Page 7 of This Loving Feeling (Mirror Lake)

Lukas sighed. The words stung more than he thought they would. After all, he’d cultivated her disdain and it was no surprise to him how she felt. “I’m back in Mirror Lake for good, Sam. I’m in over my head, and I really need your help.”

The elephant compressing Sam’s chest refused to budge. At least, that’s what the dull heaviness preventing her from breathing properly felt like. The little boy just feet away had olive skin and big, wide eyes with lashes long enough to put mascara companies to shame. He was adorable.And he looked just like Lukas.

She should be happy to see Lukas with a child, even if she couldn’t imagine what taking one on the road would entail. A child was a symbol that people had matured ... and moved on. In most cases, anyway.

Her stomach squeezed like a wrung-out dishrag. It alarmed her that she was—what, upset? Alarmed? Or, God forbid,jealous? Surely she didn’t expect him to still want her, this vagabond artist who’d never had a real family or roots ... who was nothing but a pain in the ass, a thorn in her side, a ... a ... Well. She had no words.

She’d loved him once, a long time ago. She was a grown woman now, too old and too smart to deal with men who wanted her and then dumped her and then wanted her again. She was officially off that roller coaster ride. Besides, she’d found a man who truly loved her, who wasn’t afraid to show it, and who didn’t play games. A mature man with a fine, upstanding family. So she squelched those untamed feelings and forced herself to focus.

“You—you kissed me. In front of all my students. You don’t act like someone who desperately needs help.” She hadn’t expected that to come out of her mouth. Maybe it was the shock of discovering he was a father. The old murky feelings that had been dredged up. Oh, hell, the feelings thatkisshad stirred up.

As ifthatmeant anything to him. He was just showing off. He was known for being over-the-top and outrageous. His love life was comprised of serial dating one Hollywood starlet after another. He mesmerized females by the dozens and then left them in the dirt.

No, she wouldnotplay that game anymore. The one where, if asked, she could name his last five girlfriends, or the spots where he vacationed (Cabo, where she’d never been but had always wanted to go), and where he’d built his latest mansion (Sun Valley, Idaho, away from the hustle and bustle, which she admired). But who really paid attention, anyway?

He rubbed his neck. Like Lukas Spikonos could ever feel embarrassment. “It was the passion of the moment. Sorry about that.”

“I’m nearly engaged.”

“Nearly?” His ebony brows rose. “After six years?”

“Oh, come on, Lukas. At least I’ve been in a relationship for six years.”

He leveled those deep brown eyes at her, for so long it almost seemed like a game of chicken. But she refused to cave. “You look pretty, Sam. Really pretty.”

Pu-lease. He hadn’t lost his snake-charmer ways. She bit her lip, reminding herself that he was all flirt and no real form, all smirk and no substance. She was immune to his baloney and her life was none of his business. “How can I help you?”

“Stavros is my brother’s kid. But he’s—mine now. For good.”

“Your ... brother?” She blinked in disbelief. She’d known he had brothers, that they’d been separated young, when Lukas was around ten or so. A strange, silly relief flowed through her.It’s not his kid. He doesn’t have a kid. Not a father.Nada.She worked hard to wipe thedoctor did you just say it’s not terminallook off her face.

He snorted. “My oldest brother, Nico. He didn’t do a very good job being a father.”

“He—left his little boy with you?”

“A social worker found me three weeks ago. The child and family services agency was about to put Stevie in foster care. It seems my brother has a longstanding drug problem ... among other vices. Stevie’s mother is deceased. She had cervical cancer that wasn’t picked up until too late.”

Sam opened her mouth to say something, but what? It was too terrible.

“Stevie’s mom has no family,” Lukas continued. “She was living alone in California, doing her best to scrape by and raise him. After she died, a friend of hers located Nico in a trailer park. From what the social worker told me, during the month Stevie spent with Nico, he watched a ton of TV and ate a lot of frozen dinners, but at least Nico didn’t lay a hand on him.”

“How did the social worker find Stevie?”

“Nico got pinched by an undercover cop when he tried to buy drugs. Trust me, it was the best thing that could have happened.”

“Does Stevie—does he—miss his mother?”

Lukas clenched and unclenched his fists as he spoke, not seeming to be aware he was doing it. “He has nightmares. Never lets go of his blanket. His appetite isn’t that great. He stays packed up all the time, like he’s expecting someone else to take him away. At times he gets quiet and he doesn’t laugh much. I don’t know much about kids but despite everything, he’s got a really sweet disposition. I just want—” His voice cracked. He cleared his throat to cover his emotion. “I just want to do right by him. He’s been through enough.”

Sam felt a mixture of horror and sadness for Stevie and something else—compassion and admiration for Lukas,dammit, even though she fought it. He seemed one-hundred-percent committed to his nephew. Determined to give him a better life. She couldn’t help but be impressed.

Lukas patted his pockets, clearly looking for a cigarette. Somehow, that imperfection, that nervous tic, made her feel more in control. The man she’d worshipped as a teenager was just ... a man, dealing with problems. A smoking hot, dangerous-looking man, granted but with a nasty habit. He had his own demons to slay just like everybody else.

There she went again. Allowing a tiny imperfection to make her soften towards him. Once she cracked that door open, the tiny trickle of water that meandered through would become a floodgate, an avalanche of messy feelings best kept shut away for good. As for that adorable little boy who seemed full of life and sunshine despite all he’d been through... well, he’d get her affection by the bucket. By thetruckload.

“I don’t know many people in town,” Lucas said.

An understatement.Lone wolfdid not begin to describe the man.

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