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I turned toward the voice as best I could given Lukas still had a firm hold on my waist and spotted a man with a cheesy mustache and a name tag reading Larry , Assistant Manager .

“No problem,” I said. “We were just leaving. Come on, Lukas.”

Lukas released my waist but only to take my hand and steer my cart out of the aisle and back toward the check-out. I trotted along beside him in my heels, wishing I hadn’t dressed up for our outing.

When we were far enough away, I trusted myself to speak without losing my mind. That was way too much male head-butting and dick-measuring for a grocery store. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I think I did. There was some stuff that asshole needed to hear.”

“Like ‘my woman?’”

He gave me a quick glance, and a muscle ticked in his jaw. “You’ve always been my woman, Elli, even without me having any real claim on you.”

I closed my eyes for a brief second, not letting the intensity of his words touch me as deeply as I wanted them to. “Lukas, that doesn’t even make sense.”

“It does,” he said, “and you know it.”

Did I did know it? Did he think I was supposed to know it? That was a fantasy world I couldn’t afford to live in, so I focused on the here and now. “Where’s all your stuff?”

“Up there.” Lukas indicated with his chin, and I spotted his abandoned shopping cart. Then he added, “Your ex isn’t a complete moron. He is genuinely worried about you. You should expect a call tonight.”

“After that scene?” I asked. “I doubt it.”

“He sees that he fucked up with you,” Lukas said grimly .

“If that’s true…” I sighed wearily. “Then that’s just too bad for him.”

Lukas glanced over at me with raised eyebrows. “You wouldn’t take him back? Even if he begged for mercy?”

Was he insane? “Daniel had me, then tossed me away, so that’s a solid no.”

“But you loved him,” Lukas retorted.

I stopped, but Lukas took a couple more steps before realizing he was walking alone. He stopped and turned to look at me.

“What’s going on here?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” He grabbed onto his cart and swung it around in the direction of the check-out.

I grabbed onto the end of his cart and stopped him from moving. “Are you seriously arguing Daniel’s case?”

“No,” he said. “I’m just saying, you loved him, and that kind of thing doesn’t just go poof into the ether.”

I wasn’t going to debate this with him, or even explain how I was seriously doubting ever having true feelings for Daniel. This was mainly because there was obviously something else weighing on Lukas, and I preferred to get to the bottom of that rather than any deluded past relationship.

“ And? ” I let go of his cart and we headed toward the check-out again, moving side by side.

“And it would make me feel better if you had a man in your life. Maybe not him exactly, but if you still had feelings?—”

“I don’t.”

“Okay, good. He’s beneath you.”

“And why would I need Daniel anyway?” I asked. “According to you, I already have a man in my life.”

I glanced over, and the expression on Lukas’s face morphed into something that had no name. Part pleasure. Part pain. A little vulnerable. And a whole lot of frustrated. “You don’t have to remind me about what I said back there. And for the record, they weren’t just words.”

“So, you really think of me as your woman?” I kept my voice low, not wanting anyone to hear but also fearing that those words—said too loudly—could pop like a soap bubble at the end of a pin.

“Yes,” Lukas said without a trace of doubt or hesitation.

“I really think you’re mine. I think you’ve always been mine, and you always will be mine.

At least in my head. But I won’t always be here , Elli.

And when I’m gone, I’d feel a whole hell of a lot better if I knew there was someone looking out for you. ”

We reached an empty check-out station, and I began unloading groceries onto the conveyor belt. “I can look out for myself.”

He pressed his lips together.

The check-out girl greeted us, but her gaze locked onto my bruises.

I gave her a small smile. “Ran into a door.”

Her gaze briefly shifted to Lukas before she started unloading our carts.

I moved to the end of the conveyor belt and started bagging the groceries. Then, once everything was re-loaded into our carts, we headed out to Lukas’s car.

“And, besides,” I said, picking up our conversation where we’d left it. “Even if I couldn’t look out for myself, I have Evan.”

Lukas shook his head. Apparently, he wasn’t feeling the love for my brother quite yet.

“Lukas, I appreciate what you’re saying,” I said, “but it’s been years since you were even around me, looking out for me. I’m not your responsibility. ”

His eyebrows shot up. “You think that?”

“Not think ,” I said. “I know. Until you were traded back to Minnesota, you hadn’t seen me in nearly a decade.”

His lips quirked. “You’re smart, El. But sometimes…not so much.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He opened the trunk but didn’t immediately load in any bags. Instead, he turned to face me and held my upper arms.

“I may have been far away,” he said. “But if you think I took my eyes off of you for one second…”

“Now, what’s that supposed to mean?”

He released me and gave a one-shouldered shrug. “We follow each other on socials.”

That was true, though, since Lukas never posted anything, I guessed I’d forgotten the following went both ways.

“And we have a few mutual friends.”

This was true, too, from back in the day.

“Ask any of them,” he said, “and I bet they’ll tell you what they’ve always suspected. That I’ve been in love with you for years. For far too long and without a sliver of good sense.”

Air caught in my throat. This couldn’t be happening. All the crazy declarations he’d made in the store were one thing, but love? I must have misheard him. “Wait. What? ”

He didn’t respond, just stared deep into my eyes, waiting for me to get over my stupor.

“You… love me?” I was almost too afraid to ask the question out loud. “You’ve loved me for years? ”

“God as my witness.” He leaned back against his car as if he was relieved to have that off his chest. In fact, he looked more relaxed than I’d ever seen him .

Me, on the other hand…

I wetted my lips, remembering his cryptic comment from the club: Years. Fucking years . Do you hear me?

I took a ragged breath. “Maybe we should stop talking now.”

Not that I wasn’t thrilled by every syllable coming out of his mouth, but my head was about to explode.

“If that’s what you want.” He loaded the groceries into the trunk, then slammed it shut.

Despite the sting of happy tears burning my sinuses, I finally got my head together. “What I want… What you just gave me… That’s more than I ever dreamed of having from you.”

“Well,” he said, “at least one of us is smart enough to keep their dreams small.”

I blinked, and my earlier tears blurred my vision. Small? He thought having his love was small?

“Let’s go.” He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “Get this food delivered and go home.”

I nodded—not willing to trust the steadiness of my voice.

I got into the passenger seat. Lukas angled in behind the wheel. He looked over at me, smiled, then took my hand and raised it to his lips.

“Feels good to have it finally out there, doesn’t it?”

I nodded.

He kissed the back of my hand, then let it go.

Not satisfied with that, I rose clean out of my seat and kissed him for real.

He groaned at our initial contact, and his hand slid under the hem of my dress, around the back of my thigh, and up.

His kiss was warm, wet, soft, and beautiful . The heat from his body lit me up from the inside. If possible, I could have lived in that kiss forever, but after only a brief moment, Lukas ended it with one final nip at my bottom lip.

I sank back into my seat, my mind a little fuzzy but my eyes still locked on his.

He smiled, then turned the ignition. And as we drove away, Lukas held my hand.