by Score, Lucy
Luke nodded. “I like robots.”
“So tell me about Frank. What’s his deal?” She adjusted the visor against the sun.
“You mean, why is he so pissed off all the time?” Luke grinned behind his sunglasses. “It’s just part of his charm. He giving you trouble?”
“Not really. I kind of like him. I was just curious. He seems …”
“Insubordinate?” he supplied.
“Well, yeah.”
Luke sighed. “Frank and I go way back. I’ve known him since I was a kid. He’s a good worker. One of the best. He knows more about the ins and outs of this business than anyone. He’s just a loudmouth pain in the ass.”
Harper snorted.
“How is it working with your dad?”
Luke shrugged. “It’s good.” Harper looked at him pointedly, waiting for him to continue. “He ran a contracting business for years and I always knew I wanted to build. So about ten years ago, we decided to give it a go and started the company.”
“You’re awfully nonchalant about it.”
Luke grinned. “About what?”
“I’ve only had a peek at your books and the incoming checks, but it looks like you’re quite the thriving builder, buddy,” she teased.
“We do okay.” He smirked.
Harper rolled her eyes. Since when did she find smirking sexy? Since right now, apparently.
“With as busy as you are, how did you not already have a full time office manager?”
Luke shrugged. “We really started growing about three years ago. And Beth — you’ll meet her tomorrow — used to be full-time office help until she had the twins. Now she’s part-time and just does the bookkeeping.”
Harper slowed and pulled into a gravel lot. Luke took in the renovated barn that backed up to grassy fields. The smell of steak hung thick in the air.
“Nice place. What made you pick it?”
It was Harper’s turn to smirk. “I thought we’d draw less attention here than Benevolence.”
“Good call.”
“Are you some kind of famous bachelor or hometown hero? Everyone seems to be incredibly interested in you.”
His gaze leveled with hers, but instead of the laugh she expected she saw a coolness. “Have people been talking?”
Harper tilted her head. “Talking about what?”
“Nothing.” His demeanor changed and he reached over to squeeze her leg. “Come on, I’ll let you buy me dinner.”
The hostess, a tiny pixie with dark framed glasses and purple streaks in her hair, led them back to a cozy corner booth next to a window overlooking pasture and pond. The sun was just beginning to sink behind the trees.
Luke glanced around at the textured walls of stone and plaster and the thick ceiling beams. “Nice place.”
“I thought you might like it,” Harper said, grabbing the beer list. “Meat and a cool building seemed like the right way to say thank you for everything.”
“Are you ever going to stop thanking me?”
“Are you ever going to stop doing things that deserve gratitude?” She batted her eyelashes.
“Smart ass,” Luke grinned.
They ordered draft beers and steaks as a small band set up in the adjoining room.
“So tell me about yourself, Harper,” Luke said, stretching his arm across the back of the booth.
“You’re taking this date thing pretty seriously. What do you want to know?”
The waitress returned with their beers and Harper took a sip.
“Well, we are fake dating, so I should know some things about you. Like, when’s your birthday? Where did you go to school? What was it like growing up without parents? Why are you the way you are?”
Harper laughed. “That’s a lot of questions.” She snagged his beer and sampled it before sliding it back across the table.
Luke spun the glass around before picking it up, tasting. Harper wondered if he purposely drank from the same spot she did. “I find you interesting.”
“That sounds like it’s not really a compliment.”
“I also find you smart, beautiful, funny, and brave. But I can’t figure you out. How does someone who goes through everything you’ve gone through walk around with a permanent smile on her face?”
“You mean because of my parents?”
“Your parents, the fire, your idiot of an ex. Your resiliency is impressive. How does that happen?”
“It’s not really impressive when there isn’t another option. What am I supposed to do, be all ‘woe is me’ for the rest of my life? I still get access to the same sunrises everyone else does, the same 24 hours in a day. And if I don’t take advantage of those things, it’s my own fault.”
“So the world is too big and beautiful to be sad?” He was teasing her.
“I can still be sad. But I don’t have to wallow or completely ignore the good that is still waiting for me. That’s careless and wasteful.”
Luke was silent for a moment, twisting his glass on the tabletop.
“Also, since you asked, my birthday is March 3. I went to University of Maryland and got a bachelor’s in business. I’m halfway through my MBA online. And growing up without parents was hard. Every holiday, every birthday, graduation, you’re always acutely aware that you’re missing something. Someone.”
Luke nodded. “Favorite color?”
“Red. But not a maroon or pinky red. Blood red. Do I get to ask you questions?”
Luke shook his head. “Let’s focus on you.”
“Nice try. What was it like growing up with parents? And having a brother and sister?”
“Chaos. You’ve been to Sunday dinner.”
Harper tossed her napkin at him. “I’m serious!”
“So am I.” But he relented. “I don’t know. Sometimes you wished that you could just be alone and other times you’re grateful to have them all over you. We’re close. Sometimes too close. But I grew up with my dad at every football game. I sat through all of Sophie’s dance recitals. James and I spent every summer barefoot and playing in the creek from dawn to dusk. Mom forced us to sit down at the table every night. Sometimes it was 4:30 and sometimes we didn’t eat until 9, but we were all there together.”
Harper smiled. “That sounds how I always imagined it.”
“Didn’t you ever live with other kids?”
“Sure, but it’s just different. You’re only there temporarily. Some of the homes had a ton of kids, so there wasn’t enough time to pay attention to us all. Others had biological or adopted kids who were in established routines and activities and that took precedence. Most of the time, I was just lost in the shuffle.”
“And you wanted more.”
Harper nodded. She had desperately wanted more. Still did.
“Don’t you?”
“Sometimes.”
She laughed. “You like your nice, quiet life.”
Luke cracked a smile. “It’s not very quiet these days.”
“Are you nervous about deploying?”
He sliced into a roll, buttered it. “No.”
“Have you been to Afghanistan before?”
“Yes.”
“Chatty Cathy over here.”
“What did you see in this Ted guy?” He changed the subject with no attempt at subtlety, and Harper decided to give him a break.
But it necessitated a large gulp of beer. “Ugh. I’ve been asking myself that. My friend Hannah warned me. I was new on the job. I thought he was cute, except for the goatee. He seemed like he was a good boss. And then he started bringing me coffee in the mornings. Sending me funny emails …”
“You’re a hearts and flowers girl.”
“If by ‘hearts and flowers’ you mean a romantic, then yes. I still believe that there’s a guy out there who’s going to sweep me off of my feet and live happily ever after with me.”
Luke smirked. “The knight in shining armor who rides in to save the day.”
“I don’t know about that. Sometimes you hav
e to save yourself or someone else. But I wouldn’t mind riding off into the sunset with someone.”
“You women and your desire for grand romantic gestures.”
Harper laughed. “Please, the only time a woman needs a grand romantic gesture is when she doesn’t know she’s loved.”
“I’m not buying that. What about the girls who pick out their own $15,000 engagement ring and demand a wedding for 400 guests?”
“Apples to oranges. There’s a difference between being on the receiving end of a grand romantic gesture and demanding to be the very expensive center of attention. On one hand, you have someone who wants to make sure that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt how they feel about you. On the other hand, some poor schmuck is just buying a gimmie girl off with sparkly presents and lots of attention.”
“A gimmie girl? Now that paints a picture.” Luke laughed and Harper warmed at the sight of his dimple.
The waitress returned with their food and the subject was dropped while they dug in. They enjoyed their meal and made small talk about work, food, and Benevolence. She felt relaxed, remarkably, considering that most of her time with Luke was spent wavering between extremes of nervousness and lust.
It was a constant battle that she hoped would dull soon. It was embarrassing that every time she saw him shirtless, she had to stop herself from licking her lips.
The band in the other room switched to a slower tune. Harper gasped as the first few chords of the Jeff Healey Band’s “Angel Eyes” echoed through the room. “I love this song, Luke! This is my all-time favorite romantic fantasy song. Dance with me?”
“Romantic fantasy?”
“There are all kinds of fantasies, Luke. Romantic, orgasmic …”
“No one else is dancing.”
“Who cares? We don’t know anyone here. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“Is that how you make decisions? ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’” he mimicked, tossing imaginary long hair.
Harper ignored his question and tugged him out of the booth towards the floor in front of the band. He was right. No one else was dancing, but someone always had to be first.
Luke’s grip stopped her where she was and he pulled her back into his arms. Her breasts flattened against his warm, solid chest, their mouths an inch apart. Luke’s hands splayed across her back holding her to him.
“You’re not dancing,” he whispered.
She could almost taste his words.
Harper bit her lip to keep from biting his and wound her arms around his neck. She didn’t have to pull him closer. He came willingly.
He led and she followed. Her attention was on every sensation that touching him ignited. One hand slid higher to rest gently over her bruised ribs. His palm and thumb intimately hugging the curve of her breast.
She knew he could feel her heart pounding, knew he could hear her short breaths.
They swayed together, oblivious to anything but the music and each other. Luke pulled her closer. She could feel the length of him hardening against her.
“Stop looking at me like that,” he growled.
“Like what?” Her voice was breathless.
“Like you want me to take your clothes off and taste every inch of your body.”
She felt the dull ache at her core increase to a steady, hollow throb. He was a freaking mind reader.
“I wasn’t thinking that,” she lied. “I was thinking about … dessert.”
“Liar.” His hand skimmed the swell of her breast on its way up to gently brush her hair back from her face. He grinned when she gave a breathy gasp. His erection twitched against her and she knew she wasn’t the only one thinking about … dessert.
She didn’t notice when the song ended, but Luke did.
Hands on her shoulders, he pushed her back a step, breaking the spell. Harper’s cheeks flushed. She had completely lost track of their surroundings. She hadn’t even noticed that other couples had joined them on the floor.
Luke kept her hand and led her back to the table.
“Well, that was some fantasy,” she sighed, sliding back into the booth, her cheeks flushed.
“We should probably head back. I have an early day tomorrow.”
His tone was flat, but his voice was rough. There was something going on beneath the surface, but Harper couldn’t tell what it was.
The check was waiting for them, and when Harper reached for it, Luke snatched it out of her grip. “Not gonna happen, sweetheart.”
“I asked you to dinner. This is my treat,” Harper said, reaching across the table.
“No.” It was a refusal more solid than the stone walls surrounding them.
“Luke —” she tried again.
“Harper. No. Now finish your beer.”
She frowned at him. One little physical reaction and he turned into a statue.
***
Luke kept Harper’s hand in his and half dragged her to the parking lot where the sound of crickets was carried on cool air. He pulled her towards the Beetle’s passenger door. “I’ll drive.” He stopped her before she opened the door by putting his hand on it. “Look, I have to set something straight here.”
Harper leaned back against the car and Luke shoved his hands in his pockets. “This can’t happen.”
“What exactly can’t happen?” She looked amused.
He glared at her. She was going to make him say it. “We can’t complicate things with sex.”
“What’s so complicated about sex?”
“Harper,” he growled.
“Sorry. Please continue.” She smiled, and he wanted to throttle her.
“I don’t want you to get the wrong idea and think that we’re going to start some romantic affair —”
Her eyes widened. “Who said anything about an affair or a relationship, which I’m sure is your bigger concern? You’re leaving. I’m leaving. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like how I feel when you touch me. Because I really do. It makes me wonder.”
“Wonder what?” He knew he was stepping onto very unsteady ground. He was already standing too close to her. He couldn’t ever seem to make himself put distance between them.
Harper put her arms around his neck, pulling him closer until her breasts rubbed against him. “I wonder what it would feel like if we kissed.” Her voice was whisper soft, full lips parted. Inviting him in.
He stopped breathing. He could have pushed her back, told her to knock it off. He should have. But he stood his ground and let her rise up on her toes to bring those soft lips to his. Because there wasn’t anything in that moment that he wanted more.
Her eyes fluttered closed and she gave a sexy little sigh.
That was all it took for him to stop fighting it. He brought his hand to her hair and yanked it back to get better access to that sweet mouth. His tongue boldly stroked past her parted lips, finding hers eager for him. Tasting her did nothing to mellow the kiss. His mouth crushed down on hers and he used his tongue to thrust in over and over again, mimicking the strokes with his hips.
Harpers arms tightened around his neck and he growled. His hands streaked up her sides under her tight little sweater and his fingertips felt lace.
He felt it before he saw it. The slight wince as his hand cruised over her sore ribs.
He pulled back immediately. Cursing himself and maybe her, too, he yanked the passenger door open and manhandled her into the seat.
Ten minutes down the road his cock was still painfully hard. He had almost mauled her in the parking lot. Had he not seen that wince of pain when he pressed too hard against her side he would have found a way to fuck her right there in the parking lot. His lack of control was humiliating. He forgot that she was hurt. Forgot the rules that he had carefully laid out, the plan that he had been following for years. All of it out the window because he couldn’t stop touching her.
He shouldn’t be having this physical of a reaction to her. And yet, here he was walking around with a hard-on every time he saw
her.
Leaning over the counter in the kitchen in her little shorts? Hard. Prancing around in his white t-shirt that she still slept in? The white t-shirt that did nothing to hide her perfect tits that begged for his hands? And every pair of sexy little underwear she wore underneath? Raging hard. He was afraid that she’d never start sleeping in something he couldn’t see through, or worse, that she would.
If he was within three feet of her, he was fucking hard. How was he supposed to survive a month-long erection? Maybe he should see a doctor.
He was a ticking time bomb. If he did fuck her, there was a good chance he might kill her. He wanted to believe that his reaction to her was because it had been so long. But he knew that was a lie. There was something about Harper that drew him in and tied him up.
“Are you mad?” Harper, her lips still full and flushed from his assault, asked from the passenger seat.
He didn’t answer her, but gripped the gearshift a little harder.
“I’m sorry for coming on so strong, Luke. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just wanted to see what it would be like to kiss you. I promise to be more respectful of your feelings.”
She was promising to be more respectful of his feelings? He was the one who mauled her like a rabid teenager.
“Harper —”
“I’m really sorry.” Those big gray eyes were staring at him contritely.
“What exactly are you sorry for?”
“For making you kiss me when you didn’t want to. I thought that you were attracted to me like I am you. It didn’t occur to me that you weren’t and then I practically ate your face with my tongue. I don’t usually try to devour men like that.”
“You think I’m not attracted to you?”
“Isn’t that why you gave me the whole ‘no sex’ talk?”
Luke pulled the clunking Beetle over abruptly and came to a stop on the side of the road. “Harper, it’s not possible for me to be more physically attracted to you than I am. It’s a constant battle of self control to not rip your clothes off and slam my dick into you just to feel you come on me.”
Harper’s jaw fell open.
“See? Those are the kinds of thoughts that go through my head when I’m around you. You make me hard and stupid and I don’t like it.”