Chapter 10

"We can"t do this,"Maddie said. "It"s one in the morning!" But she was laughing as she scrambled out of Lucas"s rental car, a big, badass Cadillac Escalade that had enough room in the back for Violet to do sprints.

"We have to. It"s a full moon. It"ll be great." He grabbed the food out of the backseat while Violet scrambled into the front seat and bounded out beside Maddie.

She shut her door and then paused as the night settled around them.

Lucas had suggested that going home to eat the pizza in the place where the panic had hit her wasn"t her best option. Instead, he"d convinced her to go to a nearby park that he"d noticed earlier, so they could have a picnic in the moonlight.

Moonlight.

Maddie looked up at the sky, sucking in her breath as she surveyed the vast night sky. Full moon. Endless stars. She breathed deep, inhaling the fresh night air. "This is the difference between men and women. Men can do things like go to a park at one in the morning for a picnic. Women can"t."

"I know. I have two sisters." Lucas walked around the front of the truck, carrying their food and two bottles of water. "Just so you know, I could drop a man twice my size, no problem. Plus, I"m armed. You"re extremely safe."

She looked at him. "What if we got jumped by a gang?"

He shrugged. "I spent my childhood fighting for my life. I learned how to fight dirty and successfully. Then, once I hooked up with the Harts, I got serious about being able to protect myself and my siblings. When you"re rich, you have the time and money to do whatever you want, and I spent many years trying to become the next superhero so no one I cared about would ever feel unsafe again, including me."

She put her hands on her hips, startled by his statement. "Did it work?"

"Yes and no. On a physical level, I"m safe, as is my family. But turns out you can"t make people feel safe just by ensuring their physical safety."

She smiled. "I feel so seen."

"Right? Traumatic pasts bond us. You"d fit right in with the Harts." He jerked his head at a nearby hill. "Up we go, Ms. Vale."

"Away from the truck?"

He raised his brows. "We can sit in the truck. It"s fine. Let"s do that." He began to turn, but she touched his arm.

He stopped immediately, his gaze going to her hand before snapping to her face.

She didn"t pull her hand away. Touching him made her feel grounded. Connected. Safe. "If you really can keep us safe, no matter what happens, I would like to have our picnic on the top of the hill." Eating outside at one in the morning felt terrifying, but at the same time, the taste of freedom was intoxicating.

She wanted to go up that hill.

She burned for the sense of power and freedom that being up there in the dark would give her, after a lifetime of always looking over her shoulder, even when she was in the middle of crowds.

"You sure?" Lucas moved a step closer, so she didn"t have to reach so far to continue to touch his arm.

She nodded. "I need it."

Understanding flickered in his eyes. "Then let"s do it." He handed her the pizza. "I"ll get a couple blankets from the back."

"You packed blankets?" She frowned as she took the box. This wasn"t his way of seducing her, was it? She didn"t want to think he was playing her.

"I thought I was going to be sleeping outside your house for the next few weeks, so I came prepared when I showed up at your store this morning." He tossed her a grin as he pulled two red plaid blankets out of the back of the SUV. "This is a much better use for them."

She took a breath. "All right."

He nodded at the grass. "Lead the way. Turn around if you want. You"re in charge."

She sighed deeply, the panic easing. Lucas Hart seemed to know exactly what she needed from him. He made it easy to relax around him, especially since she didn"t have to hide her past from him. She could just be herself, and not try to pretend all her shadows weren"t real. She whistled for Violet, who was sniffing the grass at the edge of the parking lot. "Let"s go, girl."

She and her dog headed for the grass, with Lucas following behind her, just slightly off to the side so she could see him out of her peripheral vision.

The hill was steeper than she thought, and they were both laughing when they arrived at the top. She was panting a little, but Lucas wasn"t. Which was good. No bodyguard should ever get out of breath. He had to be unstoppable.

Lucas pointed behind her. "That"s the view I wanted to see."

She turned and saw they were up above the town far enough that she could see for miles. The lights of houses. Streetlights. Headlights. And just space and freedom and earth. "Wow." She breathed it in. "I feel like I"m standing in the middle of the freedom I always dreamed of."

"Glad you appreciate it. I thought you might." Lucas sounded pleased as he spread the blanket in front of her, and then set the ice cream and their drinks on it. "Your table is set, my queen."

"Awesome. I"m actually starving." She set the pizza on the blanket and sat down, grinning as Violet dove into the grass and rolled, grunting with delight. "This is so much better than sitting in my bed, listening to every sound, wondering if I"m going crazy."

Lucas sat down next to her, stretching his long legs out with a relaxed leisure that was contagious. "Not going crazy," he said easily. "Trust me on that."

She looked over at him as he opened the pizza box and handed her a paper plate. She wanted to ask him what his story was, what his past was, why he understood her so well. But a part of her didn"t want to open that door. She was still on edge, still a little nervous being exposed on the hill. His secrets weren"t good, she was sure of that, and she didn"t have the capacity to handle it right now.

But she liked Lucas. She wanted to connect with him. "Are you dating anyone?" Holy crap. How had that come out of her mouth? She felt her cheeks heat up when Lucas looked over at her. "I mean, whatever. Just you know, wondering if anyone is worried about you playing bodyguard. Do you need to go home to Oregon? Because it"s fine if you do. I"m fine. Like, whatever?—"

"Nope."

She paused. "Nope, what?"

"Nope. Not dating anyone. My family would care if I had to sacrifice myself, but no one romantic." He was watching her, the smallest smile playing at the corner of his mouth. "You?"

She looked down at her pizza. "No."

"No, you"re not dating anyone?"

"That is correct." She took a big bite, grateful to stuff her mouth with food to keep her from saying anything else.

"Ever been married?"

She started laughing, and then had to cover her mouth to keep from spitting her food out. Of course he would ask her right when she stuffed her face.

Lucas grinned. "Mouth full, eh?"

She nodded, trying not to choke.

"I"ll wait. It"s a good question."

She finally swallowed. "Is it? Why is it a good question?"

"Because I find you interesting, which makes me want to know more about you. So, married?"

"I was engaged until a few months ago," she admitted. "You?"

Curiosity flickered in his eyes, but he let her shift the topic away from herself. "Never married or engaged."

"In love?" The question was bold, but in the moonlight, she felt connected to him. She couldn"t find the walls she usually lived behind to keep people at a distance.

He nodded. "Fell in love when I was eighteen. Loved her family. Loved her. Thought she was my ticket out of my hell. Then she stole something, said I did it, testified against me, and got me put in jail for eight months. Never trusted a woman again."

Maddie stared at him, her pizza halfway to her mouth. He"d said it so casually, as if he"d recited it so many times that it didn"t even matter anymore. But his words suggested different. "Seriously?"

"Yep."

"That"s a long time for that to still burn."

He looked over at her. "Yeah, it is.

"Jail?"

"Yeah." He shrugged. "I was a menace to society growing up. In some ways, it was inevitable that I would end up behind bars. I was one of the ones who benefitted from incarceration. I learned a hell of a lot about the power of the choices we make and the people we trust." He took a bite of his pizza, cutting off the rest of his speech.

"You learned to trust only your family."

He shook his head. "I trust a fair number of people, actually, on some level. It was a conscious choice because I didn"t want to end up struggling like Jacob. But inner circle is different. Inner circle is by invite only."

She smiled. "I know what you mean. My friends are amazing. I would do anything for them."

"But romance?"

She smiled. "I thought you were giving me space on that one."

"I did. I was proud I waited that long to circle back. It shows incredible self-discipline."

She laughed then, cocking a look at him. He was stretched out on his side, looking so relaxed and delicious. "Adam was my fiancé. I knew him from high school. I thought I really knew him. I didn"t."

She escaped into her pizza, thinking that Lucas would ask more questions.

But he didn"t. He rolled onto his back, clasped his hands behind his head, and gazed up at the stars. "Someday I would like the details of that," he said. "It sounds like I might have to put him on my shit list."

Maddie burst out laughing, his humor easing the tension that had started to build inside her. "I thought you were my bodyguard. You"re stargazing. How will you see anyone coming?"

He didn"t turn his head. "Violet is off to our right, playing in the little duck pond. There"s a couple on a blanket about a hundred yards to the right, and two women walking three dogs past our truck right now."

Maddie looked around and saw he was right. "How did you know? You aren"t even looking."

"The magic of a misspent youth," he said. "I learned to always know everything around me. Always. I can"t turn it off. Don"t particularly want to. It keeps me and whoever I"m with safe." He patted the blanket beside him. "Watch the stars, Maddie. It fills the soul."

"I can"t."

"Why not?"

"I have to keep an eye on what"s around me."

He sat up then. "I"ll watch. You stargaze."

"I"m good." She reached for the ice cream and a spoon. "Tell me—" She looked over at him, and her stomach tightened at the way Lucas was watching her. "What?"

"You"re safe with me. You know that, right?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes."

"My primary goal is to keep you safe until we sort this out. That"s why I"m here. You know that, too, right?"

"I do." She stuck her spoon in her ice cream and set it down. "Why?"

"I don"t want you to get the wrong idea when I tell you that I really want to kiss you right now."

She sucked in her breath and her heart started racing. Anticipation coiled in her belly like warm sunshine.

"I didn"t bring you up here to seduce you. I brought you up here to help you. But sitting here with you, watching you in the moonlight, hearing your stories…." He took a breath, meeting her gaze. "I can"t stop thinking about kissing you."

Maddie swallowed. "I hadn"t been thinking about it," she said.

His brows shot up. "No?"

She almost laughed at the comical look of surprise on his face. "I think you"re wildly attractive, but I"m not interested in dating. I have an emotional block around dating right now. So I wasn"t thinking about you romantically at all."

He seemed to hear the subtext she was saying. "But now?"

"You put that image in my head of you kissing me, and now I"m thinking about it."

He smiled. "Welcome to the party, then."

Silence settled between them, silence that was taut with anticipation and possibility.

"I already told you I wasn"t going to make the first move," he said. "I can"t break that promise."

Oh, God. "I release you from your promise."

"Well, hell." His voice dropped about a thousand octaves, and he took a breath. "All right then." He didn"t move. "It"s been a very long time since I kissed a woman that I was genuinely interested in. Give me a sec to remember how to do this."

She burst out laughing. "You forgot how to kiss?"

"I always thought I was a king with the ladies when I was a homeless truant. Then I became old and boring. I don"t want my kiss to bore you."

Her heart was racing now. "I don"t think there"s anything about you that could be boring."

"Oh, I am. Very boring." He moved closer, until his hip was against hers. "Excruciatingly boring, Maddie. If we started dating, you"d fall asleep by five every evening. We"d have to start eating dinner at three because you wouldn't be able to keep your eyes open."

She giggled. "Well, I"m not boring. I"ll be my own excitement while you"re being boring."

"An independent woman. I fucking love that." He touched her jaw with his fingers. "Skin like temptation."

Goosebumps prickled down her spine. "A touch like an angel," she whispered.

"Devil in disguise." He leaned in, his gaze searching hers. "Your eyes are gorgeous in the moonlight. They look black, but I know they"re brown."

He knew her eye color. How sweet was that. "Yours also look black."

"They are black."

"They are not. They"re blue."

He smiled. "We both noticed each other"s eye color. That"s a good sign." Then, before she had to come up with an answer, he leaned in and brushed his lips over hers.

Her whole soul seemed to shiver at the touch of his mouth. His kiss was melt-worthy-tender with an undercurrent of passion held in strict check. His fingers still lightly rested on her jaw, connecting them, but not threatening.

She kissed him back, and he leaned in, deepening the kiss. Electricity seemed to jump between them, igniting a part of her that hadn"t been alive in so long. Kissing Adam had never felt like this. She wanted to tackle Lucas. Literally, grab his shoulders, tackle him, and kiss him like a woman who had waited her whole life for this man.

The idea of doing that to him was intoxicating, and she couldn't help but smile under the kiss, so happy that she loved kissing him this much. She"d thought she"d never want to kiss a man again, but then?—

Violet suddenly let out a loud bark, and they turned to see the pit bull racing toward them, teeth bared. "Oh, no! She thinks you"re attacking me. No, Violet, no!" She scrambled to her feet, trying to block her dog.

Lucas stayed sitting. "She"s fine. Let her come."

"What? No! She"ll kill you."

"No, she won"t." Lucas whistled softly and held out his hands, palm up. "We"re good."

"I'm not letting her kill you!" Maddie lunged for her dog, but Violet sidestepped her, and launched herself at Lucas. "Violet!"

Lucas didn"t move. He simply held out his arms. "Hey, sweet girl," he said softly. "We"re good."

Violet hit him in the chest with both paws, but he didn"t flinch. She stood on his chest, staring down at him, a low growl emanating from her chest. "Violet?—"

"Let her be. We need to work this out," Lucas said softly, his gaze fixed on Violet. "I"m on your side, sweetheart. We"re good."

Violet didn"t move, and Maddie"s fingers twitched with the need to grab her collar. "I can"t afford to pay the bills if your family sues me."

"My family honors animals. They"d never blame the animal. They"d probably pay you for traumatizing your dog with my presence."

She relaxed slightly at his absolute lack of concern. "Well, that"s good at least. Anything that winds up with me and Violet richer works for me."

"Right? It"s fine." Lucas continued to stare down her dog. "You know I"m all right, don"t you, Violet?" He kept his voice kind and gentle. "Otherwise, you"d already have bitten me. I do like her protectiveness," Lucas said to Maddie. "And I"m even more impressed with her control. She doesn"t want to bite me, but she wants to send a message."

Maddie put her hands on her hips, biting her lip as she watched the exchange between man and dog. Violet was wet and muddy from playing in the stream, soaking Lucas.

He didn"t seem to care.

He seemed like a man who would be happy to negotiate with her dog until dawn, if that"s what it took.

"Hey, Violet," he said again. "I won"t hurt Maddie. We"ll protect her together."

She whimpered and laid down on his chest, her full body weight pinning him to the ground.

Maddie smiled. "That"s her love language, lying on you like that."

"She wants to make sure I know she"s the one in charge of you." Lucas slowly reached and scratched Violet"s head. "I"ll take the number two spot, pup. We"ll protect her together."

Violet"s tail thumped, and she slathered a big, slobbering kiss across his cheek, making him laugh. Then she groaned, rolled over, and fell off him. She landed beside him with a thud, then rolled onto her back, asking for a belly rub.

Lucas obliged, grinning as he scratched her. "I knew we"d be fine," he said.

Maddie sat down next to them, pulled her knees to her chest, and rested her chin on her knees, smiling as she watched her dog grunt for more pats. "Violet chooses her people carefully," she said. "That speaks highly of you that she decided to trust you."

He looked over at her. "Come kiss me while I"m patting her. Show her that we"re good."

Her belly tightened. "I thought I"d made it through the kiss unscathed."

"You did. But there"s always more." He held out his hand and raised his brows.

Maddie bit her lip and didn"t move.

Lucas grinned. "Are you overthinking?"

"Yes."

"If you weren"t overthinking, what would you do?"

She took a breath. "Probably kiss you."

He nodded. "Thinking can be a bitch sometimes."

"Totally." Suddenly, she didn"t want to be in her mind anymore. She didn"t want to have a million "what if"s" running around in her head. She just wanted to feel like a normal woman, on a moonlight picnic with a normal guy, feeling all sorts of zings and allowing it.

She quickly unfolded her body, scooted across the blanket, and then leaned over the dog and man, and kissed the man.

He slid his hand through her hair, drawing her down toward him. His touch sent delicious shivers down her spine, and his mouth was warm and tantalizing. Violet whined, and Maddie put her hand on her dog"s belly, her fingers brushing against Lucas"s while they both soothed the dog.

With his free hand, Lucas angled Maddie"s head, deepening the kiss. His tongue tasted like chocolate ice cream, and his lips seemed to send magic sparkles all the way through her body, to the tips of her toes.

She relaxed on top of him, loving the feel of their bodies touching. His was so strong and solid, and his hand was a gentle caress as he drew her more tightly against him. She braced her elbows on either side of his head, fully putting all her weight on him, delighting in the sensation of being in control, of being the one to decide to stop, start, continue.

Except she wasn"t in control. Her body was coming alive in the most amazing way. She wanted more of this man. She wanted to kiss him under the moonlight until she fell asleep in his arms, safe, protected, and nurtured.

She felt like he gave her freedom, both by the way he treated her, and because he knew her past. She didn"t need to hide it, or conceal the toll it had taken on her over the years.

She wanted more?—

Her phone suddenly rang, startling her. She pulled back. "That"s my dad"s ring. I need to take it."

Lucas nodded, his gaze hooded as he propped himself up on his elbows, watching her as she pulled out her phone and answered it. "Dad? What"s up?"

"Croissant." Her dad gave her the code for asking if she was safe.

She laughed softly and snuggled back down beside Lucas. "Lollipops." She gave him the code back.

Her dad let out a breath. "That scared the shit out of me, seeing you in that park at this hour," he said. "You"re always home at night. Why are you there?"

Wow. That was depressing. She was almost thirty and she was home every night, and her dad was still checking on her? "I"m having a picnic."

"What safety precautions are you taking?"

"I have a personal bodyguard."

Her dad was silent for a second, and she knew he was trying to decide if she was joking. "Put him on."

Ah… of course her dad could tell when she was telling the truth. He always had. She put the phone on speaker. "Lucas, my dad wants to talk to you."

Lucas put his arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. "Yes, sir."

"Name."

"Lucas Hart."

"Social security number."

He paused. "I don"t hand that out."

"Smart man. Home address."

He paused again, and Maddie knew he didn"t give that out either. But then, to her surprise, he answered. "I live on the Hart Ranch." He gave out the street address.

Maddie patted Lucas"s chest, appreciating that he"d been willing to accommodate her dad.

Her dad was quiet for a moment, and they could hear clicking sounds while her dad ran a background search on him.

"Lucas Hart? Of the Hart homeless-to-riches chosen family?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why are you, a billionaire celebrity, playing bodyguard to my daughter?"

Lucas raised his head to look at Maddie, asking her how much she wanted to share.

What a question. She didn"t have the answer. She and her dad never talked about the past he"d ripped her from. It caused them both stress, so it had become a taboo topic.

"Maddie?" Impatience rippled through her dad"s voice. "Talk to me."

She thought of her dad, wilting away to nothing. Not caring. Maybe he needed something to live for. Maybe it was time for them both to stop hiding from the past that neither of them forgot. "Do you remember the boy who was at that house with me when you found me?"

Dead silence on the phone.

"Lucas Hart is his brother."

More silence.

"Dad?"

"Bring him here. Now." Then he hung up.