As Lucy walks close to me, her arm brushing against mine and her smile dimpling as she tells me about the intimacy advice the old lady who got a perm today gave her, I want to pin her up against the canned soups and try out some of the suggestions Lucy’s relaying to me via spelling so Levi doesn’t learn new things. And I would—I’m not afraid of PDA—except Levi is on my shoulders, so I have to behave. It’s good she brought Levi.
He tugs my right ear to signal which direction I’m supposed to turn, and Lucy slips her hand in mine. I should probably be focused on my own grocery shopping, but I can’t because I’m mesmerized by Lucy’s soft skin. She’s running her thumb up and down the side of mine, and I’m dying inside. How can that tiny touch spark so much inside me?
I’m seconds away from telling her we need to get out of here. Go home. Put Levi to bed. The groceries can rot in the car for all I care. I’ll replace them all in the morning, whatever. I just need Lucy.
“I need to pee,” Levi says from above my head, which is honestly a nice dose of reality.
“Whatever you do, bud, please hold it until I set you down.”
Lucy laughs beside me because she can see the sudden horror on my face. I may be getting better at the whole being-around-a-kid thing, but I’m not ready to be peed on yet. Not sure I ever will be.
“Come on, buddy, I’ll take you,” Lucy says, helping Levi down off my shoulders.
“Mom,” Levi says in what I would describe as a courtroom voice, “Grammy lets me go in by mysel
f when it’s just one bathroom. I can do it,” he says, pleading his case effectively, I would say.
Lucy and I both look toward the bathroom and note that it is a single-stall room. She looks to me for some reason—like she wants my opinion. Like my voice in this situation matters. And, somewhat strangely, I do not take this lightly. It feels big. Don’t screw this up, Cooper.
“Let me go in and make sure it’s not gross first.”
“Oh,” says Lucy, looking surprised. She wasn’t expecting that answer, and I wonder if it was weird. What exactly am I supposed to be looking for in here anyway? I don’t know…but just to be safe, I rip off a few paper towels and do a quick wipe-down because, apparently, becoming a parent also turns you into a janitor.
“There,” I say, opening the door like Superman, fresh from saving the whole freaking world rather than wiping some pee off a toilet seat. “All clear, bud. Have at it, and don’t forget to wash your hands.”
I nod. Levi nods. We’re just two men taking care of business—nothing to see here.
Levi shuts the door (and locks it, which is a little frightening), and I turn around to find Lucy staring at me with a quizzical smile that makes my stomach flip.
“What?” I ask with my own questioning grin.
She shakes her head. “When I first met you…I just never would have guessed you’d be like this.” She gestures toward the bathroom door.
“Like what?”
She inhales a deep breath and pulls her shoulders up toward her ears. “Soft. Sweet. I mean, I knew you had all the other qualities I like in a man—sexy, handsome, a big flirt, exciting…”
“No, no, go on. I like hearing how sexy you think I am.”
She tries to swat my arm, but I catch her hand and pull her up to me. Finally. I’ve got Lucy in my arms, and it’s the best I’ve felt all day. I shouldn’t be holding her, but I can’t help it.
She tilts her head up to me and pulls her arms up between our chests, letting me fully hold her, right here—outside the men’s bathroom. “I just didn’t think you could have it all. I thought there would be a catch somewhere, some glaring flaw hiding beneath the surface.”
I squint dramatically. “Well, you haven’t seen my collection of Russian nesting dolls yet.”
“Is it impossible for you to be serious?”
“Nearly, yes.”
“Cooper,” she says, her voice dropping a notch and taking on a more sultry tone that has my heart rate ramping up. “I like us together.” Her finger inches up to trace a line over my collarbone, her eyes tracking the movements like she’s studying and memorizing every small trip her finger takes.
I know I don’t have long before Levi comes out of that bathroom, so I grab Lucy’s hips and swing her around so her back presses up against the wall. My hand cups her jaw as my other sweeps around her lower back. I don’t know if I dip my head down or if she rises up onto her tiptoes, but what I do know is, in the next moment, my mouth is slanted over Lucy’s, and we are kissing like two teenagers trying to perfect the process.
The handle of the bathroom door jiggles, and Lucy and I break apart like a KitKat bar. She flings herself across the small hallway and leans against the wall, while I turn a half-circle, not sure where to go until I realize we’re adults and don’t have to hide.
Levi opens the door, smiling ear to ear, pride beaming from his chubby little cheeks, and steps out. “Told you I could do it,” he says to Lucy, whose face is flushed and lips are swollen from me. I wonder if my cheeks are beaming with as much pride as Levi’s are.
She laughs, catching my eye briefly and giving me a rueful grin before putting her hands on Levi’s shoulders and guiding him back toward our full cart. “Never doubted you for a second, buddy.”