Page 12 of Sweet Temptation (Love & Legacy #1)

LEXIE

Date a man who opens the door, then smacks your ass when you walk through it.

—Lexie’s Secret Thoughts

“ I thought this was a girls’ weekend.” Aurora sits on my bed, stalking the hell out of my date because unlike Lucky, who wasn’t actually going to do a background search, Aurora is our resident FBI-level internet researcher slash stalker.

If you need to find something out about anyone, Aurora is your girl.

“You’re really ditching us for a guy whose favorite movie is Superbad ? ”

“I mean... maybe he’s got a great sense of humor?

” She’s not wrong, and I probably shouldn’t have said yes when Brice texted earlier, but what were the chances he was down here this weekend too?

How could I say no? I guess I could have.

.. I considered it. But then I thought about why, and I got mad at myself because my reason isn’t a good one.

I haven’t been home long, and I could teach a master class on ignoring Lucky Beneventi. I refuse to let a years-old crush deter me from enjoying a night out with a hot guy. What’s the point?

“It’s just dinner. I’ll be back after, and we’ll still have the rest of the weekend.” I look at myself in the mirror and adjust the thin black straps of my gauzy maxi dress. “Please don’t be mad.” I spin around to face her and pull her to her feet. “I haven’t been on a date in so long.”

“Fine,” she pouts and hands me my purse. “But he better at least be a good kisser.”

I seriously hope so.

Ryker whistles when I walk out onto the deck, where he and the guys are sitting around the lit fireplace with beers in hand and football on the television. “Don’t you have your own house to stay at?”

“And miss your brothers scaring this guy shitless? I’ll pass.”

Linc and Lochlan laugh and fight to get past me as the doorbell rings. “Uh-uh. Don’t even think about it.”

They manage to scramble around me like they always did when we were kids, and my eyes find Lucky’s as I’m sure my brothers answer the door.

He doesn’t say a word.

He doesn’t have to.

The disappointment rolls off him in waves.

I wish the reason why was just as clear.

“Better go before the twins gut your date for fun,” he warns, but his tone falls flat, and I walk away without answering before I say to hell with it and cancel the whole thing.

He may want to date everyone in Kroydon Hills who’s not me, but two can play that game.

And as I walk to the front of the house to save my date from my brothers, I can’t help but wonder when I started to decide who I did or didn’t date based on Lucky... I haven’t been home that long, and he’s already driving me crazy.

Some things never change.

“ S o, Lexie, tell me about yourself.” Brice sips a glass of red wine as he sits across from me in one of the most exclusive restaurants at the Jersey shore.

Today’s polo is peach, and his collar is popped.

Who pops their collar? He’s been the perfect gentleman though.

Held every door and my chair. Let me order first. Shown interest. But where you’d expect a spark is a nagging thought, and it doesn’t have a thing to do with Brice.

“Hmm... well, I just got back from spending a year in Paris, studying at Le Cordon Bleu.” I watch as he refills his wine glass, then stares at my untouched one. “I just got home a few weeks ago and start my new job?—.”

“I hadn’t realized your brothers were going to be there tonight.”

Great. I guess we’re going there. “Sorry about them. My brothers are a little... overprotective .”

“A little,” he sighs. “You could say that, I guess.”

I wait for him to finish his thought, but that seems to be it.

Ok-ay . . .

“So what’s it like?” he asks and drags calamari through the red sauce, and I watch in horror as the sauce drips down onto the white tablecloth and wait for it to hit his peach polo before he pops it in his mouth, then chews it with his mouth open.

“If Linc Sinclair is your brother, that makes the Kings coach your uncle. Do you go to all the games?”

Calamari crumbs fall out of his mouth when he speaks, and it’s officially the moment I check out of the date.

He talks with food in his mouth, chews with his mouth open, and has now officially asked me more questions about football than he has about me. I’m out.

Why do men suck?

The next three hours are agony.

Yup. Three. Because Brice orders a dessert that takes forty-five minutes to prepare and then proceeds to send it back because he swears there’s a hair in it.

He tried to show me, but I couldn’t see it.

I sit, cringing, as he argues with the manager, insisting he comp our check, and I want to crawl under the table and hide.

I consider just handing the man my credit card and texting the girls to come get me, but I doubt any of them are sober at this point.

Instead, I sit quietly, stewing, because I could have spent the night at the house with Lochlan, and instead, like an asshole, I came here.

By the time Brice stops the car in front of the house, I practically run for the door.

You’d think that would be enough of a hint, but it’s not.

Brice follows me up the stairs, and we both startle as Lucky walks around the corner of the porch that wraps around the entire house. He looks between Brice and me, and I swear I’ve never been more grateful to see this man in my life.

The good manners Mom drilled into me my whole life kick in, and I force a smile as I turn back to Brice. “I had a nice night, Brice. Thank you.”

He reaches for me, but I step back and into Lucky’s side.

Immediately, Lucky moves in front of me, his thick arms crossing over his chest. “Have a nice night, Brice,” he practically growls, and I breathe a sigh of relief when the look of annoyance on Brice’s face transforms to understanding and then disappointment.

“I’ll call you, Lexie.” He smiles and waits a minute for me to respond before finally giving up and walking to his car.

I sag against Lucky as Brice pulls away and sigh. “Thank you.”

“You okay, Lex?”

I turn and look up at this man I’ve known most of my life, and for a minute, I forget why I’m not supposed to want him.

His eyes glaze over, and I swear I think he might kiss me.

And crazier yet, I might let him.

Instead, Lucky throws his arm around my shoulders and pulls me against him. “Come on, Lex. We’re playing poker, and Saylor’s running the table.”

I lean my head against his chest for a hot second and shake my head.

He’s giving me an out, and I’m taking it.

“Thanks, Lucky.”

“Remember, Lex, I’m the villain, not the hero,” he warns.

Maybe one day I’ll tell him I don’t need a hero.

L ater that night, I find Lochlan sitting in the sand, the full moon lighting up the beach like a dull flashlight around us. “I was wondering where you went.”

He pats the sand next to him. “You found me.”

I drop down next to him and lean my head against his shoulder. “You good, Loch?”

“I’m golden, Lexicon. Spending the weekend with my favorite people. Seeing Mom and Dad Sunday. Getting some surfing in tomorrow. That’s a damn good weekend in my book.”

“You’ve got to be back Monday?” I know I can’t ask why or where he’s going. The SEALs have rules. Rules we’ve heard about our whole lives. Dad and a few of his closest friends were SEALs back in the day, and their stories are legendary.

He shouldn’t have been surprised when Lochlan decided he wanted to follow in his footsteps... none of us should have been. But we all were. And even now, four years later, I still hate it.

“Yeah. We’re wheels up Monday morning and won’t be back for three months.” He brushes his hands off on his jeans and tilts his head my way. “How are you doing, Lex? You feel okay?”

“I’ve been pretty good lately. I’m on a new medication. It’s a trial. You know, just one more to add to the thirty-three I already take every day.” And as if I needed a reminder, a cough rattles in my chest. “It’s not perfect, but I’m okay.”

“Sounds like it,” he laughs, but it’s forced as he pulls an envelope from his pocket. “Can you do me a favor?”

An eerie chill runs down my spine, setting my nerves on edge. “Anything.”

“Can you keep this for me?” He hands me the envelope with Mom and Dad scribbled across the front in Lochlan’s chicken scratch. “Just... you know, in case.”

“Lochlan,” I whisper as I turn the heavy paper over in my hands.

“Don’t, Lex.” His sharp tone isn’t like him at all. “I don’t give you shit about the diary I know you keep or the letters I know are stuffed in there. We all do what we have to, to deal with the what-ifs of the world. You and I both know it.”

“Yeah, but my what-if isn’t voluntary. Yours is.” Forget my broken lungs. My heart breaks in my chest. “Please be careful. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”

“Same, sister.” He kisses my temple. “So how about you tell me what’s been going on in Kroydon Hills since you’ve been back. How’s the bakery?”

“I start Monday. Amelia shut down for a few weeks while she had some work done on the shop.” I sit up and smile, so ready to get my hands on her giant Hobart mixer. The baby one is nearly as tall as I am. “I’m pretty excited.”

“What’s it like living with Linc and Lucky?

They’re not giving you too much shit, are they?

” He smiles, and my big, tough, strong brother transforms into the same little kid who used to sneak McDonald’s into the hospital when I was stuck there for days on end.

“Because you know I’ll kick both their asses, right? ”

“I love you, Loch,” I laugh, and we’re both quiet for a long time, lost in the sound of the ocean as it crashes against the shore. “Don’t die, okay?” I finally whisper, breaking our spell.

“You too, Lex. You too.”

W hen Lochlan and I finally make our way back up to the house, the porch is empty, and all the lights are off. “Guess everyone went to bed.”

“Not everyone,” Loch offers and kisses the top of my head. “Night, Lex.”

He walks over to where I now see Lucky is nursing a beer, stretched out on one of the big lounge chairs facing the ocean. No one else in sight. “Sunrise surfing tomorrow?”

Lucky nods silently, and Loch walks inside.

Lucky’s baby blues shift to me, and I slide my flip-flops off and gently kick his leg. “I’m going to make a snack. You want something?”

I’m not sure why I hold my breath, waiting for his answer, but I do it all the same.

“You were right, you know...” I add softly. “Not that I shouldn’t have gone on a date, but that guy wasn’t worth my time. He was more interested in my connections to the Kings than he was in me. I shouldn’t have bothered.”

Lucky finishes his beer, then stands and offers me his hand. “We having omelets, Lex?”

I let him pull me to my feet and enjoy the warmth of my hand in his for a beat too long before pushing away the little spark that’s always there when I’m this close to Lucky.

The temptation to reach up and trace every line of his face is so damn strong, I’m amazed I can resist. “Listen, don’t knock the omelets.

I stocked the fridge and might just get a little creative tonight. ”

His lips tip up in a beautifully crooked smile, and those dimples I love pop deep. “Damn, Lex. Living on the wild side tonight. You gonna add cheese?”

I lean in and smile. “Nope.”

Lucky follows me into the kitchen, and I push him into a stool at the island and hand him a bowl of cherry tomatoes, then push a knife and cutting board his way. “Here. Cut a few of these for me.”

“Putting me to work?”

“Sure am.” I hip-check the fridge and lay out my ingredients. “Think you can keep up?”

“With you, Lex...?” His eyes on me feel stronger than any touch ever could. “Never.”

I keep my back to him while I smile.

“You think maybe you could teach me to surf?” I ask hesitantly. My father and brothers have never been willing to try.

“You willing to wake up at sunrise?”

“I can try.” I look over my shoulder and catch him popping a tomato in his mouth. “I’m not sure my brother will be too thrilled though.”

“I can handle Loch.” He grins a wicked grin, and I feel that smile everywhere.

Lucky Beneventi might be the villain in my fairytale, but given the choice, I’m not sure I’d have it any other way.