“And what about when you were going to learn to scuba dive?”
“I did learn,” Lukas protested. “Just not then.” The three of them had signed up for scuba lessons one summer in high school. But then his dad had asked him to go to Santorini to help out his grandfather for the summer. How could he turn down his grandfather?
“And then there was the sailboat. One minute you were full of plans, fixing it up, sailing around the world, and the next you’re off to Greece for something better to do!”
“We both know why I had something better to do, Holly.”
She stepped back as if he’d slapped her. She took a breath and let it out slowly before saying in a voice that wasn’t quite steady, “So this is...my fault?”
Lukas shoved himself up out of the chair. “Of course it’s not your fault! It’s my fault! I told you that! But you know why I went.” One of the reasons, at least.
She hesitated, then gave him a tight little nod. “So, am I supposed to thank you for leaving?”
“You could,” Lukas said drily, “but I don’t expect it.”
Holly grunted and paced around his office. If she were a cat, Lukas thought, she’d be twitching her tail in fury. It reminded him of all the times she’d railed at him when they were kids. He’d been fascinated by her. She was so intense. So loyal. No one had more spirit than Holly. No one championed the underdog the way she did.
She had reached the end of the room and turned back to face him again. He could see her working to get herself under control. “Look,” she said at last, “it’s simple. I told you lots of these kids have had a rough time. They’ve been let down more than once. They need to be able to count on people.”
“Got that,” Lukas said.
“Which means if you act like you’re going to be there, you have to be there.”
“I’ll be there.”
“You might intend to be there—you might have intended to stick around and work on the boat, I don’t know—but things happen!” Her face suddenly grew bright red again. No doubt they were both remembering exactly what “thing” had happened that night. “You run a damn empire now, Lukas! How do you know you won’t have to dash across the world to do something important?”
“Because I run a damn empire, and I decide what’s important.” He met her gaze implacably with one as fierce as her own. “And if I say I’m going to be there, I will.”
Their eyes dueled. Holly didn’t give an inch, but Lukas wasn’t backing down. It was obviously more important than he realized that he follow through with the kids. And admittedly, he hadn’t given it a lot of thought when he went in the first place. Now he could see her point. He wasn’t totally self-absorbed. He had grown up.
Still she stared into his eyes. He stared right back. Finally, Holly broke eye contact. She pressed her lips together and looked away across the rooftops of SoHo.
Outside, Lukas heard a siren. In Sera’s office the phone rang. She’d better deal with it herself. He wasn’t picking it up if she put it through.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Lukas repeated. “I get it, Holly. I understand. And I can make time. I will make time.” He raked fingers through his hair, then dropped his hands to his sides. He paused, once more letting his gaze lock with hers. “Cross my heart and hope to die, Hol’. I swear I will be there.”
He did exactly that—crossed his heart—like a twelve-year-old. But he didn’t know how else to get it through to her other than to use the words they had always used as children in moments of deepest commitment.
“You didn’t cross your heart about the boat,” Holly said faintly.
Lukas shook his head. “No.”
He saw a flickering of something—a softening perhaps—in her gaze as she took a shaky breath. “Well, then, as long as you understand how important it is...” She hesitated, then shrugged. “I guess we’re good.” A bare hint of a smile tipped one corner of her mouth.
Lukas would have preferred a blinding smile, would have liked her to throw herself into his arms. Fat chance. But it felt like a watershed moment, and now he was the one who needed more convincing. He caught her hand, holding her where she was. “Are we good, Hol’?” His voice was rough.
She blinked. “What?” She shook her head. “I... Yes, of course.”
He should have let go of her then. It was all the reassurance he was going to get. But he wanted more. What he wanted from Holly was only partly tangled up with what had happened with Matt. Just as much it was about what Lukas had always—though unadmittedly—felt for her.