“I’m thinking I just spent more time at the mall today than the sum total of every mall visit of my life, and it’s been one of the best days of my life.”
“I’m thinking today’s been pretty damn great, but it’s about to get even better.”
“Thank you for sharing today with me, Luke.”
His hand wrapped around my wrist. “Thank you for sharing your life with me.”
My reaction was to recoil, and I wasn’t sure if it was because I was scared of being hurt or hurting him. But I fought my instinct. I fought it until I’d chased it back into the dark, stagnant place it resided.
I fought it until all I could feel was the place where my head and heart came together, the spot where reason and logic lived in harmony with whim and feeling. It was a place I’d never visited before, but experiencing it made me want to take up permanent residence.
Whatever this was, wherever it took me, I wasn’t going to hold back. I was all in, to whatever end we found ourselves in.
Feeling that was staggering. Accepting it was freeing. But living it was redefining.
“Still with the thinking,” Luke muttered good-naturedly, glancing up at me.
“All done. I’m all thought out.”
“Good, because as brilliant as that mind of yours is, I have immediate plans that involve your equally brilliant body.” His hand tightened around my wrist when the elevator doors chimed open on his apartment’s floor.
“Before you get me behind a locked door, I need you to agree to give me a few minutes before you throw, bend, or spread me over whatever surface you have in your depraved, albeit also brilliant, mind.”
Luke pulled his key out when we stopped outside his door. “I’ll concede to that. Since I can’t get this damn jersey ripped off and in the incinerator fast enough. If you need any more time than I do to strip, I’ll wait semi-patiently. Dick in hand. Thinking about dick in you.”
Heat spread through my body, originating in the spot between my legs. “Sounds like you’ve got your whole night planned.”
“I plan on spending my whole night buried inside you.”
“I’ll hold you to it.”
“And I’ll hold you to me while you hold me to it.”
“Do you have a comeback for everything I say?” I laughed as he kicked the door open after unlocking it.
“I have a come on for everything you say to me. Does that count?”
“Would you care if I said it didn’t?”
“No.” His head shook.
“Then there’s your answer.” When I closed the door, the lock sliding over echoed through the quiet space. At the same time it was locking the rest of the world out, it was opening an entire world to me. Before I could change my mind or Luke could change it for me, I rolled him into the living room. “Bathroom?”
“Do you want me to show you where it is?” His mouth took a crooked slant.
“I want you to tell me where it is.” Snagging my bag hanging off the end of the wheelchair’s handholds, I put some space between us.
“Down that hall. First door on the right.” Luke watched me back away, a storm of conflict rolling across his face.
“I’ll be back. Don’t get started without me,” I said before turning my back on him.
Luke’s chuckle followed me down the hall. “Too late.”
That was when I felt the caress of his jersey brush down my body. Apparently he was serious about not being able to wait another second to have that thing off of him.
Once I was in the bathroom, my hands wouldn’t work right. I fumbled my bag, spilling the contents onto the tile floor. At least that made finding what I had in mind that much easier.
After that, my dexterity took another detour from inhibited to inefficient. Trying to peel my dress over my head proved challenging. Unhooking my bra was a damn feat. My panties were easier, but that probably had something to do with gravity’s assistance.
Finally, I was naked. Halfway there. Go me for picking the night I felt like my hands had been attacked by a hive of bees as the one when I took the time to wear something special.
Sliding into the item I’d stuffed into my bag earlier, the buttons proved my final challenge before I was set to go. Like Luke, I’d been ready for hours, but being ready was different from getting ready. Now I was both.
Thank god.
I could have taken an extra minute to comb my hair or dab on a little lip gloss, but neither would last. Not to mention my fingers were still in a state of shock.
Opening the door, I stepped into the dark hall. The apartment was quiet. “You didn’t fall asleep, did you?”
When it took more than a second for him to answer, I started to worry that he might have.
“No. I’m definitely not asleep.” He was standing in the dark living room, totally naked, and totally ready to go.
My heartbeat drummed in my ears. “Good, because I didn’t get all dressed up for nothing.” My hands weren’t shaking anymore—my fingers no longer fumbling—as they moved to the top button of the jersey to pull it free.