Page 25 of Love Is a War Song

It was an offhand comment and it meant nothing, but it made my empty stomach feel heavy.

It was an irrational feeling, because why would Lucas walk down Sunset?

Surely not to visit me. Once I left this place, he would never think of me again.

Could I blame him? Back home, I’d be hustling trying to get a new brand deal to generate income.

Of course, he was entirely oblivious to the ridiculous thoughts running through my head at warp speed.

He was focused on the task at hand, and in my internal mind war, I’d forgotten to pay attention and keep an eye out for Tilda. Oops.

He pulled up on the reins and Rakko stopped.

“Did you spot her?” I asked, looking around.

“No, but I think we can take a break here and see if she circles back. You hungry?”

“Very.”

He jumped down and dug into the saddlebag and threw an apple at me. I caught it.

“You packed us food?”

“I wasn’t sure how long this would take and we gotta eat, don’t we?

” He reached up to help me down. Was it my imagination, or did his arms suspend me for a moment longer than was necessary, and his hands linger at my waist for an extra couple seconds?

I followed him to an old, downed tree trunk and he looked it over. “No fire ants, we can sit here.”

So we did. I stole a glance at his profile while he dug into the bag for more food.

A thick strand of hair came loose and curled over his forehead.

I wanted so desperately to know what his hair felt like.

It took all my willpower to keep my hand in my lap.

I wasn’t his real fake girlfriend. I wasn’t even his friend.

But it felt like something was there. It couldn’t just be me.

“Lucas?”

“Yeah?” He looked up through his thick lashes and if I hadn’t already been sitting down, I’d have swooned.

“As your fake girlfriend, I feel like we should know some basic facts about each other.”

“You’re my fake girlfriend for an evening in a while from now.” He lifted his eyebrow.

“I’m a professional, Lucas. I need to know my character. Where did we meet? Where did you take me on our first date? Do you like to be tickled? Are you a boxers or briefs kind of guy?”

“Whoa. What? My parents would never ask about my underwear preferences, and I am not ticklish at all. You’re overthinking this.”

“What if one of us has a food allergy? We need to know these things if we are going to convincingly pull this off.”

He sighed. “Fine. We met at the bus station. Our first date was a PowerBar in the car. I wear boxer briefs, and again I’m not ticklish.” Oh, this man was so ticklish. Doth protest too much.

“We can’t say how we really met! And if that horrendous car ride from the bus station was our first date, then this fake relationship is doomed.”

“I thought to sell a lie it has to be based on truth,” he said with a shrug.

“Come on, if I were a regular girl you met randomly, where would you take me on our first date?”

“There is nothing regular about you.” Lucas looked down into the bag, taking out parchment-wrapped sandwiches and handing me one.

“If we were two random and totally normal people, I’d take a theoretical you out for a nice horseback ride to my favorite spot and pack a picnic.

We’d talk for hours, and the whole time I’d be working up the courage to give you a goodbye kiss. ”

Why was I blushing? I cleared my throat and asked, “Where is your favorite spot?”

“That’s a secret.”

I narrowed my eyes. That defeated the whole exercise, but I pressed forward. “What kind of sandwiches did you pack then?” I asked as I unwrapped the one in my hand.

“Turkey,” he said through a big bite of his.

“The most romantic of sandwiches, I approve.” I giggled to myself as I took a bite of the turkey sandwich Lucas had prepared. It was perfect from the crispy lettuce to the juicy tomato.

We enjoyed our food for a few moments in silence before I asked, “Did you work up the courage?”

He unscrewed the plastic lid off a water bottle and put it to his lips. He shook his head with a ghost of a smile before he took a sip.

I looked away, blushing.

“What about you?” he asked.

“What about me? Do your parents need to know my underwear preference?”

He spit out his water. “No! You brought that up. I don’t need to know and my father sure as hell doesn’t need to know.”

“Well, that’s good since my preference is to not wear any.”

Lucas choked on air. It was pure pleasure to watch Lucas’s full body flush. He jumped up from the tree stump and spilled the remainder of his water bottle on his pant leg.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Fire ant.” He cleared his throat not once, not twice, but three more times. “We should probably get moving.”

I hid my laughter as we packed up our trash and got ready to go. We didn’t get far.

“Lucas! Look! It’s Tilda.” The pinto horse was staring at us from the tree line. Her stomach was big and round. Lucas got up slowly and whistled. Tilda stayed in place and let him tie a rope around her and lead her to Rakko.

Back up on Rakko with Lucas behind me, I felt a shift in our positions to something more comfortable. His arms fell more snugly around my waist. It wasn’t possessive, but the first ride had felt like he was trying his hardest not to touch me more than necessary, and now I felt him everywhere.

We slowly cantered back but I didn’t want this moment, this openness, to end. “What is your dream in life?” I asked him.

“I’ve already told you. Have my own ranch that helps kids.”

“Yes, but I mean…Do you want to do that alone? Do you want to get married one day? Do you want a family of your own?”

“I do. I’m an only child and I want those big family holidays.”

I turned back in my seat. He was smiling.

“What about you?”

“I’m also an only child and always wished I had siblings…

and a dad. A family in general. This whole experience being here, while not ideal, was always my dream.

That I had a big family out there waiting to claim me.

I want that big princess wedding and family of my own.

I’d let my kids be kids and not force them to work.

My mom did what she thought she had to do, but I want a different life for my children if I have them one day. ”

“I’m sure you will.”

I hadn’t intended for the conversation to be serious, but it felt good to open up and talk about our values and dreams. It was nice to know we had some common ground.

We were more alike than he liked to let on.

Before making our way back to the barn, I wanted to lighten the mood, and looking down at his powerful thigh, I did something mischievous.

I spread my fingers gently just above his knee and tickled.

Lucas bucked on the seat.

“Devil woman!” he cried through laughter. I could barely hear him over my own.

“I knew it!”

He swatted my hand away. “We will never speak of this again,” he growled into my ear, then urged Rakko into a bumpy trot back to the house, where we had to get ready for a night on the town.