Page 18 of Shared By the Pilots

I cocked my head. “Why did you think I had it?”

“I thought you were going to treat me like the most pathetic stripper in Miami.”

I giggled at that, which made him grin. Then I wiped the smile off his face with a kiss, one that started softly but quickly deepened. Underneath me, I felt him harden.

“Twenty minutes, huh?” I whispered.

He looked down towards his crotch, then back up at me again. “I never was any good at math.”

I started to kiss him again, but then a phone rang. “What is that?” I asked.

“My ringtone,” he said, sliding away from me and reaching for his pants on the floor.

“Ringtones? Is it 2006 already?” I teased.

But Luke wasn’t laughing as he looked at the number on the screen. He put the phone to his ear. “This is Hendricks. Yeah, Miami. Right now? Yeah. Uh huh.” He glanced at his watch. “Twenty or thirty minutes. Okay.”

He hung up and let out a long sigh.

“Who was that?” I asked.

Luke sat on the edge of the bed, facing away from me. “I have to go.”

I laughed out loud. “It’s close to midnight.”

“I know.” He got up and picked up his clothes. “I’m sorry.”

I watched him begin getting dressed. “This is another test, right? You pretend like you don’t sleep with women on the first date, which makes them want you even more. Then you get a mysterious phone call and pretend like you have to bail, which makes them beg you to stay.”

He buttoned his pants, cupped my cheek, and kissed me. “There’s nothing I would rather do than stay here andreallymake you scream.”

That sent an excited shiver up my spine, but it died off quickly. “Then why are you leaving?”

“I have an obligation.”

“One you forgot about until right now?”

“It’s complicated.”

“I’m a smart woman,” I said. “Explain it to me.”

He pulled on his shirt and sighed. “I can’t tell you. Not because I’m playing some sort of game, but because I really can’t.”

Luke pulled on his shoes, then walked to the door.

“Are you serious right now?” I said.

He paused in the doorway. The light overhead cast shadows across his face, accentuating his rigid features. “I’m sorry, Veronica.”

And then he was gone.

10

Veronica

“That makes no sense,” Dex said. “

“I know!”

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