Sweet Agony (Sweet Series Book 1) by Jessie Lane Page A

might have been the shy, quiet, passive girl he had grown up with, but I was going to become a woman who would be strong enough to stand by his side while he pursued his career in the Army. A woman who would hold the fort down while he was gone, take care of him when he was home, be more than just a girlfriend. I would be his partner, the person who would always be waiting with my arms open to welcome him home. One day, Lucas would see that I was going to be the woman for him.
    Looking back at my house, I watched my mom as she walked inside and turned on the lights in our living room so they shined through our windows.
    I turned back to Lucas and clasped my hands in front of me to hide the nervous tremble in them. “Yes, Lucas?”
    The corner of his mouth tipped up in a smile while some sort of emotion lit up his eyes, but I couldn’t read him. I would take that nameless emotion any day, though, over the teasing he had been giving me all night. He was an enigma to me, and I wasn’t sure if I would ever understand all of the fine nuances to his personality.
    “I promise not to hit any mailboxes between my house and yours as I walk home.” I tried to give him my best smile after all the ribbing tonight.
    His brows drew together, and for a moment, I wondered if that was regret I saw in his features.
    “With all of the excitement in the house, I didn’t get a chance to give you the Christmas present I got for you,” he murmured as he slowly started down the stairs toward me.
    My stomach felt like it did a somersault, and my hands instantly started to sweat so much I worried about wet spots forming through my knit gloves as I clutched the art kit in my hands a little more tightly. There hadn’t been that much going on in his house tonight, so was he just using that as an excuse to get me alone? A desperate part of me hoped that was the case.
    “You bought a present … for me?” I whispered in awe. Should I have said that a little cooler? A little more confident? Yeah. Regardless, all of my thought capabilities had disappeared, and it was taking everything I had not to faint from a combination of glee and surprise.
    The other side of his beautiful, firm lips ticked up, forming a full smile, and in that moment, I could stare at that smile until the day I died.
    “Hold your hand out, Gin.”
    Slowly, afraid if I moved too quickly, I would scare him off like he was some timid animal, I moved one hand out so it was in front of me, between the two of us, palm up. Lucas reached into his pocket and pulled out a rectangle jewelry box that looked much like the ones he had given his mom and sister. Olivia had squealed when she had opened her present to see a gold hummingbird necklace, and Mrs. Young had shed a few tears when she had seen her gold sand dollar necklace. Never in a million years had I thought Lucas would have gotten me one, too.
    The trembling in my hand became a bit more pronounced, and he had to wrap my fingers around the box so I wouldn’t drop it. I stared at the box, unable to move. A part of me was terrified this was a dream, and I would wake up and discover the moment gone.
    “Aren’t you going to open it?”
    Lucas’s question sounded as if he were amused by me, so I looked up at him through my lashes. The sight that met my eyes only made my heart pound harder in my chest. The blank mask he had been wearing all night was completely gone, and in its place was a look I had wished, dreamed, and hoped for—affection.
    Not a sisterly sort of affection that he had claimed to have for me before, but something infinitely better. Whether he knew it or not, the look he gave me right then was possessive.
    “Gin?” he spoke my name slowly, warily, and I realized I still stood there like a statue.
    Thrusting the trembling hand with the jewelry box in it back toward him, I stammered, “Will you open it for me, please?”
    My other hand was still tightly grasping the somewhat heavy art kit, and with snow on the