Pawned Virtue - #wattys2015 BK4 TPBS - Completed 1st draft

-8-

Not edited. 

Maggie stood up and collected all the used crockery saying if she didn't start on her baking there'd be revolt in the ranks and her kitchen would be over run by whiney little boys who pretended to be men. Lucas' protests were met with the wave of a hand and a pointed finger of warning to behave.

Tara couldn't help but take a good look at Lucas when she thought he wasn't paying attention. With everything put aside she knew that if she'd seen him pass her by in the street then she would have been awed at the power that radiated off him. He held his body proudly regardless as to whether he was sitting or standing. To say that his body was buff wouldn't be a lie. His blonde hair that was roughly scruffed accentuated the deep tan of his face while his brown eyes were so...

"Tara?"

His voice shocked her for a moment as her eyes snapped to his and she blushed at the realisation that she'd been caught. She noticed the small smirk of his mouth before looking down.

Lucas cleared his throat. Yes he was amused. His wife had been checking him out and the idea wasn't as bad as he might have thought. Her age was a definite reason for pushing aside everything his body was telling him about her. That and what he'd done.

"Are you ready to talk?"

Again he waited and while he wanted her to understand badly there was a part of him that feared opening up old wounds but he owed Tara more than just the reassurance that it wouldn't happen again. She deserved a reason, an explanation. She deserved to understand why he did what he did and if she wanted nothing more to do with him after that; well he'd respect that decision. He feared that it would be the choice she'd make and he deserved nothing less.

Her silen nod put that fear directly in front of him. He had no choice. He was about to open pandoras box.

His hands were sweaty as he shoved them down his thighs. A nervous gesture that he'd had since childhood.

"I was almost married before Tara."

Her eyes opened wide.

"Really?"

He nodded "Her name was Maria Joyce Watkins and I loved her with everything I had."

"What happened?" she asked with curiousity.

He stood and again looked out over the balcony rail staring off into the distance. He pushed his hands deep into his pockets.

"She died."

He heard her gasp and chose to ignore and continue.

"We had everything planned out. Where we'd get married, the reception, the honeymoon. We knew exactly what we wanted. It felt" he paused to swallow the growing lump in his throat "it felt like a complete fairytale. We had everything we could have needed. We had each other. She was the most beautiful woman on earth. We only had to set the date."

Again he paused and his next words were twisted with a lining of bitterness.

"But not all fairytales have a good ending. They become a living nightmare."

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