Three
LUKE
I couldn’t believe the old friend from school was Kevin, Laci’s ex. And he was just as obnoxious now as he was back then. And he was one drink away from being shitfaced. The group of guys he was with wasn’t any better off.
“It was good seeing you, Kevin, but I need to get back. How about I send out a plate of our sliders and potato nachos? You haven’t eaten yet, right? I really appreciate your business and stopping by the pub.”
I shook his hand and thought I’d made a clean getaway, but Kevin gripped my hand and stood, not too steadily, and faced me. “Hey, did you see that table over there in the corner? It’s Laci with her friends. We’re not married anymore, but you remember her, right?”
My hands curled into a fist at the creepy smile on my old roommate’s face.
I centered my stance and watched as Kevin tried not to sway in front of me.
“She fucking kicked me out two years ago. Did you know that? Now she’s all dressed up, looking for action, no doubt.
Damn, she was so cold when we were married…
keep an eye on her for me, would you, and make sure no one hits on her. ”
I was surprised at Kevin’s swift change from blasting Laci to making sure she was taken care of.
Almost made me think twice about going after her, but not quite.
She could make up her own mind when I finally got some time alone with her.
Which I needed to get Kevin sobered up and out of here so I could make that happen.
“No worries, man. I’ll see that she’s well taken care of.
” I slapped him on the back and walked toward the kitchen, and put in the food order.
For the next hour, I kept an eye on Kevin and his friends while juggling various requests for either football stories or the brewing process.
Once I got Laci’s ex out of the pub, I’d head over to her table and make my next play.
I wasn’t going to let another night or couple of weeks go by without getting her number or setting up a date.
LACI
I turned at Audrey’s shocked words, and sure enough, my ex was sitting at a table with a bunch of his buddies, and by the look on Luke’s face, he was telling some stupid story.
Even though Kevin had moved to Seattle after the divorce, he’d come back often to play golf with his friends. Damn. Damn. Damn.
“I’m sorry, Laci. Do you want me to stay? I don’t think he knows you’re here; otherwise, he would have come over and made an ass of himself already.”
I looked at my best friend knowing she would stay and have my back if anything like that happened, but Audrey needed to be home early tonight. “You’re sweet, but I can handle him.”
“Yeah, we can stay with Laci as long as she wants. We’ll make sure that dork doesn’t ruin the rest of our evening.”
I burst out laughing at Deidre’s favorite nickname for my ex because he was a dork. But he was also the father of my girls, so I needed to try and not make waves. Kevin had a habit of sharing our disagreements with them, and I didn’t want them drawn into any more drama.
“You two are the best. I just want to finish my drink, and we still need to get those yummy cupcakes, right? Audrey, I’ll save you some and bring them over later this weekend, okay?”
She looked at me hard but then nodded and gave me another hug. “Okay. But don’t let this unexpected appearance by Kevin keep you from going after Luke. Promise me.”
“Promise.” I made a cross over my heart. “Now, go home and get some rest. You’re gonna need it to deal with the early game tomorrow. Love you.”
She left, and I took another peek toward Luke. Would he come back and talk to me, or would this be like the other nights where the pub got so busy any chance of getting time together would be impossible?
“Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do. You scoot your chair over a bit more toward the wall, and that way, when the dork leaves, your back will be to him. And we’re gonna get those cupcakes and enjoy the rest of the night.”
Blayne and Deidre talked me into one more drink, even though I wanted to stay clear-headed just in case, and of course, they wanted more time ogling Luke to go with the cupcakes.
Luckily, I didn’t have to participate much in the conversation, so it gave me plenty of time to think about what I did want.
And I wanted orgasms, lots of them. I missed the intensity of a shared physical release, of touch and taste and hot breath against sensitized skin, and…
I tried to stay focused on the conversation, but I couldn’t stop thinking about being with Luke and what it would be like.
My ex had never been interested in my pleasure after the twins had been born, and it’d gone downhill from there.
An hour of fantasizing passed when Deidre grabbed my hand, “Don’t turn around. The ex is leaving with his dork pack.”
My ex always had unfortunate timing; because, of course, he would be around on the night I wanted to let Luke know I wanted him.
But I wasn’t going to let history repeat itself.
I kept myself still and stared out the window into the parking lot, repeating the mantra to myself, “keep walking, keep walking.” And thank God it worked.
Kevin was wrapped up in impressing his friends as they lumbered out of the pub.
“Okay, all clear.” Deidre sighed and rubbed my arm. “You okay?”
I was now. I looked at my watch. Four more hours till closing, I wasn’t sure I could make it. My late night or rather early morning hours of partying were well in my past.
“You know, he keeps looking over here, right?”
Blayne’s words had me worried. Did Kevin come back in? “Who?”
“Who do you think? Luke. He may be talking to his customers, but his attention is all on you.”
Deidre sighed. There seemed to be a lot of that going on tonight. “So, are you going to go over there and talk to him or what? Because I don’t want to leave until you do.”
“Hold on, wait…yes, here he comes. Act natural.”
Act natural? I let out a snort and finished the last of my drink. Okay, I could do this. There was no way I was going to let another two weeks go by, dammit.
“Hi, ladies. How’d those cupcakes taste? Not too much key lime flavoring, I hope.”
I felt my face warm. Hopefully, he couldn’t tell what I was thinking every time I looked at him. Like having his tongue taste me, and how I wanted to taste him?
The corner of Luke’s mouth lifted, and his gaze fell to my glass where I’d been rubbing my finger around its rim as I fantasized. Yeah, I had it bad.
“No, they’re perfect. Thanks for stopping by and checking up on us. Laci just told us you two went to college together. That’s so cool. You two wanted to catch up, right, Deidre?” Blayne gave Deidre a look, and both women quickly grabbed their purses and stood to leave.
“Well, ladies, thank you for coming in tonight. I hope we’ll see you again soon?” Luke helped both Blayne and Deidre with their coats. My friends were all over that offer.
“Oh, this is our favorite place, and I’m sure we’ll be in soon. Isn’t that right, Laci?”
I was never comfortable being the center of attention, and now there were three sets of eyes on me as I bent down under the table for my purse.
Awkward. Tearing my gaze from Luke, I grabbed my bag.
The movement pulled my blouse down, and for a brief moment, I was on full display thanks to my newly purchased push-up bra.
A heated flush crept up my neck. My gaze was drawn back to Luke’s. His eyes were no longer on my face but on my chest, and reading his look, he was very interested. It was a definite boost to my ego. I’d been blessed with or cursed, depending on the day and the outfit, large breasts.
Luke’s attention on me felt good and ignited a new level of determination.
“Ahem.” Deidre cleared her throat. “I see we’re not needed here, so Laci, um—we’ll see you next Friday?”
Blayne giggled and placed a hand on Luke’s arm. “Our girl here needs a distraction. A big one. You up for the task?”
“Blayne!” I wanted to crawl under the table, yet desperately wanted to hear his answer because his eyes hadn’t left me since he walked over. “You don’t have to answer that. She’s usually not so forward.”
“No, it’s fine. If you don’t ask, you might miss out on something pretty awesome, right Laci?”
I nodded. My mouth had gone dry, and my nipples hardened from his throaty response.
My friends were grinning like fools, and each sent me an exaggerated wink before they said their goodbyes and left me with Luke.
Now alone, the roomful of people faded as I focused intently on the man I never thought I would have a chance with again. I was not missing this gift handed to me.
“I’m closing tonight if you want to come in later?
Things usually calm down around 1 a.m., if that’s not too late.
I’ve been slammed with business. I’ve been working every day since we opened; otherwise, I’d ask you to dinner, but I don’t know when I’ll be able to get away.
If you can’t, I understand, but I’d really like to catch up.
Maybe have a nightcap and reminisce about college.
I wanted to talk to you last week, but by the time the crowd thinned out, you had left. ”
He had? “I’d like that.” My over-enthusiastic response had me groaning inwardly as my pulse raced. Way to go, Laci, desperate much?
“Great. That’s great…I’ll see you later then.” Luke leaned in and kissed my forehead, and squeezed my arm.
The husky timbre in his voice and his touch vibrated through me, and 1 a.m. couldn’t come quick enough. I wanted to say something that conveyed my true feelings, but my brain was all scrambled by his closeness, so I gave him a short wave and did my best not to trip on my way out the door.
I may no longer know how to flirt or talk to a hot guy today any more than I had back in college when he’d been sitting across from me in the library, but there was no way I was going to miss out on letting him know exactly how I felt about him, then and now.