Chapter 31 #2
The night was perfect. She didn't want it to end. Inviting him in to have a drink made sense, and was what she wanted, but the commitment of sex was a new level.
And then there was that pesky interview in New York she wasn't talking about.
Sleeping with Luke was an act she didn't take lightly. Crossing that bridge meant committing to him, even if they didn't say it with words.
Sharing her body with him carried meaning. Emotional depth.
A promise.
And she couldn't make that kind of promise if she were living in two worlds.
New York?
Luview?
Being on two paths at the same time made sense until tonight.
“Cat got your tongue?” Luke asked as he glanced at her, then immediately set his eyes back on the road.
“Just thinking.”
“About what?”
“You.”
That wasn't a lie.
“Me? What about me?”
“Everything about you.”
He cleared his throat suggestively. “Everything?”
“I've seen you wearing only a towel, mister. It didn't leave much to the imagination.”
“I'm not sure whether that's a compliment or not.”
“It absolutely, positively is.”
Silence blanketed them again, their banter light and without tension. It felt good to be with a man she could talk to like this. Nothing about Luke was pretense.
He was who he was, liked what he liked, loved who he loved.
And Kylie felt like she could be herself.
Whoever that was.
With him, she knew who she could be. The future would be laid out and clear.
In New York, she knew who she had the potential to be.
Here in town, she would be entwined with him–her job, her life, everything.
In New York, she would be wholly independent, but disconnected.
Luke turned on music, the same pleasant jazz and blues he'd played earlier in the car. It hearkened back to an earlier time, a simpler, quieter pace of life.
One she found in Luview.
As Luke steered the car down roads he’d memorized long ago, Kylie let herself live in the moment, her limbs relaxing in the warming air, the glow of the night seeping into her.
Happy.
She was so happy.
Could a person feel so much joy? She didn't know it was possible.
Luke's phone buzzed.
“That's my personal line.” Frowning, he looked at it, then made a face just as they reached Kylie's driveway, her inner calm disappearing as anticipation washed over her.
Invite him in?
Give him a kiss at the door and draw a boundary?
What should she do?
“Oh, good grief,” he muttered as he turned his phone over.
“What?”
“Colleen. Reminding me that Nadine has today in the betting pool, and I'll never hear the end of it if she wins.”
A snort Kylie didn't know she could make came out of her. Luke parked, cut the engine, and turned to her.
“Let's talk about this.”
“The bet?”
“All of it.”
“Okay. Want to come in for a drink?”
“I do. Very much.”
Impulse made her invite him.
What else would impulse make her do tonight?
Without waiting for him to walk around, Kylie climbed out of the car and walked up the steep set of stairs to her apartment, Luke pressing the small of her back with a firm, guiding hand. Once they were inside her blissfully warm apartment, she relaxed.
And then didn't.
Because the bedroom was right there.
Luke made himself at home without being overbearing, hanging his coat and hat, setting gloves on a small table by the door, and rubbing his hands together to warm up. Kylie took off her outerwear, then stood before him.
“Beer? Spiked seltzer? Coffee?”
A small smile, topped by eyes that showed how much he wanted her, was her answer.
A few beats of silence passed, not uncomfortably, before he said, “I think I'll stick to coffee.”
“You sure?”
“I need to drive home in an hour.”
“An hour?”
“My mom is babysitting, plus I have to work in the morning. Remember?”
“Oh! Right!”
“And so do you.”
“Of course! At eight-thirty. I'll have coffee, too. Decaf? Or I have apple juice, milk, some soda.”
“Kylie?”
“Yes?”
“I'm not ready to sleep with you just yet.”
“Oh! You really do want to talk about it.'”
“Mm hmm.” Crossing the space between them, he put his hands on her hips, a light touch that made her want more. “It doesn't have to be tonight. And I only have an hour. No way I want to rush.”
Reminding herself that she could say anything–including how she really felt–she replied with, “Me, too. I'm not ready. Not that I'm not ready–I mean, I am. I just... I'd rather wait, too.”
“Don't take it the wrong way.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want you. Desperately. Insanely. I spend all day at work thinking about you. All day at home thinking about you. And nights... nights are hard.” He pulled her tighter toward him.
She felt how hard.
“Nothing's stopping us. We're adults, which means we choose. We decide. No one else's expectation–and certainly no damn betting pool–is going to influence us.”
“No.” Reaching up, she ran her fingers through his hair above one ear. It curled a bit, and she realized she'd been in town long enough to watch his short hair grow out to this point. It had been less than a month, but felt like a lifetime.
“But there's a big range between kisses and making love,” he whispered as his lips found her neck, the touch transporting her, his hands around her waist, pressing her to him.
No need for a drink, or even caffeine.
Bzzz
The text alert had a different tone, one Kylie recognized instantly as Luke groaned.
That was his work phone.
“I'm ignoring that,” he said. “Can't believe I didn’t turn it off.”
“You know you can't ignore it.”
“Watch me.”
“You wouldn't have brought it if it wasn't important. And you're too responsible to blow off a text that might involve public safety.”
“You know me well, don't you?” His sigh spoke volumes as he walked over to his coat, pulled out the phone, and made a face.
“Damn. Chief needs me at work at six, not nine.”
Kylie's wall clock said it was just past eleven.
“I can be at your house at half past five. Don't worry about Harriet.”
Smoldering eyes met hers. “Wish I could invite you back and you could spend the night.”
“I can sleep on the couch. I've done it before.”
“Only when I was working an overnight.”
“How is that different?”
“Kylie, if you came back to my house and were there overnight, I'm not sure I could wait. And I don't want a quickie.”
“I'm getting pretty close to compromising.”
The startled laugh that boomed out of him made her laugh, too.
And then they were kissing, deep and hot, a kiss that promised more later.
Which was all they really could ask for.
And it was enough.
More than enough.
“Kylie,” he said in a hushed tone, one filled with heat and carrying a wish she shared with him for time, space, and intimacy. “I know you’re still job hunting in New York, and I want to say this: I would never want to stop you from pursuing your dream.”
“Luke, I–”
“But please reconsider. I don’t know exactly where this is going, but it definitely is headed in the right direction.”
“It is,” she agreed.
“And I know it’s only been a few weeks, but oh, Kylie,” he said cradling her face, “you fit in so easily. It’s like you were meant to step in.
Harriet adores you. I’m falling for you.
Everyone knows you, even if you’ve been gone all these years.
You understand the town. You understand me.
That’s so rare. It’s hard to put into words how invisible I’ve felt these last two years.
Invisible by choice. I needed to hide all my feelings that weren’t about Harriet and pretend they weren’t there. Pretend I didn’t matter.”
Listening intently, her mind was a swirl, his vulnerability piercing her.
“You matter.”
“You make me feel like I matter. Like all those feelings I hated having to carry are manageable. When I’m with you, they’re not burdens, or millstones around my neck.
They’re just part of me. I can have them.
You give me space to grieve. To let the hollow parts of me fill in again.
You show me how I can feel joy and pleasure again because I deserve to feel joy and pleasure. ”
“Of course you do.”
“That ‘of course’ isn’t obvious to me, Kylie. When you look at me, all the empty spaces in my heart stop echoing. Your smile fills me. Your kisses drive the pain away and make room for what needs to be in me: a partner. But not just any partner. You.”
Their mouths met in a tender kiss that turned hotter as time passed, Kylie’s emotions taking flight inside her chest, buzzing like bees, sending tingles everywhere through her as she let herself get swept away by Luke’s very open words.
As his tongue pressed against her lips, parting them, she moved closer, her thigh between his, his hands on the small of her back, cupping her ass.
It would be so easy to change their minds, have him come to bed, be very tired tomorrow, but sated.
She didn’t want satiety.
She wanted certainty.
Bzzz
This time, it was her phone.
“The only person that could be is Wendy. But it’s like four a.m. in Paris.”
Sure enough, it was.
Kylie? You up? I need someone to talk to.
The bridge of her nose practically folded in half as she frowned.
“Something bad?” Luke asked.
“My sister. She needs a call now. Probably man troubles.”
“Men are trouble,” he agreed, pulling her in for an embrace. “But some of us are worth it.”
“You are.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow. We’ll talk about our next date.”
“Next date? Christmas is coming.”
“That’s not a date. That’s an interrogation.”
“Hah!”
He gave her a sweet, quick kiss, the kind you give someone you’re close to for the long run. “Thank you, Kylie.”
“Thank you. Tonight was magical.”
“Did you see fairies when you kissed me?”
“No. But I did see a future.”
“Good. So did I.”
As he left, she shook her head quickly, sighing as she texted Wendy back.
I’m here.
The phone lit up almost instantly, the FaceTime call a surprise.
Wendy was sobbing. The glow from her perfect date with Luke was dimmed a bit, but she had to re-center herself and support her poor sister.
“What happened? Are you safe? Hurt? Wendy?”