In Your Honor (29 page)

“
Let's just say I'm really looking
forward to sleeping in a real bed and not seeing Chad for a while.”
She flipped her hand over to face up, sliding her palm across his
before entwining her fingers in his.

“
How do those bunks feel? I can't
imagine they're too terribly soft.” He had backed out of the drive
and turned down a couple different side streets. He knew exactly
where he wanted to take her to eat. One of his favorite crab
shacks, a place he'd never taken a date before. He'd been saving it
for the right girl. Was it too early to have thoughts like that? He
pushed that question out of his mind for the time being.

“
Pretty much the equivalent of
sleeping on the ground except not as comfortable,” she answered
matter of fact.

“
I will do everything in my power to
make this week as enjoyable as possible,” he promised, and
impulsively pulled the hand he was holding up to his lips and
kissed the back of it.

“
What
do
you have planned?” Lucy asked
curiously, her brown eyes shining with open adoration at him. He
enjoyed the rhythm of his heartbeat that she seemed to create with
her smile.

“
I promised to teach you
how to surf, remember?” he reminded her, thinking about how great
it was going to be to share that with her. While he excelled at
snowboarding, surfing was where he felt most at ease.

“
And while I'm looking
forward to that, I should warn you, I suck at most
things.”

Her pithy reply made him chuckle and he
shook his head in disagreement. Putting the car in park in the lot
of the tiny restaurant, he looked at her seriously. “Highly
doubtful.” He let go of her hand and moved a stray hair out of her
eyes. He could honestly stare at her all day.

“
Are you hungry now?” he
asked, looking at her lips and wondering, since they had passed the
first kiss milestone, if it would be okay for him to kiss her
whenever he wanted.

“
Starving,” she said, her
eyes trained on his mouth. His stomach clenched.

He leaned over swiftly, slipping his hand
behind her head and pressing his mouth to hers. The kiss turned
feverish very quickly. Her open and inviting lips caused his heart
rate to skyrocket, and he knew he had to stop.

Letting go, he sat back in his chair, out of
breath. “Sorry,” he said, giving her a lopsided smile. “You make me
crazy, Newton,” he reverted to her last name again in an effort to
bring himself back to earth.

“
No apology necessary,
Brookings.” She looked at him shyly, lips red and already swollen.
He knew he needed to slow it down. His biggest mistake with women
had been going too fast too soon. He was
not
going to rush this.

***

When Lucy told Shane she'd never had
seafood, he had been shocked. He ended up ordering nearly
everything on the menu and made her try it all. She was thankful
that she didn't end up being allergic to shell fish and that he was
an adorably good sport.

The dinner conversation was also highly
delicious. They talked about the tour, his new business venture and
their mutual friends.

“
Tell me about Clarke,” Lucy asked as
she snagged another coconut shrimp off of Shane's plate.

“
There's not much to tell. She works
for me.” He leaned back in the booth and grabbed his napkin from
his lap, cleaning off his hands. He shrugged slightly and reached
for his water. “She surfs, she keeps my West Coast stuff running
smoothly.” He chuckled slightly. “She has the biggest crush on
Serge I have ever seen.”

Lucy smiled as she remembered their little
discussion in the kitchen. “I take it you don't approve?”

“
He's her celebrity crush. You know
what I mean?”

“
Yeah, like Russell Crowe is for me,”
Lucy nodded in understanding.

Shane's eyebrows shot up. “Russell
Crowe? You're telling me that I have to compete with
that
guy for you? Have
you seen
Gladiator
?”

“
Why? Is he here?” Lucy
made a show of looking around eagerly before laughing at Shane.
“Don't be ridiculous. It's a celebrity crush. It's not even
real.”

Shane looked skeptical and Lucy liked how he
was slightly jealous of the actor.

“
Well, imagine if Russell
Crowe came around where you worked all the time and flirted with
you and then took off for months at a time without any
contact.”

She nodded, “That would suck. Serge doesn't
like her back, huh?”

Shane shook his head. “Don't get me wrong.
He's a great guy. One of the best. But he's a lone wolf. He's not
looking to settle down. And Clarke...” He let out a heavy sigh.
“She deserves better than that.”

“
You sound like a big
brother,” Lucy pointed out as she swirled the ice in her glass
before taking a long sip of iced tea.

“
I may have assumed that
role in her life,” he admitted shyly. It was sweet. Another part of
Shane Brookings that she liked.

They talked nonstop throughout the meal; no
awkward pauses or weird silent moments. His relaxed and witty sense
of humor had her laughing more than she thought possible. By the
time they left the restaurant, her stomach was starting to cramp
from laughing so hard. Or maybe that was the amount of food she'd
consumed.

When they got back to the house, the rest of
the guests had already gone down to the beach.

“
Let's go down there with them,” she
suggested as she unpacked her clothes from her duffle and put them
in a short dresser next to the bed. She set aside her bikini,
planning on putting it on under her clothes before they left
again.

“
Ah, okay. If I have to,” Shane sighed
begrudgingly, and she laughed at him.

“
They're
your
friends, don't you like them at
all?”

“
Yeah, but I like you
more.” He winked at her and opened his own suitcase.

Lucy moved her bathroom essentials into the
enormous master bath. She did a little twirl, excitement building
at being able to use it later. Such a far cry from the facilities
on the bus. When she returned to the bedroom area Shane was holding
up her swim suit, his eyebrows raised.

“
Are you kidding me with
this, Newton?” he asked with light panic.

She snatched the green fabric from his
grasp. “What?! It's a swimsuit!”

“
My friends are going to
be impossible if you wear that in front of them,” he teased,
running a hand through his hair and then rubbing the back of his
neck.

“
Should I go buy a
different one?” she asked, biting her bottom lip and suddenly
feeling self-conscious.

“
Hell no!” he exclaimed,
moving to put his hands on her waist and looking into her face. “I
want you to wear whatever you want. You're the sexiest when you're
comfortable.”

“
Sexy?” It was her turn to
raise eyebrows. “I've been called a lot of things, Brookings. Sexy
has never been on the list.”

“
Probably because the guys
who know you are afraid you'll shoot them.” His mouth ticked up on
the side as she scrunched her nose at him in disapproval. “Don't
make that face, it's on your record.”

“
You're impossible,” she
growled.

“
I think the word you're
looking for is 'awesome,'” he corrected her seriously.

Lucy rolled her eyes and pulled away as he
chuckled heartily.

“
I'm gonna change.” She
took her suit into the bathroom and closed the door.

She slipped the green fabric onto her fit
body and looked at herself in the large mirror over the sink. The
black script on her left side caught her eye and she felt her heart
fall to the floor.

That may have been the single dumbest thing
she had done in her entire life. How was she ever going to explain
it to Shane?

She traced the fine lines with her
fingertips, remembering the night she had gotten it done.

She'd been sober in the chair, but had gone
straight to Red's afterward to tie one on. Officer Barry Klinisky,
a guy she graduated with incidentally, gave her a ride home instead
of arresting her for public intoxication and disturbing the peace.
It was mighty nice of him considering she was had been with his kid
brother at the time, and had convinced Philip Klinisky to get his
eyebrow pierced. Blake would have been so proud.

She deliberately didn't think about Blake
when she was with Shane. She didn't want it to put a filter on what
was really going on. If she was going to give Shane the ability to
chase away the memory of Blake, then she couldn't invite Blake
along. Even if it was only in her thoughts.

But with his name staring back at her in the
mirror, it was kind of hard to ignore.

She tugged the side of her top down to cover
it. She would have to be careful. And when the moment came to talk
to Shane about it... she would deal with it like she had everything
else. Honestly.

She redid the braid in her hair and wondered
if she was ever going to do something in her life she wouldn't have
to be ashamed of later.

Putting on her jean shorts and gray tank
again, she took a deep breath and swallowed her unexpected tears.
She couldn't let her internal issues affect her week with Shane.
She refused to be that person. She was better than that.

***

When Lucy emerged from the bathroom, Shane
felt his palms start to sweat. He didn't get nervous easily but
there seemed to be a lot of new things happening with him when he
was around Lucy.

He reached into his pocket and clutched the
piece of jewelry he was planning on giving to her. He'd been
waiting for the perfect time, and this seemed to be it. He could
have given it to her at the airport or the restaurant, but he kept
chickening out. It was now or never.

“
I have something for
you.” He was proud of himself for keeping his voice level and
controlled. Especially when her reaction was that small, shy look
she flashed him beneath those impossibly thick lashes. Her lack of
expectation drove him to want to do even more for her. To
constantly surprise and excite her because her genuine appreciation
was so evident and expressive. She was amazing.

When she got close enough,
he took her hand and led her back out on the balcony where they had
shared their first kiss. In the sunlight, her dark hair glimmered
with streaks of gold and bronze and he just wanted to sink his
fingers into it.
Later, we can do those
things later.

He pulled the bracelet out of his pocket and
held it out for her to see. A combination of rough and polished
stones held together by a braided leather cord dangled from his
hand. “I got this for you in New Zealand. This lady makes them from
stones off the beach and it's supposed to represent confidence and
beauty... two of the things I think of when I think of you.”

“
It's beautiful,” she
breathed, taking the delicate piece in her hands. “Will you help
me?” She held out her wrist for him to tie it to and he gladly
obliged.

Her soft, sweet smell surrounded him, and he
couldn't resist sneaking a quick kiss to her cheek. She turned her
head and caught his lips with her own, surprising him in the best
way. He felt her hands travel up his chest as she leaned into
him.

“
Thank you,” she whispered
against his lips as he fought to recover his breath. He opened his
eyes and stared into her dark irises. He lost almost all ability to
reason when he was this close to her. She could very well be his
undoing.

When they got to the beach, all of his fears
and assumptions about having her around his friends came to pass.
She shed her outer clothes, revealing her fantastic body, and his
friends began to stare and comment. She either didn't hear them or
was very good at ignoring them.

Harmony, as predicted, was completely
jealous of the other hot girl. She got louder and more obnoxious as
the day wore on and Shane decided that he might actually hate her.
He'd never hated anyone in his life, so it was a whole new
sensation.

Lucy didn't do any swimming; she only wanted
to relax in the warm sunshine. Shane felt like the luckiest bastard
in the world when she asked him to put sunscreen on her back and
shoulders. Her skin was soft and silky under his hands and he was
again thrown into a whole new dimension by her sweet scent of pure,
wildflower honey.

His friends started to throw a Frisbee
around, and she slipped her clothes back on to join them. The guys
were a little thrown off by her tomboyish behavior but included her
anyway. Shane sensed her desire to win them over and he hoped it
wasn't on his account. He had never tried to imply any such
stipulation. But obviously being on the road with a bunch of dudes
had made it easier for Lucy to fit into this kind of a
scenario.

“
Dude,” Adam approached
him, getting a bottle of water out of the cooler. “Your girl is
pretty cool.”

“
Thanks, man,” Shane
nodded in appreciation. “I like her, too.”

“
You gonna take her out on
the water tomorrow?” he asked, sucking down half the bottle in one
swallow.

“
Yeah, that's the plan.”
Shane watched her dive for the Frisbee and sacrifice her body for
the catch. Damn, she was cool.

By the time the end of the day arrived,
Shane was caught off guard. They all had dinner together and then
one by one retreated to their rooms. Lucy went into the bathroom to
shower and he set up his bed on the couch. It wasn't even an issue
for him. He was thrilled to be in the same room with her. But he
was really looking forward to one last kiss before having to say
goodnight.