She laughed nervously and her mother smiled. “That’s fine, but let me tell you, when you came home married to Rick, pregnant, I knew he wouldn’t last. I didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him,” she said with all the vengeance in her voice. Lucy knew this. She had always hated Rick. Everyone did. “But when I saw Benji lift Angie over his head and how he looked back at you, his eyes just so full of love, I knew he was the one for you.”

“Mom, be real. You just met him.”

“And I know,” she said with a nod of her head. “Watch, mark my words. You’ll marry that man.”

“Mom,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“As long as you don’t mess it up, that is,” she said then, bringing Lucy’s attention back to her.

Pulling her brows together, she glared. “What the hell does that mean?”

Her mother gave her a knowing look, but Lucy was confused. “You know what it means. You’re your own worst enemy. You don’t know how to be happy since that asshole, and it’s scared me, Lucy. I thought you were gonna be one of those women who grow old alone. But when I see you with him, a little grin on that face of yours, I think you’re learning how to be happy again. I can’t describe how much joy that brings me. I love the guy just for making you smile.”

Lucy looked away, sucking in a deep breath. Her mother was crazy, that was it. But yet, she found herself saying, “It’s new. It’s all shiny and shit, I don’t know. He makes me happy.”

“And I’m excited to watch you grow with him.”

As she met her eyes, her mom smiled and Lucy couldn’t help it, she smiled back. Because, like her mother, she, too, was excited for the future. Crazy since she had never cared before, but now, because of Benji, she was excited to see what would happen.

And if, by chance, she would fall in love with him.

“Okay, woman, I have not seen you in three days and your office is behind my house. I call bullshit.”

Lucy giggled as she drove onto the interstate. Glancing at Benji on her phone, she found him with a little grin playing on his lips as he lay back in his bed. “Hey, it isn’t my fault you’re a hotshot hockey player with things to do.”

“Hey, this is not my fault. It’s yours. You’re all over the place, designing. And yet, my house has not been started, nor has a contract for it come through.”

She rolled her eyes. “Didn’t I say I was busy when you insisted on dating me?”

He gave her a look. “Fine. Where is my contract?”

“It won’t be coming. I’m not charging you for my services, only for the supplies and crap I buy. Don’t need a contract for that.”

“Excuse me?”

“I didn’t stutter,” she teased and he glared. “Seriously. You’ve helped so much the last couple days with letting me rent your guesthouse and helping me with moving. It’s the least I can do.”

It was, and she should do more. He had been a godsend. He painted the whole office for her on Tuesday. Then, on Wednesday, he put together her office, with directions from Rayne, while she was out shopping and doing errands for one of the local restaurant’s designs. She honestly didn’t know how she could ever thank him, and she didn’t like that. She hated owing people or putting them out to help her. She asked him not to help, but of course, he didn’t listen. But then, if he had, she probably still wouldn’t be set up.

“You’re so frustrating, you know that?”

She grinned. “I think you said that when I yelled at you for twenty minutes not to paint my office. I really thought you were going to throw the paint on me.”

He scoffed. “I won’t lie, I thought about it.”

She giggled. “Figured.”

“Yeah, so how much do you charge?”

“Why? I told you not to worry about it!”

“Fine, I’ll call Rayne.”

“Don’t worry about it, please,” she begged as she turned off at her exit. “It isn’t like I can give you the blow job of your life since I’m so busy. Let me do this. I plan to start on Friday after I drop Angie off.”

He paused, his eyes half-lidded. “So, wait, you’re coming over Friday to do the design or to give me the blow job of my life?”

She grinned. “Well, play your cards right, Paxton, and it could be a mixture of both.”

He thought that over for a moment and then nodded slowly. “I guess I can handle that.”

She giggled again and a fluttery feeling went nuts in her belly as she looked at him on the phone. He was looking damn near irresistible. He had his black-rimmed glasses hanging low on his nose and his stubble was dark and thick. He was almost bursting out of his ratty tee and his jeans didn’t even fit. No. He was sexy as hell. Or maybe it was because, like he said, they hadn’t seen or touched each other in three days.

She was jonesing for some Benji Paxton.

“Why are you so hot today?”

“Whoa, don’t steal my lines.”

She laughed hard. “Please. I’m serious. Like, why? You got someone to impress?”

“Um, no,” he said simply, looking down as he pushed his glasses up. Shit, even that was sexy. “I’m wearing some jeans and a work tee.”

“Yeah, sexy,” she said all rough, and man, he was.

“I see some cleavage. So who you trying to sell to?”