CHAPTER SEVEN
T his was what happened when you didn’t have a plan. You take one look at the angel you haven’t been able to stop thinking about and all rational thought goes straight out the window. Any chance he had of resisting her was long gone.
Like you even had a chance to begin with.
That was true. There was no use denying she was the only reason he was there right now. At the Evans barbecue. He’d rather throw himself down a flight of stairs than socialize today. But he was starting to realize that for Bella, there was a whole hell of a lot he’d do.
The fake cough that had disturbed his second taste of heaven belonged to Rachel. She and his friend Hunter stood right across from them when Luke reluctantly pulled away and turned. Luke was hoping his scowl directed their way would do all the talking for him.
“Hey, sugar,” Rachel chirped, “you gonna introduce us to your friend?”
Was she being serious right now? The look he threw her said as much.
When he didn’t bother to reply, Bella was the one to speak next, elbowing him at the same time. “Um, hey, I’m Bella.”
“Hi, Bella,” Rachel beamed. “Nice to finally meet you. I’m Rachel, and this is my fiancé, Hunter.”
Pleasantries exchanged, Rachel didn’t stop there.
“So, Bella, the girls and I were wondering if you wanted to join us for drinks tomorrow night? We’re hitting the Tipsy Cow in town.”
That was when Luke snapped. He knew exactly what was going on. “No, Rach,” he replied through gritted teeth. “She’s not going for drinks with you.”
The big man emitted a growl. Likely because he didn’t say no to his woman, so he didn’t like it when anyone else did either.
Luke watched as Rachel ran a hand up and down Hunter’s arm, clearly in an attempt to soothe him.
“Uh, actually , Rachel, I think drinks sound like a great idea. I’d love to come,” Bella piped.
“Excellent,” his ex-friend chirped as she did a little bounce. “We’re meeting down there at six—here, let me give you my number in case you need to get in touch with me.”
Luke’s eyes went to Hunter as the two women pulled out their phones. His friend simply shrugged. Where was the loyalty? Ten years he’d known his giant ass, been a good friend, and this was how he was repaid?
Feeling no less wound up as the couple said their goodbyes and went to rejoin the others, it was Bella who reaped the rewards of his bad mood.
“Why did you agree to go?” His head whipped back around to face her. “You know why she was inviting you, right? To get the gossip, find out what’s going on between us.”
“Well, she’ll be shit out of luck, Luke, ’cause, quite honestly, I have no fucking clue!” She threw up her arms in frustration before pinning him with a look that in no way should turn him on. Yet it did. “Oh, and if you dare try and answer for me ever again, my knee and your balls are gonna get real familiar, really damn quickly.”
Stepping into her space again, he took a deep berry-filled breath. “Noted.”
“ Noted ,” she mocked. “Oh, I get it, you’ve gone back to monosyllabic communication. Well, that’s just fan-fucking-tastic.”
He felt a smile break out. This woman was something else. Something he just couldn’t get enough of.
“I’m picking you up tomorrow night,” he announced, ignoring her glare.
“No, Cappelli, you’re not.”
“This isn’t up for discussion.”
“I agree, it’s not. I’m a thirty-year-old woman, I don’t need picking up after a night out.”
“I never said you needed it,” he clarified.
“Fine. Still doesn’t change the fact that you’re not doing it though.” Her arms came up and crossed over her chest.
“These nights usually go on until closing, so I’ll come by then.”
Bella stomped her foot this time. “No, you will not, Cappelli. I mean it. You show up tomorrow, and you will not be getting a warm welcome.”
“Because all of my welcomes so far have been warm and fuzzy?” His eyebrow lifted as his smile upgraded into a smirk.
He watched her huff through pursed lips, lips he needed one last taste of if he had any hope of getting some sleep tonight.
“You’re impossible.”
One more footstep and he was back where he was supposed to be. Her breath hitting his lips and his body close enough to encourage her crossed arms back down to her sides. “And you’re fucking beautiful.”
Her eyes flashed, and that’s when he knew he had her. Neither of them could deny this connection. They easily generated enough electricity to power the whole damn town.
Taking advantage of her parted lips, he stole one last kiss. It wasn’t sweet and slow or wild and urgent. This time it was claiming. His claim on her to be exact. He was done playing games. This was happening. They were happening. And he was no longer afraid of it. If Marco wanted her to stick around for a month, then that meant they had three more weeks together, and he wasn’t going to waste a second more of them.
Letting his thumb caress her cheek, he drew back slowly. Memorizing every inch of a face that was so beautiful, it looked like Botticelli himself had carved it out.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, angel.” Even he could hear how rough his voice sounded. It was taking everything in him to walk away. But he had to.
Three weeks. He reminded himself as he turned. He had three weeks with her. And he was going to make them count.
***
A s soon as he saw Hunter was on shift with him today, Luke knew that at some point he was going to get grilled. Apparently, that point was now.
Luke’s first mistake was slumping into the ratty old couch in the communal lounge after a call out. His second was bringing a plate of chili with him to eat. And his final one was not getting the hell out of there when Hunter bounced down next to him.
“So, Bella?” Hunter began.
Fucks sake.
“Don’t wanna talk about it, dude.”
Hunter scoffed. “I bet you don’t. Screwing your dead brother’s girlfriend is a new low even for you.”
Now Hunter was just pissing Luke off. “ Friend! ” Luke slammed his plate onto the coffee table in front of them, giving him room to twist to face Hunter. “His friend , asshole, not his girlfriend.”
Hunter didn’t react, just hummed. He forgot the man was the goddamn king of calm.
“And not that it’s any of your business, but I’m not screwing her,” Luke went on, the words leaving a bad taste in his mouth. “She’s teaching me about my brother, if you must know. Seeing as I never knew him, and she did.”
“And that teaching includes sticking her tongue down your throat?”
He was totally doing this on purpose. To get a rise. “You know it doesn’t. Say what you wanna say, man, and stop fucking around.”
“Okay.” Hunter kept his dark eyes on him. “You like this girl. That’s obvious. But it has not escaped my attention, or anyone else’s for that matter, that in all the time we’ve known you, you’ve never once brought anyone around. So, what’s different about this woman? Why all of a sudden are you carrying her outta bars and laying claim to her in front of the whole town?”
Goddamn small ass towns.
He didn’t have an answer. Not a good one anyway. Bella was different. She made him feel things he’d never felt before. Ache in places he didn’t even know existed until she walked into his life. But he wasn’t about to admit that to his friend.
Besides, this conversation was irrelevant anyway. No matter his feelings, whatever was happening between Bella and him had an end date. And if he was being honest with himself, that guaranteed end date was the only reason he was allowing himself the chance to explore his feelings for her.
“She’s different, okay.” He sighed. “But that doesn’t mean I’m about to get down on one knee like the rest of you assholes. She’s leaving in a few weeks, so whatever this is, it’s already got an expiry date.”
He didn’t like the way his friend was looking at him. Assessing. Searching. What the hell was he looking for?
It was a good minute before Hunter spoke again. “You need to get out of your own way, man.”
“Okay. Sure. I’ll work on that.” Luke was ready to tap out. But his friend wasn’t done.
“This woman is the first to turn your head in thirty-five years, right?” Luke didn’t answer. He knew it was a trap. “Okay, so I’ll take that as a yes. Well, that means something. Stop pretending it doesn’t. Do me a favor and just keep an open mind over the next few weeks, yeah?”
“An open mind?”
“Yeah. And whatever you do ... don’t be one of those dumbasses who fucks up a good thing ’cause he can’t pull his head outta his own ass.”
And with that super unhelpful advice, Hunter was pushing up from the couch, his bulky six-foot-five frame swaggering back across the room.
Luke was still shaking his head as he picked up his plate.
Damn nosy ass friends.