CHAPTER FIFTEEN #3
He stilled inside of her, panting heavily as he reached up to brush her hair back from her forehead.
She held his gaze, her chest heaving as the waves of her second orgasm slowly ebbed.
Luke leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips which she responded to without hesitation, wrapping her arms around his neck and drawing him closer.
He broke away, resting his forehead against hers, as they let their breathing slowly return to normal.
After several long minutes, Luke pulled away, his deep blue eyes meeting hers. “Is there something I can get to help you, ah, clean up?”
April nodded, smirking slightly at how gentle he was being with her, a million miles from the arrogant boy she’d grown up with. “There should be some paper towels by the register, just under the counter.”
He moved to retrieve them, handing a few to April and watching her with a mounting hunger as she cleaned up the wetness that had pooled between her legs.
“Don’t give me that look, Pointer. One more orgasm like that and I might stop breathing,” she chided playfully. A self-satisfied smile passed across his lips, although she also saw his cheeks turn a little pink.
They dressed in comfortable silence, Luke helping her retrieve her panties from where they’d fallen down the side of the counter, April ruefully watching him button up his shirt until his chest was hidden from view.
When they were fully clothed again, April looked around: paper for wrapping bouquets, ribbons, and string had all been knocked from the counter. She sighed quietly, thinking it was going to take her at least another hour to get everything cleaned up again.
Luke cleared his throat, and she looked up at him, her hands longing to reach for his face once more. The look he leveled her with was full of unspoken feelings and she knew what he had to be thinking: this changed everything between them.
“I have to get back to work, I’m afraid. The client’s got me working my weekend to make up for the delay,” he said and disappointment made her swallow hard.
“Well, you know what they say: leave them wanting more.” She laughed but the sound was flat. Luke paced forward, cupping her face in his hands and pressing a kiss to her forehead that made her pulse flutter.
“Do you want to come back to mine later?” There was a sweet earnestness in his voice that made her heart speed up. “I can pick you up from here at six?”
Relieved, she nodded. “I’d like that.”
“Six it is,” he said, smiling as he tugged his jacket back on and then paused before the door. “Oh, and April? You always leave me wanting more.”
The rest of the day passed quickly as April cleared up the mess that she and Luke had made that morning, added some finishing touches to the walls in the store, and checked that everything was ready for her stock to arrive the next day.
Splattered with paint and feeling oddly nervous, April headed back to her mom’s to shower and change before going back to the shop to wait for Luke.
She wasn’t sure what the expectation was—would she be there for the night? The weekend? Was this a booty call or something more?
It certainly felt like more to her, and that was terrifying enough without having to consider whether Luke was feeling the same way.
In the end, she’d settled for pretty, but not too dressy.
Light on the make-up, heavy on the lingerie under her clothes, and a comfy casual outfit of faded blue mom jeans, boots, and a cream roll-neck jumper that was so soft it begged to be touched—and she was hoping Luke would be the one doing the touching.
She’d finished the look with a gold headband that matched the gold buckle on her belt and a pretty pink lipstick that was a new favorite.
The jeans were versatile enough that she could re-wear them if she did end up staying, and the sweater was warm enough that she didn’t need to bring a jacket.
Trying not to let her uncertainty spiral, she’d grabbed her slightly bigger tote bag and slipped a change of top and underwear in there, as well as her toothbrush, a hairbrush, and some make-up.
Enough that she could stay if she wanted to, but not so much that things didn’t still feel casual.
Maybe she was overthinking this.
Her phone vibrated in her hand and she instantly checked it, trying not to laugh at her eagerness to receive a text from Luke Pointer, of all people.
If someone had told her a month ago that she’d be anxiously awaiting a message from her childhood rival, she’d never have believed them. But look at her now.
Unfortunately, the name that flashed up on the screen wasn’t Luke’s.
Ty:
Are you really going to just ignore me, April?
Ty:
Come on, be mature about this.
Ty:
I can’t undo the past, but you can’t hold it against me forever.
Ty:
April?
She’d hadn’t replied to his messages since she accidentally answered his call over a week ago, and yet they persisted. Besides, he was right—she couldn’t hold it against him forever, because that would require caring. That didn’t mean she wanted anything to do with him, though.
Her fingers hovered over the screen and she clenched her jaw as she tapped the button that would block him from contacting her again. She would get Noah to pick up her stuff from the city if she had to, but she couldn’t move on if Tyler was blowing up her phone all the time.
Headlights washed over the front of the store and April looked up, heart beating harder as the sound of a car door slamming rang out through the calm of the evening.
A familiar silhouette approached the door and April opened it, flipping the lights off before she stepped out and locked up. As she turned, she found Luke waiting with a smile on his face and a bouquet of colorful flowers in his hands.
“Hey.” His voice was a little unsure, but the warmth in his eyes reassured her that it was just nerves. Had he expected her to stand him up? To regret what had happened in the store? She didn’t. “These are for you.”
She accepted the bunch of flowers and smiled up at him as she leaned down to inhale the fresh blooms. “These are beautiful. Where did you get them?”
A tinge of pink touched his cheeks as he guided her away from the store and toward his car parked a few feet away. “Well, the only florist in town isn’t open yet, so I had to improvise.”
April giggled but accepted the non-answer, for now. “So what’s the plan?”
“The plan is for you to come back to my place and have dinner with me.” He opened the car door for her and waited till she was comfortable before closing it and walking around to the driver’s side.
The smell of something delicious wafted over to her and she glanced in the back to find a bag of takeout marked “The Garden Table”.
“I hope you don’t mind takeout tonight.”
Penny’s food was too good to only be considered “takeout”, but she didn’t mind regardless. “Sounds good to me.”
Luke turned the ignition and she smiled into her flowers again, glancing up to find him watching her. “Did you bring a bag?”
She bit her lip before admitting, “I wasn’t sure what you had planned. I didn’t want to be presumptuous.”
To her surprise, he chuckled as he pulled away from the curb.
“Let me guess—you packed the bare essentials into your purse just in case?” She spluttered and he flashed her a grin.
“Classic, Jones.” Except, he didn’t say it the way Tyler might have, with disdain for her tendency to overthink and overprepare.
Luke said it like he knew her and liked her quirks, and that felt good.
“I’m not trying to get you into bed, April.
Or, at least, not only that,” he added and she laughed.
“We’ll have some food, talk, and go from there, OK? No pressure.”
She nodded, surprised by how at ease she felt about him perceiving her so keenly. But he didn’t fault her for who she was and she hadn’t realized until right then that she couldn’t say the same for her relationship with Tyler.
April had never been to Luke’s before, so when they took the turning for the new town she looked at him in surprise. “You live up here?”
“Sort of.” His grin had her suspicions raised and, sure enough, they breezed through the lower side of the new town and took a left turn back out into the sticks.
“Pointer, are you bringing me out here to murder me?” she said lightly and he snorted.
“I live here, April.”
She looked around outside and was about to question what he meant by here when she saw it. A medium-sized farmhouse, tucked away off of a dirt track that Luke navigated with ease.
“Admit it,” he said as he pulled the car into the empty drive in front of the house. “You weren’t expecting this. I surprised you.”
“You did,” she admitted. “I half expected you to have a fancy little apartment in the new town, all shiny and modern.”
He laughed. “Sorry to disappoint.”
It was the opposite of disappointing. In fact, the amount of immediate lust she felt for this house was almost alarming, and she hadn’t even been inside yet.
But it was like something out of her wildest, most unattainable Pinterest boards, with a brown brick exterior, stone window ledges and modern black window frames.
As if he could tell how enamored she was, Luke stayed quiet and led her inside. The door was a pale baby blue that nearly glowed in the dark and was not at all what she imagined Luke picking out.
They stepped inside and closed the door, and she had a second to take in the neat but modern interior before she was almost bowled over by a bundle of fur.
“Sadie, down.” Luke’s voice was infinitely patient and April suddenly understood where he got his experience with unruly women. She didn’t know much about dogs, but she did know that this one was huge, friendly, and absolutely adorable.
Tongue lolling out, Sadie flopped onto the floor with her belly up and wiggled, begging for tummy rubs that Luke immediately indulged her with.
“You have a dog?”