She didn’t particularly liked being talked to like a trained pet. But she didn’t move until Lucas opened her door and held the umbrella over her as she climbed out.
He looped his left arm around her shoulders, holding the umbrella over them both with his right hand. Rachel huddled into her jacket, telling herself Lucas had pulled her close only to ensure that she stayed dry.
She still wasn’t sure why he’d invited her to accompany him this evening, but there’d been nothing in the least suggestive about his behavior. He’d treated her like an old friend he’d run into by chance. Which, she told herself quickly, was just fine with her.
He lowered the umbrella when they stepped under the small porch at her grandmother’s front door. Rachel fumbled in her purse for the key. At least this time, she didn’t have to crawl in through her bedroom window, as she’d had to do fifteen years ago, she thought wryly.
She looked up at him. “Thank you for the pie and coffee.”
“Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.”
He had a bewildering habit of replying in non sequiturs. It took her a moment to catch up. “Yes?”
“If I’m going to buy presents, I guess I’ll have to do it in the morning.”
“Probably,” she agreed, somewhat amused by his grim tone. He looked as though he was planning a root canal.
“I could use some help. Will you go with me?”
“Er...” Caught off guard, she hesitated.
“I don’t have anyone else to ask,” he said simply.
Hardly the most flattering justification, but it was honest enough and innocuous enough to put Rachel more at ease. “Do you really think it’s a good idea for us to be seen Christmas shopping together? Can you imagine the gossip? But then again, I guess there aren’t that many people in town who know us...”
“After that scene in the café today? Don’t kid yourself. Everyone in Honoria knows we’re here now. And that you spoke politely to my sister and me before your uncle showed up.”
“I suppose you’re right,” she admitted. “The gossip lines have probably been buzzing all afternoon.”
“Still, I see no reason to give them any more material. I thought I’d drive to the mall over in Logan’s Ridge to do my shopping. Chances are less likely there for us to run into anyone we know.”
She couldn’t help thinking about the past again. She and Lucas had always been so careful not to be seen together. They had known what a stir it would create if people knew they’d fallen for each other, despite their family history. How much more scandalous would it be if she were seen with him now?
“We could take our own cars,” she said, the suggestion escaping her almost before she knew it. “Meet at the mall.”
“That would be fine. How about just inside the main entrance at 10:00 a.m.?”
Rachel nodded. “All right. I’ll see you then.”
She had some shopping of her own to do, she rationalized. Even though all of it could have waited until after Christmas.
She turned toward the door. Lucas’s hand on her arm compelled her to face him again.
“There’s something I’ve been wanting to do since I saw you standing in that rock house Monday,” he muttered.
Before she could ask what he meant, he covered her mouth in a hard, fierce kiss that nearly made her knees buckle.
Memories of the past evaporated in the heat of the present. Rachel was no longer a shy, inexperienced girl. And Lucas wasn’t an eager, impulsive young man. The years had changed both of them.
But the chemistry between them was still there. Still so powerful it threatened to explode.
She was still clinging to Lucas’s jacket when he finally drew away. One by one, she loosened her fingers, dropping her hands heavily to her sides.
She stared at him, her mind completely blank.
It took Lucas a few moments to speak. When he did, it was only to say, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He turned on one booted heel and walked away without bothering to use the umbrella. The cold rain must have soaked him through by the time he reached his car, but he didn’t seem to notice. He threw the umbrella inside and climbed in after it.