by Patty Blount
Elena’s beautiful brown eyes went round as she scanned the huge conference room. “Okay. Let’s get to it.” She grabbed a bag, gave it a snap to open it, and started her circuit around the table, filling the bag as she went. She finished it off with a wad of tissue paper and put the finished bag on the first shelf. “That’s one. Only three hundred and ninety-nine to go.”
“That’s the spirit.” Luke held up his hand for a high five. When the same sizzle shot up his arm, he entertained a brief fantasy of swiping everything off the long table that filled that the conference room, laying Elena over it, and kissing every inch of her body.
“Luke?”
He jerked when Al’s hand waved in front of his eyes. “Oh, uh, sorry.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Fine.” He avoided Al’s gaze and got to work.
* * *
Elena had a moment of panic when Luke got lost in his own little world. Was she safe with him, a man she’d known for a grand total of twenty-seven minutes? But when he’d smiled that panty-dropping grin of his, she forgot what she was supposed to be afraid of. Don’t stare at the smile. It was a freakin’ weapon of mass seduction, she concluded. How there wasn’t a deli counter take-a-number system outside his door, she had no idea.
Favor bags. Right. She grabbed two more bags, snapped them open and filled two at once. When she’d made it all the way around the table, she found Al watching her with a gleam in his eye.
“I’ve got an idea,” he began. “I’m getting punchy and want to go to bed, so let’s make this a race.”
“What kind of race?” Debbie crossed arms over her impressive chest.
“Just a little contest. Let’s see who can fill the most bags in an hour. Winner buys the loser a cup of coffee.”
“Pass.” Elena was too tired to race and definitely not interested in coffee.
Al laughed. “I figured the ladies would cave. There’s no beating me.” He thrust both hands in the air, champion style.
“Please.” Elena scoffed. “It’s not like bag stuffing requires any degree of strength or agility. I can stuff just as well as you can.”
“Guess we’ll never know.” He taunted. Beside him, Lucas smiled and shook his head and she almost forgot what they’d been talking about.
“Okay, fine. Let’s just do this.” Damn it, she had to stop looking at the Smile. It was making her do all sorts of things not in her nature. Feel all sorts of things she didn’t have time to feel.
Al took out his phone, set the clock for thirty minutes. “Ready? Annnnd go!”
Debbie raced to the box of flat bags, took out two, looping them onto one arm. Elena grabbed four bags and did the same thing. They circled the table, scooping favors into each bag.
“Good idea, Al.” Lucas elbowed his friend.
“I thought so.” Al crossed his arms. “Think we should fill a few bags of our own?”
Elena cleared her throat.
Loudly.
“Okay, okay.” Lucas laughed. He stepped behind Elena, grabbed several bags and snapped them open.
“No fair! You copied my idea.”
“Anything goes, baby,” he shot back, snatching Greyline Tour Bus tickets from her hand, tucking them into a bag on his arm.
She got even at the box of pens from a lower Manhattan business by blocking him with her body. He tried elbowing her out of his way, but she held her ground until he bodily lifted her up and behind him. “Whoa, whoa, you’re a cheater!”
Laughing, he tried to block her from accessing the box of passes to the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum. She knew she couldn’t possibly lift him out of her path, so she squeezed his biceps, not expecting to feel such…such definition. Her mouth went dry.
At the first touch from her fingers, Luke froze and his eyes slipped shut. So caught up in the magic of that simple touch, neither of them said anything until Al cleared his throat and said, “Uh, guys?”
Luke’s eyes snapped open and he shot up both hands in a T-shape. “Time out! Personal foul,” Lucas objected.
“Anything goes, baby,” she gleefully reminded him.
The timer went off and Elena nearly flushed as red as Debbie’s sweater when she looked around to find Debbie and Al sitting with their feet up. Her eyes darted to Lucas, but he only shrugged and grinned. “Come on, loser. I owe you coffee.”
But Elena shook her head. “I really hate coffee,” she admitted. “How about hot chocolate, instead?”
His smile widened. “I make the best hot cocoa ever poured.”
At Debbie’s audible gasp, Elena’s faced heated and she had to look away.
Lucas just kept right on grinning.
He wasn’t giving up that easily.
Chapter Three
‡
“So, Elena. How long are you staying in the city?” Al asked from his side of the corner booth in a nearby diner.
Both women sat opposite the men. Lucas used the opportunity to study Elena Larsen. Brown eyes that contrasted with the sleek blond hair that just skimmed her shoulders, lush lips he couldn’t wait to kiss—
He jerked out of his fantasy and Al looked at him. “What’s wrong?”
Shrugging, Luke reached for the little basket of sugar packets and tried to stop staring at Elena.
“Until the end of January. I can work remotely until after Kara’s baby comes. She’s due soon so I thought I’d help her get settled since she’s alone.” Elena’s mouth went flat.
Debbie nodded. “We heard something about Kara’s boyfriend being out of the picture. What kind of guy does that?”
Elena said something and raised her cup to her lips. Luke’s stomach tightened when his eyes locked on her mouth. Her lips were perfect and for a moment, he had this fierce wish to be the cup. He managed to focus on the last part of Elena’s sentence—something about the baby’s crib.
“Wait, why can’t you build it?”
“We have to get special tools. Like a special screwdriver.”
She held up her hands to shape something that looked kind of angular. And then he got it. “Ah. An Allen wrench. I’ve got a set of them. I’ll lend it to you.”
Al cocked his head. “Or, you could just build the crib, Luke.”
Elena’s gaze bounced from Al to Luke. “You could?”
With a deadly glare shot at Al, Lucas finally nodded. “Yeah. I can come by tomorrow, if that’s okay.”
Elena blinked and shook her head. “No, don’t worry about it. We’ll figure it out.”
He sighed and then his hand squeezed hers. “Elena. I know Kara’s having a rough time and this is something I can do to make it a little smoother. Okay?”
Elena studied him for a moment and he only barely managed not to squirm under her intense stare.
“What?”
She flushed, lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m just not used to people like you.”
Luke’s eyebrows lifted at her direct attack and he might have asked what she meant by that remark, but decided he really didn’t care that much.
Al, however, did. “People like him? What does that mean?”
“Al.” Lucas put a warning hand on Al’s shoulder, but he shrugged it off.
“No, Luke, I want to know what the hell that means.”
“Forget it. It doesn’t mean anything.” Elena waved a hand impatiently.
“Elena, you just met us, but let me tell you something. Lucas Adair is the best man I know.”
“Oh boy.” Luke’s head dropped. “Say goodnight, Al.”
Elena leaned back and bit her lip. “I’m sorry. It’s just people never do stuff for nothing, you know? Everybody always wants something.”
Luke frowned. “That’s awfully cynical in someone who’s—what? Twenty-five?”
She snapped up straight. “I’m twenty-seven.”
He stared at her for a moment and then slid out of the booth. “The offer stands,” he said without smiling.
“I’m sorry, you guys,” she muttered.<
br />
Al sighed. “I’m sorry, too, Elena.” he patted her hand. “He’s my closest friend and I don’t like to see him unfairly judged. Give him a chance, okay?”
“Understood.” She raised both hands, rubbed her face. She’d never intended to insult anybody. “So what’s the story?” At their blank looks, she elaborated. “It’s Friday night. You guys are all single, right? How come nobody’s cell phone is buzzing with invitations and booty calls?”
“Just got dumped,” Debbie admitted, brushing dark hair out of her eyes.
Oh. She hadn’t considered that. “Ouch. That sucks.”
Debbie sipped from her cup, gave her half a grin. “She said I wasn’t serious. And she was right. I’m not serious. Life’s too short not to have some fun, you know?”
She? Oh. Oh!
Well, Elena knew all about the caprice of life. But having fun? No. No, that wasn’t possible these days. Her eyes tracked Lucas, who’d walked across the diner to chat with the server. The server was now looking at him like he’d just walked out of a flying saucer.
“What’s up over there?” She jerked her chin at the drama.
Al followed her gaze and grinned. “Like I said. He’s the best guy I know.”
At her blank look, Debbie provided the details. “Luke is all about the random acts of kindness, you know? He’s probably picking up the tab for somebody. Who do you think it is?” She turned to Al.
Al scanned the diner. “That old lady by the window.”
“Uh uh. I think it’s the couple in the corner.”
Elena’s belly did a little roll. “He pays for people’s meals? That is so sweet.”
“Yeah, but don’t make a big deal out of it, okay? It weirds him out.”
How could she not? It was a big deal. Lucas Adair was a good man. Saving her from thugs, building cribs, volunteering hours—Lucas had gotten under her skin in a matter of minutes. She watched the server approach a young couple in the back of the diner. They couldn’t have been out of their teens. The server pointed at Lucas and the couple grinned and waved.
He should have a good woman—not somebody who sucked the happiness out of everyone around her.
You ruin everything, Laney!
If she had a dollar for every time Kara or her brothers had said that, she’d be living on a private island.
When Lucas returned to their booth and sat down, she hid her face in her cup, refusing to look at him.
“So where’s home?” Al finally asked when the silence grew long.
“These days, it’s Florida. We moved soon after—” Abruptly, she clamped her lips together. She would not speak of that day. She simply would not.
But they knew.
“I lost my brother that day,” Debbie revealed. “Al lost his dad. Who’d you lose?”
“Guys. Enough.” Luke’s voice was a whip.
“No, no. It’s okay.” Elena took a deep breath. It was kind of nice talking to people who didn’t just feel sorry for her, but were dealing with the same pain themselves. “I lost my mom.”
“Oh. You and Luke have something in common. He lost his mom, too.”
That cracked the shields around Elena’s heart. Elena slid Luke a glance over the rim of her hot chocolate. He was potent, like the coffee he drank. There was simply no diluting him. Dark hair that begged for a woman’s fingers to rake, those eyes with the crinkles at the corners. And the—
No! Damn it, not the smile. But it was a flash of teeth and then it was gone. He sipped from his cup and abruptly, the grief descended on Elena again.
“How do you all stand being here?” she whispered.
Al smiled for a second and then turned to stare out the window. “I can’t leave. My dad’s spirit is out here, somewhere. I can’t leave that—him.”
Elena frowned. “Spirit? You believe that stuff?”
Al gave her half a shrug. “Sure. Not like a ghost or anything. Just little things. Signs, you know? I like to surround myself with them.”
Signs. That sounded a lot like faith that Elena no longer had. “Well, that’s all that matters,” she offered in her best non-committal, not judgmental tone.
He nodded. “Kara told me your mom worked for Burke & Kirkpatrick. Yours did, too, right, Luke?”
“Almir. Leave it alone,” Luke warned.
Elena’s blood chilled. She hadn’t known that. How could she? They’d just met. “Your mom worked for Burke & Kirkpatrick?” Had they been friends? Had her mother told his mother all about her and her wild mood changes and all the crap she’d dished out on a daily basis? Had her mother told his mother what Elena’s last words to her had been? She rubbed her chest, where the guilt still burned.
Luke nodded again. “Yeah. They were risk managers in the same department. I work at Burke & Kirk now, too. In IT.”
He sipped more coffee, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to discuss their mothers in the past tense. She put her back against the seat rest, stared out the window, and let her cocoa go cold. Her hand kept creeping back to her chest, rubbing the ache.
“So, what kind of work do you do that you get to work remotely?”
“I’m a technical writer. I write instruction guides and help systems.”
“Oh, you’re in IT, too?” Al’s grin got wide and just a little bit wicked. “Luke’s head of development at Burke & Kirk. Lucas, you have to try out some of those software developer pick-up lines on someone who gets them.”
“No.”
Elena’s lips twitched and she groaned just for form. Inside, she was grateful for the change of subject. “Okay. Gimme one. Let’s see what you got.”
“No.”
“Come on, Luke! Don’t be such a dick.” Al elbowed him.
“No. And don’t call me a dick.”
“Please? I want to hear these, too.” Debbie patted the table between them.
“Okay, okay. You asked for it.” Luke rubbed his hands together and gave Elena a smoldering look, dropped his voice down an octave. “I hope you’re broadband, baby, because I really want high-speed access.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Elena rolled her eyes. “That’s terrible.”
“Yeah, man, that was awful,” Al agreed.
“I warned you.”
“Come on, do another one,” Debbie said.
Elena put out a hand. “Please don’t use the obvious puns on RAM or motherboards.”
Lucas looked at her sideways. “Please. This isn’t my first program.”
She snorted and let him continue. Luke took her hand and leaned in real close. “Baby, you overclock my processor but trust me, there’s no part of my body that’s micro or soft.” He delivered the final words with his eyes locked on hers.
Elena stared into his dark eyes and felt herself melting, weakening, and might have leaned over the table to fuse her mouth to his had Debbie not burst into laughter, breaking the spell. She laughed, too, to hide her growing discomfort.
Luke stared at her, his dark eyes strangely guarded. She stopped laughing when the waitress dropped two bills on their table along with a snarky comment about starting a collection, and saw Luke’s face redden. He squirmed, swallowed hard, abruptly grabbed the two scraps of paper and headed to the register.
When he returned to their table, she avoided his gaze, busying herself with hat, gloves, coat, and purse. The man—with his volunteer efforts and enthralling smile and kindness to strangers—nobody could be this good, she decided. Maybe it was all just a ploy. Maybe he was nothing more than veneer. Well, she had neither the time nor the interest in diving beneath that surface.
She shoved her hand through the shoulder strap of her bag and extended it in farewell. “Well, thank you for the cocoa and the company. I suppose we’ll see you at the Remembrance event—assuming Kara doesn’t go into labor, of course.”
“Nice meeting you.” Debbie held out her hand.
Luke put up his hands. “Whoa, whoa, whoa—did you hear what I said earlier? Nobody walks alone.”
<
br /> Here we go. “Look, Lucas. I’m sure you’re a great guy, but I’m only here for a few weeks and I’ve got a packed schedule with work, shopping, building the crib for Kara’s baby, not to mention all the details we still need to finalize before the big night. I appreciate the attempt, but I’m just not interested.”
Beside her, Al and Debbie exchanged a knowing glance.
The smile—that patently potent source of power—fled. His eyes cooled and his shoulders straightened. “Never said I was interested, Elena. All I said was nobody walks alone.”
She bit her lip. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”
He turned his back and strode to the exit.
Uncomfortable, the remaining three followed.
“Damn, it’s friggin’ freezing out here,” Debbie complained. “No gloves again, Luke? Who got them this time? Homeless guy? Some kid on the subway?”
Lucas didn’t respond. Elena glanced up at him, saw the tight expression on his face and didn’t press. The wind was biting so they walked in silence at a fast clip, exchanged terse goodbyes with Al and Debbie at the subway station and said nothing more on their brisk walk back to Kara’s building.
“Goodnight, Luke. Thanks again.” Elena opened the door and turned back to wave.
Big mistake.
In the glare of a streetlight, she instantly saw that Lucas wasn’t quiet because she’d turned him down. No, Lucas was quiet because he was pissed. A slow and steady rage had been bubbling beneath that veneer of his—his jaw was so tightly clenched, she marveled that his teeth hadn’t cracked under the pressure. Guilt burned in her gut. With a resigned sigh, she started her apology. “Luke—”
“’night,” he said. Hard to have been more brief.
“Wait!” She called when he strode away. He halted, but didn’t turn. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean –”
“Don’t sweat it,” he cut in. “Players like me just move on to the next name in the contact list, baby.”
Okay. She had been a bit presumptuous on that point. “I apologize for making—”
“Noted. Goodnight.” He turned, waited for her to enter the building.
His icy tone shot straight through her and all she could think, all she could see, was that she’d made him stop smiling. She wanted to apologize, wanted to throw her arms around him and beg his forgiveness, do whatever it took to put the light back in his eyes, but before she could, he stepped in front of her, shoved open the door to Kara’s building, practically pushed her inside, and was gone.
