Page 16 of Such A Good Guy

His fingers had just closed on the lepidolite when suddenly Luke reached down to grip Ignatius by the neck.

“I saidlet me,” he repeated, and I glanced up sharply at him.

There was a cold, crisp tone to his voice I hadn’t heard before.

For a minute I thought he was just making a joke, but then I saw his hands tighten around Ignatius’ neck, the tendons standing out in his arms, as Ignatius let out a startled gurgle.

“Can you let me go now?” his Business Manager rasped.

But Luke’s hand didn’t move, and I saw a muscle ripple in his forearm. He was stronger than I thought, because Ignatius was a pretty big guy, and he wasn’t even able to move.

Ignatius started to press on the floor, grunting as he strained to stand up.

“I’llget the lepidolite for her,” Luke said, pleasantly enough, but Ignatius was still occupied with trying to escape.

For one crazy moment I thought Luke wasn’t going to let him go, a muscle throbbing in his jawline.

“Drop it,” he said coldly.

Then Ignatius did, the lepidolite clattering on the ground, and Luke scooped it up, handing it to me.

For a moment, there was something in his eyes, and I felt a strange trickle of fear go down my spine.

What was that expression?

What had I just seen?

There was something almost. . .dark. . .and wrong there. Something unfamiliar.

And then he blinked and it was gone, and he was sweet Luke O’Neill again, raising an arm to help Ignatius up.

Ignatius rubbed his neck and straightened his tie.

“Just trying to help,” he said.

“I know what you were doing,” Luke said, and his voice sounded neutral. . . .almost.

Then he handed the stone to me, our fingers brushing, and I felt my pussy tighten again.

For a moment he wasn’t smiling at all, and I felt his fingers close on my wrist, then he dropped the stone into my palm.

“How are you feeling?” he asked. “Do you need to rest? Maybe a nap?”

I was absolutely tired as balls, but I had no intention of letting him know that.

“I feel great!”

“Then let’s go,” Luke said. “Our flight to Nunavut leaves in two hours.”

“Now, is this really necessary?” I asked. “Are you sure I have to go with you? Couldn’t I just do the paperwork in Toronto?”

He turned to me, holding his arm out like a gentleman so I could tuck my hand in the crook of his elbow. That’s how we often went places.

Easy, light, and friendly. Comfortable with each other. Like it had always been between us.

Right?

“Oh, Luna,” he said. “It’s definitely necessary.”

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