I drop my gaze.
For the love of God, why is one man blessed with so much? Not only does he have those sexy, green eyes that could lead me into sin, and that ass I could hold all day long, and abs to die for, but he also has freaking arm muscles they could make porn movies about.
Please. Make. Him. Leave.
No, make him stay.
Make him stay for hours so I can stare.
And then stare some more.
Oh fuck, just let me lick those muscles.
“Callie.”
I blink.
Meeting his eyes again, I say, “What?” I’m so turned on I can barely wrap my lips around one word; I’m not sure how I’ll string a sentence together.
His face is near mine as he leans his body closer. The way his jaw clenches leads me to believe he’s frustrated, which is pretty much how he always is with me. In one conversation with Avery, I was voted the person most likely to frustrate Luke, and it seems I’ve managed to do it again today. “Stay away from those guys.” His gravelly voice fills the space around us, blocking everything else out, and for a moment I’m suspended in time while I process everything hitting my senses.
His musky scent.
Mint on his breath.
His body close to mine.
The words out of his mouth.
“I’ll stay away from them,” I finally force out, doing my best to ignore the want shooting through my veins.
Surprise fills his features as his eyes widen. “Fuck, that’d be a first.” He’s right, but he’s probably also right about those guys, as much as it pains me to admit it. And while his bossy ways annoy me sometimes, in this instance, I know he’s only trying to look out for me.
He pushes off from the chair and stands straight. “I won’t be long. Do you think you and Avery can stay out of trouble while I’m gone?”
I pout at him. “I’ll have you know that the trouble we got into last time you left us alone was not our fault.” It truly wasn’t…well, maybe just a teensy, tiny part of it was, but I’d never openly admit that to Luke.
His brows raise. “Callie, the newspaper headlines the next day read, ‘Coyote Ugly Comes To Town’. You and Avery turned my bar into an almost strip club while you served customers drinks from the top of the bar rather than from behind it. How the hell can that be anyone else’s fault?” This happened three months ago and it’s a relief to hear the small amount of humour in his voice because a month ago there was no humour to be found. He’s obviously moving past it.
Standing, I place my hand on my hip. “You weren’t here, Luke. You didn’t see the shit going on between some of the customers. They were gearing up for a fight, so I did the only thing I could think of. Dancing on the bar worked a treat, diverting their attention from each other.”
Shaking his head, he mutters, “You could have just called the cops to come and deal with them.”
I don’t want to get into this with him so I let him have this one. “It was a good thing you came back when you did, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess it was.” He points his finger at me. “No bar-top dancing tonight.”
Resisting the urge to poke my tongue at him, I nod and shoo him away. “Go! Tyler and I will keep Avery out of trouble.”
After another few moments where he stares at me in silence, he finally gives me a nod and leaves. I can’t help myself, I check out his ass again.
God.
I need to get laid.
* * *
After I finish my waitressing gig at Grind the next day, I drown the buzz of the café out as I sit staring at my laptop. I stayed here in case they get busy and need me. Plus, I prefer the atmosphere of the café rather than the quiet of my apartment. I’m trying to improve my online dating profile, and as I read what I currently have, I’m bored by it. I can only imagine how bored potential dates would be.
Single.
Female.
Working my way to my dream career of novelist.
Loves yoga, reading, spending time with friends.
Fuck.
I press delete on the keyboard and in frustration type out a new dating profile.
Desperate for sex.
Earns shit money waitressing while desperately trying to get a publishing deal.
Only does yoga to keep core muscles strong – trust me, guys thank me when they fuck me.
Hangs out with the three friends I have.
Reads too much because gets no sex.
Did I mention desperate for sex?
“Really?” A familiar voice sounds from behind me.
I snap my laptop shut and look up to find Luke moving towards the seat across from me. My heart makes itself known as it begins to beat faster and I swallow down the dryness in my throat.
God, why does he always affect me so much?
He sits at my table and his eyebrows pull in. “I thought you were working today.”
“My shift got cut in half again because it wasn’t busy enough. Figured I’d stay and write here in case they did get busy and needed me.” Story of my life – my income is dwindling to epically low amounts.