“Cass is busy getting ready for her wedding.” She dropped her small pile of broken glass onto the towel covering his hand. “The last thing she needs is for me to call her up whining about my troubles.”
“She’s your friend,” he reminded her. “I’m sure she’d be more than happy to—”
“She would,” Ellie cut him off. “Which is exactly why I’m not going to say anything. And neither are you.”
That last part was a belated addition to the point she was trying to make. A point he was having a hard time understanding.
“So you’re upset…and rightfully so…but you don’t want to bother your closest friend with how you feel about the situation you’re in? Mind you, your situation is one Cassie is in a unique position to understand. But instead of talking things out withher, you’ve decided to just…keep everything bottled up inside so she can focus on the wedding?”
“Pretty much.”
And here he thought he’d cornered the market on pretending his true feelings didn’t exist. It was fine, for him. But seeing Ellie all twisted up inside…
That shit had his gut so tight it felt as ifhisinsides were being put through the wringer.
“So talk to me,” he offered softly.
At the same time, Ellie let out a tiny gasp. Jerking her hand back, she dropped the shard of glass she’d been trying to pick up to tend to a fresh cut on one of her fingers.
“Shit.” Lucky stood and placed the towel filled with glass onto the marbled granite countertop. Grabbing a clean paper towel from the roll mounted beneath her upper cabinets, he squatted back down and held it out for her to take. “Here.”
“Thanks.” Ellie took the white rectangle from his hand and pressed it to her bleeding digit. She hissed a breath, wincing as she kept pressure on the wound.
“How bad is it?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “I didn’t get a good look.”
“Here, let me.” Lucky offered her his palm.
This wasn’t him making a move or trying to take advantage of the moment. This was simply him trying to help a woman whose pain—both inside and out—was so obvious, he felt it like his own.
Ellie glanced down at his hand but made no move to take it. He waited, his breath frozen in his lungs for fear the smallest movement would send her running in the opposite direction.
One second passed.
Then another.
And another…
And…
His heart fell. It was a long shot, he’d known. But damn it, Lucky hadhopedthe stubborn woman would see the gesture for what it truly was… The first real step in building an actual friendship between them.
Look at me, trying to become friends with a woman I’m attracted to. Who’d have thunk it?
It was a first for him, no doubt. But the idea wasn’t quite as scary as he’d imagined it would be. Maybe he was finally starting to mature.
Or maybe, just maybe, it had more to do with the woman currently placing her injured hand in his.
“I think it’s just a small cut, but…”
Lucky used his free hand to remove the bloodied paper towel from the hand resting in his palm. An electrifying jolt arced between their joined hands, but he ignored it and focused on the cut.
“You’re right.” He studied it closely. “It’s small, but it looks kind of deep.”
“Like…stitches deep?”
The apprehension in her voice made his lips twitch. “Not a fan of needles?”