Page 80 of The Hookup
“What can I say?” she said, throwing her hands up, directing his attention to those beautiful ample breasts. She turned the faucet off, and he handed her a towel.
“That’s too bad.”Too bad.He didn’t want her to go so soon, and it got him thinking if she really was just looking for an excuse to leave. He worked every day and there were things for him to look over daily, but they could wait.
He remembered that he’d bought her something. A second gift. After she’d given him cufflinks for Christmas, he’d felt foolish for not having anything to give her in return. He’d gone back to that lingerie store and picked up some sexy lingerie for her. Then, thinking that it was tacky and might send the wrong message—he didn’t want her to think that she was merely a plaything to him—he’d bought her a bracelet later as well. He’d noticed that she wasn’t a necklace or earrings girl and that she wore a watch and usually something thin and elegant around her wrists. So he had bought her a pretty diamond and platinum bracelet.
It was back in the office. If it was here, he could have given it to her. It would have been the perfect time to give it to her now. She knew more about him than anyone. The stuff about his mother? He’d never told Xavier, or the sports masseuse or any of the others. Nobody knew about that shit, not even Marie. His past was locked away in a cold and dark corner of his heart, but Kay had somehow managed to unlock it.
“I’ll put the coffee on,” he said. “Take as long as you want.”
~ ~
The aroma of fresh coffee filled the air.
“That smells good,” she said, walking into the kitchen later, still wearing the dress she had worn to the wedding yesterday. She didn’t like wearing yesterday’s clothes and underwear, but not in her craziest fantasies had she ever imagined she would be spending the night at Luke’s place.
She hopped onto a stool next to him, at the breakfast bar.
“Are you sure you don’t want to eat anything? We had a crazy night last night.”
Her stomach fluttered at his words. It wasn’t like him to talk about these things. Usually what they did was cut and dried; they met, had sex, and it was done with.
It filled her with a sense of joy, him saying what he had. “We did, didn’t we?” she agreed.
“I liked that you stayed the night.”
She had to school herself not to grin outright at that. Memories of him making her come all night danced inside her giddy brain. This was unexpected. Not just last night and staying over, but this morning,now.She’d half-expected the magic dust to have disintegrated, and that he would have been eager for her to leave, that she would be walking out in last night’s clothes with last night’s mascara running down her dirty face, but everything about him this morning indicated otherwise.
She hadn’t expectedthis.
“I liked that you asked me to,” she replied. His barriers had slipped so far down and he seemed to be saying what was on his tongue. It was eye-opening.
She wondered if this was what people like Tobias and Savannah experienced, this heady feeling of wanting to grin all the just because every cell in her body tingled with happiness. A happiness that came from being near him, doing nothing more than sitting here and drinking coffee.
“How’s your throat?” she asked, her gaze dropping to his jaw. “Is it your throat? Or your neck?”
“I’m not sure. It hurts to swallow.”
Poor man. She almost lifted her hand to his face to cup it. It had been easy enough to do last night, but she wasn’t so sure this morning how to be around him. “I didn’t know you weren’t feeling too good.”
“I’ve had this pain for a couple of weeks. I think I need to go back and get it properly seen to.”
“Don’t leave it any longer” she cautioned.
“It’ll be fine,” he said, dismissing her concern. “I might have forced myself to stay for the party if I was feeling 100%.”
“You left because you weren’t feeling well?” She didn’t quite believe him.
“I’d been popping pills all morning.”
“In secret.”
He shrugged.
“You should call your sister and explain. She seems nice.”
“She is.”
“And your brother?” she asked, tentatively broaching that sore subject.
