“Riley?”
“No, Jack Lemmon,” he said and I couldn’t help it, I laughed mainly because it was funny.
He advanced so fast, I barely got my feet coordinated to retreat. But I did, all the way across the living room until my back hit the wall and Luke came up close. One of his hands hit the wall by my head, the other one wrapped around my waist and pulled me into his body.
I stared at him, shocked breathless at his behavior and every thought flew from my head.
“You like playin’ games?” he asked and his eyes were shining dangerously.
“No.”
“You like yankin’ men’s chains?” he asked.
Holy crap. Where was this coming from?
“No!” I shouted.
“Lose weight, get contacts, dye your hair, become a knockout and make all the men pay who wouldn’t look at you before?” he clipped.
At his words, I lost it. I mean, how dare he?
“Fuck you!” I yelled.
“Why did you come to the offices yesterday?” he asked.
“Go to hell, Lucas Stark.”
His palm pounded on the wall next to my head and his face got right in mine so he was the only thing I could see and this scared the shit out of me.
“Don’t fuck with me, Ava.”
“I’m not fucking with you,” I whispered, totally freaked out.
“Who’s Riley to you?”
“He’s my personal trainer,” I said immediately.
“You fuckin’ him?”
My eyes rounded and I instantly answered, “No!”
“He wants to fuck you.”
“He does not. We’re friends.”
“He does.”
“No he doesn’t.”
“Yes, Ava, he does.”
“Step back.”
He didn’t step back, he came closer, or more to the point, brought me closer. Both arms wrapping around me, he hauled me tight against his body.
“You just earned a preview of tonight,” he told me, face so close his mouth was nearly on mine.
“I don’t…” I cleared my throat and that pissed me off because it made me sound scared. I was scared, I just didn’t want to sound scared. “I don’t want a preview.”
“Too bad.”
“Luke.”
“You’re gonna be in my bed and not like last night. I’m gonna give you a taste of me and I’m gonna take more than a taste of you.”
Ho-ly, fucking, shit.
“Luke,” I repeated.
“One thing you need to know, while you’re sharing my bed, I don’t share your body.”
At this, I blinked, thinking I saw red film covering my eyes but he went on before I could say a word.
“Until we’re done, however long that takes, no one touches you, not even to kiss your goddamned forehead. Got me?”
Um.
One, two, three… oh fuck it.
“You are fucking kidding me,” I snapped.
“Not even a little bit.”
“What about Sandra?”
“Sandra is gone.”
“Her food is in your fridge!” I yelled.
“She’s gone.”
“Have you told her that?”
“Not yet, but she’s my next visit.”
Oh my God, he was a jerk. He was beyond a jerk. He was the jerkiest jerk I’d ever met.
“You’re a jerk,” I told him.
His brows snapped together. “You want me to fuck Sandra while I’m fuckin’ you?”
“You’re not gonna fuck me.”
“Yeah, I am.”
“No, you aren’t.”
“Ava, you missed it when it happened so I’ll clue you in. Last night, around the time you fell asleep against me, you became mine.”
My eyes went huge. “How do you figure that?”
All of a sudden, his face changed. He was watching me and I could tell he was thinking about something and by the look of him whatever it was didn’t bode well for me.
“Luke, step back,” I demanded.
“No,” he said softly but it wasn’t to my demand, it was to himself. “I’m thinkin’ you’ve been mine a lot longer than that.”
I stopped breathing and stared at him, scared far, far more now than I had been when he was angry.
His eyes roamed my face and hair again then they locked on mine. “I’m thinkin’ you been mine since about the time your Dad left your Mom.”
Whoa.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
This was not happening.
“Step back,” I whispered.
“Maybe before,” he was still talking to himself.
“Please, step back.”
His eyes had gone far away but they came back and focused on me. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
“You’re crazy and an out-of-control macho man is what you are.”
“I’m right.”
“You’re nuts.”
“Think about it.”
I wasn’t going to think about it. I was going to move to Wyoming and live with Sissy and her mother to get away from Luke.
That was when I realized something and my eyes snapped back to his. “How did you know my phone number? It’s unlisted.”
His face began to relax from its trip down memory lane intensity but I was way behind him, still back at being pissed off.
“Babe, I work at a private investigations agency.”
“Is that how you found out where I live?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you follow me from here last night?”