“I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, Hart. I don’t care about the rules. Or how I’m supposed to act. You are the person I want to be with. Even if it scares me.” I pause. “Maybe because it scares me.” Closing my eyes, I gather courage. “I love you and I need you to know that I do want you. Even as awesome as your skilled fingers are, I know that if we have sex, I’ll be that girl.”
He quirks a brow. “Which girl?”
“The stereotypical girl. Not the tough, mentally strong SEAL anymore. I’ll be the girl who needs you. Who wants all of you. The weak girl.”
“Wanting another person doesn’t make you weak.”
I swallow hard. “But it does. In so many ways.”
“I’ve told you I’ll never break your heart,” Luke says. Then he adds. “I’ll always protect it, though. Definitions might differ in that department.” His hands slide down my body and rest on my hips. “Very rarely is anything I do done without purpose.”
I can appreciate that sentiment. Even if it doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy, it’s something.
Luke takes my hand and guides it to his rock-hard dick. “I need you, Aara.”
“You need me right now.” My lips are a hairsbreadth away from his. “Will you want to keep me when you don’t have needs? When you don’t want to fuck me?”
His lips twitch. “Say fuck one more time and see what happens. I don’t want to use self-control anymore. Not with you.” Biting his bottom lip, I watch with wonder as he works me over with a gaze.
When I can’t stand it another second, I tilt my chin up to press my mouth on his. My core clenches with a need fiercer than before. Luke lets out a growl that sends a wave of shivers all over my body. I’m about to tell him to stand so he can take off his pants when a wild beeping breaks out, interrupting the music on the speakers. I jolt, but Luke merely stands with me in his arms and walks over to the tablet looking thing embedded in the wall and hits a button.
He sighs. “What is it?”
“Chase is here, sir,” a gruff voice replies hastily. “He’s on the always list for Sunday.” The need to explain when he hears Luke’s irritation through the speaker.
“Fuck,” Luke says, setting me down. “Thank you,” he says, pressing the button once again. He looks at me and the fear in his eyes is palpable. “You want to finish working out and we can pick up where we left off?” He hikes a thumb over his shoulder. “I’ll go thwart Chase at the door and join you after.”
His friend, Chase, gave me weird vibes from the second I met him. Sure, I guess he’s known Luke a while, but that doesn’t mean you can be sleazy unchecked. “Yeah, okay,” I say, practicality winning out.I do need to work out. Even if my shorts are soaking wet and my core is throbbing for attention.“Chase doesn’t have to leave. I know you hang out with him on the weekends. Don’t change your plans on my account.”
He grabs my face in his hands. “I’ll change everything on your account. Because I want to.”
He kisses me, a sultry fierce lips and teeth endeavor, before jogging out of the gym leaving me with a mountain of baggage to unpack. Standing there, I contemplate what workout I should do. It’s haphazard at best. Some biceps. A weak set on bench press, then weighted squats until my legs shake. I’m arguing with myself about hitting the treadmill when I hear Luke raise his voice. Although I don’t mind he hasn’t returned yet, I’m curious as to why he hasn’t. I slink toward the door on my tiptoes and peer out into the expanse of the cool hallway.
“Her car is out there. I know she’s here. Why are you lying? You never lie?”
That’s Chase. The ceilings are high and a pin drop echoes in here. I didn’t set out to eavesdrop, but now I know they’re talking about me, I climb the wide stairs following the path I’m familiar with.
I can’t see them, but I know they’re nearby. Luke’s voice carries next. “The next one. Promise. I’m out of town this weekend.”
Actually, he’s not.“You haven’t missed a single one of my club parties for the last five years. I planned it because you would be here, bro. Remember? We went over our schedules?”
“Things change,” Luke replies. “My schedule changes every single day.”
“It’s this chick! Stop lying! Your dad forced you to be nice to her, but does that mean you’re on full-time fucking babysitting duty? She’s not even hot enough to fuck up everything for. Can’t one of the other guys be her bodyguard? Christ, Hart. I don’t even know who you are right now.”
Adrenaline hits as Chase’s words slide home. My stomach flips entirely and my sweat turns cold. What I should do is stay where I’m at with my back pressed against the wall, but rage calls and I spin from my spot to face the men. They’re standing in front of what looks to be a library or an office.
“You are such an asshole, Luke Hart. I am a project to you.” I swallow and shake my head once.
Chase chuckles, amused by my anger. “I fucking knew it,” he says as his gaze flits over my body. Then he turns to Luke. “You have always been the worst liar in the entire world. The why remains elusive. Why are you lying to me about her? Why don’t you want to go to my party? Doesn’t look like she left her car here to throw off the media.” Chase’s gaze dips to my legs. “Looks like she was working out in your gym. With you. Together. That’s what it looks like.”
I want to scream at him because my feelings are hurt. That would be the normal chick thing to do, and right now I can’t show him any kind of weakness or he’ll prey on it. That’s how the world works. How it’s always been for me.
“Yeah, Hart. Tell him why you’re on babysitting duty. Tell me, is your dad paying you to be my friend?” I hit him where it hurts. Money.
Chase chuckles, one hand on his expensive double G belt buckle. “Oh, she didn’t know. My bad.”
Luke’s standing tall, arms folded across his broad chest. For the first time since I showed myself, he turns his gaze to his friend. “Why the fuck would she know, genius?”
