Page 51 of Just Trouble

He steals a kiss, a slow sweet one that takes my breath away.

The man defines ‘irresistible.’

“I wanted to wake you up and shake you free,” he whispers in my ear, giving me shivers. “I wanted to feel you wrapped around me, to make you come and hear you lose it.”

“You did,” I whisper.

“But I was right. Once could never be enough.”

Another slow kiss that pushes every sensible thought from my head. I have no coherent reply, so I just kiss him back.

“Twice wasn’t enough,” he confesses and I know he’s right. “And that makes me want to do it all over again.”

“No complaints,” I manage before I’m drowning in another of his bone-melting kisses.

He smiles down at me when he finally lifts his head. It must be a million degrees in my bedroom and time has stopped. There’s only Luke and his oh-so-blue eyes, his little knowing smile and his tangled dark hair, his lashes sweeping down as he surveys me with satisfaction.

“I thought you were gorgeous then, but right now…” He lowers himself down, interlacing our hands and stretching mine over my head. I swallow when he whispers in my ear, his whiskers grazing my skin and his breath making me shiver. “With your hair all tangled and your skin flushed, your eyes shining…” He kisses me, all slow seductive heat. “You’re blowing my mind, Daph,” he concludes, his voice so husky that my heart squeezes tight.

We stare at each other for a long hot moment, then I deliberately smile to break the spell. I roll my hips beneath his and feel him get harder. “Is that your mind all the way down there?”

He grins slowly, hungrily, the wolf at my door, his eyes glowing with a heat that warms me all the way to my toes. I twine my arms around his neck and pull him closer for a kiss that takes no prisoners and demands everything he’s got.

It’s hot and hungry and a little rough, demanding and impatient. Luke moans then feasts upon my mouth, surrendering to sensation all over again. It’s exactly what I wanted, what I needed, what I yearned to have, so I wrap my legs around his waist, loving how sharply he catches his breath.

Fortunately, noon is hours away.

The next timeI wake up, it’s almost eleven and I’m alone in bed. I stretch and yawn, acknowledging that I have precisely zero regrets.

We didn’t use up all of Cameron’s condom supply, but there’s a respectable dent in the inventory. I sweep the rest into the top drawer of the nightstand and head for the shower. I hardly recognize myself in the mirror. I look happy—no, I look sated. Relaxed.

Everyone will know with a glance what I’ve been doing and I don’t care.

In the shower, I remind myself that I can’t expect more from Luke than I did from Justin. If Mr. straight-and-narrow, who had incidentally put a ring on my finger and written our wedding date in his calendar, couldn’t be expected to be exclusively mine, then I can’t anticipate that my bad-boy rock-star lover will be. In fact, I don’t expect Luke to stick around. He said he wasn’t going to. He might not even say goodbye.

He came to Empire, after all, to arrange for this diner to open and Sylvia to return. The wheels are in motion. Will he even stay to see the result? If so, will he linger after that?

No, it’s even money that he’s already gone.

I tell myself that it’s okay and I almost believe it.

I choose jeans and a blouse. Not quite business-casual but it is Friday and I have to unpack the car when Merrie arrives. The diner can’t be a clean place, either. Maybe I’ll stay and help her get started on the cleaning.

When I go down the stairs, I notice two things.

My favorite black bra is tossed over the back of the couch.

And Luke, barefoot in his jeans, is making coffee in my kitchen.

I like the sight of him there. I like it a lot.

And the coffee smells great.

“I never expected you to have domestic inclinations,” I say and he chuckles. I put my arms around his waist in the kitchen and he turns, giving me a very thorough good-morning kiss. Still minty-fresh, or maybe again.

“I have skills beyond expectation,” he says. “Hidden depths.” He lifts a brow. “I like coffee. And I can be trained, with the proper encouragement.”

“What encouragement is that?”

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