Her friend stepped back, smile still in place. “You kids have fun now, ya hear?”
With that, Kincaid was heading back down the hallway, hips swaying, a spring in her step. She’d found her cake.
Lucas looked to the ceiling and seemed to be gathering himself back together. Or maybe pleading for God to beam him up.
“Sorry about that,” Taryn said, coming to stand next to him. “She’s…protective.”
“I can tell.” He looked over at Taryn. “Would she really have Maced me?”
“Without a doubt,” Taryn said, meaning it. “But maybe she should’ve been aiming at me instead. I was the one accosting the drunk. I’m sorry.”
“Accosting.” He made a dismissive sound in the back of his throat. “You know I’m not drunk. I could’ve stopped you at any time.”
“But you didn’t.”
He frowned. “I didn’t.”
“And you’re unhappy about that. You’re confusing the hell out of me,” she said, honesty spilling out of her.
“Taryn…”
A horrible thought hit her. “Wait. Are you married?”
His gaze widened. “What?”
“Oh hell.” She took a step back. “Is that what this is about? You say you’re not interested and then kiss me like the place is burning down and we need each other for air. You can’t stop thinking about me, but you don’t want to be around me. It makes sense. Oh God, you’re married. You’re someone’s husband.”
Panic moved through her as her stomach knotted.
“No,” he said, looking horrified. “That’s not it at all. Damn. I wouldn’t… No. Not married. Very not married.”
“Girlfriend? Boyfriend?”
“No. I’m not an asshole. There’s no one.”
She let out a breath, relieved she hadn’t been kissing someone’s man. “Then what is going on?”
“This. We can’t…” Lucas opened his mouth and then shut it again. He stared at her, some indefinable combination of emotions crossing his face, a debate raging. He took a breath, glanced over his shoulder toward the bar, and then looked as if he’d made some kind of decision. “Look, we need to talk, but we can’t do it here.”
“Okay.”
He gave her a look, tense lines around his mouth. “Would you feel okay going to my place? Not much is open around here at this hour besides bars.”
Maybe she should worry he was trying to get her alone in a private place, but frankly, he’d had more than ample opportunity to take advantage of her if he was that kind of guy. “Yeah, that’s fine.”
He nodded. She let him lead her out of the dark bar, and he didn’t say another word as they crossed the street and made their way to his apartment building. His shoulders were hunched, his whole body tense, and his jaw flexing. He definitely wasn’t inviting her over for a good time. The closer they got to his apartment, the more she had a sinking feeling that she was not going to like what he was going to tell her.
Maybe for once in her life, she should just walk away, not ask the question, not investigate. But the researcher in her wouldn’t let her stop. For better or worse, she needed to know why the guy she’d shared two of the hottest kisses of her life with couldn’t ask her out on a date, why he’d actively avoided her tonight.
Theories ran through her head on a loop.
Nothing logical came to mind.
She had no idea what she was walking into, but dread filled her.
Whatever it was, it wouldn’t be good.
Chapter