26. Maggie
TWENTY-SIX
MAGGIE
“Did you change into your Star Wars pajamas before or after you picked up the pizza?” I teased Luke as he appeared in my kitchen, holding a large cardboard box with the Pizza Patty’s purple logo printed on the top, and a bucket of cookies.
He was wearing similar pajama bottoms from the other night, the pattern just as busy with cartoon-type characters scattered about.
The background was a lighter, more distracting shade of gray that immediately took me back to the night I stood on his porch with chili.
Good lord, it wasn’t fair how good this man looked right now.
At least he had the decency to wear a shirt this time. I stared at the printed words Use the force, Luke so I didn’t drop my gaze any lower. Those damn pants were hazardous to the remaining shreds of my sanity.
“Oh, you’re wearing one, too,” Luke said, holding out a folded T-shirt to me.
“Why? I don’t even know if I’m going to like this movie.”
“If you don’t like Star Wars, I don’t think we can be friends.”
Friends.
Such an odd way to think about the chronically grumpy man who held the door code hostage my first day in town.
But here we were taking pictures together on hikes, sharing trail mix and trauma, and—against all odds—about to enjoy dinner and a movie in my living room by choice.
Had someone told me a week ago this would be my reality, I’d have laughed and told them it’d take handcuffs to keep us in the same room for more than five minutes.
“Go on,” Luke said, waggling the shirt at me again. “Get changed and I’ll get everything set up.”
I slipped into the bedroom, unsurprised that Ellie had no interest in following me. Despite her slamming the door in Luke’s face only last night, she’d apparently wholeheartedly forgiven him. Either that treat was laced with doggie magic, or she had a full-on crush on my neighbor.
Odd, considering she never warmed up to Jason, even after three months of living with him. She wasn’t outright cruel, but she always seemed to stay out of his way. And on several occasions, I swore I caught her glaring at him.
Obviously, Ellie knew that relationship was doomed before I did. Too bad I didn’t pick up on that as easily as she did.
Too little too late now.
I pushed away the thoughts of the past I left behind as I closed the bedroom door behind me.
One thing I could do was take a page from Ellie’s book and live in the present moment. At least for tonight.
I gripped the shirt Luke gave me in both hands and allowed myself one deep, indecent inhale.
It smelled of pine, spice, and delicious man.
The same intoxicating scent that surrounded me the night he pushed me up against the side of the bookstore and kissed me senseless.
My nipples pebbled in response to the memory I’d unsuccessfully managed to lock away.
There’d be no kissing tonight, I decided as I tugged off my top and replaced it with his shirt.
Friends.
We could be friends.
It made the most sense. Luke clearly had some unresolved issues to work through, and although I wasn’t staying, I still had three weeks in Bluebell Springs. One night of throwing caution to the wind could make the rest of my time here awkward should it go sideways.
And given our track record, it was bound to do just that should we cross that line.
“Just friends,” I said to myself in the mirror, my gaze snagging on the shirt. Yoda was pictured, along with the words Yoda best uncle. I smiled, imagining Opal gifting him the shirt for a birthday. Or did he have more nieces and nephews I didn’t know about?
I exited the room, about to ask him, but the words lodged in my throat before I could.
I caught him on the couch, one arm draped over the back of it, the other giving Ellie vigorous chest scritches. My dog was on her back, head pressed into Luke’s thigh, staring up at him like he hung the moon. A sock draped over his opposite leg, and my heart melted.
Not once did my dog ever give Jason a sock.
Maybe Ellie knows something now, too.
Because I hadn’t been spotted yet, I tiptoed back to the bedroom to grab my phone from its charger.
I powered it on, and a series of notifications flooded the screen.
Two new video messages from Violet—I still owed her the second half of an update, which I could record before bed—too many junk emails to count, a dozen text messages, maybe two.
And another missed call from Jason.
Tomorrow, I promised myself. I’d deal with him and my ex-monster-in-law tomorrow. Tonight, I was going to relax and enjoy a movie. Something I hadn’t done in ages since Luanne hijacked the only TV we had to binge-watch reality dating shows.
I unlocked my phone and snuck back out to the living room, quietly snapping a picture before both Luke and Ellie seemed to register the third wheel in the room.
“Is this blackmail? Because I’m not ashamed to own this.” Luke waved his hand, motioning at his Star Wars ensemble.
“I was taking a picture of Ellie,” I lied. “Because ten thousand pictures of my dog aren’t enough when she keeps being so dang adorable.”
“She is pretty adorable,” Luke agreed, rubbing her chest. Ellie licked his hand, as though agreeing.
When his gaze lifted from my pup, it lingered on my bare legs for several seconds. One corner of his mouth lifted, and dammit if it didn’t make him look irresistibly sexy.
He’s looking at you like he wants to eat you for dessert.
Alyssa’s words whispered in my ear. And this time, I saw exactly what she was talking about in those light blue eyes. Dammit, guess my nipples were going to be permanently hard tonight.
“That shirt looks good on you.”
“We’ll see if I’m still willing to wear it after tonight’s over. You’ve talked this movie up quite a lot, so the bar is set pretty high.”
“By the time the end credits roll, you’ll be begging me to watch the next one.”
I held his gaze, the temptation to join the pair on the couch overwhelming enough to convince me I should take the adjacent recliner instead. But before I could claim it, my phone pinged. Jason’s name flashed on my screen, and I silently groaned and turned off the volume.
“Everything okay?”
Okay, so not so silently.
“Yep.” I wanted to tell Luke the truth. The man deserved to know why he found me in a wedding dress that looked as though it got caught in a wood chipper.
Honesty seemed the least I could offer him considering how he opened up out at Whispering Lake.
Clearly, dredging up his past wasn’t something he did on a regular basis.
But I didn’t like how his easy, carefree expression morphed so quickly into rigid concern. I’d be damned if I was going to let my ex ruin the evening after all it took to get to this lighthearted, comfortable place with Luke.
“I’m just going to put this back on the charger,” I said, turning away to avoid eye contact. I suspected he had a sixth sense something was off. “Battery’s still pretty low.”
I returned my phone to its charger and placed the screen face down on my nightstand. When I returned, Luke met me with a plate of pizza.
“I know it’s a big ask, but you’ll have to trust me,” he said, nodding at the plate.
“What is this?”
“Patty calls it The Autumn Orchard. There’s sliced apples, caramelized onions, bacon, brie, and a balsamic glaze.” I’d never had apples on a pizza, but it smelled divine. My stomach growled in approval. “But if it’s too weird for you, the other half is pepperoni.”
Overcome by curiosity more than hunger, I took a tentative bite. There was a smoky sweetness to it that made me eager to take another bite.
“What do you think?”
“It’s like a charcuterie board on a warm, crispy crust.”
“It’s good, right?”
“It’s better than good.”
“I thought Ellie would approve on account of the bacon.” He glanced at my pup. “I hope it’s okay that I gave her a couple pieces.”
“Of pizza?” I asked, my eyes wide.
“No,” he said, laughing. “Of bacon.”
“Oh. She is a sucker for bacon.” I looked at my dog because it was certainly safer than looking up at the man who selected a pizza flavor based on Ellie’s preferences.
Friends, I repeated in my head. Just friends.
I carried my plate to the recliner. Two cans of apple cider were stationed on the end table between the chair and sofa, along with napkins.
The pizza box was closed on the coffee table, a round covered tray of cookies beside it.
As I settled into my seat, I resisted the urge to pinch myself to be certain I wasn’t dreaming.
Because this version of Luke, playing the accommodating host, was not one I thought existed.
Was it possible I hit my head during the hike and was suffering a concussion?
“You feeling okay?” I teased, tucking my feet beneath me in the seat.
“Yeah, why?”
“You’re smiling, for one. Should I be concerned? Maybe I need to call someone?”
“Very funny.”
He tossed me a blanket, and I unfolded it over my legs.
The narrow end table was hardly the barrier I hoped it’d be. If I stretched my legs out, I could easily instigate footsy. I pretended to study the blanket pattern that was made up of a series of blue stripes instead.
“Something wrong with the blanket?” he asked as he settled in on the couch.
“I just thought it would have Yoda on it or something.”
“If you want to use the special Star Wars blanket, you’ll have to earn it,” Luke said. “You’ll have to make it to Episode I, at least.”
“What is this?” I nodded at the TV that was frozen on the opening credits. “Episode zero?”
“Episode IV.”
“I don’t follow your logic.”
“This is the first movie that came out, and the only place a true Star Wars fan begins the saga. Anyone who says otherwise can’t be trusted.”
How the hell was this nerdy side of Officer McGrumpy making him even sexier?
The laws of the universe were apparently stacked against me tonight.
I shifted in my seat, pressing my elbow into the arm opposite the end table, as though an extra inch or two of distance was actually going to do anything to ward off my simmering attraction.