That sexy look needs to go.
“He’s at my mum’s tonight. A sleepover with Grandma. And Paris is out, so we have the place to ourselves.”
Jesus, why did I not ask all these questions before I came?
Mental note—know Luke’s family’s schedule better than they do.
I give Luke what I hope is a dirty look. “You need to take a step back there, buddy. This kind of move goes against our whole friend’s only thing we’ve got going on.”
His eyes search mine, and he doesn’t move. I endure a good ten minutes of hell before he finally steps back. Oh, okay, so it’s more like thirty seconds, but honestly, does the man not understand the word ‘friends’?
Pushing his fingers through his hair, he says, “I’m dying here, Callie.” He reaches for my top and grips the bottom of it. “And I know it’s not fair to you for me to say that because it’s my fault we’re stuck in this friend zone, but I want you to know how much I want you.”
“I’m dying, too. But as much as I’d like to forget we agreed to this, I can’t.”
“I know. And I won’t ever pressure you for sex, but surely friends can kiss?”
I lift a brow. “I’ve never had a friend that I’ve kissed before.”
“Didn’t your mum ever tell you it’s good to try new things?” His eyes just won’t let me go, and his grip on my top has tightened.
Two can play this game. “No, my mum always told me to perfect something. I think I should work on perfecting my current behaviour.”
He smirks. “Well, you know, the only way to master a new skill is to push yourself. The harder something is that you keep practicing, the better you’ll get. I can help you with that.”
“I personally think it’s better not to work with those you know. Too many possibilities for problems to occur. Perhaps I need to find someone else to practice with.”
His eyes flare, and he lets my top go so he can pull my body to his. I quickly try to press my hands against his chest to push away, but his hold is so tight I can barely wiggle. “You never need to find someone new,” he growls. “Ever,” he adds with force.
Oh my.
I like this Luke. All growly and fierce. My lady bits really like this Luke. That growl hit all the right spots. But damn, now I want that kiss as much as he does.
This complicated dating thing is the devil. I’ve never been so conflicted over something in my life.
“How about you feed me and we can go from there?” I suggest. I just need a moment to unscramble myself.
He doesn’t let me go straight away. But then he drops his arms and nods. “Okay, baby.”
He’s called me that twice now and each time it unleashed a whole new wave of longing through me. He has this low, gravelly way of wrapping his lips around that word that I like. And the fact he doesn’t say it all the time makes it feel special.
I follow him into the kitchen and now that I’m not trapped in Luke’s scent, I smell the dinner he’s cooked. “You made homemade pizza?” I ask as I watch him open the oven.
Eyeing me, he says, “Yeah. You like pizza, right?”
I can’t contain my excitement. “It’s only one of my favourite meals.”
He lifts the pizza from the oven and places it on a board. “I made half and half because I wasn’t sure if you were a meat lover or not.”
The pizza has my complete attention. It’s huge. He’s made half meatlover and half supreme. I’m practically drooling here. Shifting my gaze back to his, I say, “I love it all. I’ll pretty much eat any pizza.”
He jerks his chin at the fridge. “Do you wanna get some drinks out while I get this ready? There’s some Vodka Cruisers in the door.”
I watch as he starts slicing the pizza. My heart suddenly feels like it might burst out of my chest. This man. Who would have ever thought Luke and I could get along so well?
Ten minutes later, we’re sitting at the table laughing over what I’ve told him about my day at work. One of the guys I work with says the dumbest things, and I’ve recounted the stupidest thing that came out of his mouth today.
“I know it’s not quite what you wish you were doing, but are you liking the job okay?” Luke asks as he wipes some pizza sauce from the side of my mouth. He's made the best pizza I think I’ve ever tasted; I ate so fast I made a mess of my face.
“I don’t mind it. I just need to suck it up with these functions they want me to cover. One of the reporters stopped by my desk to say hi, and she asked me to help her out with some research on a story, so at least I’ll get to do some interesting work as well.”
“That’s go—” A sound from out the front interrupts us. Luke’s head turns towards the front door before looking back my way. “Was that a knock?”
I nod. “I think so.”