Page 70 of Lucy Loves Him Not
Adam and I sat close, shoulder to shoulder, with our feet kicking back and forth in the water. I had my dress bunched up to my knees.
“How are you doing?” Adam asked, his voice smooth as the breeze in my hair.
“I’m doing good now that we’re here. Though, I know I probably worry about my family too much.” I remembered how my grandma used to tell me most problems would sort themselves out on their own without needing all that help from me, but I had trouble resisting the urge to try speeding the process along.
“It’s not too much, Lucy. I think they’re lucky to have you.” Adam bumped his foot against mine. “Lucky to have someone like you caring about them.”
“I’ve done the therapy and it’s helped—it really has. But, sometimes, it feels like I’m still that young girl trying her hardest to protect her mom and sisters, to be our little warrior.” I turned to Adam, my voice catching as I said, “I don’t know how to dropthe sword.” But the way he reached for my hand as I said this, it made me think that maybe dropping the sword felt a lot like having someone I could trust by my side. Driving the car so I could make the calls. Filling the grocery cart while I stood in line.
Someone I could trust to hold it for me when it got heavy.
“I was a boy who needed that little girl. I desperately wanted to have someone love me that fiercely. Prize me that highly. You would’ve done my heart a world of good if I’d known you sooner. Sometimes, I think I’m still that kid, too, hoping for someone to see me as theirs.” His gaze on mine was unwavering as he said, “To be Lucy Rhodes’ is enviable.”
How could someone see Adam and not want to claim him as their own?
“You’re one to talk. You made my little sister who you’ve never met chicken soup,” I said in a tone of wonder, splashing the water with my feet. “You bought her a teddy bear. It’s not as cute as the mouse you made Stevie, but still.”
Adam smiled widely. “I figured out the way to your heart.”
“You’ve been giving thought to the way to my heart?” Stars glimmered in the reflection of the pool.
“Giving thoughtis a massive understatement. I’ve been consumed with your heart, your mind, all things you, since day one,” Adam said, running his hand through his hair like he was in anguish.
I stopped kicking my feet. I had been trying to find a way to inch my way to this conversation and here Adam was diving in headfirst.
“Lucy.” Adam’s eyes were intent on me. “Work is everything. Work is life. But you’ve got to see since you showed up, it’s barely half important in comparison to you. I’ll drop everything to be what you need. Chicken soup maker, backyard cleaner, contract writer, chauffeur.”
I could feel my pulse racing. “I do see it.”
“Yesterday, you said I don’t know how you view me…That’s been on a loop in my mind since you said it. I’m dying to know what’s going on in that mind of yours.” He looked nearly desperate to know.
“For starters, it wasn’t my sisters who sent you the green light,” I said, remembering how sad he looked when I told him it wasn’t me who’d matched with him.
His eyes narrowed in question.
“Well, they did send you the green light, but only after I’d been obsessing over your profile for a while. I couldn’t believe somebody so perfect existed—and in Sweet River.” Relief flashed through his face, then delight, as he slid his arm around my waist. “I spent the whole night dreaming up ways we could meet.”
“And you chose storming into my office?”
“It seems to have worked.” I reveled being in his arms, feeling his warmth. “It’s like God dreamed you up and dropped you off down the street from me as a little gift—anda little challenge who knows how to press all my buttons.”
“Maybe knowing how to press all your buttons isn’t such a bad thing?” His eyes gleamed devilishly. My arms crawled with goosebumps. “I’ve been terrified I’d be stuck helplessly wanting you while you just put up with me after how we met. I’ve been desperate to know if you felt it, too,” he confessed.
“It’s impossible not to,” I breathed, my voice laced with emotion.
He dropped his lips near mine. “Meet me fifty-fifty?” His voice was low, rough. My stomach dropped as I lifted my lips to meet his. He gripped his hands around my waist as we kissed, pulling me up to him. I lifted my wet legs out of the pool as he tugged me into his lap. We laughed in between kisses as my skirt billowed between us. His hands ran up my sides and into my hair, exploring a new facet of us.
If we worked surprisingly well as a team, we worked even better at this. It was like finding a new drink in a flavor I hadn’t known existed and knowing I could never get enough.
My phone suddenly vibrated from its place on the ground beside us. I groaned, reaching over to grab it. It was time to get Gracie her medicine and switch her ice. The real reason we were here.
I showed Adam the alarm. We both blinked, moving slowly as if waking from a dream.
Itiptoed out of Gracie’s room after checking on her, closing the door gently since she was fast asleep. I stepped out of the hallway into the living room to find Adam walking through the front door with a milkshake in each hand.
“I ran across the street while you were helping Gracie,” Adam said, shaking both cups in the air. “Got us peanut butter chocolate shakes. Maybe we could enjoy these while watchingLittle Womensince I finally finished the book?”
His eyes were questioning, as if there was anything in the world I’d rather do. “That sounds perfect.”
