She tore her gaze from his sexy morning hair and razor stubble. “Nothing. I thought I’d take a walk, get some fresh air.” Think about the ramifications of what she’d done—and how he’d made her feel.
He shrugged. “Sounds like fun. I think I’ll join you.”
She couldn’t very well argue… and she didn’t want to. Spending the day with him sounded like a perfect afternoon. So what if that meant she could not overthink things. That was probably his intention anyway. Keep her too busy to dredge up issues and problems.
They’d rear their ugly heads soon enough.
* * *
Lucas knew if he gave Maxie time alone, she’d talk herself into believing last night hadn’t meant anything, when in reality, it had been everything. He understood her fears and the reasons behind them. She’d been involved with an asshole who wanted to control her, and she was stuck living with another man when she’d rather be asserting her independence in all possible ways.
Lucas had every intention of giving her the freedom she needed to be her own person. He just wasn’t giving up on them while she explored her new life, and he intended to make her understand the two things weren’t mutually exclusive.
Instead of heading to Central Park, which could be crowded on such a beautiful fall day, they walked down the street, past his apartment, and kept going. A light wind blew around them, and he instinctively wrapped an arm around her to keep her warm. She stiffened in surprise, then eased her body into his as they strode in companionable silence.
They stopped at a vending cart for a hot pretzel and a bottle of water, which they shared.
“So how are you enjoying work?” he asked.
She brushed a long strand of hair from her face. “I love it! It’s so different from my last job, but I don’t miss dealing with people who I’m not sure whether they’re guilty or innocent. I never thought I’d like plain old civil litigation, but it’s been interesting. And I really like the lawyers and the staff too.”
He glanced her way. Her eyes sparkled with happiness.
“That’s great. I’m glad it was a good fit.” He paused, wondering if now was the time to share something that was important to him and decided yes. There might not be a better way for her to get to know who he really was. “Speaking of good fits, I want to take you somewhere. Show you something. Are you game?”
She met his gaze, then shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”
He hailed a taxi, and after they climbed in, he gave the driver an address uptown. Not a typical area of the city where you’d visit on a Sunday morning.
“I’m confused,” she said as the driver sped toward their destination.
“After Blink took off and we started monetizing it for profit, I wanted to do something more with the money than spend it on myself or put it in the bank.” He paused. “Do you remember Eric Kutcher? From middle and high school?”
She nodded. “Did you two stay close?”
He glanced out the car window and saw they still had time for him to explain before they reached their stop.
He didn’t answer directly. Not yet. “Kutch went to a small college in California. A technology school his parents thought would be a good fit. And get him away from the bad high school memories.”
Kutch had suffered from severe acne and he was overweight. Lucas might have had his brother and occasionally his asshole friends to deal with, but Kutch’s bullies took the concept to a whole new level.
“Did you lose touch because of the distance?” she asked.
“You didn’t hear?”
“Hear what?” Maxie asked as the cab pulled up to the address Lucas had given.
“Hang on.” Lucas paid the driver and asked him to wait. They wouldn’t be long here, and even if they were, he wanted to be sure they had a ride back home when they were ready.
He climbed out of the car and helped Maxie out next. “This is it,” he said, pointing to a red-brick building.
“Where are we?”
Lucas gestured to a small sign on the side that read, Kutcher Recreation Hall.
Her eyes opened wide. “It’s named after him. What happened?”
“If you aren’t lucky, reputations follow you, courtesy of social media. Kutch didn’t have an easy time of it in college either. He committed suicide freshman year.”