CHAPTER TWO

I spent the day with Lucas. I was filled with mom guilt since it was my final full day with him, and I spent it popping paracetamol and urging him to calm down. I regretted drinking so much the night before, and I felt like I was drowning in it.

"Do you want to go to the park with me?" As we played catch for the nine hundredth time, I asked him the question. His adorable smile spread over his face as he dashed off to get his shoes. I sent Saika a message to see how she was doing and to find out if she was interested in getting some exercise and being outside. Since none of my other friends had children, Lucas' only opportunity to interact with another child was through Saika's dog, Rufus.

"Holy hell, how are you even managing to stand?" When Saika came up behind me as I sat on the park seat, she asked what I was wearing. I told her I had just put on ripped jeans, a t-shirt, and my Ray-Bans. It was one of those instances in which you thought you looked fabulous, but, in reality, others thought you looked strange and wacky.

I chuckled and said, "It must be the spectacles; they obscure everything."

Saika approached Lucas while holding the ball for the dogs. As she passed the ball to him, she said, "Look who got you a ball for you to toss! "Even though Rufus was only a teeny-tiny thing, he loved Lucas just as much as Lucas loved him. While kids were having fun on the grass in front of us, we kept an eye on them.

"Soooooo," Saika murmured accusingly.

"What?" I asked.

"Last night, when you were under the influence of alcohol, you stated that you were unhappy with Kiran. "That he wasn't the one," she said.

"What?" That surprised me; although I didn't have feelings of intense passion or Love for him, does that imply that I wasn't happy?

"I was crazy-ass drunk, and you have no choice but to disregard the shittiness that comes from my lips."

"I've heard that drunks are the most honest people."

"I was under the impression that children and leggings were the ones who revealed the truth."

Saika let out a chuckle before putting her arm around me. "If you aren't satisfied with how things are going, don't bottle up your feelings; tell Kieran how you feel. You're the kind of pals that are worth keeping in mind.

As I began to break away from her embrace, I said, "We're okay." "Lucas, you need to watch out for his ears."

Her eyes become more focused on me as she maintains a steady gaze on me. Simply shift the conversation's focus already!

"Did it occur to you that Kerry took a worn-out sofa covered in filth back to my place last night?" I asked.

I presumed that she did by Saika's laugh because she nodded in agreement between her giggles. "In all honesty, that was all your inspiration. We warned you that you would despise it first thing in the morning. It would appear that you are beginning a new business. "Walk and Rest," portable couches that are lightweight and easy to move about."

I shook my head in exasperation at the intoxicated version of myself. "While I'm gone, I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that Kiran will get rid of it."

She giggled as she said, "I'm sure he will." "Come on, let's go for a stroll with the children," the parent urged.

I had accomplished my goal of exhausting Lucas with my efforts. Even though he was asleep by 7:00 p.m., I couldn't shake the feeling that I had let him down during our final day together. I found that simply resting next to him, seeing his adorable facial features, and gently running my fingers over his silky blonde hair was really relaxing. The next week, beginning on the following Saturday, I would remain in Edinburgh to complete the remaining examinations before heading back home.

"How's he been?" When Kiran got into bed, you asked him when he did it.

We ran into Saika and Rufus at the park, and he was quite nice. How was your day? You arrived at your house sooner than I had anticipated you would.

We decided to call it a night because John had something important to do at work the next day, and Ben was in a foul attitude the whole time.

"Why, what's the matter? I take it Ben hasn't been dumped yet, does he?

"I feel he has, but he hasn't confirmed it."

"What the hell, folks, why don't you simply speak about stuff?"

"We speak about stuff, but not something like that," the response continued.

"Well," I answered. I sent Ben a text, and he responded that he would pick up the sofa in his van this week and dispose of it.

"Yeah, and ideally, it will be sometime tomorrow evening," the speaker said.

"Are you going to be thinking about me while I'm gone?" I inquired, hoping to elicit some sort of response to the fact that I had been absent for a whole week.

"Yeah. I have no doubt that Lucas will, but my greatest concern is for his well-being.

"You don't sound as upset as you really are."

"I beg of you, Darcy. Don't act like that, you know that I'll be thinking about you. Under the covers, he initiates physical contact with me by resting his hands on my exposed flesh, and my body stiffens in response. That is something he hasn't done in many weeks. When I go close enough to kiss him on the lips, he pulls his face away and turns over so that he can go to sleep.

We may be simply buddies now!

The trip to Edinburgh was enjoyable, and I feel like I've returned to my true self when I'm around my friends. I like being Lucas' mother because he is incredible, and I couldn't imagine my life without him. However, I think it's important for a woman to take time for herself every once in a while, and I feel that this trip will be quite beneficial to me in that regard. Kerry was in a jovial mood and was in charge of organizing the music. She was now singing at a high level to the song "By your side" by Calvin Harris. To my good fortune, the Hangover from hell had finally subsided.

We had arranged to stay at one of the farms we would be evaluating, which had a barn renovated and worked out some type of arrangement with the business. I sincerely hoped they would not believe we would take it easy on them since I took my work very seriously, and no fool would be shown any favoritism.

Because it was a nice day, we decided to turn off one of the quicker highways, which allowed us to throw the windows open and let some fresh air in. As the music continued to play loudly, we drew up to the property where we believed we would stay for the next seven days.

While Kerry was looking up the location, a loud boom on the automobile startled us and caused us to jump. When I turned around, I saw a man who was upset, and at that moment, our song "kiss me more" unveiled some of its greatest lyrics, which went as follows: "We could kiss and simply cut the crap." If that's the case, then I could be onto something. I'm not going to give you one in public; instead, I'm going to give you hundreds, so just screw it. I had no idea how offensive the words were until this very second, and while I fumbled about with the controls, I completely blanked on how to turn down the level.

The enraged man said with a hint of Scottish in his voice, "Do you mind, we have animals around here!" After he scratched my car with his automobile, I was about to give him a mouthful for it, but as he leaned toward me, our eyes locked. His dark lashes and eyes were intense, he had a dark stubble that covered the bottom half of his face, and he had three frown lines that appeared on his forehead as a result of the strange women playing obscene music and upsetting his farm animals. His stubble was dark. His eyes were dark brown. His lashes were dark brown. After that, he let out a long sigh, and it was Kerry jolted us out of our trance and caused us to break eye contact. Neither one of us talked at that time.

"Is this a farm with stables?" She inquired, oblivious to the events that had just taken place. She got closer to the irate hunk by bending over me and speaking directly to him. I resumed my position, maintaining constant gaze contact with him.

Who exactly is inquiring? As he rubbed his forehead with his arm to remove the perspiration that had accumulated there, the lines in his frown became deeper. I couldn't help but take a little bite out of the bottom of my lip as I admitted to myself, "Yeah, he was a grumpy bastard, but I don't believe I could ever remember finding anyone as gorgeous as he was just now, in his soiled pants and tattered t-shirt."

"This is where we are supposed to be living, and we will be here for the next two weeks to evaluate the farms in the area."

"So you guys are the agricultural appraisers, right?" It did not appear like he was convinced. I was rendered speechless by the allure of him who stood before me. I prayed that we were in the wrong location since I couldn't be trusted near him, although a married woman is allowed to gaze at him because there is no harm in a sexually starved wife fantasizing about having an affair.

"Dude, is this a stable farm or not? I really need to go to the bathroom. The anxiousness that Kerry exudes is clear to see.

"Yes, that's it; you'll be residing in that converted barn over there," he said, pointing to the structure on the other side of the enormous farmhouse. "Password is 1234, and the keys are in the key box."

After that, he walked away while saying something to himself under his breath. Kerry yelled in his direction, "Thank you very much!" "Talk about not having any decent manners. There was no one to help with the luggage or anything."

I maneuvered the car so that it was parked in front of the barn that he had pointed to, and I could see him standing close to the main house. He was leading a horse down the gravelly path with great aggression.

The automobile door was slammed shut by Kerry. "Well, he was a dick, and it seems like these farms will employ any old ape to work there, don't they?"

I nodded in agreement but couldn't get over the shock of that first encounter. I had never had that instant connection with anybody in my life, and it left me startled and perplexed. I had never had that instant attraction to anyone in my life.