Page 45 of The Spring in My Heart

“Hi, Elias. Can I help you?”

He takes her in, his gaze straying down her body, and he smiles wide. I know that smile. It’s the same sucio look every man gets when he can picture a woman without her clothes. When he can see what he would be doing to that body. When he can practically hear the moans and gasps he can extract from her.

It raises a kink behind my neck. He’s ogling is too obvious, bordering on disrespectful.

He finally looks into her eyes. “Hi, Lux. I need to talk to Lauren for a couple of minutes.”

“It’s her wedding day.” Lux’s tone is neutral, but there’s a get-real snap to it at the end.

“I know, but she and I need to have a conversation. It’s important,” he insists.

“This is not a good time,” Lux says, firmer this time.

He turns toward the bride suite. “I have to talk to her.”

I unclench my teeth and move to stand in front of the door. “Amigo, she just told you this is not a good time.”

He looks at me for the first time. “I am not your friend, and this is none of your business.”

“You’re right. We’re not friends, but this is my business. Chase and Lauren are my friends. This is their wedding. You are not invited.”

“How do you know that? On top of being the handyman, are you also the wedding coordinator?”

Electricity flows to my hands, and it takes all of me to control my fist from flying. I take a step forward, but Lux jumps in between us.

Her finger hovers in front of his face. “You’re a complete asshole for that. Oliver is our friend. Chase and Lauren want him here. The same cannot be said for you. Get the hell out before I tell my brother you are here. He would love to pound your face in before getting married.”

Elias’s gaze flickers to the other end of the hallway. A smirk hovers, and his shoulders straighten.

He’s a coward. On top of being a rich dick with his nose in the air, he’s afraid of Chase.

Little does he know that he’s about to have a bigger problem than Chase if he doesn’t get the fuck out of here.

“She asked you to leave,” I say. “Please go.”

He smiles. “I’m leaving. Tell Lauren I need to talk to her, Lux,” he says then moves closer and places a kiss on her cheek.

She swipes at it as if trying to undo the action. I should’ve placed myself between them.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that. He’s an asshole,” she tells me.

I shrug. “It’s fine. I’m used to dealing with people like him.”

Her chin juts out. “No, it’s not fucking fine. He has no right to talk to you like that. No one does.”

She’s worked up with the color heightened in her face, with her eyes shooting sparks, and her hand in fists like she’s ready to swing.

I love it.

It makes her look so beautiful and lethal, like I already know she can be.

“Don’t let him ruin your day, Luciana.”

And yes, my voice drops lower than I mean it to when I say her name.

And no, I don’t miss the way her eyes darken or how the color in her face heightens.

And we stare into each other’s eyes in a way that takes me back a few months and less than ten miles away to the flip I haven’t been able to sell yet.

---