Oh crap!
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” I told her.
“Ava?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks. You’re the bestest best friend a girl could have.”
I smiled into the phone. That was worth getting shot at for.
“Later,” I said.
“Later,” and I heard her disconnect.
I looked at the phone and realized I didn’t know how to turn it off.
I didn’t have to wonder long, it was pulled out of my hand because Luke, again silent as a cat, was right beside me. He beeped it off as I stared at him and saw he was wearing nothing but a pair of dark (probably black) shorts that rode low on his hips but were long on his thighs.
I swallowed as he walked away and put the phone on the kitchen counter. Then he turned and started back to me.
Now what?
I looked from his shorts to his face. “Do you have a blanket?” I asked.
“Why?” he asked back, stopping close.
“So I can sleep on your couch.”
“You aren’t sleeping on the couch.”
I looked around, confused then asked, “Why not?”
“You’re sleeping in the bed.”
“So, you’re sleeping on the couch?”
“No.”
“Are you sleeping on the floor?” I asked, surprised, but figured it was maybe some Zen, macho guy thing, roughing it on a plank wood floor.
“No.”
Uh-oh.
“Where are you sleeping?” I asked.
His hand shot out and, too late, I saw the blurry glint of steel and heard the clanking right before the bracelet was slapped on my wrist.
I pulled back. “Oh no,” I said, my heart thumping in my chest and my blood pumping through my veins.
He slapped the other bracelet on his own wrist.
“No!” I shouted, yanking back, viciously this time, but it was like he didn’t feel the pull. He just leaned in, shoulder to my belly, picked me up, his free arm around my thighs, his other wrist bound to mine and he started to the bed.
“What the hell are you doing?” I shouted, feet kicking, pushing at his waist with my free hand.
This was too much. Too fucking much.
“Going to bed,” he said calmly.
“Handcuffed to me?”
“Damn straight.”
“You’re nuts.”
“I’m not taking any chances,” he said, tossing me on the bed and coming down with me.
I tried to scramble away. He pulled me back with a jerk on the cuff.
I stopped scrambling and stared at his fuzzy face in the dark. “Not taking any chances with what?”
“You taking off in the middle of the night, getting shot at again, kidnapped, car bombed, any of it.”
I was right, he was nuts. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ll tell you in the morning, after you tell me about your little bit of trouble.”
Eek!
I decided to ignore the second part of that. “Tell me now.”
“Go to sleep, Ava.”
“Uncuff me!”
“Settle down and go to sleep,” he ordered, settling himself on his back.
“Un… cuff… me!” I pulled hard at the cuff.
He jerked it again, harder, and I toppled into him, breasts to chest and his other arm went tight around my waist.
“Settle,” he said low.
I glared in the general direction of his face, knowing I would never win but not about to give in gracefully.
“I hate you,” I declared.
“You don’t.”
“I do.”
“Okay, maybe whoever this new Ava is does but she’s a bitch and I don’t give a fuck if she hates me. The old Ava doesn’t hate me and she’s in there somewhere, I saw her five minutes ago and that’s who I’m keeping safe.”
That knocked the breath out of me and cut me deep.
So deep, to hide how much it hurt, I did as he told me to do and settled into his side, my body mostly on him because my right wrist was cuffed to his left and his arm was thrown out wide to keep me there. Without anywhere else to put it, I rested my head on his shoulder. Still, I held myself tense because I was totally freaked out.
Woo hoo! We’re in bed with Luke! Bad Ava crowed.
Oh, this feels nice. His chest is so hard and his body is so warm, Good Ava breathed.
If Good Ava and Bad Ava could get close, I was certain they would high five.
Jeez.
I lay there, trying to relax. I couldn’t relax.
So I started talking. “I won’t get shot at again,” I muttered into his shoulder.
“I’m not taking any chances.”
“I certainly won’t get kidnapped, the idea is ridiculous.”
He was silent.
“And a car bomb, what on earth?” I mumbled.
“Babe.”
“What?”
“Please be quiet and go to sleep.”
“Fine,” I snapped.
His arm around my waist tightened and his other hand came close to rest on his chest, forcing my hand to rest on his chest too. I slid off his body but he held me close to his side.
I figured I’d never in a million years, snuggled up next to Luke Stark, man of my dreams, wearing his t-shirt, lying in his big bed, in his huge loft (and handcuffed to him for God’s sake), get to sleep.
It took, like, five minutes and I was dead to the world.
Chapter Four
Payment
I woke up in the middle of the night when my body moved, not of its own volition.
I opened my eyes; it was still dark. Luke had turned into me, his arm holding me close, pulling me over the top of his body.
“What’s going on?” I whispered, my voice sleepy.
“Shh,” he shushed me and rolled, taking me with him, settling me on my other side.
Our cuffed arms were cocked and up between our bodies and he had me close so his and my forearms were pressed beneath my breasts. His free hand slid down my hip, to my thigh, pulling it up, gliding down the back of my thigh to my knee and hooking my leg over his hip.
If I hadn’t been mostly asleep, I would have probably flipped out at the intimacy of this position, struggled and maybe thrown a hissy fit.
Instead, I was warm, tired and the position was ultra comfortable.
I snuggled into his warm body, his arm moved to rest at my waist and I fell back to sleep.
* * * * *
I woke up and blinked at all the sunlight coming into the room. Denver was a sunny place but this was crazy.
I stared at the wall of hard-muscled chest that was right in front of my eyes and for a second felt confusion.
Then it all came back to me and I tensed. Inventorying my situation I realized I was pressed against Luke’s side, he was on his back, our cuffed arms on the bed under our bodies, my thigh thrown across both of his, my head on his shoulder, my free arm resting across his abs.
Ho-ly shit!
I rolled away onto my back.
“You’re awake,” Luke said.
Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck!
“Yeah,” I said to the ceiling.
He rolled toward me, hand going to my hip, his fingers putting pressure there so I turned into him and we were face-to-face. Since we were close and it was light, I could see him pretty well. He looked very awake, very alert and very gorgeous.
Holy cramoly.
“Time to talk,” he said.
Eek!
I was a morning person. I usually only had to brush my teeth and have a couple sips of diet cola to clear out the sleep-cobwebs and then I was all morning energy. Still, I wasn’t ready to talk, certainly not lying face-to-face in Luke’s bed.
“I need to brush my teeth,” I told him.
“After we talk.”
“No, seriously, I can’t face the day without brushing my teeth.” As I mentioned before, this was the truth.
He stared at me, probably trying to decide if I was lying or not. I didn’t blame him. I had lied to him a lot in the last less than twenty-four hours.
He must have made his decision because he rolled into me, over me and reached to the nightstand, opened a drawer and pulled out his keys. He rolled back, lifted our wrists and unlocked my bracelet. I was silent through this as I’d had another close-up view of his chest and I was fighting the urge to press my mouth to it (and I won’t even mention what I wanted to do with my tongue).
The minute I was free I didn’t hesitate. I jumped off the bed, hightailing it to the bathroom, totally intent on escape. It was after I used the facilities, splashed water on my face to wash away the sleep, brushed my teeth and put in my contacts that I realized my mistake.
I should have brought my clothes in with me.
Hell and damnation.
I pulled my hair back away from my face with both hands and stared into my light brown eyes the mirror (both my sisters had sultry, dark brown eyes, which sucked and wasn’t fair, I couldn’t dye my eyes and colored contacts I thought looked fake).
Since I couldn’t at that moment do anything about the fact that I was barely dressed, I focused on what to do with my hair.
Last time I saw Luke, my hair had been shoulder length. I’d only gone for trims since then allowing my hair to grow long, down my back to my bra strap with thick, chunky layers cut in. It had always had an unruly wave, and length and weight had done nothing to tame it, in fact it went all the more wild. I needed a ponytail holder. It was now a mess of waves and tangles and currently in an untamable state without a shampoo and a shitload of product to force it under my control.
Oh well, what the hell. I had to go with it. No way was I taking a shower in Luke’s bathroom for this would mean being naked and there was no way in hell I was going to be naked at Luke’s place, not even in the shower.
I dropped my hands, walked out of the bathroom and stopped dead.
A man was walking out of the elevator carrying my purse. He was blond, trim, fit and ultra cute. His eyes cut to me and took me in, top to toe, standing there frozen and wearing nothing but Luke’s Triumph tee.
Then he grinned.
Crap.
His eyes moved to Luke. So did mine.
Luke was standing by the semi-circle kitchen counter, wearing only shorts (yes, black) that were made of that breathable material with the tiny little dents in it like basketball players wore. They hung loose and super low on his hips, running long (but not as long as the basketball ones), partially down his thighs. They showed not only the definition of his hip bones in sexy relief but most of a pair of knockout muscular thighs and calves. I would be remiss not to mention a full blown, sunny loft, contacts in view of his well-defined chest with not-too-much, not-too-little, but just the perfect amount of chest hair, jutting collarbone and stubbled jaw.
There was also a long, brutal looking scar tracing across his six pack.
Ho-ly crap.
My knees wobbled at the sight.
“Shit, Luke, I had two days in the pool. Christ, you tied Lee’s record,” the blond guy said.
Luke did a half-grin.
“What?” I asked.
The blond guy looked at me, still grinning. “Nothin’,” he said. “I’m Matt.”
I pulled out of my mini-hot guy trance and walked toward him. “I’m Ava.”
“I know,” he was still grinning, his blue eyes dancing. I figured I wasn’t in on the joke but let it slide considering I had to focus on getting dressed and getting out of there without having Luke’s “talk”.
“I brought your bag.” He handed it to me and I took it.
“Thanks,” I said, feeling like a dork but happy to have my purse.
“Your Rover’s in the garage.”
I looked at him and smiled, more than happy to have my car. “Thanks again.”
“Your keys,” he handed them to me and I took them. “Your purse is beeping.”
I dipped my chin, feeling kind of weird because he was really cute and kept grinning at me. “Thanks again, again,” I said to him.
His grin faded a bit but didn’t go away and he was now watching me closely. “You okay after last night?”
Wow, what a sweet guy, Good Ava said in my ear.
Flirt! Bad Ava yelled.
As usual, I ignored them.
“Sure,” I said. “It gives me something juicy to put in my memoirs.”
He threw back his head and laughed. His laughter was deep and nice so I laughed with him.
“You got that right,” he told me when he was done laughing.
I got over feeling weird and gave him a big smile.
“Matt.”
Both our heads swung to Luke who hadn’t moved but now his arms were crossed on his chest, his legs were planted and his brows were knit. He looked kind of pissed off, which was confusing. Maybe he wasn’t a morning person.
Matt looked at his feet and chuckled. I threw Luke a look, walked to the counter and plopped my purse and keys on it, digging for my cell.
“I need to go out,” I announced, still digging in my purse. “Get a diet pop.”
This was met with silence. I located my cell and yanked it out, flipping it open and glancing at Luke. Matt had come closer and both of them were staring at me.
“Diet pop?” Luke asked.
“Do you have any?” I returned.
“No.”
“Then I need to get some.”
“It’s seven o’clock in the morning,” Luke told me.
“I know.”
“You drink diet pop at seven in the morning?” Luke asked.
“Well… yeah. I need to wash the toothpaste taste out of my mouth.”
Luke and Matt kept staring at me.
I looked at my cell. Six missed calls.
Crap.
I pressed buttons on my cell, my eyes on it, and said, “I’ll just get dressed and pop out.”
I really did need diet pop to wash the taste of toothpaste out of my mouth. However, this had the double duty of being my excuse to get the hell out of there so my Diet Pop Destination was my very own fridge.
“Do you mind?” I heard Luke ask and my head came up. “Ava and me need to talk.”
Matt was grinning at me again. “You need anything else?” he asked me, amusement in his voice. “Breakfast?”
I looked at Matt then at Luke. “No, really, I’ll go.”
“You’re not going,” Luke said.
I narrowed my eyes at Luke. “I’m going.”
“Matt’s goin’.” Luke returned.
I opened my mouth to say something but Matt moved. “No problem. Diet pop,” Matt said.
“Get a case,” Luke told him.
My eyes bugged out. A case of diet would last me a month.
Matt burst out laughing and hit the button on the elevator.
“I don’t need a case. I just need one,” I told Matt.
“A case,” Luke said decisively.
The elevator doors opened and Matt walked in. “I’ll get a case,” he told Luke and the doors closed.
“Really, that’s unnecessary,” I said to Luke.
He didn’t reply.
I sighed, heavy and annoyed. He wanted a case of diet? Fine. Who cared?
I gave up and scrolled through my missed calls: five from Sissy, one from Riley.
Hmm. Riley. Interesting.
“Ava,” my head came up and I looked at Luke.
Shit. It was time for the talk.
“Do you have any food?” I asked in an effort to delay. I didn’t like to eat before I’d had my diet soda but desperate times called for desperate measures.
“Yeah,” he answered.
“Do you mind?”
His body relaxed and his lips moved. They kind of twitched, like he knew my thoughts and found me amusing but was trying not to smile.
I squelched the desire to throw my phone at him as he offered, “Help yourself.”
> I dropped my phone in my purse, walked around the counter the opposite side to Luke, and went to his fridge.
I was stunned to see it was packed with healthy eating options: low-fat yogurt, high-quality, multi-grain bread, tons of fruit and veggies. I spied a half a cantaloupe wrapped in cling film and pulled it out.
“Can I have some cantaloupe?” I asked, turning to Luke.
He tilted his chin up in a nonverbal “yes”.
There was a cutting board in his sink. I put down the cantaloupe and went to work cleaning the cutting board.
“You’re well-stocked.” Again, I was delaying “the talk”.
“Sandra went shopping.”
“Sandra?”
“A woman I’m seein’.”
At his words it took every bit of energy I had not to freeze, gasp or maybe vomit.
Of course he would be seeing someone. Luke was hot. Luke was a guy. Luke had a testosterone-fuelled job. He had to be getting it from someone. He didn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would be faithful to his hand like I was faithful to my vibrators.
“Will she mind if I eat her cantaloupe?” I asked, drying the board and not looking at him.
“It’s my cantaloupe. Sandra got it but I paid for it and it’s in my fridge,” he answered.
I nodded, set down the board, unwrapped the cantaloupe and grabbed a knife out of a big butcher block and started cutting. I tried not to think about the messy bed Luke threw me into last night and hoped he hadn’t thrown me into a bed that got messy through his activities with another woman.
I failed at not thinking about it.
“Will she mind that I spent the night?”
Why did you ask that? Silly girl, Good Ava remonstrated me.
I’m so sure! He handcuffed you to him and slept with you when he’s seeing someone else. What a jerk, Bad Ava huffed.
“We’re not exclusive so it’s none of her business,” Luke answered.
See! He’s a jerk, Bad Ava ranted.
Good Ava kept her silence, likely pouting.
He had come to stand by me at the counter. I could see the side of his hip leaning against it out of the corner of my eye. I ignored the hip and kept cutting.
“Do you want cantaloupe?” I asked, keeping my eyes on my task.
“No, I want to stop talking about cantaloupe and start talking about your troubles.”
Shit.
“Okay,” I said, still cutting. Then I was silent.