She was just finishing up some notes and had about fifteen minutes before her first patient arrived when her phone buzzed.
Unknown number: How was the rest of your weekend?
Elise frowned.
Elise: Who is this?
Unknown number: Sex God, giver of orgasms.
Elise rolled her eyes, laughed, and added the number to her Contacts.
Elise: Charlie Hunnam, you know who I am?
Luke: Ha-ha. You know this is Luke.
Elise: Oh, I do, huh?
Luke: Who else made you come multiple times this weekend?
She considered pretending like he wasn’t the only one she’d slept with just to tease him but went a different route instead.
Elise: Maybe I was faking it.
Luke: Bwahahahaha!
Elise frowned again.
Elise: What’s so funny about that?
Luke: Baby, there is *no way* you were faking it.
Elise: Maybe I’m that good of an actress.
Luke: Nobody’s that good. You might have pretended with other guys, but I know you didn’t with me. You can moan and throw your head back like a good actress would, but there is no faking the way your face flushed as you climaxed or the way you scrunched up your nose right before you came or how you were so wet that it coated your thighs. And there is definitely no faking the way your pussy milked my fucking cock like it was holding on for dear life. Nobody is that good.
Elise looked around her empty office, as if someone might see his text message. It was absurd because there was no one in the room, much less someone looking over her shoulder. Even though she was alone, her face flushed from his words, and she was squirming in her chair because, now, she was thoroughly aroused. At work, of all places.
Elise: I’m not sleeping with you again.
Luke: Ha-ha-ha. I don’t recall asking you.
Well, damn.
She’d just been put in her place. Just because he’d turned her on didn’t mean that he had meant to do it on purpose. And it didn’t mean he wanted to do anything about it.
Elise: You’re right. How did you get my number BTW?
Luke: I asked Sean. I told him I needed to get ahold of you because you left something behind on Friday.
He added a bikini emoji, which she took to stand for the underwear she’d lost at his house. Her face got warm again, but she ignored the missing panties situation.
If he didn’t want to sleep with her again, why had he texted her?
Elise: What did you need then?
Luke: Nothing.
Luke: I just wanted to see how you were doing after Friday night/Saturday morning.
Aw, that’s kind of sweet of him.
Elise: I’m fine.
Luke: You don’t hate me?
Elise: No. I was just as much responsible as you were. I don’t blame you.
Elise: Plus, I went to church on Sunday and cleansed my soul.
Luke: Ha-ha. Good to know.
“Elise?”
She looked up to see her coworker Lora standing in her doorway. She quickly set her phone facedown on her desk. Lora wasn’t her boss—she was another speech therapist—but Elise was still new, and she didn’t want anyone to think she was slacking off when she should be working.
“Yes?”
“Your eight a.m. is here,” Lora said with a smile.
“Okay, thank you.”
Lora turned and walked away, and Elise picked up her phone. Luke had texted her while she wasn’t looking.
Luke: I’ll be sure to dirty it again.
She forgot what they’d been talking about. And, while she should be telling him she had to go, she was too curious not to ask. Thankfully, she still had seven minutes before it was actually eight o’clock.
Elise: Dirty what?
Luke: Your soul.
Luke: Oh, I have to run. Duty calls.
Wait! Elise thought.
Elise: Wait. I thought you didn’t want to sleep with me again?
Luke: When did I ever say that?
Luke: Now, I really gotta go, babe. We’ll finish this later.
Elise waited, but there were no more texts. Yes, he’d said he had to go, but that was before he’d asked that last question. How could he leave her hanging like that?
She shouldn’t care because, when she’d said she wasn’t sleeping with him again, she’d meant it. Yet she wanted him to text her again.
She sent a quick reply, threw her phone in her purse, and grabbed her first patient’s folder before heading for the waiting room. She loved her career and usually lost herself in her work.
But, today, she couldn’t help wondering if she wasn’t in just a fair bit of trouble where Luke was concerned.
Luke finished up his last report before signing off the computer. It had been a long day at work. He was tired, and he couldn’t wait to go home. He knew he wasn’t original in his pain, but he hated Mondays. Sundays were worse, but thankfully, he hadn’t worked the day before.
He packed up his things and got ready to leave for the rest of the afternoon. He shut his locker door and headed for the parking lot. As he walked, he pulled out his phone.
After texting back and forth that morning with Elise, he’d been so busy that he didn’t have time to check it all day. Not even at lunch, which had consisted of standing in the break room, shoveling as much food into his mouth as he could in less than ten minutes.
He was beat and hungry, but as soon as he pulled out his phone and saw what Elise had texted him after he had to go this morning, it made him smile.
Elise: Just like a man to start something and not finish it.
He hadn’t meant to start anything this a.m. when he sent her the first message. In fact, he hadn’t even meant to flirt. It’d just happened. When he was young, his mother repeatedly told him that he was a natural-born flirt, and he often thought she was onto something there. Besides, flirting was just flirting. It didn’t mean anything was going to go beyond that.
Luke: Ouch. My poor manly pride is ruined.
He didn’t think she’d reply right away, but she must be near her phone because, a minute later, his phone beeped.
Elise: “Ladies, if a man says he will fix it, he will. There’s no need to remind him every six months about it.”
If the meme fits…
He threw his head back and laughed.
Luke: Now, I’m offended for the whole male population.
Elise: Hey, there are a ton of those out there, so it must be true.
Luke got in his SUV but had to reply before he drove off.
Luke: You might think we’re lazy, but we’re actually smart. It’s called strategy, baby. If we pretend not to be able to do something, we know you women will get frustrated and do it for us.
Elise: I knew it! My college boyfriend was the worst when it came to doing the laundry. He even shrank my favorite sweater. I finally told him to stop and let me do it. I always suspected it was a ploy.
Luke remembered the guy Elise had dated in college. What a tool.
Luke: What a dick.
Elise: What can you do? Men suck.
Luke: We don’t suck; we lick. You’re the one who sucks.
As far as replies went, he knew it was pretty cheesy and immature, but he couldn’t resist. He’d been thinking about how Elise had sucked all weekend, and he couldn’t get it off his mind.
Elise: Real smooth, Lucas.
Luke: Had to be done.
Luke: Off work now. Have to drive home. Talk later?
Luke sat and stared at his phone, actually worried she’d say no.
Elise: Sure. Later.
Luke threw his phone on the passenger seat and shifted into drive, all the while grinning from ear to ear. He couldn’t wait to see what she would have to say next.
Elise looked around the house, trying to decide if she liked it. But the fact that she was trying to decide already gave her the answer she’d been looking for.
No, sh
e didn’t.
At this rate, she was never going to find a place to live.
Elise’s sister, Kristen, walked into the kitchen. “I don’t think it’s you.”
Kristen had dark hair like their father while Elise was blonde like their mother, but they had the same green eyes.
Elise sighed. “Me either.”
“How many have we looked at today?”
Elise had to think. “This is number seven.”
“Dang, you’re picky.”
Elise stuck her tongue out at her sister. “I can’t help it. None of them feel right.”
“Then, we’d better go tell your realtor. This is the last one, right?” her sister asked as they headed toward the front of the house where Cara was waiting.
“Yes.”
“That’s good because I’m tired, and if we look at one more and you say no, I think Cara might fire you.”
“I will not,” Cara said with a laugh after hearing the end of their conversation. “After all this work I’ve put into your sister, I’m getting the commission.”
“You two are so funny,” Elise said dryly.
They all stepped outside, and Cara locked up the house. “Don’t worry, Elise. The right house is out there somewhere. We’ll find it.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“We’ll be in touch,” Cara told Elise before heading to her car and driving off.
Elise and Kristen got in Elise’s car.
“Where to?” It was dinnertime, and Elise was starving.
They looked at each other and said, “Granite City,” at the same time. It was their favorite restaurant.
They laughed, and Elise said, “I don’t know why I bothered asking.”
They made it to the restaurant in less than fifteen minutes. It was a shame that she hadn’t liked the last house because she’d have been close to her favorite place to eat.
After they were seated and their server took their drink orders, Elise finally asked her sister the question she hadn’t wanted to ask in front of Cara, “So…how’s everything going with James?”
Kristen fiddled with the silverware and napkin in front of her. “Okay.”
“Oh, hon, things still haven’t gotten any better?”
Her sister sighed. “No, and I really don’t think they will.” She looked up at Elise. “Honestly…I think we’re headed for divorce.”
“What?” Elise had known things weren’t great, but she hadn’t thought her sister and brother-in-law were this bad.
“Yeah. We’ve been trying to keep things going smoothly for Jennifer’s sake.”
Jennifer was their six-year-old daughter, and the major reason they had gotten married in the first place.
“But even Jennifer doesn’t seem to be a strong enough reason to make it work. Can you believe it? I’ll be a divorcee at twenty-five. I can’t imagine what our parents are going to say. I dread telling Mom and Dad.”
James’s parents were just as religious and conservative as her and Kristen’s parents. That was how they’d met. They were from the same church.
“But that’s only if you get a divorce. I wouldn’t worry about what Mom and Dad might say until it actually happens. I know they can seem scary, but it’s not like they’ll disown you or anything.”
Kristen tilted her chin down and arched her brow, her look clearly saying, Oh, really? “So, now, you’re all tough, huh?” She reached into her purse and slowly pulled out her cell. “How about I just call Mom right now and tell her how you lived with Tyler in college and how you almost moved in with Jason before you two broke up?” She wiggled her phone, moving it closer and closer to Elise. “Huh? Huh?”
Elise slapped her hand away. “Okay, okay, I get it. You don’t want the wrath of our parents coming down on you.”
Kristen set her phone down. “Oh no, there would not be wrath. They’d be like, ‘We’re not mad…’”
“We’re disappointed,” the sisters finished together.
“Ugh. Even worse,” Elise said.
“Right? No, thank you. Plus, I can’t put the extra strain on Dad right now. I want him focusing on his health.”
“Yeah, I see your point, but if you’re having problems, their disappointment is worth not staying in a loveless marriage.”
“Yeah, well, it’s more complicated than that.”
“What do you mean?”
Kristen opened her mouth, and it looked like she might tell Elise, but that was when their server chose to come over and ask them what they wanted to order. They hadn’t taken the time to look at the menus, but they’d been there countless times, so they didn’t need to look. They put their food order in, and the server walked away.
Elise hoped her sister would finish her earlier thought, but she completely changed the subject, and Elise let it go. It made her sad to think of her sister’s marriage failing though. She and James had been together since high school and always seemed perfect for each other. If they couldn’t make it work, who could?
Elise and Kristen finished dinner and went back to their parents’ house where Kristen’s car was. Elise asked her sister to come inside for a while, but she begged off, saying she had to get home to Jennifer. Elise wasn’t sure if it was the truth or if she didn’t want Elise asking any more questions about her marriage. Elise didn’t press the issue, instead giving her sister a hug to let her know she cared.
Elise walked into the empty house and put her leftovers in the fridge. After, she went to the den and turned on the TV. For some reason, Elise was lonely, sitting there on a Saturday night, all by herself. The weird thing was, if she were in her own house, it would be okay. But there was something about living with your parents, and while they were out, you were stuck at home, doing nothing, on a weekend night. It was embarrassing to think her parents had more of a social life than she did.
Elise knew that Rachel and Sean already had plans. Elise considered calling Shelly, but she still didn’t know her that well. Also, it seemed awkward when Shelly was at a totally different place in her life, being married and ready to have a baby while Elise wasn’t even in a relationship.
Elise didn’t really know anyone else to call. She’d lost touch with pretty much all of her high school friends, and a lot of her college friends had gone back home after graduating.
Not knowing what else to do, she picked up her phone and called one of her best friends in Denver. That turned out to be a big mistake because Kit was out with all their friends. Everyone told her how much they missed her and asked her when she was moving back. It made her feel loved yet, at the same time, very sad and a tad lonesome.
She knew that moving back to Minnesota was the right choice. So far, her father’s prognosis was pretty good, but if that changed and he didn’t have a lot of time, she would hate herself for not being with him as much as she possibly could.
Resigned to sitting at home, Elise decided she might as well go all out and put on sweats and wash her makeup off. As she rose from the couch, her phone buzzed.
She unlocked it to see it was Luke.
Luke: How did the house-hunting go today?
It had been two weeks since they slept together, and they’d been texting back and forth almost every day. Usually, it was just little things, but she couldn’t stop the smile from forming across her face. It was nice that he remembered and thought to ask.
Elise: Not well. It looks like I might be living with the ’rents forever. Kill me now.
Luke: LOL. That bad, huh?
Elise: Yes. I’m just starting to feel like it’s a pointless task.
Luke: You could always come live with me. I’ve been looking for a housekeeper/sex slave.
Elise snorted. Because those two things go so well together.
Elise: You couldn’t afford me.
Luke: You’re probably right.
Elise: What are you doing right now?
Luke: Trying to decide what Die Hard movie I should watch.
Elise didn’t reply rig
ht away. She bit her lip as she hemmed and hawed before finally pulling up her phone app and dialing.
“Hey,” Luke answered, his voice smooth and deep.
How had she never noticed how nice it sounded before?
“I think you should go with the first one.”
“And why is that?”
“Because we all know it’s the best.”
Luke chuckled, the rich sound vibrating in her ear and making her grin. “I’m not so sure about that. I think you might be hanging out with the wrong people. Everybody knows Die Hard 2 is the greatest.”
“We should take a poll or something.”
“I don’t have time to find out the results. But I’ll tell you what. If you come over and hang out, we’ll watch the first Die Hard.”
“Okay,” she heard herself say. It was definitely better than staying there, feeling sorry for herself. “Just a couple of things.”
“What?”
She could hear the smile in his voice.
“There must be popcorn.”
“I can do that.”
“No drinking. I promised my mom I’d go to church early in the morning.”
“That’s no fun but done.”
“And no sex.”
Luke laughed. “And here I was, looking forward to dirtying your soul before you went to church tomorrow.”
“Luke.”
“I’m just kidding. No sex. I promise. And, if it makes you feel any better, I rubbed one off before I texted you, so I’m good for at least an hour.”
“Oh my God, Luke. Have you ever heard of TMI?”
“Nope. Now, get your hot ass over here, so I can start this movie.”
She turned off the TV and picked up her keys. “I’m leaving right now.”
“Wait.”
She stopped in her tracks. “What?”
“Wear something sexy.”
Elise laughed and rolled her eyes. “Good-bye, Luke. I’ll see you soon.”
“Alan Rickman was such a good actor. I wonder if he was a nice guy in real life, and that’s why he played such an excellent bad guy. It’s sad he passed away,” Elise said from Luke’s couch.
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