He tried to smile. “You don’t have annoying habits.”
Yeah, she did. “C’mon.” She pushed away from the rail and dusted her hands on her jeans. “Let’s go find a bottle of tequila and remember old times.”
Luke took a deep breath and offered his arm.
Her belly twisted as she looped her hand through and walked the few short steps to their cars.
Luke woke to his tongue tasting like elementary school paste. He preferred not to think about how he knew what paste tasted like.
He cracked an eye open and took stock of where he was.
The plush couch cushioned his back. A large-screen television hung on the wall across the room.
Zoe’s!
He let his head fall back and his eyes close.
Unlike when they were kids, they drank the tequila until tipsy, not until shitfaced. He’d crashed on the couch in case Jo snuck in sometime in the night. He didn’t want to scare a woman trained to take down men twice her size when she didn’t realize he was in her designated sleeping space.
His bladder prompted him to lift his lazy ass off the couch.
When he was finished, the crack in the door leading to Zoe’s room asked him to try out his skills in voyeurism. Powerless to stop himself, his little finger moved the door ever so slightly.
She was sound asleep, her hair disheveled on the pillow, her full lips parted in her sleep.
He’d missed her.
The quiet moments . . . the laughter . . . his ability to say and do just about anything and not scare her away.
She’d left anyway, but not because of him.
In Texas, she had a life she never would have obtained staying in River Bend.
Luke eased the door closed and slowly made his way down the hall.
A gasp stopped the movement of his feet.
“Holy shit.”
Jo held shoes in her hand and shock on her face.
“Shh, she’s sleeping.” He glanced over his shoulder to the closed door.
“What are you doing here?” she asked in a rough whisper.
He realized then what it looked like . . . him half dressed, walking away from Zoe’s room.
Luke took two steps and pulled Jo from the hall. “I slept on the couch.” He pointed to the blanket and pillow.
Jo kept staring. “You were in Eugene.”
“There’s more than one plane in the air, Jo.” He didn’t elaborate and turned toward the kitchen. “Coffee?”
“Holy shit,” he heard again, only this time with meaning.
Chapter Five
“A three-story house is a lot of up and down.”
Zoe slid a glance to Jo when Luke voiced his opinion.
They’d left her apartment two houses ago without her having the opportunity to talk to Jo privately.
Anton had taken one glance at Luke, smiled, and made sure he was by his side as they breached the doors of the homes Zoe was considering buying.
Her Realtor’s reaction to Luke’s good looks answered a few questions Zoe had about the man’s sexuality.
“No more or less than Miss Gina’s Bed-and-Breakfast,” Zoe said.
“This is a home, not an inn.”
“Okay . . . it’s a lot of square footage. Are you planning on your mother moving in? Maybe Zanya and Blaze?” Luke asked.
Zoe swallowed hard. The mere image of her mother anywhere near Dallas made her cringe. Would her family think that was an option? Moving to Texas and staying with her?
“Maybe it is a little large.”
Jo nudged her arm. “The houses we looked at yesterday were bigger.”
“I didn’t think about my family.”
“Is your mother elderly?” Anton asked.
“No,” Zoe sighed. “Just needy.”
“Your mom wouldn’t leave Oregon.”
Zoe knew better. Much as she liked to believe that her mom wouldn’t try and interrupt her life, she wouldn’t put it past her. And Zanya wasn’t exactly rolling in money with any real options. She realized how selfish her thoughts sounded in her head.
What a bitch. Maybe she should be looking at larger homes . . . homes to house her family.
“Don’t go there, Zoe,” Jo exclaimed.
“They have so little.”
Luke edged closer. “Life choices, babe. We’ve talked about this for years. Nothing has changed. You enable your mom now . . . your sister, even Zane, and you’ll be taking care of them their entire lives.”
They were right.
“I hate that you both know what I’m thinking before I do.”
Luke and Jo smiled at each other.
“Perhaps something a little smaller would be a better option,” Anton said.
“It wouldn’t hurt.”
They were eating a late lunch at 15 Coins. Zoe knew the head chef, who personally stepped out of the kitchen to greet them and suggest what they should order. The hospitality was a norm in River Bend but unexpected in Dallas. Even among the accents and the smiles, the metropolitan atmosphere stood out above everything else. And with metro anything, smiles and simple greetings were about as far as people went.
“It feels a little fancy for shorts and a T-shirt.”
“Look around, Jo. There aren’t a lot of dressed up people in here.”
Jo and Luke glanced around the busy restaurant and agreed with a “huh” and a nod.
“I can’t believe the size of everything we looked at today,” Jo said. “It’s like everyone here wants a huge electric bill to combat all this heat.”
“It’s Texas. People like their space here. Closets the size of New York apartments are the norm. I’ll find something that suits me. Just need to keep looking.”
“You’re going to need a big closet for all those shoes you have stacked up in the spare bedroom.”
Zoe had the good sense to be slightly embarrassed by her collection. “It’s part of my on-screen wardrobe.”
Luke grunted. “I’ve seen you cook. You don’t use your feet.”
The thought made her cringe.
Jo laughed.
Zoe felt a tap on her shoulder and looked up. “Felix.”
“I thought it was you. Nobody wears jean shorts with a silk blouse quite like you.”
Zoe accepted her director’s hug and glanced behind him. “Are you with someone?”
Felix puffed out his lower lip. “Alfonzo ditched me for a pedicure.”
She smiled. “Pedicures are important.”
Felix winked and looked at Jo and Luke. “Let me guess, out of town friends.”
Zoe pointed to Jo. “Felix, my fashion consultant, my friend . . . and occasionally he tells me what to do on set. This is Jo.”
Recognition flashed in his eyes as he stuck his hand out. “The posse?”
“I use Sheriff, but posse works.”
“My goodness you are beautiful. A little glowing around the eyes.”
It was fun to see Jo blush. She wasn’t used to compliments.
Felix turned his gaze toward Luke. “Oh, let me guess . . .” He tapped a finger on his chin and then glanced at Zoe. “Is this him?”
She knew she’d talked about her friends back home, but didn’t think she’d revealed any secrets to Felix over the years.
“This is your Luke . . . right?”
Luke had opened his eyes wide and wore a smirk.
“I wouldn’t say he’s mine.”
Luke extended his hand. “A pleasure.”
It was Felix’s turn to blush. “Too bad you don’t play for my team. The good ones are always straight.”