Luke was smiling and digging into the next bite.
“If we got married, I’d teach you how to cook.”
He waved a fork in the air. “Deal.”
He was kidding, she knew he wasn’t serious. The dimples in his cheeks etched in from the smile he wore. “What is this?”
“Carrots.”
He took another big bite. “I don’t like carrots.”
She smiled. “Good to know.”
He pulled his salad bowl closer. “So how are you feeling about this morning? You look better.”
Her morning conversation with her mom weighed on her until about three hours into her cooking spree. Then her mind started to let go. “I’m sure I’ll be pissed again tomorrow. But I’m okay right now.”
“It’s probably good you’re going back to Texas.”
She knew he hated to say the words, and knew even more he disliked the truth in them.
“I’ll be back before you know it.”
He moaned over another bite. “Good thing. I’ll starve if you don’t.”
“I saw your refrigerator. You won’t starve . . . malnourishment is a serious consideration, however.”
Luke shrugged. “I’m not that bad.”
“Cold pizza and fried chicken?”
“There’s vegetables on pizza.”
“Pepperoni and sausage?”
He had the decency to look guilty. “The sauce.”
It was Zoe’s turn to roll her eyes.
They finished their meal without any more discussion of her mom or Ziggy. Instead, they talked about Mel and Wyatt’s wedding and discussed what gifts they should add to the table. He was all about something manly for Wyatt. A beer tap was the brilliant idea in his head. “What about a grill?”
“A barbeque?”
“Yeah,” Zoe said.
“He has one.”
“What about a wine fridge?”
“Do they drink a lot of wine?”
Zoe lifted her glass. “When I’m in town they do.”
“If it will get you to River Bend more, I’m all over it.”
She didn’t want to think about how much time she’d spend in town with Ziggy residing down the street.
Her heart started to weep at the thought of leaving . . . and it screamed at the thought of staying. Instead of bringing words to her thoughts, Zoe stood to clear their dishes. Tears started to well as she rinsed away plum sauce and carrots.
Luke walked up behind her and removed the plate from her hand before turning off the water.
Without words, she twisted in his arms and let the tears come.
She heard herself sob, and his arms circled hard.
“It’s okay, baby . . . let it out.”
The sheer anguish in her heart at being let down once again swam like a sea of sludge in her veins.
She muttered obscenities through her tears, cursed the universe in her grief.
Luke let her pound her fist against his chest and blubber all over his shirt.
Tears for a lost childhood morphed into tears she wasn’t able to shed when she was battered and broken. Tears for the years she spent away from River Bend chasing a dream . . . for the time she didn’t spend with her friends, who were more like family than hers could ever be.
Then those pools of wet spots on Luke’s shirt were filled with the loss of what was yet to come. Her father had returned and taken her mother away. Even Zane hadn’t answered her calls, leaving her to believe all of her family was gone to her now.
And why?
Because they somehow believed Ziggy had changed. Or maybe they just wanted an excuse to get away from her. She’d worked for years to distance herself from them, perhaps this was the price she had to pay.
By the time her tears had dried up, Luke leaned against the counter and she all but lay on his chest.
He was whispering to her, “You’re not alone, baby. I have you.”
Even those words kept tears in her eyes.
“I don’t deserve you,” she uttered.
Luke pushed her hair back, made her look at him. “You deserve the world, if only I could give it to you.”
She bit her bottom lip. “I left you.” And she wasn’t completely sure she wouldn’t leave again. The pain in River Bend ran deep.
“Shh.” He dropped his lips to hers. Salty tears mixed with the taste of his kiss.
She pushed up, hungry for his touch.
Luke pushed back.
His hunger matched hers, his hands spread in her hair, holding her so she couldn’t get away.
Not that she wanted to.
She wanted this. The man who could make her forget about the crazy in her life. The man who could make her feel something other than anguish and hate.
Zoe sucked him in, her hands all over his chest, up his shirt, and down his back. His smooth skin heated along with hers until they couldn’t stand the heat and clothes started to find the floor.
Luke’s hand dipped over her stomach, his fingers inched inside her jeans.
Zoe unbuttoned her pants and moaned when he found her core. “Yes.” She bit his lip when he came back for a kiss.
He curled his finger inside of her and she pushed closer. So good . . . she wanted more.
Working quickly, she pulled Luke’s jeans from his hips, used her feet to anchor them so he could step out. All the while he worked her, bringing her painfully close to a powerful orgasm.
“Bedroom,” he said in a rough whisper.
She shook her head, dislodged his hand, and pushed him into one of the kitchen chairs. “Here. Now!”
Zoe kicked off her pants, let her underwear follow. In only her bra, she straddled Luke’s lap and sank over his erection.
“Holy hell.” Luke’s expletive matched her thoughts.
He was amazing, perfect, and so damn deep.
She tried to move, and he held her down. “I won’t last . . . hold on.”
Zoe giggled and tightened the inner muscles surrounding him.
“Damn, woman.”
He gave up the fight and lifted her, brought her close again.
Only she had the control, with leverage on her side.
She rode him, hard.
His teeth sank into her breast over her bra, exciting her more. The slick slide of their bodies brought them closer until Zoe couldn’t catch her breath and every nerve centered where their bodies became one. She was close, the chair they assaulted creaked, making her think for a moment that it might break. Then her body shattered, clenching Luke in a power unlike any she’d experienced before.
Then she heard his moan and felt the rush of his body as he reached his release.
He carried her lax body to his bed and tucked her into the crook of his arm.
Zoe curled into him, completing his world. “It doesn’t get better than that, does it?”
“I don’t know how it can,” he said.
“We might have broken your chair.”
“I’ll build a pedestal and make it hillbilly art in the backyard.”
Zoe laughed and ran her fingers over his chest. “We left the kitchen a mess.”
“I’ll clean it in the morning.”
“Such a bad habit,” she said, her words drifting as the day caught up with her. “Thank you for being here, Luke. I don’t know what I would do if—”
He cut her off with a finger to her lips.
She opened her eyes and looked up at him.
“There is no other place I’d rather be.”
Zoe kissed him and curled back up.
He felt her breathing even out and her hand grow lax on his chest and knew she’d found her dreams.