Chapter 59

Valerie

My face felt burned by the blood rising to my cheeks.

I had never kissed anyone before, and I wasn’t sure if I had done it right. Lucas’s lips were soft, and though the kiss was chaste and I didn’t linger there long, I could feel them pull into a smirk.

He did not kiss me back, or initiate a second kiss, and I was grateful for that. I didn’t know what I would have done if this came off as anything but what it was: a grateful response to his offer. He would save Ava. And if he saved Ava, I would kiss him a thousand times more.

A part of me doubted it the moment it had happened. Lucas was never serious. There was a huge possibility it could have all been a game. A way of making fun of me. This entire ordeal could have simply been one of Lucas’s fun charades. But I didn’t think it was.

If Lucas wanted to make fun of me, he could have simply done it. No need for the theatrics back at the brothel. No need to dangle Ava in front of my face. He would have simply…made fun of me, the w