Lucas: #3 (Luna Lodge: Hunters of Atlas) (7 page)

The old woman huffed, somewhat flustered at being caught gossiping, but the younger woman smiled back. A slight blush tinted her cheeks.

At least he could change the opinion of one of them. The other, he suspected, was friends with that hag Doris and wouldn’t believe anything that didn’t come from that horrid woman.

The woman opened her mouth to say something but stopped when the office door near the entrance opened, and Taylor emerged with another woman.

Taylor smiled warmly at the other woman, and he could only assume she was Grace.

She was a little thing. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a bun, and large glasses took up much of her face.

Matronly was the only word that came to mind, and he instantly felt bad for thinking it. Grace was obviously a good friend to Taylor.

Lucas hoped he would catch her attention, but Taylor seemed to be on a mission. He turned back to the checkout and was glad to see the hateful woman was already paying.

He had an opportunity. If he hurried, he might be able to catch Taylor.

Like they had all the time in the world, the cashier checked out his few items. Lucas strummed his fingers as he waited for her to make change.

She smiled brightly as she placed it in his hand, with far more contact than necessary. While he appreciated the attention, there was only one woman for him, and he needed to catch up with her.

Not interested in delaying, Lucas placed the items back in his cart and raced out the door. He unlocked his car and gathered everything quickly to shove in the back.

When he glanced around, his eyes instantly found her soft strawberry blonde hair as it peeked out from the bed of the truck.

He smiled widely as he stepped forward. Her tight ass was on display in her jeans as she leaned over in the truck bed.

“Need some help?” he asked slightly closer than he needed to be.

Taylor knocked her elbow against the side of the truck as she dropped back to the ground. She cursed.

“What the—” she began. She stopped when her eyes landed on him. “Lucas.”

He loved the way she said his name. Always like the breath had been knocked out of her. The sound of it made parts of him want to stand up and take notice.

He offered a relaxed smile. “Out on delivery?”

She looked back over to the bed. “Last one.” She hoisted herself back up. “Just securing everything.”

Lucas frowned as he noticed the paper sticking out of her pocket. The symbol was what really caught his eye. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Azilians?

“What’s this?” he asked and pulled the paper out without asking.

Taylor frowned at him, her arms crossed over her chest.

“You can’t just take things from my pocket,” she said.

Lucas ignored her and flipped through the folded paper. Much like they’d heard about the Azilians, the pamphlet expressed their passion for the lost city of Atlantis. The Atlantean gods were meant to rule the Earth they claimed. The cult offered spots for select few, and many people willingly paid for those positions.

He looked up from the pamphlet to her in shock.

“What the hell is this?” he asked, shaking the paper. “You seriously are interested in talking with those people?”

Taylor snatched it back from his hand.

“I’m not converting. They just want to buy some meat from us,” she said and folded the paper back into her pocket.

Fear lanced through him. The hybrids had witnessed first-hand what happened to people who worked with the Azilians. People hadn’t just been killed, but liquefied into puddles. His heart pounded.

“You can’t,” he said quickly. “It’s too dangerous to work with them. You can’t trust them.”

Taylor froze, hand still in her back pocket as she stared at him. “Dangerous?”

He glanced around. There were too many people to expose secrets here. From what he’d seen, the townspeople turned on their own easily, let alone strangers. They obviously couldn’t be trusted yet.

“I can’t tell you more, but they are dangerous,” he said quickly and took her hands into his.

Taylor stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. “Don’t be so closeminded. They can’t be that dangerous if they are living here.” She pulled her hands from his. “Besides, it’s just business.”

Lucas frowned. She had to listen to him. “I won’t let you deal with them.”

Anger flashed in her eyes the moment the words were out of his mouth, and he knew he’d said the wrong thing.

“Listen here.” She stepped a little closer to him. “No one tells me what to do with my family business, especially someone I’m not even dating.” She poked a finger into his chest. “I don’t answer to anyone and especially not you.”

She spun on her heel and stomped her way over to the driver’s seat.

“Taylor, I’m—” he started.

It was too late. She was in her truck. It kicked up gravel as she peeled out of the lot.

The sound of carts being slammed into one another pulled him from his thoughts as he turned to see the small woman Grace gathering the few shopping carts in the lot.

She paused when she got close to him and stared up into his face.

“Take it from me,” she said quietly. “No one likes to be told what to do.”

She glanced over to a stern-looking man near the front door. He glanced down at his watch and pressed his lips into a thin line.

Grace she made her way in without another glance at him.

Lucas sighed loudly. She was right. Taylor was an adult, and he was asking her to trust him when he hadn’t even been upfront with her about who he really was. If she was going to believe him, he was going to have to tell her everything about himself. No matter how hard it might be.

Chapter Ten

Taylor’s arms ached from scrubbing the counter. One damned spot refused to come up.

All she did was indulge with a little cherry-flavored drink, and this was her punishment. The rest of her cleaning hadn’t been nearly as annoying.

That said, it wasn’t a bad job in the end. Her house was now officially spotless. All that anger from before she’d transformed into positive energy cleaning her house until it nearly sparkled.

A clock hanging above her head in the kitchen ticked away. She refused to look. It didn’t matter what time it was anyways. There was no way Lucas was going to come, especially after she had torn him a new one. And she wasn’t even sure she wanted him to come after trying to order her around like that.

Who did he think he was? Telling her what to do like she belonged to him or something. The memory rekindled her anger inside.

She hadn’t been this pissed at someone since Dave.

A light knock came at the door, and she swallowed. As much as she didn’t want to hope it was him, secretly she hoped he would show up.

Desire. Anger. Both feelings intertwined to leave her confused and even more irritated. Why wouldn’t her body obey her head?

Taylor stopped to look at herself in the mirror on the other side of the front door. Her hair had slipped out of the ponytail she’d had it in. Little tendrils of hair had curled from the humidity, and she looked like she had a halo of reddish curls.

She huffed loudly. It didn’t matter. He shouldn’t even have come.

With renewed anger, Taylor swung open the door. Time for a little more righteous indignation.

Her mouth went dry at the sight of him. Fresh black t-shirt and dark denim jeans. His clothes hugged him in all the ways that they should, outlining the thick muscles along his chest and arms. His pants were tight from his thick thighs.

She brought her gaze back to his eyes and opened her mouth to tell him off when he thrust something into her arms.

Taylor blinked then frowned at… a potted violet? The deep purple stood out against the deep green of the soft leaves.

“What—” she began.

“They said to bring you flowers.”

Taylor frowned at the little plant, not really sure what to do with it. Sure, she’d had men bring her flowers but never the whole plant.

Now more confused than annoyed, Taylor stepped away from the door and walked into the kitchen.

She had been so ready to be angry with him, but this threw her a curve ball. She wondered if this was part of some plan of his. Manipulation by confusion.

Taylor put the little plant under the faucet, drizzled a little water onto the soil and then placed it in the window.

She pushed out the confusion to seize her anger again. One little plant didn’t make her forget how he’d treated her. She turned around to tell him off. To her surprise, he was standing close behind her.

“I’m sorry,” he said and ran a hand through his hair. “I shouldn’t have said that. You are free to choose your own path. It’s something I understand and respect more than you know.”

His words smothered her anger. Not just the words, but the heartfelt meaning behind them.

Dave had apologized only as a step along a path to something else he wanted. But with Lucas, she could see it in his eyes. He felt what he said. Her heart soared at the realization.

She shook her head. There were still some things she needed to know.

“Why don’t you like them?” she asked. “The Azilians.”

Lucas’s extreme reaction had been on her mind since the store. Sure, the cultists were weird and a bit creepy, but when Lucas talked about them, fear clung to his eyes and words. It was strange to see such a large man, such an easy-going man for that matter, react with such fear.

He sighed and ran a hand over his neck. “It’s a long story.” He looked back up to her. “One that I hope to tell on our date, if I haven’t totally destroyed my chance.”

Taylor worried her bottom lip. Despite herself, she’d hoped for this date. Now that it was here, she wasn’t so sure she trusted herself to go on it. His mere presence twisted her all around.

“I didn’t really plan on you coming over after I yelled at you,” she said and looked down at her pale blue tank and shorts. “I didn’t get ready for a date.” She already knew her hair was a mess.

Lucas smiled warmly at her.

“You look amazing,” he said, his voice low and deep. Just the sound of it made her shiver a little.

He held out his hand and waited for her to take it.

Taylor glanced back at the violet and gave a little smile before slipping her hand into his.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

Lucas let out a small sigh at the feel of her hand in his. He’d hoped that she’d forgive him but was relieved that she had. After all, he had no real backup plan.

His fingers closed over hers, and he gave the backs of them a little rub with his thumb.

“Nowhere,” he said and pulled her through the living room.

“Nowhere?”

The puzzled look on her face thrilled him. He continued to pull her out to his truck and then let go of her hand as he helped her into the passenger seat.

Taylor was staring at him as he climbed into the driver’s seat. “I thought you said we weren’t going anywhere.”

He grinned as he started the truck. “We’re not really.”

Lucas drove the truck around to the side of the house and then up the small incline. At the top, he turned the truck off.

“We’re here,” he said happily.

Taylor continued to stare at him with a mixture of confusion and irritation in her face.

He hurried out of the truck and over to open her door.

“Okay,” she said and placed her hands on her hips. “What the hell is going on? I’m through with cryptic crap. Tell me right now, or I’m out of here.”

Lucas walked to the back of the truck and opened the tailgate. Taylor followed to stand by him, her arms crossed over her chest.

“I thought we might have a picnic under the stars,” he said.

Her expression immediately softened.

The sun had just dipped below the horizon, and the pink sunset faded into the distance.

Lucas climbed into the back of the truck where he’d laid out a mattress. Over it he’d placed a checkered blanket, and secured in the corner was a basket. He held out his hand to help Taylor up and was surprised to find her staring at him.

For a moment, he wondered if he’d made a mistake. Maybe she hated picnics. Maybe she didn’t want to eat finger foods. All the dating guides had said to make memories and not worry about how much money he was spending.

He thought it was pretty romantic, just the two of them and the stars.

Besides, he wanted time to talk with her away from other people. If he was really going to tell her the truth, they needed complete privacy.

She placed her hand into his, and he easily hoisted her into the truck.

“This is…” she said. His heart kicked into his throat at the pause. “This is amazing.”

Lucas grinned as she sat down on the mattress and waited for him to open the basket.

He placed all the contents on the blanket before her. When he’d been putting together the whole thing, he wasn’t really sure what she liked. He guessed meat because of the ranch and decided on sandwiches made from fresh rolls. He’d done his best to use good cheeses and meats.

Cherries lay stacked in a plastic container. He couldn’t resist since every time he saw them, they reminded him of Taylor. A few bags of pretzel thins lay near the cherries.

The contents of the last container elevated the simple meal into something truly special. He’d even had to fight off Rem to get it.

“Holy shit!” Taylor said. “Is that Jenna’s chocolate cake?”

He grinned happily as she stared at the two large slices of cake Jenna had given him.

Lucas pulled out the two glasses that came with the basket and uncorked the white wine he’d decided to bring. He poured a little into each glass and then placed the bottle back in the basket.

Taylor smiled happily as she took the glass and then a small sip.

When she looked back to him, he could feel her eyes staring right through him.

“You’re in the Witness Protection Program, aren’t you?” she asked abruptly.

Lucas nearly choked on his wine. He silently thanked television. If he hadn’t been watching crime shows recently, he wouldn’t have even known what she was talking about.