Page 52 of Resist

My hands shot up to cover my face. “I look terrible. I’ll need to get dressed and do my hair and makeup.”

He smiled, and those damn dimples near curled my toes.

“You look beautiful, Helena, but yeah, you might want to get dressed.”

How the hell could he think I look beautiful? I probably reminded him of his grandmother.

I sighed. “Okay, how long did you say we have?”

“Ten minutes.”

* * *

I endedup taking twentyminutes, which didn’t bode well with our taxi driver … until I handed him a peace offering in the form of a twenty-dollar tip.

“He didn’t deserve that,” Lucas said as he helped position my crutches in the car park of Australia Zoo.

“Well, I did keep him waiting.”

“He was rude to you.” Lucas glared at the taxi as it drove away.

His concern was sweet and warmed my heart. “You remind me of my son—” I began to say, cutting myself off, but it was too late.

“Is that the reason why?” Lucas placed his hand at the small of my back and guided me along as I limped toward the entry gate.

I narrowed my eyes, unsure of what he was asking. “Reason why?”

“Why we can’t see where this ‘thing’ between us leads?”

I shot him a weary glance. “No, it’s not. But the fact you’re only three years older than Jason is definitely one of the reasons.”

“Age is just a number, Helena. A mathematical equation of how long you’ve been on earth each time it orbits the sun. That’s it. Age doesn’t distinguish who we can love, hate, fuck or marry. It’s just a number.”

I paused and shuffled to face him. “Do you honestly believe that, that age is just a number and nothing more?”

“Yep, absolutely.”

“But age defines so many things, relationships especially.”

He shrugged, as if my argument had no weight. “It shouldn’t. That entire concept has been imprinted on us, and it’s ridiculous.”

I went to keep moving. “You’ve really thought about this, haven’t you?”

“Not really. I just know that age is relevant to time and relationships are relevant to emotion. It’s not rocket science.” He placed his hand on the small of my back again as if to keep me moving because the conversation was over.

“But—”

“No buts.”

“Your theory, in theory, makes sense, but in reality, it’s a different story.”

He smirked.

We kept walking in silence until we stopped at the ticket booth moments later.

“Two, please,” Lucas said to the teller.

I reached for my purse. “Here, let me get it.”