Madeline looked at the Pontiac, which was covered with grime and a few boxes on its hood. She looked back at the keys. She put the tape measure down and grabbed the keys.
The door to the car was not locked. She put herself into the driver seat and looked around. The seat was pushed so far back that she could barely reach the pedals. The car was old; the console between the two front seats was enormous and the faux wood detailing was peeling around the radio dials. A dried-up Christmas tree air freshener dangled from the rearview mirror. Madeline fit the key into the ignition, scooted up in her seat, and tried to start it. The car wheezed and coughed; from the corner of her eye she saw the dogs flee from the garage.
One of her mother’s boyfriends had been a mechanic, and he’d once told Madeline to prime her mother’s old car by pumping the accelerator a few times. Madeline tried that, then turned the ignition. The car started and began to shake, vibrating so badly that one of the boxes slid right off the hood. Madeline cried out with alarm and turned off the car and got out to pick up the box.
“Madeline!”
She cried out and whirled around, the box in her arms.
Luke was standing at the door of the garage, his legs braced apart, his hands on his hips. He looked so virile, so sexy… and so angry. Madeline instinctively backed up, knocking into the car.
“What the hell?” he snapped, and suddenly dropped his arms and came striding forward.
“You said I could use it!” she cried. “I wasn’t going anywhere, I swear it. I just wanted to see if it would start—”
He came to a halt before her, standing between her and the only exit out of this garage. “I don’t mean the goddamn car,” he said. He took the box from her hands and practically tossed it onto the bench.
“What’s wrong?” Madeline asked breathlessly.
“What’s wrong?” he echoed incredulously. “What the hell was that in town?” he asked gruffly, gesturing behind him.
Madeline looked to where he pointed.
“Look at me, woman,” he commanded her. “Look right here, right in my eyes. Look at me. You haven’t looked at me all day. I don’t know what’s the matter with you!”
“I don’t know what you mean—”
“The hell you don’t. You couldn’t wait to push me off on Julie. You couldn’t wait to run off. I can’t figure out what the hell you want.”
She could feel herself tensing, a vise squeezing around her chest. I want you. You, you, you. “I thought… I thought—”
She couldn’t explain the depths of her anxiety.
“I know what you thought,” he said, not quite as loudly. “You thought you would push me off on Julie and then you wouldn’t have to deal with it. Thanks a lot, Madeline. I never felt so damn inconsequential in my life.”
He was standing so close, his gaze so intent. Madeline thought of those eyes last night, watching her, and felt a tremor deep inside. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to feel that way—”
He took her head in his hands, forcing her to look at him. “You know, I always thought I got women. I thought I understood what they needed, and I’ve always been there, good ol’ Luke, to pick up the pieces. That’s okay,” he said. “I have big shoulders. But I discovered this morning that I damn sure don’t like it when the pieces that need to be picked up are mine.”
“Oh Luke,” she said. “I never meant to leave you in pieces.”
“Then what did you mean?” he demanded softly.
She blinked. Luke suddenly pulled her away from the car, kissing her. It was a hard, determined kiss. His fingers splayed across her cheek and jaw, and he snaked an arm around behind her, pulling her into him, anchoring her there. He demanded entrance into her mouth with his tongue and kissed her until her knees began to give out on her, and Madeline melted right into him.
Only then did he lift his head, gazing down at her, caressing her cheek. Only then did Madeline realize she had caught hold of his wrist and was clinging to it.
“So I didn’t imagine that we made love last night,” he said roughly.
Her cheeks instantly bloomed. “No, of course not.”
“What’s the matter, Maddie? Why are you working so hard to pretend it didn’t happen? Why are you pushing me off on Julie?”
Madeline’s heart was beating so wildly she could hardly breathe. He pulled her closer, and Madeline’s pulse began to pound in her neck. She was panicking, wanting to disappear, but Luke held her so easily, there was no escape from him.
“Just talk to me,” he said. “That’s all you have to do.”
Her mind was whirling, her thoughts pressing painfully against her head. “Last night was…”