Lucy and The Lieutenant. Helen Lacey

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СКАЧАТЬ the reins at their family ranch and Brant deciding on a military career midway through senior year, there wasn’t any time to spend thinking about the shy, studious girl who never seemed to be able to meet his gaze.

      Not so now, he thought. She’d grown up and gained a kind of mesmerizing poise along the way. Oh, she’d always been pretty—but now she was beautiful and tempting and had firmly set her sights on what she wanted.

      Which appeared to be him.

      Brant wasn’t egotistical. But he recognized the look in her eyes every time they met. And he wasn’t about to get drawn into anything with Lucy Monero. She was pure hometown. A nice girl who wanted romance, a wedding and a white picket fence. He’d heard enough about it and her virtues from his mom and Brooke. Well, it wasn’t for him. He didn’t do romance. And he wasn’t about to get involved with a woman who had marriage on her mind.

      “You’re staring at me.”

      Her words got his thoughts on track and Brant felt heat quickly creep up his back and neck. His jaw clenched and he straightened his shoulders. “So, I’ll just get my jacket and take you home.”

      “Is everything okay?” she asked quietly.

      “What?”

      She tilted her head a little and regarded him with her usual intensity. “You seem...tense.”

      It irritated him to no end that she could see through him like that. “I’m fine,” he lied.

      Her brows came up. “I’m pretty sure you’re not.”

      “Is there a point you’re trying to make?”

      She shrugged one shoulder. “You know, most times we meet, you barely acknowledge me. At first I thought it was because you were just settling back in to civilian life and that small talk was really not your thing. But then I’ve seen you with your family and you seem relaxed and friendly enough around them. And you were with Liam O’Sullivan earlier and didn’t end up punching him in the face, so that interaction must have turned out okay. So maybe it’s just me.”

      Brant ignored the way his heart thundered behind his ribs. It is you. He wasn’t about to get drawn into her little world. Not now. Not ever. He had too much going on. Too much baggage banging around in his head. Too many memories that could unglue him if he let someone in.

      “Like I said, you talk too much.”

      She laughed, the sound wispy and sort of throaty and so damned sexy it sucked the air from his lungs. He was tempted to take the three steps he needed to be beside her. Maybe kissing her would get her out of his system. Maybe it was exactly the thing he needed to keep her out of his thoughts. But he stayed where he was, both irritated and fascinated by the relentless effect she had on him without even trying. And he knew the only way around it was to stay out of her way. To avoid her. To ignore her. To keep himself separate, as he had for the past eight months, and not get drawn into the land of the living where he would be forced to take part. Instead he’d stay on the sidelines, pretending everything was fine. Pretending he was fine. So his mom and brother didn’t work out that he was now a shadow of the man he’d once been.

      “So, I’m right. It is just me?” she asked, stepping a little closer. “Why? Are you worried that I might work out that underneath all your brooding indifference there’s actually a decent sort of man?”

      “Not at all,” he replied quietly. “Dr. Monero, the truth is I don’t think about you from one moment to the next.”

      It was a mean thing to say. He knew. She knew it. And he hated the way the words tasted in his mouth. He wasn’t cruel. He wasn’t good at it. He felt clumsy even saying the words. But he had to try to keep her at a distance.

      “I see.” Her eyes shadowed over for a second. She looked...hurt. Wounded. And the notion cut through him like a knife. He didn’t want to hurt her. He didn’t want to have any feelings when it came to Lucy Monero. “Okay. Fine. You’ve made yourself perfectly clear. Now, I think I’ll find my own way home.”

      She was past him and by the door in seconds. As she rattled the doorknob, Brant took a few strides and reached her, placing a hand on either side of the jamb. She turned and gasped, looking up, so close he could feel her breath on his chin.

      “Lucy...”

      The sound of her name on his lips reverberated through him, sending his heart hammering and his blood surging through his veins. She was trapped, but didn’t move, didn’t do anything but hold his gaze steady. And this, he thought as he stared down into her face, was exactly why he needed to keep his distance. There was heat between them...heat generated by a sizzling attraction that had the power to knock him off his feet.

      “Don’t...please...” she said shakily, her bottom lip trembling fractionally.

      Brant stepped back and dropped his arms instantly. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

      She nodded. “I know that. I didn’t mean I thought you would. It’s just that...being around you...it’s confusing.”

      She was right about that!

      “It’s like you ignore me as though I don’t exist,” she went on to say. “But sometimes you look at me as if...as if...”

      “As if what?” he shot back.

      “As if you do...like me.”

      “Of course I do,” he admitted raggedly, taking a breath, hoping she couldn’t see how messed up he was. “But I’m not in the market for anything serious. Not with you.”

      There...it was out in the open. Now she could move on and stop looking at him as though he could give her all she wanted. Because he couldn’t. He didn’t have it in him. Not now. He’d been through too much. Seen too much. He wasn’t good company. He wasn’t boyfriend or husband material. He was better off alone.

      “Why not?” she asked.

      Nothing...

      Brant sighed heavily. “I’d prefer not to get into it.”

      “Oh, no,” she said and crossed her arms, pushing her chest up, which instantly grabbed his attention.

      God, her curves were mesmerizing. He looked to the floor for a moment to regather his good sense and hoped she’d stop talking. But no such luck.

      “You don’t get to make a bold statement like that and then think you’re off the hook. What’s wrong with me?” Her brows rose again. “I’m honest, intelligent, loyal and respectable, and have good manners. I even have all my own teeth.”

      Brant laughed loudly. God, it felt good to laugh. There was something so earnest about Lucy it was impossible to remain unaffected by her. During the past few weeks he’d often heard her soft laughter through the corridors of the veterans home and wondered how it would feel to be on the receiving end of such a sweet, sincere sound. And he wanted to hear it again.

      “Well, I guess if I was buying a pony, all bases would be covered.”

      Her chuckle started out soft and then morphed into a full-on, loud guffaw. By the time she was done there were tears on her cheeks. She wiped them away and thrust out her СКАЧАТЬ