Something Beautiful and Lacey's Retreat: Something Beautiful / Lacey's Retreat

“Oui, I wanted to get all dressed up for you.”

He also wanted to tell her that she was the first. The first to see his secret garden. The first he’d invited to go up in the Piper with him. The first woman to make his heart feel both heavy and light at the same time.

In that regard, she had all the others beat.

But unlike the others, she seemed as uncertain as he felt. The kiss that had bonded them had also caused an awkward, wary distance between them.

And so they sat there, silent and uncertain, smiling and quiet, until Lorna came out of the kitchen. “Ready to order now?”

Lucas didn’t take his eyes off Willa. “Whatever the special is, love. Surprise me.”

Willa didn’t stop looking at him. “I’ll have…oh, I don’t know. Something light.”

Lorna slapped a hand on the forgotten menus, then picked them up. “Okay, then. Got it. Why don’t you two carry on with whatever you’re doing there. Be back in a few minutes.”

Lucas waved his annoying sister away, his gaze still centered on the woman across the table. “I enjoyed our plane ride today.”

“I did, too.”

“I’ve…I’ve never taken anyone up with me. It’s twice as much fun with a copilot.”

She looked shocked. “You mean, you haven’t taken all your girlfriends for a ride in the sky?”

“Only you, belle. Only you.”

He couldn’t tell from the muted light, but he had a feeling she was blushing. That only made him want to reach across the small round table and touch his hand to her heated skin. But he kept his hands to himself, along with all the crazy feelings tugging at his heart.

Lorna came back with two plates of steaming noodles piled with fat blackened shrimp. Emily followed with bread and butter. “Anything else?”

Lucas saw his sister poking Emily. Lorna seemed to enjoy watching him suffer.

Just to show her he wasn’t, he said, “Maybe some bread pudding—that one you make with the white chocolate.”

“I’ll bring it out later,” Lorna replied. “So…we’ll just leave you two to your dinner then.”

“Uh-huh. Thanks,” Lucas replied absently, his attention still on Willa. Waiting for his nosy sister to depart, he cut a slice of the piping hot bread, then buttered it before handing it to Willa. “Sorry I was a bit late. Last-minute phone calls.”

She took the bread. Was it just his imagination, or did her fingers brush his on purpose in the exchange? She took a bite, then said, “I thought I was the one with the busy schedule.”

The woman would make a great spokesperson for French bread. With her upswept hair and her three strands of pearls, she made chewing seem so classy and intriguing. In fact, she could just sit there and hold the bread, and Lucas would buy it. In spite of the air-conditioning and his lightweight suit, he was beginning to sweat.

“I might not be a fashion plate, but I do have things to get done,” he countered, hoping to take his mind off her beautiful lips. “I have all these side businesses—it’s like spinning plates. Can’t let any of them fall by the wayside.”

Willa finished her bread, leaned forward to prop her elbows on the table, then cupped her chin on her clasped hands, her food obviously forgotten. “What kind of side businesses?”

“Oh, a little of dis and dat,” he replied in an exaggerated Cajun voice. He snagged a fat, buttery shrimp with his fork and ate it with a long sigh of pleasure. “Crawfishing in the spring, fishing all summer long, shrimping, traps to mend, boats to repair and pamper. Moss gathering.”

“Moss gathering?” She twirled flat, creamy noodles onto her fork. “Is that anything like woolgathering?”

He nodded. “Kinda. Only better. We harvest the Spanish moss that grows on the cypress trees and sell it to craft shops and florists—for decorating.”

“I never would have thought—” She stopped, dropped her fork on her plate. “There is just so much about you. You continue to surprise me.”

“Well, I’m about out of surprises,” he replied with a wink and a nod. “I’m just plain ol’ Lucas Dorsette, a simple man with very simple needs.”

He saw the flicker of wonder in her vivid blue eyes. Heard the husky inflection of her tone. But he didn’t miss the confusion in her question. “What do you need, Lucas?”

He leaned forward, his hands clasped in his lap to keep from touching her. “Another kiss from you would surely be nice.”

She immediately pushed herself back in her chair. “We can’t do that again.”

“And why not?”

“I…we…”

“I’m listening.”

“No, that’s the problem.” She threw her hands in the air, then let them drop to her lap. “You haven’t been listening at all. I can’t get involved with you, Lucas.”

He figured she was arguing more with herself than with him. He could see the battle in her defiant eyes.

“Give me one good reason why not?”

She took a sip of iced tea, then sat the goblet down, one long finger moving over the condensation on the side of the tall glass. “Well, I’ll be leaving soon, probably sooner than soon. And I have no idea where I’ll be going from here.”

Leaning back in his chair, Lucas crossed his arms and lifted his brows. “I can fly a plane. I can drive a boat. I even have a horse. I’ll find you.”

He saw the effect that statement had on her. Panic. Plain and simple.

Keeping her eyes on her tea glass, she said, “Sometimes we don’t want to be found.”

“Yeah, I know all about that.”

“Then you need to understand that I have to—”

“I’ll go with you, you know.”

That brought her head up. “Go with me where?”

“To find your birth mother. I’ll go with you, help you get through the rough spots.”

She lowered her gaze again, then pushed her plate away. Staring at her hands in her lap, she said, “I haven’t decided if I want to go see her. I’m still debating.”

“Well, whatever you decide, I just want you to know I’m willing to help you through this.”

Emily came out of the kitchen to bring them their bread pudding. She sat the rich cream-colored dessert down. “Coffee, Lucas?”

Lucas lifted a brow toward Willa. When she shook her head, he took the time to give Emily a patient smile. “Non. But thanks, suga’. We’re good.”