say.” He reaches into his pocket and comes out with his phone. He tries the other one. “I’m telling you, I don’t have them.”

I glance back at the darkened bowling alley. “You must have dropped them inside.”

He looks at me and then his car. “Well… shit.”

“I could call you an Uber.”

“I have a better idea.” He looks behind me at Donovan’s Pub. “Cooper’s probably calmed down by now.”

“You destroyed his property. I doubt it. I don’t think you should go back in there until you go bearing a TV twice as nice as the one you broke.”

He looks at his phone. “But it’s still your birthday for another seven minutes.Onemore drink, birthday girl?”

My eyes roll. Has he not had enough to forget the whole engagement debacle?

“Come on, Regan Lucas. I never got to toast your birthday. There has to be someplace we can go.”

I sigh. “I have liquor at my place.” I put a finger into his chest. “If you say one thing about it being cheap, I’ll kick you outso quick your head will spin even faster than it will be when you wake up with a killer hangover.”

His lips smash together, and he mimes locking them with a key.

Then he follows me back to my place for a drink that I know is so monumentally stupid I’ll be regretting it to high heaven come morning.

But he’s hot.

And itismy birthday.

Chapter Three

Regan

I unlock my shop and we step through the front door. It’s dim, the only light coming from the display spotlight in the front window showcasing the two mannequins I’ve outfitted with some of the second-hand clothes donated to keep my boutique afloat.

Lucas stops walking and I almost run into him. “Didn’t this used to be a bookstore?”

I gesture to the left wall, lined with bookshelves. “Still is, only now I’m a boutique as well.”

He narrows his eyes. “When did that happen?”

“Years ago. You’re not very observant, are you?”

“Seeing as I’ve never had use for a bookstore or a boutique…” His words trail off as he eyes me up and down as if he’s just now really noticing me. “Why do you dress so funny?”

It’s not the first time I’ve been asked that question. I stopped being offended by it a long time ago. Right around the time I stopped caring what other people thought of me.

I hold out a leg as if modeling my candy-stripe tights. “You don’t like my choice of attire?”

His eyes sweep over my short white skirt and my pink fuzzy sweater. I can practically feel his gaze caressing every one of my curves, and it makes me all tingly inside. I almost laugh, because this is Lucas Montana, the kid who used to be my little brother’s best friend. I’ve fantasized about a lot of guys in this town, but not him.

And now I’m wondering why. Because he’s no longer that pimple-faced kid who hung around my house all hours of the day despite the fact that his own parents lived in a mansion thatdwarfed our place. Now—he’s a man. A tall, dark, handsome, incredibly well-built man.

I knew this had hookup written all over it when I invited him here. So I shouldn’t be surprised that he’s looking at me this way, like he’s a starving man at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

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