Chapter Nine

      Lucy was putting the cookies in a tin for Emma to take home when the back door opened. She smiled that he was so comfortable to walk in without knocking.

      “Just in t—”

      Anything she was about to say vanished the second she saw Noah’s face. Cookies forgotten, she stepped forward. She reached out to touch his jaw, but realized he must be hurting. Her hand landed on his shoulder instead.

      “What happened?”

      Noah smiled. Actually smiled as he shook his head. “It’s nothing. My face got in the way.”

      “Daddy, are you okay?”

      Emma scrambled off the bar stool and came over to stand between Lucy and Noah.

      “I’m fine, sweetheart,” he assured her. “It smells amazing in here. I hope you made something we can take home.”

      Emma nodded, but Lucy couldn’t take her eyes off the blue-and-purple swollen jaw. Noah threw her a glance that silently told her he’d talk about it later.

      Pulling in a breath, Lucy nodded and went to finish putting bread and cookies in containers for them to take home. Her kitchen was an absolute disaster, but she didn’t care.

      Tara and Kate were likely at Gallagher’s dancing but Lucy knew she couldn’t have had more fun if she’d gone with them. It wasn’t like she had ever spent the evening with a toddler, but she’d quickly found that she was having a blast staying in for a change and being silly, tossing flour at each other, cracking eggs, and having shells fall into the cookie batter. Each mishap caused Emma to laugh even louder so Lucy found herself purposely doing things wrong.

      Emma spoke of her mother, she spoke of the ranch in Texas, and how she and her daddy always worked together in the evenings when he came home from the police station. She said he’d helped keep bad people off the streets in Texas and he was going to do the same here. She wished he didn’t work at night, but Lucy had explained that because he was new, that was the only shift available.

      It must be difficult being a single father and at the mercy of your employment, but Noah hadn’t complained to her or anyone else that she’d noticed. He did his job, cared for his daughter…and managed to melt Lucy’s heart in the process.

      Fantastic. Now she was falling for a guy that she couldn’t even bring herself to be intimate with. It had been two years since Evan passed. He would’ve wanted her to move on, and she truly thought she was ready. At least her body had been more than ready, but her mind and heart started battling and she’d shut down.

      Lucy set the tins on the island. “Emma, would you like to go in and finish watching that movie I put on earlier?”

      Emma looked to her dad. “Is it okay?”

      He nodded. “You can go.”

      As Emma raced into the living room, Lucy explained, “I hope it was okay I started a movie while everything was baking. She said you watch it at home, so I figured it was safe.”

      Noah nodded. “I trust your judgment.”

      Lucy eyed his face, hating he’d been hurt. “Ready to tell me what happened to you?”

      “I met Gray Gallagher.”

      Stunned, Lucy gasped. “Gray hit you? Why?”

      “Your friend Kate frustrates him and she likes to push his buttons.”

      A sliver of jealousy speared her. Lucy knew how Kate acted around attractive men. She was like a magnet and they seemed to gravitate toward her. No doubt Noah was just like all the other guys who found Kate irresistible.

      “You were flirting with Kate?”

      “What? No,” he said. “She was dancing with some guy. Apparently Gray saw the guy get a little too handsy and charged after him. I tried to stop it. Well, I did stop it.”

      Lucy tipped her head as she reached out, barely brushing her fingertip over the bruise. “I’m sorry you got hurt. Want some ice or pain reliever?”

      The muscle beneath her finger clenched and she glanced up to his eyes. His lids were lowered, but the dark eyes staring back at her held nothing but desire, want. Her heart picked up and the knots in her stomach clenched. No matter how many times she told herself to take this slow with him, some things were simply out of her control.

      “It’s suddenly feeling better,” he rasped.

      Lucy flattened her palm against his cheek, still careful not to put too much pressure on the swollen area. “Gray really is a nice guy. He and Kate…they’re complicated.”

      “More complicated than us?”

      Us. Well, he’d thrown that gauntlet down and the word solidified something…didn’t it?

      Kate and Gray were meant for each other, though Kate was frustrating and Gray was stubborn. The two never could see eye to eye on anything other than the fact that they both irritated each other. But anyone could see how the sparks would fly whenever they were in close proximity.

      When Lucy was around Noah, they didn’t so much irritate each other as confuse each other. The need, the guilt, the fear of moving forward all combined to make their situation so complex.

      “Not the same,” she corrected. “But just as confusing.”

      He nodded, then looked at her, his expression serious. “I’m sorry I let things get out of hand this morning.”

      Was that just this morning? The day seemed so long. So much had happened since the encounter in her bedroom.

      “We’re both to blame for that,” she told him as she dropped her hand. “But I should apologize for freaking out. I just… I never thought that would be an issue.”

      “I never thought I’d want another woman,” he countered. “I can’t want another woman. It’s too soon.”

      He seemed to be telling himself rather than her.

      Lucy couldn’t stop looking at those mesmerizing eyes and how they seemed to see right into her soul. How could a man be this expressive with his emotions and not be ready?

      Granted she thought she could move on, but fear had her rethinking that theory.

      They were at different points in their grieving and Lucy didn’t want to get hurt again—and she certainly didn’t want to hurt him, either.

      Lucy crossed her arms over her chest so she didn’t reach back out to him. “Neither of us can afford more heartache.”

      Noah nodded in agreement. “I have a daughter to protect.”

      There went more of that melting heart. “What about your needs, Noah?”

      “She’s