Page 42 of The Hookup
“So, what brings you here tonight?” he asked.
She waved her hand towards the table she had vacated. “My friend Erin suggested we come here.”
“It wasn’t because you needed to see me?”
“No.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yes.” The heat of his stare was making her cheeks turn pink.
“Because,” he whispered into her ear, leaning in so close that she could smell his cologne, “sometimes when you turn up, I start getting ideas.”
“Ideas?” she asked, moving her head away so that she could get a read on his expression. “What sort of ideas?” She blinked and made out as if she had no idea what he was talking about.
“I can’t tell whether you’re in or out with regards to our arrangement. We seem to talk about it more than wedoanything.”
“And we both know you’re a do-er, rather than a talker.”
He gave her a devilish smile. “Exactly.”
But it was true. They hadn’t signed anything, hadn’t discussed anything, apart from his freaking rules. Her showing up at the bar wouldn’t have meant anything, but her coming up to him as she had done just now might signal intent. She could see why he was thinking what he was, and now that she was in close proximity to him again, that same buzz, the pull of that familiar connection between them, heightened things further.
She wasn’t sitting here having aconversationwith Luke, as much as she was having anexperience. The neurons in her brain fired off, putting all sorts of visuals in her brain. He was intoxicating, and as she breathed in his scent, felt goosebumps crawling along her skin, and the familiar throbbing between her legs, she knew it was impossible to walk away this time. Being around Luke was like falling into a raging torrent and getting carried away. She was powerless to stop herself, to save herself and knew that it would not end well.
He was not like the others, not even like Dean who had managed to reel her back a couple of times, much to her detriment.
And sensing things, knowing the warning in her gut, she wouldn’t have stopped now even if she could, because she hadn't yet had her fill of this man.
“So,” he said, shifting a little closer to her. “Are you in, or are you out?”
She wrinkled her nose up, considering his offer, and surprised also, by his forwardness. “I’ll need to think about it.” But right now, she was hungry. She looked around for a menu, because there were none on his table. “Does this place do food?”
“Of course, but it’s mainly finger food. Canapes and that type of food.”
That type of food wasn’t going to fill the hole in her stomach. She was starving. “Do you want to get dinner?” she asked. “I haven’t eaten all day.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“I was at the office at six this morning and I didn’t even have lunch.” It had been another long day in a week of long days, and it was starting to take its toll. “I had a chocolate bar, on the go, and three cups of coffee,” she continued, knowing that something was wrong, but not understanding what.
“That’s not healthy.”
“I know. Erin keeps telling me I need to get some fruit snacks, or some seeds, and nuts.” She sat back, wondering. “So, what about dinner?” she asked. A painful silence followed and it made her wonder. “Or is that one of your rules?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“But Iam.” She didn’t understand his stubbornness. Probing deeper, wanting to test him and his boundaries, she made a suggestion. “We could grab something quick. I’ll need the energy, especially if we’re getting together later on,” she said, in her best seductive voice.
“Why don’t you go get something and come back?”
Huh? “Are you allergic to food?”
“No. Like I said, I’m not hungry.”
“Then at least come along and watch me eat.”
When he didn’t give her an answer, and stared at her as if she’d asked him to go looking for apartments together, she decided enough was enough.
