Luke clenched his fists. “What I want is irrelevant. It doesn’t change the fact that sleeping together is not a good idea.”
She laughed. “I disagree. I think it’s a phenomenal idea.” She caught his agitated expression and decided it was time to close in for the kill. “Bottom line, Lucas, I won’t come home unless you give me one night of hot, wild sex.”
“I didn’t realize you’d added blackmail to your book of tricks,” he said sourly.
She shrugged again. “Take it or leave it. But know that I’m completely serious. Either you take me to bed, or you’ll have to consider relocating to San Valdez, because trust me, I’m not leaving.”
His eyes narrowed. “I don’t have time for games.”
She didn’t back down. “This isn’t a game.”
“Goddamn it.” He let out a sound that was a cross between a growl and a roar, and then stomped toward her. He stood there for a moment, loomed over her, watched her. A knowing glint lit up his eyes. “I get it. You want me to call your bluff, don’t you?”
Damn, why did he have to be too smart for his own good? “Oh, this isn’t a bluff,” she lied, hoping he couldn’t see through her. “One night is all I’m asking for. Then you’ll get your way. If you don’t agree, you might as well give up and go home. Without me.”
“Why do I still think you’re bluffing?” he shot back.
Ellie stifled a groan. He always had to be difficult to the end, didn’t he? Straightening her shoulders she rose from the chair and took a step toward him. He took a step back.
“I want you,” she told him, moving even closer. This time he didn’t budge so she took advantage and pressed her body to his. She slid her hands up his hard chest and loosely twined them around his neck. The air began to sizzle, sending a sweeping rush of heat down her body.
There was something liberating about Luke’s obvious reaction to her nearness. It made her feel bold and brazen, feminine and desirable. His excitement was hot and thick against her pelvis and she wondered what it would feel like sliding inside her. Like heaven, no doubt.
“I also know you want me,” she continued, brushing her lips over the hard curve of his jaw.
He flinched and tried disentangling her arms from his shoulders, but she held on tight. Trapped him in her embrace. “C’mon, Luke, the way I see it, you come out the winner in all this.” She nuzzled his neck and trailed open-mouth kisses on his warm skin, thoroughly enjoying his harsh intake of breath. “You’ll get me back to San Francisco and at the same time you’ll have a little fun in the sack. If that isn’t an offer you can’t refuse, what is?”
Before he could answer, she pressed her mouth to his in a soft kiss. Her eyelids fluttered but she didn’t close them. She wanted to see Luke, wanted to savor every delicious detail. His slitted eyes. The pounding of his pulse beneath her hand. The way he slid his tongue out to graze her lower lip yet held back from thrusting it in her mouth.
He was fighting something inside himself. She knew it. And that only made her all the more determined to win this battle.
She dragged her lips away from his and smiled when his eyes flew open in obvious disappointment. “So is that a yes?”
“If I sleep with you, you’ll come home?” he returned roughly.
“Yep.”
His handsome features creased in the epitome of defeat. “Then okay. You’ve got yourself a deal, Elenore.”
What the hell had he gotten himself into?
Luke peeled out of the driveway, cringing as the sound of screeching rubber rang out. Shit. Hopefully Ellie hadn’t heard that. When he’d left her house, he’d let her believe he was perfectly okay with this latest development. He didn’t want her thinking that…that what?
He was nervous?
He was terrified?
He was about to come in his pants from the anticipation?
His body tensed at the last thought. Damn it, why was he anticipating an event that would never even happen?
With his fingers curled over the steering wheel in a death grip, he drove twenty miles over the speed limit and tried to collect the willpower he’d thrown out the window the second Ellie kissed him. He drove aimlessly, not ready to return to the motel and be alone with his thoughts. No, right now he needed to strategize.
The streets of San Valdez were deserted as he maneuvered the SUV through them. He still found it strange that the town was located just a few hours from San Diego County, yet had a population of less than ten thousand. The absence of shopping malls and endless concrete lots unnerved him, made him feel as if he were driving through a ghost town. Which was probably a good thing at the moment, because he was so distracted he’d probably have mowed over dozens of pedestrians on his joyride.
Only when he reached a residential stretch of road did he slow the vehicle, but he still didn’t release his grip on the wheel. He’d agreed to sleep with Ellie. Was he insane? Obviously.
You’re not going to sleep with her, a little voice reminded him. It’s part of the game.