“Oh. Okay then. This one will be mine. I’ll pick up another spare for Wyatt when I go out.”
“Good.” He nodded. Before he left me in the bathroom to get ready for bed, he skimmed his hands down my arms, gathered my hands in his, and gently squeezed my fingers twice.
I brushed my teeth and washed my face. Luke was lying in bed with his hands behind his head, resting against the headboard, when I walked into the bedroom a few minutes later. His sleepy, green eyes brightened as each article of clothing hit the floor. “You are a work of art, Scarlett. If I could paint, I would want to pause this very moment until I captured your beauty on canvas.”
I started to laugh until I realized that he was being completely sincere.
“That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
He pulled down the sheets as I made my way to what was becoming my side of the bed. “It’s the truth. Although I’m not sure an eternity would be enough time to do you any justice.”
I kissed him deeply, trailing my fingers down his chest, then onto his abdomen, then lower again. His deep groan was music to my ears. Luke gripped my waist tightly. The way he touched me sent a shot of heat to my core. His large hands splayed across my skin, his thumb making small, slow strokes just below the swell of my breasts. With a quiet growl, he wrapped his fingers around my wrist and pulled my hand to his mouth, kissing my knuckles.
“You’ve had a long day, baby. Get some sleep, and tomorrow, you can tell me what really made you come by here tonight.”
His soft eyes were rimmed with concern. I should have known that keeping something from Luke would be impossible. Not only was he trained to detect—literally—but Luke had always had the ability to read me like a book with just about everything.
“It’s nothing,” I said.
“You’re safe with me. Sleep,” he said. His strong arm cradled me to his chest, and he placed a kiss to the top of my head. Inall the time I had known Luke, I had crushed on him, lusted after him, but I think it was safe to say I was officially falling for him.
“Thank you, Luke. Good night.”
“Sweet dreams.”
* * *
My lids cracked open, and I peered at the empty spot on the bed next to me. A deep inhale filled my lungs with the scent of fresh coffee.
In the living room, I found Luke poring over pages of information from the folder on the coffee table.
“Good morning.” I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. Well, it was supposed to be a quick kiss, but before I could turn toward the kitchen, Luke had pulled me down onto his lap. One hand cupped my face while the other tangled in my very messy hair. After being kissed so thoroughly, my skin tingled with desire, and we eventually had to come up for air.
“Good morning,” he smirked.
I had to shake off the dazed state he left me in. “Is that the Karrigan case file?”
“Yeah. I’ve been going over everything, looking for something that I missed the first time. I wanted to believe that Wes was wrong on this one, but after that note was left on your car, I can’t. There has to be more here than meets the eye.”
His steady heartbeat thumped against my chest. It was a reminder of his strength and care. I placed a light kiss on his jaw, leaving him to his review while I poured us both a freshcup of coffee.
“Here you go.” I passed him a mug, taking a seat next to him. The cool autumn air mixed with the warmth of the coffee between my hands and Luke’s solid presence had me sinking into the cushions with a content sigh.
Luke placed his mug on the table and turned to me.
“Not that I’m not glad you’re here, because my day only gets better when I’m with you, but what brought you by last night?”
“It was nothing, really.”
“Letty, you had a frantic look in your eyes. It put me on my guard. Something happened, didn’t it?”
I put my mug next to his, sitting up to talk to him. “These two guys, kids really, were loitering near the police station last night, and one of them just creeped me out.”
He had this intensity to him as he listened to me. “Did they say anything to you?”
“Yeah, stupid stuff. They didn’t threaten me or anything. They would have been idiots to do anything right outside of the station. It was just…” I trailed off. I wanted to express what bothered me so much about them, specifically the guy who tried to approach me, but I wasn’t sure if I could put it into words.
Luke brushed my hair away from my face, waiting for me to continue without pushing. This, right here, was why I had come to Luke’s last night. With a simple hug from him, a touch of his finger on my skin, I had never felt more safe and secure.
