“Are you sure, Sienna?” His strong hands fall softly on my upper arms, sending a trail of shivers up the back of my neck. “Definitely.” I smile.
We gaze into each other’s eyes for a moment until finally he gives in, nods, and says, “OK. If that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get.” The palms of his hands rub up and down my arms.
I can’t help but think there’s another, more tender meaning behind that comment, accompanied by the warmth in his eyes. I wish I could explore it further, crawl inside that beautiful head of his and listen to his thoughts because I feel like right now every single one of them is about me—I’ve never felt so … special.
“And no stressin’ out, yah hear me?” he says with narrowed eyes. “The second I sense it feels like work to you, I’m pulling you outta there; I’ll throw you over my shoulder, kickin’ and screamin’ if I have to.”
“All right,” I say with laughter in my voice.
“Of course, that’s not the only thing you’ll be doing while you’re here,” he points out. “I’d like to have you all to myself most of the time.”
My face feels like it’s on fire. I swallow nervously, excitedly.
“It’s a deal,” I say.
He takes my hand and walks with me out of the building and into the sunshine.
He won’t say where he’s taking me next. I practically begged him when we first got on the bus, quietly so the people sitting nearby wouldn’t hear how whiny I might’ve sounded, but Luke was impervious to my feminine charms this time. And I have to say, I’m glad for that because I like a guy who puts his foot down every now and then and who isn’t so sweet that he always lets me have my way. What fun is there in that? But I’ve been looking for it. Since the day I met him on that beach, I’ve been waiting for the one thing about him that’s going to turn me off and make me run in the other direction to rear its ugly head. Because it always happens. A guy can be as perfect as a guy can be. I can check the boxes off my little list of requirements from top to bottom and even add a few things I never imagined any guy could have all in one personality, but eventually that hideous sore will pop up out of nowhere and turn a prince into a troll. It’s one of my other flaws, but I’ll never tell Luke that. Paige says it’s because I’m afraid to get serious, because I’m so wrapped up in my career that in the back of my mind I know that getting too serious with someone will threaten it. Paige also says I’m “too fucking young to be worried about stuff like that,” but she and I are different in that way—I think the younger I solidify my life and career, the better. I look at my parents and how much they might’ve had, the things they could’ve done, the time they could’ve spent together, if only they hadn’t had to struggle financially as much as they did. I love them, but I don’t want to end up like them and go through what they went through. What they’re still going through.