16. Luke
CHAPTER 16
Luke
No woman in the history of the world had ever been more confusing—or exasperating—than Melanie Andolini.
Instead of heading to my office, I went into the garage. Patrick and Ollie were working on restorations, and I had another project I was seeing to personally—a black 1968 Dodge Charger. But mostly, I wanted to keep my hands busy. Sitting at a desk would lead to brooding—over a girl I should not have been brooding over.
I got started on the Charger, determined to put Melanie out of my mind.
It didn’t work.
Because, seriously. Hank? All right, it was a cool name, but why was she dating him? And did he have any idea what he was getting into?
I hoped he was ready for it.
Or maybe I hoped he wasn’t.
Either way, that woman was a wildfire. I needed to keep my distance, or I was going to keep getting scorched.
My phone buzzed with a text, so I slipped it out of the back pocket of my jeans to check. It was Kyle. I didn’t have to read it to know what it said. A race was on .
It was tempting. But the strange thing was, I wasn’t craving speed. Not for the rush of adrenaline, at least. I was restless and frustrated—amped up with too much energy. It was hard to keep still, but I didn’t know what I wanted.
What was wrong with me? Was it Melanie? Was I that pissed off that she’d gone out with another guy? Maybe, although I probably needed to stop blaming all my bad moods on her.
And there was the fact that I had no right to be mad. She went on a date, so what? I had a date on Friday. Would she be angry with me over it? I doubted it.
That kind of pissed me off, too.
Too many feelings. I didn’t like it. But I said no to the race.
Time went by in a blur as I worked on the car. It was good to have something else to focus on. No dates or ex-girlfriends or frustrating emotions. Just the work I’d always loved.
I don’t know what made me glance up. It was too loud to have heard her come in. I wiped my hands on a shop towel as I watched her walk to the parts area with a printout in her hand, my eyes drifting over the curves of her body. A heady rush of adrenaline surged through me, making my heart beat harder.
My gaze locked on her. I couldn’t stop staring. She started to look for something on the shelf, referencing the sheet she held in her hand. Whatever she was after, she clearly couldn’t find it.
She rose on her tiptoes to look on the top shelf but wasn’t tall enough.
I put the shop towel down. “Hey, Mel.”
She didn’t answer. Too much noise.
I walked across the garage to see what she was trying to find. She moved farther down the wall of shelves and popped up on her toes again.
“Mel. ”
When she didn’t turn, I reached out to tap her on the shoulder. “Do you nee—”
As soon as my hand touched her, and before I could finish the word, she whirled around, eyes wild with terror, and punched me right in the nose.
Pain made me stagger back, and my eyes immediately started to water. I covered my nose with my hand.
“What the fuck?”
Her eyes widened, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.
I lowered my hand to see if my nose was bleeding. It wasn’t, but I had to keep blinking to get my eyes to stop watering.
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
Gingerly, I touched the bridge of my nose. “Holy shit, Mel. What the fuck did you do that for?”
“You scared me.”
“I tapped you on the shoulder. I don’t think that warrants a fist to the face.”
“I didn’t mean to. I didn’t even know you were there. You can’t hear a thing in here.”
Pain throbbed, radiating across my cheekbones. “I wasn’t trying to scare you.”
“But you did. Warn a girl before you touch her from behind.”
I was about to snap at her, but the look in her eyes stopped me. There was still a wildness in her expression. And it wasn’t anger. It was fear.
She looked terrified.
“Hey.” I tried to soften my voice, although it was difficult with all the noise. “Are you okay?”
“Um, Luke?”
“What?”
She pointed at my face. “You’re bleeding. ”
I felt the warm drip and cupped my hand under my nose to catch it as I ran for the bathroom. Melanie followed me in.
I unrolled a handful of toilet paper and tried to mop up the mess before I got blood on my shirt.
“Are you all right?” she asked. “Do you need more toilet paper?”
“I got it.” I leaned over the sink and pinched the bridge of my nose, hoping to make it stop faster. “And no, I’m not all right. You punched me in the face.”
“I’m sorry. You startled me.”
“Most people get startled and gasp or scream or something. They don’t turn around throwing punches.”
“Well… I’m not most people.”
I glanced at her. “No, Melanie, you are definitely not.”
“I said I was sorry.”
“It’s fine. I’m not mad. I just don’t want to bleed all over everything.”
She grabbed another wad of toilet paper and held it out to me. “Here.”
I hesitated. I didn’t want her help. She’d just hit me. But obviously, she hadn’t meant to. She was just being Melanie—overreacting.
Or was she? That look in her eyes. She’d been terrified. What was she so afraid of?
I took the toilet paper and replaced the blood-soaked wad I’d been holding. “Thanks.”
“It should stop soon. Noses bleed a lot. I didn’t break it, did I?”
“I don’t think so.” I scrunched my nose. The pain was dulling. Probably not broken. “I’m okay.”
The bleeding was already slowing down. I mopped it up as best I could. I’d shove some more toilet paper in my nostrils if I needed to.
Melanie still stood there, watching me with concern. The fear was gone from her expression, but the memory of it was burned into my mind. I thought about asking her why that had freaked her out so badly, until I caught sight of the way she was holding her right hand—sort of tucked against her body.
“Did you hurt yourself?” I asked, shifting to face her.
“No.”
I reached for her hand. “Let me see.”
She put it behind her back. “It’s fine.”
“Then let me see it.”
After hesitating for another second, she held her hand out toward me. I took it in mine and gently lifted it for a closer look. Her knuckles were red and starting to swell.
“Can you make a fist?” I asked.
She did, opening and closing her hand a few times.
I took her hand again and had the strangest urge to kiss the backs of her fingers. Lifting my eyes, my gaze met hers. A wave of heat swept through me, like fire in my veins, and the sudden pressure in my groin almost made my head spin.
A flush hit her cheeks and her lips parted. I wanted to taste that mouth. Kiss her so hard and so good that she forgot any other man had ever kissed her.
I dropped her hand like a hot rock and stepped back. Unfortunately, we were still in the tiny bathroom, and the sink was right behind me. I bumped into it hard enough that I couldn’t play it off like nothing had happened.
“You’re bleeding again.” She scrambled for another wad of toilet paper, then moved closer and held it up to my nose.
Her proximity was somehow both unnerving and intoxicating. The heat of desire still flowed through me, putting thoughts in my head I had no business thinking. Like yanking her pants off, bending her over, and burying myself in her—
“Did it stop?”
Her voice jolted me back to reality, although my heart beat so hard, I wondered if she could hear it.
I took the wad of toilet paper from her and checked. There wasn’t much blood on it. After folding it, I pressed it against each nostril. Only a bit of red. Hopefully, it was done.
“I think so. Come on, let’s get you some ice.”
She went back into the garage, and I blew out a breath, trying to clear my head. What the hell was wrong with me? She was the last woman I should have been fantasizing about, especially when she was mere inches away. I didn’t want her. I didn’t even like her.
Except…
No.
I followed her out of the restroom. “I have a first-aid kit in my office. It should have a few ice packs.”
“Maybe you should use one on your nose.”
“Probably, but let’s take care of you first.”
I led her through the garage to my office and took the first-aid kit off the shelf, setting it on my desk. I dug through the assortment of bandages, gauze, and other supplies in the red plastic box, finally finding several small ice packs that would get cold if you squeezed and shook them up.
Ignoring the ache in my nose, I got the ice pack ready for her. When it started feeling cold, I lifted her hand and placed the pack gently on her knuckles.
“Thanks,” she said. “Sorry about your nose.”
“I’m all right.”
I could have let go. Made her hold the ice pack herself. I could have told her I had to get to work and sent her back to the front desk.
But I didn’t. I couldn’t seem to make myself stop touching her.
Memories flitted through my mind. It wasn’t the first time I’d held an ice pack for Melanie.
“You’re smirking again,” she said.
“No, I’m not.”
“You totally are. What are you thinking about? ”
“I was just remembering that time you slipped off a log and fell in the lake.”
“In my defense, that log was very slippery.”
“Right. I’m sure it had nothing to do with you reciting some monologue and gesturing with basically your entire body.”
“I was not. That doesn’t sound anything like me.”
I chuckled. “And then you flailed around so much on the way down, you smacked your elbow on the log.”
“What was I supposed to do, swan dive?”
“That would have been more graceful.”
She sighed. “There’s a reason I was never good at musical theater. The whole coordination part. But I do remember that. You jumped in after me and carried me to shore.”
“I think you hit me in the nose that time, too.”
“No, I didn’t,” she said with a laugh. “Oh wait, maybe I did.”
“You did. You were still flailing around in the water when I got to you, like you thought you were going to drown.”
“I was just very surprised to suddenly be in the cold lake water. It’s freezing.”
The rest was vivid in my memory. She had hit me in the nose. Once she’d realized I was there and the water was shallow enough to stand in, she’d thrown her arms around me and peppered my face with kisses to apologize. Then I’d gathered her in my arms and carried her to shore. We’d made out on a towel for a while before realizing her elbow was starting to bruise. So we’d gone to my folks’ place to get an ice pack and spent the rest of the night cuddling on the couch.
Despite the minor injury, it had been a good day.
The memory hurt.
I let go of her and stepped away. She moved her other hand to hold the ice pack in place. Clearing my throat, I grabbed another ice pack and shook it up, then held it to my nose. Not because I thought I needed it, but to pull myself from her orbit.
“I should get back to the front desk. Hardly any calls all morning and there were probably twenty since I got up.”
“Yeah, that’s how it goes sometimes.”
“Thanks for the ice pack. And sorry for punching you in the face.”
“Sorry for scaring you.”
She hesitated, her mouth partially open, like she had something else to say. But after a few seconds, she closed it, as if she’d changed her mind. Without another word, she turned and walked away, leaving me with an empty ache in my chest.