Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Kate
The next morning we’re pretty quiet as we get up, shower, and dress. The sex last night was… life changing.
I guess that’s the thing about bad boys. Damn, do they feel good.
I’m quiet because I’m trying to figure a few things out. Am I following right in my mom’s footsteps? Dating a man who is trouble?
And if he’s not that kind of guy, how interested is he in me? Am I just convenient?
But when I finish drying my hair and step out of the bathroom, I realize Luke has been quiet too.
And that starts the pit in my stomach.
“Everything good with you?” I ask when our eyes meet. He’s sitting on the bed, waiting for me to finish. I wish I had a little makeup. Maybe a styling brush.
He gives me an easy smile. “Good.”
“It’s just…” I clear my throat. “We haven’t really talked much this morning.”
He shrugs. “Sorry. Not much of a deep thinker.”
“Sure,” I nod like I get that. As a person who overthinks most things, I don’t get it at all.
Is he just saying that? “You’re, ah, not regretting last night, are you?”
He stands, his brows arching up. “Regret your face down in a pillow, your ass in the air while you came over and over?”
I’m hot all over in a second.
“No. I don’t regret it.” And then he’s hooking my waist and pulling me close. The tension unwinds as our bodies press together. “But I am deciding what we might do as a follow-up tonight.”
I should say no. This is a dangerous path I’m going down… “I want to try the sucking thing we discussed.” Could I have told him I want to blow him any more awkwardly?
But honestly, I really do want to taste him. “You want to suck my cock?”
My tongue darts out to wet my lips. “Yes.” And then our eyes meet.
He looks at me like a lion. Like he wants to devour me. Good.
Because there is one thing I know and that is that Luke has stuck around when I needed him most. That’s a big thing for me.
He didn’t leave me stranded. He’s not taking my stuff, not that I have any. Which probably means I’m just in for a run-of-the-mill heartbreak. That’s all fine.
I can handle that.
“Kate,” he groans in my ear. “Baby. You’re making it hard to leave this room.”
“Am I?” Good.
But he still tugs me outside and helps me into the truck. We start down the road, silence falling again.
It wears on my nerves. This is why I didn’t want a repeat. I can feel myself getting more insecure.
We stop at a diner, making our way inside for some breakfast.
“We can just have power bars,” I say as a hostess shows us to a table. “I don’t need a whole breakfast.”
“Personally, I’m starving. Last night, I really worked up an appetite.” He wiggles his eyebrows.
“Yeah… but… money. I’m used to eating out of vending machines, you know? It’s no big deal.”
Luke scowls. “Kate. I know we’re living on a budget, but money isn’t really an issue. We can afford this place. Trust me.”
I’m the girl who went out with Vincent for a free dinner. My apartment is a complete dive. “I know you have a real job. I just…”
He cocks his head to the side. “Real job?”
That’s when our waitress shows up. “What can I get for you, sugar?” She isn’t talking to me.
She’s tall, blonde, and leggy with curves for days. Not fat, just round in all the right places. She looks like she could be on a movie poster. What she’s doing here, I have no idea. I just know she’s everything I am not.
Luke barely glances at her, his eyes flicking down the menu. “We’ll take two coffees. I’m getting the Hungry Man. What about you, love?”
The blonde’s eyes narrow as she looks at me, her uniform so tight, she’s got a whole lot of cleavage on display.
“I’m not hungry,” I whisper, bile rising in my throat. This is the kind of woman I lose him to, I know it. That run-of-the-mill heartbreak is right around the corner.
“What? Don’t be ridiculous.” He takes my menu. “An egg over easy and whole wheat toast, for the lady.”
“All right,” the waitress gives him a big smile, but it isn’t reaching her eyes.
Luke is studying me with a look of concern. “You don’t want bacon or something?”
“No bacon,” I shake my head.
“How about avocado. You need some good fats for energy.” Then he looks at the waitress. “Got any avocado?”
She bats her eyes, giving him a smile like they share a secret. “For you, sugar, anything.”
I roll my eyes as Luke hands over both our menus, all while she bats her eyelashes. But he doesn’t even notice. He’s still staring at me with his brow furrowed as the waitress leaves. “What was that about?”
I shrug, not really wanting to tell him. Looking down at my lap, I fiddle with my napkin. “She was really attractive.”
“Was she? I didn’t notice.”
My head lifts back up and then cocks to the side. “Well, good thing I pointed it out then.” Irritation skitters up my spine, but I don’t know who I’m mad at. Maybe myself.
He’s staring at me like I’ve lost my mind. I probably have. “Kate.”
I actually feel some silly tears welling in my eyes. “I’m just going to go the bathroom. Be right back.”
I hop up from the table and race to the bathroom, trying to hide my face.
Locking the door behind me, I look in the mirror, my eyes already rimmed red. “Get it together, Kate,” I chastise myself.
I squeeze my eyes shut. What do I know about keeping a guy around? I’ve never done it. My mom never did either.
Splashing water on my face, I head back out to find the waitress at our table, her hips propped suggestively against the chipped Formica as she gives a high laugh at something Luke has said.
My hands ball into fists as I consider ripping her blonde hair out in chunks when Luke senses me or something.
He’s leaned back in the booth, his good arm slung along the back, rocking the casual sexy air he does so well.
In front of him is a phonebook. That’s right. He asked me about that. Who does he need to call that he’d find their number in there? We’re hours from Vegas…
He turns and our eyes meet.
My breath stops in my chest, as he holds out a hand toward me. I know it’s his bad arm and he shouldn’t be using it like that, but I heed the call anyway.
At his gesture, the waitress catches sight of me too, and she takes an involuntary step back as my hand slips into Luke’s.
He pulls me down next to him and before I can question what he’s doing, he gives me a long, slow kiss in front of the entire diner.
I swear, time stops as my eyes flutter closed.
When they open, the waitress is gone. Luke pushes my steaming hot cup of coffee from my side of the table to where I’m now sitting. “Drink it before it gets cold.”
Without a word, I take a sip.
Ten minutes later, another waitress brings our food. Fine by me. Luke and I eat in silence, but this one doesn’t trouble me a bit.
And as we get up to leave, an older woman stops me. “Keep a hold of that one,” she whispers. “That is a good egg.”
I smile and nod, following Luke to the counter where he pays the bill. Walking outside, he helps me up into his truck. But I don’t stay on my side.
By the time he climbs in, I’ve already slid over to the middle.
He gives me a one-sided grin as he wraps a hand around my thigh. “You weren’t jealous of that waitress, were you?”
I wince and then shrug, knowing that I’m being totally obvious.
He only shakes his head. “Kate, sweetheart. There are a million girls like that. I’ve only ever met one you.”
“Oh,” I whisper.
“I don’t give Vincent Vendetti credit for much, but even he could tell you were special.”
I don’t know about that, but I lean my head on his shoulder anyway as we back out of the spot and start down the road.
One stop for gas and another at this town’s drugstore and we’re off. The windows down, we cruise along the highway.
I try to tell myself that this time, I’m just going to relax and enjoy whatever time I get with Luke Kincaid.
But my heart already aches a bit. He’s going to be a tough man to let go.