Page 59 of Whispers and Wildfire
Mom laughed.
Patrick stopped on his way past the front desk and gave me a look. I hadn’t even realized he’d come into the lobby.
I rolled my eyes. “Mom, I gotta go.”
Patrick shook his head and left.
We said goodbye, and I ended the call. Of course one of the guys would walk by right as I said that.
At least it hadn’t been Luke.
I paused for a second, trying to imagine letting Hank bang me senseless. Not that I was in a rush to jump in bed withhim—or any guy. But could I picture it? It seemed like I ought to be able to at least imagine it as a possibility to look forward to.
But I had nothing. No little bursts of heat between my legs. No dirty fantasy flitting through my mind, hinting at where I hoped things would go with him when the time was right.
Oh well. We’d been on one date, and it had ended with a rather friendly kiss on the cheek. He hadn’t exactly given me any daydream material. Maybe we just needed another date for my hormones to wake up and take notice.
The door opened, and I glanced up. Luke walked in, sunglasses on his face, dressed in a gray T-shirt and faded jeans.
A flush crept across my cheeks, and warmth stirred in my core. The fireworks I’d been lacking with Hank absolutely did not begin to explode when Luke came in. Of course every cell in my body wasn’t drawn to him. It had to be something else. Anger, maybe. I was mad, not aroused.
“Morning,” I said with exaggerated cheerfulness. “Oh wait, it’s afternoon.”
He took off his sunglasses with a glare, and his tongue brushed his teeth. “I’ve been working. Just not here.”
“I was just…” Something about his expression took the wind out of my sails. “Fine, I was being snarky. I’m sorry.”
My apology seemed to catch him off guard. His glare melted, but he still eyed me with suspicion like he was waiting for my mood to flip.
“It’s fine.”
He hesitated, and the awkwardness I’d been dreading permeated the air. Should I say something about seeing him at the Zany Zebra? About Hank?
“I didn’t sleep with him last night,” I blurted out.
His eyebrows drew in.
Why couldn’t I have a filter like normal people? “All Imean is that I barely know him and we just had dinner. My mom introduced us. We were there for milkshakes and I went home after. Alone.”
He moved closer to the front desk, his expression serious. My insides swirled. Why did he have to smell so good?
“Mel, it’s fine. I don’t need to know.”
“Right, of course. You probably don’t want to know. If it were you, I wouldn’t want to know.”
Something almost like alarm flashed across his expression. The tantalizing swirl was replaced by a mildly sick sensation. He had a date. He hadn’t said a word, and the look was gone almost as quickly as it had come. But I knew.
Words started tumbling out of my mouth in a rush, and my hands were all over the place, gesturing wildly. “Maybe we should consider sharing our calendars so we know what places to avoid. In case of, you know, dates or whatever. That might be helpful. Although I’m not sure if it would have helped last night. I have a feeling we both wound up at the Zany Zebra on a whim. That’s not the kind of place you plan for.”
The corner of his mouth lifted.
“Are you laughing at me?” I asked, indignant.
His smile grew. “I’m not laughing.”
“Okay, but you’re smirking.”
“I’m not smirking.”
