Lucy glanced again at her computer. In just a few short months, she had become so used to having an email to look forward to that she couldn’t seem to break the habit now that they weren’t writing.
“You could change that, you know,” she muttered to herself. With a sigh she forced herself to look somewhere else. She threw herself on the couch and grabbed the remote, mindlessly flipping through channels. Nope. Nope. Nope ... Nothing looked interesting, but Lucy was bored out of her mind. “This is why I teach summer school,” she said to the television. “No family ... friends are busy planning a wedding ... the man I want is dating another woman ...” With another sigh she flipped the TV off.
“This is ridiculous.” Standing up she marched to the front door and grabbed her key. Before she could think better of it, she walked out, locked up and headed towards the park. On the way there, she stopped at a gas station and grabbed a loaf of bread. “Might as well make someone’s day.”
Finding her favorite bench, she sat and began breaking up the bread pieces. Half a dozen geese started swimming her way, honking as they came, excited at the thought of lunch.
“They recognize you.”
Lucy gasped and snapped her head toward the voice. A voice she recognized, one that sent butterflies to her stomach. “H-hey! Fancy meeting you here.”
Mateo chuckled, a deep, delicious sound that made the butterflies flap even harder. “We seem to do this often. If I didn’t know any better, I would think you plan this.”
Lucy put her hand to her chest, pretending offense. “I do believe that I am always the one here first, good sir. Pray tell, how I could be following you? I would think you would be following me.” She couldn’t help but grin, at his amused smile. She loved the easy banter between them. Realizing a moment later that he was still dating another woman, her good mood fell.
Mateo slipped next to her on the bench. “What’s wrong? I thought we were ... did I say something that—” He reached his hand out and rested it on her forearm.
“Oh no!” Lucy reassured him. It took all her will to pull her arm from his grasp, knowing her heart would only break more if she allowed herself to enjoy his warmth. “I just had a sad thought.” She shook her head and forced a smile. “Sorry.”
Mateo shrugged. “It’s fine. But I’m sorry you thought of something sad. What can I do to help?”
Dump Lillith and declare your undying love for me? “Nothing. I’m sure it will all work out just fine.” I wish.
Mateo studied her with narrowed eyes. “I’m sure it will.” Putting his back to the bench, he let his legs go out in front of him, crossing them at the ankle while also crossing his arms over his chest.
Lucy looked back to the geese and started throwing bread, causing a melee of honking. For a few moments, Mateo and Lucy just listened to the noise.
After it died down, Mateo spoke again. “Lucy.”
For a moment, she refused to look at him. The tenderness in his voice caused her to nearly melt, but she knew she had to remain strong. Finally looking over, she knew she had made a mistakes. His eyes were just as tender as his voice.
“We need to talk,” he said.
“About what?” Lucy asked, warily.
“Us.” He said it so matter of fact, as if they were actually a couple.
As much as Lucy wished that was the case, instead of elation at his words, she felt herself panic. “There is no us.” She fought the wince that wanted to manifest as she said those words. Her heart was screaming to agree with him, her logical part was screaming that she couldn’t lose her job.
Mateo’s face fell at her words, sending a sharp pain through Lucy’s chest; adding to her misery.
“There should be,” he whispered.
Tears pricked Lucy’s eyes and she blinked rapidly and cleared her throat to clear the sudden blockage. “You’re with Lillith.”
“That’s not how it’s supposed to be.” He grabbed her hand and brought it to his chest. “Lucy, look at me.”
Lucy shook her head, keeping her eyes on the geese. “Why? Why are you doing this?”
“Lucy ...” He reached out out with his free hand and took her chin, forcing her to look at him. “I know you feel this too.”
Lucy studied his eyes, wishing she could lose herself in their brown depths, but she continued to hold onto her purpose by a thread. “It doesn’t matter if I feel it. You have to stay with Lillith.”
Mateo raised an eyebrow. “Have to? Why would I have to?”
Lucy pinched her lips. Dang it. I shouldn’t have said that. “You said yourself that you needed to spend more time with her to get to know her. You can’t give up yet.”
‘We both know it’s not Lillith that I want.” Mateo bent his head down, his eyes on her lips.
Lucy did her best to control her breathing but she was rapidly losing the battle. She knew she shouldn’t let him kiss her, but she couldn’t make herself move. Just for a moment. Just for a moment I want to pretend he’s mine.
When his lips touched her, she felt her nerve endings come alive. His hand slid from her chin, into her hair and cupped the side of her head. Mateo increased the pressure of the kiss and urged her to answer the call. Taking his other hand, he bracketed her head and deepened the kiss, a soft moan slipping from his throat.
Lucy felt like she was flying. Every part of her flew straight to Mateo, including her traitorous heart. Hook, line and sinker; she was gone. She had no idea how long they kissed, but it still felt too short when he finally started to lessen the intensity and pulled back.
Mateo kept his forehead pressed to hers while he whispered, “I knew you felt it too.”
Lucy stiffened as reality set it and she tried to pull back.
Mateo shook his head gently, rubbing his nose across hers. “No. You don’t get to pull back now. We are going to get this settled. Trust me Lucy ... trust me.”
Tears once again sprang to Lucy’s eyes and she closed them. “Maybe eventually Mateo. But not right now. Not while you’re still with Lillith. You need to give her a bit more time.”
“Just trust me, Lucy. It’s all going to work out just fine.” Lifting his head up, he kissed her forehead, then stood and walked away.
Lucy finally let go of the tears that had been threatening for the last several minutes. He knows. I don’t know how, but he knows. Her shoulders sank in defeat, before she popped back up again. I doubt Lillith knows how to get ahold of Principal Grimm, so I still have until he comes back before anything happens. Maybe we can figure something out by then. The thought gave her a little spark of hope, which was more than she had felt for a while. Grabbing another handful of bread, she tossed it at the geese while she let herself relive the glorious moments of their kiss.
*****
MATEO STALKED AWAY from the park, knowing that if he slowed up he would run back to Lucy and take her in his arms; never letting her go. He was still unsure how they were going to solve the Lillith problem, but he knew they couldn’t wait until Principal Grimm got back. There was no way he could keep himself from Lucy for that long. Not to mention, Lillith deserves some kind of backlash for threatening Lucy the way she did.
“But what do we do?” He muttered. “Why does she want me?” He thought back to the few dates they’d had, how entitled she had acted. She obviously was attracted to his money. “If the money wasn’t there ... would she still be interested?” He stopped walking and let that thought stew for a minute. “Would she stick around if she thought the money wasn’t there?” A smile began to tug at his lips as a plan formed in his mind.
Pulling out his phone, he called Ruby. After speaking for a few minutes, he hung up and texted Lillith.
Dinner tomorrow?
It took her only moments to respond.
Sounds good. There’s a new seafood restaurant I’ve been wanting to try, you can take me there.
Mateo laughed, knowing the new expensive restaurant would play right into his plans, then texted her back.
K. Seven?
Fine. If you’re good, maybe I’ll provide dessert. ;)
“No thank you,” Mateo murmured to himself, before sending a thumbs up emoji. “Now,” he said putting his phone in his pocket, “to get to work.”