Lucas walked closely beside Fallon, his arm brushing hers with every step they took. When his hand slid into hers, she glanced up at him to see that he was looking down at her as if he was waiting for her to say something.

“What? I can’t hold your hand?” he asked.

“Did I say that?’

“No, but you are giving me a look.”

“I am not!”

“Yes you are. We are dating Fallon, and if you think I’m going to let you hide it like you did before, you have another thing coming.”

Okay, so obviously he was a little sensitive about their past.

Fallon shook her head. “Lucas, I never said anything.”

“Maybe so, but I can tell when you are nervous about stuff. I doubt your dad will say anything now. I mean, we did make a baby!”

Fallon rolled her eyes. “Lucas, I’ve already disappointed my dad to the extreme. I’m not worried about him knowing I’m with you, like you said, I did get pregnant by you.”

Lucas eyed her for a minute before saying, “I always wanted to ask you about that. What’s up between you two?”

“He says I am a disappointment ‘cause I got pregnant and didn’t get rid of Aiden the way he wanted me to.”

“Really? That’s crazy! You were an adult.”

Fallon nodded. “Didn’t matter. He said that Aiden would ruin my life. He was wrong, of course, it was actually my dad that ruined my life, not Aiden. My dad took everything from me. My money, a place for me to stay, my mom, and he even tried to take Audrey from me, but she wouldn’t leave.”

“Wow, that’s insane,” Lucas said. He then glanced down at her. “So that’s where your money went. I was wondering that, too,” Lucas said, nodding his head.

“Yup, all of it gone. Depressing huh?”

Lucas smiled. “Don’t worry; I got more than enough for me, you, and Aiden.”

Fallon laughed. “I will not be taking your money!” He rolled his eyes at her before she tightly squeezed his hand. “But I do want to hold your hand, so hush.”

Lucas sent her a loving grin before bending his arm behind his back and taking her hand with him so that she would be closer to him. It was such a simple little movement that had Fallon’s heart palpitating. She loved when he would contort her in ways just to be closer to her. It made her feel special and only Lucas could make her feel like that.

As they continued to walk through the mall, Lucas would pull her tighter to him, or graze her temple with his lips. It was intoxicating and she was having a hard time enjoying the mall but in a way she didn’t care. That was until Louis Vuitton came into view.

“Oooh...” Fallon gushed, pointing to the store. Lucas smiled as he changed direction, entering the store. Fallon pulled away from him, in complete awe as she walked through the immaculate store. When she saw a Coeur coin purse and belt that matched, she bought it without question and she didn’t even regret it.

That is, for a whole five minutes.

As Fallon walked out of the store, she kicked herself for spending all the money she had budgeted in the first 10 minutes of being in the mall. What if she saw an amazing dress she had to have, or a pair of shoes! Fallon loved shoes! No shoes now, she wasted all her money on a damn coin purse and belt! Yes, the belt was fantastic and the coin purse was to die for, but darn it! She was broke now!

“I need to run by the Z Gallery and get some things, then we can go wherever you like,” Lucas said, directing her towards the amazing home accents store. Fallon pouted the whole way there, and when she entered, she wanted to leave immediately because she saw the bedding she had to have. If she wasn’t so in love with the things she had bought from Louis Vuitton, she would have run back and returned it all, but she was. So the beautiful bright pink and black paisley bedding wouldn’t be gracing Fallon’s bed until she got her bonus and that wasn’t for another month or so.

Such a depressing thought.

Fallon stood in front of the bed, admiring the bedding she would never have as Lucas walked around her, looking at different odds and ends. When she ran her finger down the fluffy, soft bedding in complete longing, Lucas laughed.

“Baby girl, get it,” he said. “You have been staring at it since we got here.”

“I know. It’s so beautiful!”

“So get it,” he insisted.

“I can’t, not until after the campaign and I get my bonus.”

When he didn’t say anything, she looked over at him to see that he was looking at her, confused. “Did you not cash that check?”

“No, I did, but that money is set aside for something else.”

“What in the world could you spend all that on?”

Fallon laughed. “Well, I paid Audrey’s condo off, and then I put two million of it away for Aiden’s college and the rest is going to something else.”

Fallon’s heart kicked up in speed as she gazed into Lucas’ eyes. She was scared to tell Lucas about the cellar. What if he thought it was silly and laughed at her? It would break her heart since it was her dream. She stood by her dream to sophisticate the sport of hockey. She didn’t care how many bottles of wine she had to stuff down people’s throat, or if she had to talk until she was blue in the face about how amazing wine was, she was going to have her cellar and it was going to be a success. But that didn’t keep Fallon from still being nervous about what Lucas would think. It made her heart hurt at the thought of him not supporting her. Fallon smiled nervously and sat down on the edge of the bed, loving the feel of the blanket against the back of her legs.