Page 69 of The Mechanics of Lust

He shot me a confused look. “They’re coming, right?”

I couldn’t hide my smile. “Right. But what happened to the day being about whatIwanted to do?”

His mouth turned up in a slow grin. “That was before you introduced a time limit. Now you’ve only got twelve minutes left, so you better hop to it.” He gave me another shove but I resisted.

“You could always come with me?” I tugged my bottom lip between my teeth and shot him a saucy wink.

He stabbed a finger my way. “And that right there is why you don’t get to decide anymore.” He manhandled me all the way down the hall and into the bathroom. “And don’t use all the shampoo, you little minx.”

I dropped my jeans, gave my cock a firm stroke, and smiled at Luke’s sharp intake of breath. “Not too late to change your mind.”

His gaze travelled my bare skin, his eyes hot and hungry, and for a second, I thought I’d won. Then the door slammed shut in my face and the words, “Nine minutes,” faded up the hall.

CHAPTEREIGHTEEN

Zach

Twenty minutes later,we whistled the dogs into the ute, along with some seriously warm outerwear, and headed for the main street. First stop was Meg’s café for coffee and breakfast buns, then I drove us out to a spot along the Tekapo Canal where the dogs could run free while we ate.

Unbeknownst to me, Luke had added an extra bacon sandwich to our order, which he proceeded to share with the two dogs who sat adoringly at his feet. Every now and then, one of them would shoot me a sidelong look as if to say,I hope you’re taking notes.

“You’re spoiling them,” I chided Luke, only half joking. He looked so fucking cute in his puffer jacket with the Wild Run logo on the back, thick scarf pulled up to his ears and rainbow woollen hat sitting low on his forehead. I had to fight the urge to tackle him to the ground and kiss him silly.

“I am.” He shot me a brilliant smile, which melted my toes in my socks and brought my brother’s words back to mind.

Enjoy the ride... it has an end date... what’s the problem?

Trouble was, that end date wasn’t likely to come soon enough to stop a ton of hurt heading my way, and I also couldn’t seem to put a halt to my feelings before they went too far. Or rather,waytoo far, because I’d sure as hell passed thetoo farsignpost a long time ago at well above the recommended speed limit. Luke was an unexpected, irresistible, and dangerous kink in my plan to keep my bruised heart safe.

I had to create some space before it was too late.

Case in point—me smiling at him like an idiot while he fed the girls the last morsels of bacon, their ears twitching at his every word, eyes glued hopefully to his face, hearts no doubt a pitter-patter, and me knowing just how they felt. Like we were boyfriends, for fuck’s sake. Like we did this every day. Like the girls were... ours.

We finished our coffees, and Luke walked our rubbish to the bins while I didn’t watch the way his glorious arse bunched and moved in those threadbare jeans he wore just to fuck with me since it was too damn cold to justify them otherwise. The bastard knew I loved them, and my theory was proven correct when he paused at the bin and did a little shimmy for me before turning with a massive grin on his face. I flipped him off and all the fucker did was laugh.

“You think you’re so damn funny,” I groused, which only made him laugh louder. “I’d take you up on that offer if it didn’t risk my nuts freezing and rolling like marbles into the canal.”

“An image I could’ve done well without.” He started ambling away from me, towards the canal, and Jojo immediately began circling him.

I chuckled at my idiot of a dog. “She’s herding you.”

“She’s what?” Luke took another couple of steps and Jojo swept to her right until he stopped again.

Nina, who’d been stretched out at my feet watching her kennelmate, decided to get in on the act and gave a deep bellowing bark before loping over.

Luke laughed. “Oh my god. Come on then, hotshot.” He fired me a challenging look. “Let’s see what you can do.”

I bit back a smile. “Are you sure about that?”

He narrowed his gaze. “Why not? I’m game to see how you do with a creature a little further up the food chain.”

Little did he know, the girls and I trained for this as well. More than once during a search and rescue job, I’d needed to encourage a confused hiker away from a dangerous situation. “Okay then. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, but you need to give them a fighting chance. No sneaky tactics. I don’t want my training fucked with.”

Luke saluted and I told my cock to settle down. Then he slid a few steps to the left and I whistled Jojo and Nina into action. Jojo whipped across to cut Luke off while Nina took a stand behind him.

“Speak.”

Nina let loose a peace-shattering bay and Luke jumped, his hand flying to his chest. “Jesus Christ, she’s loud,” he grumbled and took a few steps back.

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