Chapter 2
After a long day of travel, Lucas never expected he’d be grateful for his diverted flight. He’d been ready to chuck his luggage in a dumpster at the airport but now as he shook Ella’s hand, holding on much longer than he probably should have—though she didn’t seem to mind—he was counting his lucky stars.
Ella was beautiful, charming, and—more importantly—she liked black jelly beans. A woman after his own heart. He loved the way she’d spoken about her family and her grandparents; it was refreshing. He didn’t have siblings to make fun of him and because of his dad he didn’t have grandparents to spoil him. It had been just him and his parents but he couldn’t even really call them a family, not when his dad had cared more about closing his next deal than he did about them or how his mom had preferred to spend her weekends at the spa away from home and away from Lucas.
Because of his dad’s dedication to work and success, Lucas grew up with everything he could ever want, but those material possessions could never fill the void in his heart. What he had always wanted were people who supported him without question and who loved him on days when he’d been impossible to be around.
Maybe his parents had loved him in their own selfish way, and maybe Lucas was greedy, because it wasn’t enough. The shocking surprise about his grandfather had been the final nail in the already closed coffin. He’d gone back to school and never once looked back.
He’d found family in friends as he slowly began to build a relationship with his grandfather. But being on the other side of the country made it difficult. So, now that his startup company was taking off and he had employees he could rely on, it was a no brainer when his grandfather called and asked him for help with the finances of his restaurant—a town staple that Joe started at the young age of twenty-two and had hoped his own son would take over one day. Lucas knew how that story went and only hoped he wouldn’t be as big of a disappointment as his father was.
“You got quiet. You okay?” Ella asked. “I didn’t mean to pry.”
He laughed. He barely knew the girl but he knew enough. “Yes, you did.”
“Okay, I did, but now I feel bad.”
“Nothing to feel bad about. Just lost in thought for a moment there.” He picked up the bag of jelly beans and examined it. “Still have half a bag left.”
She swiped it out of his hand. “Not for long.” She took a couple, popping one in her mouth with a satisfied smile before handing them back. “So tell me, Lucas, other than black jelly beans, what’s your favorite food?”
“Easy. Tacos.”
Ella’s hand froze halfway to her mouth. “You’re kidding?”
“There are many things I kid about, but tacos aren’t one of them. Why what’s your favorite food?” he asked.
She looked at him with sparkling wide eyes. “Tacos.”
“Come on. You’re just saying that.”
“You can call one of my best friends and ask them yourself. We have Taco Tuesday where we gorge ourselves with tacos and drink margaritas.”
“Sounds like you know how to live.”
“You only have one life, might as well make the best of it.”
He looked at her beautiful dark brown eyes that he was sure brought many men to their knees. “I couldn’t agree more,” he said.
“Do you have any traditions with your friends? Assuming you have friends that is.”
“I have friends.”
“Just checking.”
“And actually, I do. My two best buds and I try to go on a camping trip every year.”
Her gaze drifted up and down his button up shirt and settled on his shoes for a moment before moving back to his eyes. “Camping, really? I wouldn’t have suspected you to be the outdoorsy type.”
“Didn’t you ever learn not to judge a book by it’s cover?” he asked.
She tilted her head, her long brown hair falling over her shoulders. “I did, but as you already know, I’m really good at figuring people out, and you don’t strike me as the sleeping in a tent type of guy.”
“What do I strike you as then?”
“The roughing it in a four-star accommodation with room service kind of guy.”
He laughed. “That couldn’t be further from the truth.”
“Good to know,” she said, meeting his gaze a humorous smile on her face. “I hate that kind of guy.”
Their eyes stayed locked as if an invisible force was keeping them there and neither were attempting to fight against the resistance. A minute later—or maybe longer; it was hard to tell—Ella cleared her throat and broke the connection. She fidgeted with the small golden heart that dangled from her necklace, rubbing the shiny metal between her thumb and forefinger.
“Have you ever been camping?” he asked, not wanting the little time they had left together to get lost to silence. He was enjoying her company and whether she knew it or not, she was keeping his mind occupied. Before he got on this bus he couldn’t stop wondering about how it would be to stay with his grandfather—a man he only knew through letters and phone calls.
“Once,” Ella said, “when I was seven. And we went all out. I mean we totally roughed it. My dad set up a tent in the backyard and ran an extension cord from the house to the tent.”
“What did you need an extension cord for?”
“The TV of course.”
He laughed. “A TV?”
“And a VCR. I mean how else were we supposed to watch Free Willy?”
“Now that’s roughing it. I’m surprised you survived to talk about it.”
“It was pretty bleak, but somehow we managed,” she said.
He smiled, appreciating the joking tone in her voice and the way playfulness highlighted her face. They fell into easy conversation, and before he knew it the bus was pulling into the depot.
She leaned down, picking up her bag and placing it on her lap. The bus came to a stop and she turned toward the aisle. A couple hours ago he couldn’t wait for his hellish day of travel to be over and now he didn’t want it to end.
People began filing off the bus, and he grabbed his stuff and stepped into the aisle. Ella pushed the strap of her purse onto her shoulder and he nodded to it.
“Is that all you have?” he asked.
“This is it.”
“You travel light.”
She shrugged. “It was only a day trip.”
The aisle cleared, and with no one else in the seats behind them, Lucas stepped away from the seat and stood back to let Ella go first. She slid out from the little world they’d created on the ride, and he followed her off the bus.
“Well,” she said, turning to him, “it was nice meeting you.”
“Likewise.”
“Okay then.” She waved awkwardly and spun around. An unexpected rush of panic filled him, and he called after her. She turned back to him, her long brown hair floating around her.
He moved toward her, knowing that if he let her walk away he would forever question his stupidity for letting her slip out of his life.
“Do you want to grab a cup of coffee?” he asked.
Her dark brown eyes focused on him, her eyebrows lifting ever so slightly. She was damn beautiful, more beautiful than any other woman he’d ever known. And somehow, he’d been lucky enough to talk to her for a couple hours.
A couple of hours wasn’t enough.
He had nothing to lose, so he hit her with honesty. “I couldn’t walk away from here without asking. I know I would wonder for the rest of my life what would’ve happened if I just asked. So what do you say? Coffee?”
Her teeth slid over her plump bottom lip. She nibbled at it for a moment, then met his gaze. “I wish I could, but I can’t.”
“I understand,” he said, and he did, but it didn’t take away the disappointment that was currently engulfing him in a sad pathetic cloud of rejection. He swallowed down the defeat and nodded.
“No, it’s not like that,” she said. “If I don’t get back soon my family will worry.”
“You’re not married, are you?” In the entire time on the bus, he hadn’t thought to ask, but she wasn’t wearing a ring; he’d checked.
Ella laughed. “Not married. Just have three overprotective brothers and a grandfather who worry too much.”
“That’s a lot of people looking out for you.” He had no idea what that was like, but imagined it had its perks. “That must be really nice.”
Her eyes softened. “It is, sometimes. Other times they make me want to rip my hair out.”
“Can I get your number then?” Now that he knew for sure she wasn’t married, he wasn’t going to walk away knowing he’d never see her again. Not when he’d felt alive for the first time in a long time just sitting on a bus talking.
She smiled. “You’re persistent.”
“I know a good thing when I see it.”
“Quite the sweet talker, too.”
“Is it working?” he asked.
She tapped her chin then held out her hand. His eyebrow arched in curiosity.
“Give me your phone,” she said.
He didn’t hesitate, though maybe he should have since he honestly didn’t know her from a hole in the wall, but he felt he knew enough that she wouldn’t take off with it. She didn’t. She clicked a few buttons then the sound of a vaguely familiar pop song echoed through the air.
She reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. “Now I have your number. And mine is in your call history.” She tapped a few more buttons on his phone then handed it back with a stifled laugh.
He took the phone and looked down at the screen a smile curving the edges of his mouth. “Awesome bus girl?”
“I think it has a nice ring.”
She typed into her phone and laughed.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
He made a move for her phone, and she held it above their heads, and though she was tall, she wasn’t taller than him. A blush spread across her cheeks, her lips pursed. . He moved quickly and snatched the phone from her hand. He couldn’t hold back the laugh when he glanced at the screen.
“Cute bus guy?” he asked with a dumb smile forcing its way across his face. “You think I’m cute?”
“You weren’t supposed to see that.”
“I’m happy I did.”
“I really should go.” She backed away from him slowly and waved. He stood there, watching until she got into a black Mustang then texted her.
I think you’re cute, too.