Desire

THREE

Gloria P.O.V.

What in the world was I doing? Why had I agreed to go to breakfast with Lucas? Why had he invited me? I'd apparently acted like a blubbering fool last night and yet he still wanted to spend time with me? I wasn't sure if that spoke highly of Lucas or if that made him just as crazy as I was. I blushed thinking about my erratic behavior. I definitely needed to schedule another counseling session, as soon as possible. I think I had done lost my mind.

Once we'd ordered, I took my time, stirring creamer and sugar into my coffee, trying to bide myself some time. Why did I feel so awkward with Lucas, all of a sudden? I was normally so cool, calm, and confident with men. Yet, Lucas had me tied up in knots. I thought about the feeling of his lips on mine just an hour ago and shivered. I'd been two seconds away from giving into my desire and stripping him naked.

"Quarter for your thoughts." Lucas said and my eyes flew to his face.

I smirked, "Don't you mean a penny?"

Lucas shrugged and sipped his coffee, before saying, "You seemed pretty deep in thought, so I figured yours should cost more."

I smiled at his handsome face. Some men were cute, some were sexy, and some weren't either of those things. Lucas Strong was both. He was tall, with a lean build, and dark blond hair. His hazel eyes were almost always sparkling with mischief and his perfect smile was practically always on display. Right now, he was being really nice. He was acting so different than how he did when he'd seduced me into that closet. In fact, he'd acted different after our first touch. He wasn't rumored to be nice, so his behavior had me confused.

Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all, I thought and decided to put my trust in him, a little, by saying, "Well, to be honest, you make me nervous."

His eyes widened, "Why do I make you nervous?"

Shit, I felt myself beginning to panic, but decided to go for broke and admitted, "You make me feel different. You make me feel, period. I usually keep my feelings buried pretty deep, because a lot of people can't handle my darkness. You..." I sighed. I couldn't believe I was telling him this, "You make some of the darkness go away."

"So you've been running from me because I make you...feel?" He asked, frowning. Crap, was I scaring him away with my confessions? Maybe I shouldn't have revealed so much so fast. No, if he was going to like me, then he was going to like all of me. If he couldn't handle every damned one of my crazy flaws then he could jump ship now. Better to know where he stood now, before I got even more attached to him. Attachments and Gloria Davis did not normally go hand-in-hand.

I nodded, "And that scares me, because we discussed things before...the closet...and there wasn't supposed to be any strings. No attachments. Yet, I...feel like I could easily become attached to you."

A slow smile started on Lucas's face and I wasn't sure what to think. Was he happy about what I was saying? Was he feeling cocky because he could easily bring me, Gloria Davis, ball-buster, to my knees? I knew of Lucas's reputation and he didn't do relationships. So I was jumping to the conclusion that his grin meant he'd won some sort of game with me and he'd now become bored, moving onto his next victim. To say that I had trust issues was definitely an understatement. Before I could get to the bottom of his grin, my cell phone rang. Seeing Stacy's name I answered and was instantly greeted with instructions to get my ass in the car. I quickly deciphered that the baby was on the way. I told Stacy that I'd be there as soon as I could and tossed my phone back into my purse, as I stood.

"Well, this has been real, but Stacy and Kurt are about to become parents. So I've got to get on the road." I tell Lucas and toss some cash onto the table. I begin to walk away, but pause and turn around, sighing before I put myself out there once more and said, "Do you want to ride with me? It's a long drive. So there is no sense in both of us driving."

Lucas winced and I instantly regretted the offer, especially when he said, cagily, "I've got a couple things I need to tie up here, before I can go. I'll be right behind you though."

I nodded and walked out. I was so stupid. Why in the world I thought it'd be a good idea to put myself out there for someone like Lucas Strong, was beyond me. Lucas was like the male version of me. We slept around, not getting attached, and left our feelings where they belonged, buried deep. That's why I'd been so attracted to Lucas at the wedding, he seemed so down-to-earth and care-free, like myself. Only, I was quickly learning a thing or two about myself. I wasn't as care-free as I had thought. All of that would have to wait, however, because my best friend was having her first baby and I needed to get to her. I had a seven hour drive ahead of me, which would give me plenty of time to come to terms with the fact that I was completely messed up.