“I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to call,” he says, and I cross my fingers in the way I used to do all the time as a kid when I was hoping for something to go my way.
Callie…
Why can’t you just fuck right off and let me dream for once?
Because you know this is wrong.
“Avery said you had family stuff going on. Is everything okay?” I feel shy with him, which is the weirdest thing. I’m never like this with men. But with Luke, I suddenly feel all jittery—as if I’m full of dread at the same time as hope bursts through me.
“What are you doing at the moment?”
“I’m sitting in your bar trying to figure out if last night was a one-off.” My honesty kills me sometimes, and I cringe as it comes pouring out of my mouth. But I’m not wired any other way.
He’s silent for a moment. “Because you didn’t hear from me today?” His question almost does kill me. If there’s one thing I respect the most in this world, it’s direct communication. I can’t stand doing the dance of hedging bets and not laying it all on the line from the get-go.
“Yeah… But that’s my issue, not yours. You’re obviously dealing with some stuff and if this is too much—”
He cuts me off. “Can you come over to my place?”
“What? Now?”
“Yes. We need to talk.”
No, we don’t.
We could just kiss.
And then you could do that thing where you take your clothes off and—
“Callie,” he says. “Stop thinking and come over.”
Oh, man. His voice has that deep, bossy tone he likes to use on me sometimes. Hell, who am I kidding? He uses that bossy tone on me all the time.
“Okay, text me your address. But honestly, if there are more revelations like there were last night, Luke, I’m not sure I want to know.”
Silence.
Dead silence.
Oh. My. God.
“What else? Tell me right now,” I demand as my heart speeds up again.
He sighs. “Just come over. I don’t want to do this over the phone.”
I do what he says.
And on the drive to his house, I tell myself that I need to put a stop to this now. I am not the kind of woman who sleeps with a married man. Until he sorts out his divorce, I need to keep him out of my pants.
* * *
Luke answers the door, and I have to work hard not to swoon all over the damn place. It’s not his muscles or his lips or the way his gaze takes in every inch of me that does it. It’s his green eyes and how they lock onto mine before he murmurs my name in a way that no man should ever be allowed to murmur it.
You will not let him in your pants.
You will not let him in your pants
You will not—
He places his hand on my arm, and I almost jolt out of my skin at his touch. I’m pretty sure the talk I gave myself on the way over here has been long forgotten. I’m more than sure that if Luke Hardy told me to jump off a damn cliff, I’d do it. Jerking his chin, he says, “Come in.”
Our eyes don’t let each other go as I step inside. I’m under his spell, and nothing can break it.
And then I hear a woman’s voice, and I freeze.
“Sean, no!”
My head spins.
Totally not what I expected.
Luke’s hand wraps around my wrist, and he leans close so he can say against my ear. “Stop thinking, Callie, and wait for me to explain.”
I suck in a deep breath. “You better hurry up and start explaining, Luke. I’ve had enough surprises to last me a long time.”
A little boy, who looks to be no older than four or five, rounds the corner and rushes down the hall towards us. Luke lets me go so he can put his arms out for the boy to run into.
“Daddy!”
Luke lifts him up into his arms, and a huge smile spreads across his face. I stare because it’s all I can do. Luke hardly ever smiles. Like, I could count the number of times I have seen him smile in the last year on two hands.
“You okay, little man?” he asks the child and my ovaries explode.
Boom.
I. Am. Done. For.
He just keeps on peeling back layers and all I can do is fall a little further with each reveal.
The boy loops his arms around Luke’s neck and presses his mouth to his father’s. “I had more of my puffer while you were gone. Paris looked after me good, so you don’t have to worry.” My heart cracks a little at his words. I can’t help but be affected by a child reassuring their parent that they don’t have to worry about them.
Luke continues to smile at his son, but I see the twinge of regret in those beautiful green eyes of his. “Paris will always look after you if I’m not here to do it, okay?”
The child nods and Luke appears to relax a little.
“Sean, I want you to meet a friend of mine,” he says as he turns to glance at me with a smile. “This is Callie.”