“So what did you do then? Did you teach her?”
Luke’s head moves side to side against the white sand. He swallows and looks into the clear blue sky, recalling the “event.” “No,” he answers distantly. “I told her I couldn’t, that I was booked for the day.” He looks at me with concentrating eyes. “I said I had a very important, beautiful client today that I couldn’t reschedule under any circumstances.”
My cheeks feel like they’re on fire.
“The look on her face when I told her that, it scared the hell outta me.”
“It must’ve been so awful for you,” I say dramatically, pressing my hand to my bikini-covered chest. “I just can’t imagine.”
“I know, right? But I managed to get my hands free from the rope and then untied my legs. I was about to jump out the window when she came back into the room and saw me. A tray with chips and a sandwich fell from her hands to the floor. She lunged”—his hand juts out in front of him, his fingers arched into a claw—“like a cat.” He bares his teeth and makes a hissing sound—my serious face has vanished and I can’t stop smiling. “I leapt at the window, crashing right through the screen, and then rolled when I hit the grass outside. I ran all the way here.”
He stops and releases one last quick breath from his lungs. And then he just looks up at me.
“What kind of chips were they?” I ask.
“Tortilla,” he says without hesitation.
I nod. “Well, at least she was going to feed you.”
Luke smiles, a shadow cast by me standing over him covering his face. I purposely step to the side and a burst of sunlight beams into his eyes, causing him to flinch. He laughs and springs to his feet.
Suddenly his expression shifts, the playful look disappears, replaced by apology and sincerity. I can’t stop looking at his eyes. They’re so kind and devoted and passionate.
“I almost didn’t come,” he finally says with honesty.
“Why not?” I’m not sure I really want to know the answer to that.
Luke pushes his hands deep into his pockets, his arms tightening to reveal the hard, defined muscles running along them.
“I guess I just thought if I spent an hour with you before you had to leave, I’d probably like you enough that I’d be more disappointed you couldn’t stay longer.”
Wow—already on the same wavelength and we barely know each other. This is kinda freaking me out. In a good way.
I look down, trying to tame the heat in my face.
But all too soon reality rears its ugly head and the moment is lost.
I switch shoulders with the beach bag and look back at the hotel where Paige waits for me inside. I sigh quietly. Less than five minutes with Luke and already I like him enough that I wish I could stay longer. I can’t be completely sure, but it kind of scares me a little to think what a full hour with him might do.
“Well, I really do have to go.” I step away from him. “My plane leaves at one and I still have to get all my stuff together.”
Luke fishes his cell phone from his pocket and glances at the screen.
“Fifteen minutes,” he says. “At least give me that much time to make up for being late.”
Yes! That sounds awesome.
“No,” I say, shaking my head disappointedly. “I really can’t. There’s just not enough time. It’s nearly an hour drive to the airport. If anything, I should leave in fifteen minutes.”
“Then miss your plane,” he says simply.
I blink with surprise.