by Betina Krahn
Tori barely had the words out before Angie fluffed her curls and sashayed her way back toward the men, eliciting appreciative looks long before she reached her mark on the floor where Tori wanted her to stand.
Another crisis averted.
It was all in a day’s work at this time of year. With Valentine’s Day only a week away, the traditional cards were already on the shelves, but the torment of taking sexy pictures continued now that CrownCraft had ventured into e-cards. They were really pushing into the youth market this year, and the highly stylized sex vignettes were somewhat of a Tori Halsey specialty.
Ha.
As Tori directed the he-men into their places on either side of Angie for the shot, she couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of her bogus expertise. How did a woman with no sex life to speak of end up with this kind of professional reputation? It was ludicrous, really.
While her family would always view her love life through the lens of one risky mistake that time she’d hopped on a motorcycle with a guy she barely knew, she’d actually been very conservative ever since. Finding out the guy you’d taken off with for a weekend adventure in the Poconos had a criminal record would scare any woman straight. Of course, Tori hadn’t been given any credit for cleaning up her act since then. And no one had ever known that the reason behind that mistake had been because she’d been only eighteen and heartsick over someone else….
Someone she needed to contact very soon if she was going to keep her end of that Valentine’s Day manhunting pact with her girlfriends. She just hoped Luke Owens put in his semi-annual Florida appearance soon.
“Beau, could you move your hand a little lower on Angie’s waist?” Tori called over the eighties dance music she’d cranked up to keep everyone relaxed and having fun. And maybe to keep her from thinking about her decision to seduce Luke after all these years. She hadn’t made such a scary choice since taking up with that motorcycle dude. Seducing gorgeous, upstanding, wildly intelligent Luke would be risky for a whole different set of reasons. Mostly because Tori feared her old crush could come back to bite her in the butt if she wasn’t careful. And speaking of butts…“I need your pinkie and ring finger straying south of the border.”
While Tori set up all three of the models for the shot, she recalculated how long it had been since a man’s fingers had trekked over her body the way Beau’s did on Angie. Over a year. And even then, her last relationship had been all about companionship and comfort. The sex had been safe and enjoyably recreational, but hardly the kind of thing to inspire racy greeting cards. Yeah, she’d definitely overcorrected her life after her date for the Poconos had been arrested for leaving New York State while on parole.
Her phone beeped while she was taking the test shot, a welcome reprieve from a crappy memory, so she checked the text message while the photo loaded onto the computer for Angie’s approval.
“One week left till D-day, girls. Don’t forget our agreement. This year, we tell Cupid to go blow and do the manhunting ourselves. Smooches, Samantha.”
Gulp. Time was closing in. Tori flipped her phone closed and wondered if she’d been too passive in waiting for Luke to show up this year. What if he’d found a hot girlfriend back in New York, where he still lived for most of the year, where they’d both grown up? Luke had gone to high school with Tori’s brother, Tim.
But in his life as a high-powered attorney, Luke had a major client based in Tampa, close to where Tori lived in St. Petersburg. He owned a vacation condo just down the canal from Tori’s house on a small water inlet, and while he rented it out most of the year—including to Tori’s family, who came down to check on her far too often—Luke put in an appearance at least twice each year to meet with his biggest client and snag some time fishing.
She’d been expecting him to show up ever since the end of January. What if he didn’t come this time?
She didn’t want to spend V-day alone, any more than her manhunting friends. But she hadn’t left herself a lot of time, half hoping her love life would work itself out if she gave it time. Then she wouldn’t need to hit on an old friend.
And old crush.
How’s that working for you, Tor? She could almost hear her rule-following older sister’s wise-ass voice in her ear. Tonya had taken charge of the family farm’s accounting after getting her degree, marrying a man close to home and reaping praise from the whole Halsey clan for having a good head on her shoulders. Tori, on the other hand, had been the “flighty” one from the time she’d used her father’s prize tomatoes as an all-natural dye to make homemade finger paints.
“The test shot is smoking, Tori.” Angie’s throaty voice called her back to the job and away from the impending manhunt. “I’m game.”
Wasn’t that what Tori had said to her friends a year ago? That she was game for turning dating into a competitive sport? Yet she’d procrastinated and ignored the whole thing until she was right back in the same situation—alone with no prospects on Valentine’s Day. No man to kiss her senseless or wrap his hands possessively around her waist the way the male models touched Angie.
“Great.” Tori forced a smile. “Then let’s get back on the set and we’ll finish this thing up in no time.”
After which, she would find some of her old nerve and start hunting down Luke. She refused to be the only one of her friends without a man when February 14th rolled around this year. So even if it meant donning a suede bikini and pumps and draping herself across the seat of Luke’s fishing boat, she would make sure he noticed her once and for all.
LUKE OWENS TIED UP his boat outside Tori’s house, then juggled a Styrofoam take-out container in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other as he made his way toward her door. The teriyaki chicken and twelve-dollar vino hardly made for a gourmet meal to share with his best friend’s sister, but since he’d been charged with checking up on the family hell-raiser once again, he figured it was good enough.
God knew, he hadn’t wanted the job.
Peering back to double-check his twenty-five-foot knock-around speedboat where he’d left it tied beside Tori’s small skiff, Luke spied only a handful of vessels on the water tonight. His condo sat just a little ways up the canal from Tori, but they were on opposite sides, so making the trip by water was faster. Besides, after a hellacious morning in court and a turbulent plane ride down from New York City, nothing else could have cleared his head like skimming through the waves while the dolphins came out to play.
Tori didn’t fish or even “boat” in the traditional sense. She liked to take that little craft of hers out and sit in the middle of the water to commune with nature or something. Luke didn’t really understand it, but he’d seen her out there at sunrise sometimes, snapping pictures of the waves and taking in the scenery. She’d told him once it was because she was a Pisces, which made about as much sense to him as the rest of her.
He dodged Daisy, Tori’s black Lab, on his way up the walk and steeled himself for the unwise attraction that always came with seeing Tim’s kid sister. They’d danced around the attraction more than once, but the timing had never been right and, bottom line, he’d never seen much they had in common. Tori had always been the wild child—the youngest and most adventurous of an otherwise grounded, conservative farming family in the small Hudson Valley town where they’d grown up.
She’d always been more interested in art and dreams than real life, opting to chase the sunlight with her camera at twilight than help her father bring in the last of his crops before the rain. As a hardworking kid in his dad’s law office, Luke had far more in common with the rest of her clan than she did. He and Tori’s brother, Tim, still got together to go fishing every couple of years and Tim usually stayed in Luke’s condo when he came to Florida to check up on Tori.
But tonight, it was Luke’s job. Tim couldn’t make it down until later in the week. And apparently Tonya—the other Halsey sister—had gotten wind of some bet Tori had made to find a guy for Valentine’s Day. The family was convinced she’d end up
with another convict. Luke personally thought she had more sense than they gave her credit for.
Then again, with Tori, you could never be too careful. So when he’d bought takeout for himself tonight, he bought some for her, too, figuring she needed to eat, as well.
“Tori?” He called through the screen door. He couldn’t knock with his hands full.
Music pumped through the windows and the sound of laughter drifted on the warm breeze as afternoon faded toward evening. A guy’s laughter. She had company?
Irritation fired along with completely irrational jealousy. Hadn’t he conquered any misguided feelings for her? Yes, damn it. This wasn’t about his old interest in a woman who was all wrong for him. This was about making sure she didn’t invite an ax murderer to dinner because she thought he made an interesting photography subject. Or a misunderstood guitarist in some dopey alternative band.
Daisy wagged her tail and whimpered at Luke’s feet, clearly hoping he’d open the door for her. And with an invitation like that, how could he resist? He couldn’t put an end to Tori’s Valentine’s Day hook-up, but he could damn well remind her that her choices made her family worry about her.
Juggling the take-out containers, he pulled open the screen, stirring the wind chimes nearby, a homemade doorbell. The scent of jasmine wafted from the vine she’d trained around the door frame. Everything about her place announced her colorful, whirlwind personality.
“Tori?” he called again, just as he heard the distinct timbre of a low, masculine voice all over again.
A tinge of jealousy hit Luke as he set the wine and the chicken on the butcher-block island in the kitchen. Being the emissary of her brother gave Luke every right to barge in and find out what kind of guy was occupying Tori’s living room right now. Quickening his step, he turned the corner out of the kitchen, only to find Tori sandwiched between two half-naked men while a sexpot chick in her skivvies watched on.
Gesturing wildly with her hands, Tori seemed to be explaining to the other woman how to—what? Touch the beefcake?
The pumping bass of the music disappeared as Luke’s ears went deaf to all sensory input. Like a cinema slow-motion sequence, the scene before him unfolded with painstaking detail. The sexy grin Tori flashed the guy behind her knotted Luke’s insides, while the sight of the caveman’s hand on her waist made the edges of his vision burn. The soon-to-be dead man in front of her folded his arms in a transparent attempt to flex ludicrous muscles that didn’t come from any kind of genuine labor. The goofball wasn’t listening to a word she said, using all of his five brain cells to direct his limited attention toward the gap in her pin-striped, buttoned-down shirt where it revealed a white tank top edged in lace underneath.
Luke flexed his fingers and tightened them into a fist, anticipating the satisfaction he’d take in an uppercut to the jaw….
“Luke.”
The sound of his name halted him in his progress across the room. Awareness of scent and sound returned, calling him back from giving in to Neanderthal impulses he’d never before experienced. He spied the camera in her hand and took in the wealth of lighting equipment. She wasn’t engaged in kinky sex games with this crew. She’d simply been giving the female model some hints on positioning. And she’d probably been snapping pictures.
Seductive, sizzle-your-retina pictures.
“I brought dinner,” he said finally, not taking his eyes off the dude drooling over Tori’s cleavage, even after she extricated herself from her men friends.
“Really? I didn’t even know you were in town.” She stopped a few inches short of him. Was it his imagination or did she stand closer than usual? Her nearness commanded his attention, so he quit trying to stare down the jerk-off in the loincloth. Her eyes wandered over him with searching assessment. Thoroughness.
Nah. That had to be his imagination. He’d just gotten overheated seeing her with another guy. Some of that possessiveness must have spilled over into how he looked at her now.
“I got in an hour ago. I thought I’d bring over some dinner and see how you’ve been.” He didn’t have any intention of dumping off the food and leaving now. If Tori had any plans to rope in one of these dudes for her alleged Valentine’s Day date, he’d bust up that idea by hanging out with her instead. These cavemen looked like they could be trouble. Luke had never liked the idea of Tori having her photography studio in her own home, with no one there to protect her but a black Lab that slobbered joyfully over anyone who crossed its path. “How soon will you be free?”
“We’re almost done. You’ll stay and join me?” She leaned down to pet Daisy and gently steered the dog out of the room at the same time. Her blouse gaped open again, and Luke felt like a traitor as his gaze landed right in the same lush valley that the caveman’s had.
“Of course.” He took Daisy’s collar and waved Tori back to her photo shoot. “Finish up with the Stone Age thing and I’ll find some plates.”
Because there wasn’t a chance in hell he was leaving until the gym rats had their clothes on and were out of Tori’s house. It was an unwritten law in the big brother’s best friend’s handbook: half-naked horny men were not allowed near younger sisters. Period.
“Great.” Straightening, she gave him another surreptitious once-over and grinned. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
She sauntered out of sight with an extra spring in her step and sway in her hips.
And while Luke knew that teriyaki chicken from Landry’s Grill was one of Tori’s favorite dishes, he couldn’t help but think she seemed overly enthusiastic. Which was all well and good. He just hoped he’d be able to sit across the table from her without thinking about how at ease she looked shooting sexy photos. Somehow the sweet-natured farmer’s daughter had grown up with a keen eye for sensuality that helped her capture eroticism through the camera lens.
Luke couldn’t help but wonder if directing all those steamy scenes was enough for her or if she ever fantasized about recreating one of her own. Damn it. Of course she did. That was why she’d probably decided to nab some undeserving jerk for Valentine’s Day.
His fists clenching all over again, Luke told himself there wasn’t a chance in hell she’d make a bad choice with him around. In fact, seeing her again made him realize he could rearrange his schedule to stick around town for another week or two, just to make sure she didn’t end up in the Poconos on a whim.
And that decision didn’t have a damn thing to do with the sudden excitement he felt at the sight of her open blouse.
2
FATE WASN’T LETTING HER make any excuses this Valentine’s Day, apparently. All that time she’d been stressing about where she’d find Luke and if he’d come to Florida in February and then—zap. He ended up in her living room at the exact moment she’d been contemplating a wild affair with him.
Tori spied on Luke through the crack in her bedroom door. He was setting the table with her plastic picnic dishes while their dinner reheated on the stove. She’d dashed into the bedroom after the models left, supposedly to change her clothes. But mostly she wanted a chance to think through her strategy before she acted on her impulse to seduce the quiet, outrageously successful attorney pouring wine into juice glasses she didn’t remember she owned.
He was definitely scrumptious with his tall, lanky frame and easy athleticism. She’d always thought he had a great face. That chiseled jaw took her breath away. She’d had a crush on him eons ago, but he’d always been so serious—focused first on his studies and, later, on his fast-paced career. She, on the other hand, had taken a while to find a profitable outlet for her quirky blend of artistic skills. She’d always known she wasn’t his type. Although there’d been that one night…It had been at her college graduation, when she’d had a smidgeon too much to drink. She’d had the distinct impression he’d hit on her.
Of course, he’d never reiterated the interest when she’d been sober, leading her to believe he’d imbibed a bit too much that night also. He knew as well as she did they didn�
�t add up on paper. But maybe her attraction to him hadn’t always been one-sided.
Still, after college, she’d been ready to leave her suffocating family behind and set out for parts unknown. The next time she’d seen Luke, at her family’s Christmas party that year, he’d had his arm wrapped around a lady geophysicist who studied rocks in Brazil or something.
She was pleased to see Luke was all alone tonight.
“Dinner’s ready,” Luke called, glancing up toward her bedroom door and almost catching her spying.
She jumped back, flustered. Was she crazy to even think about coming on to Luke when they’d have to see each other at family parties for the rest of their lives? But then, why else would Fate send him here, today of all days?
She didn’t consider herself superstitious, but she also wasn’t foolish enough to ignore a news flash from the universe. She might as well go for it and put the man out of her head once and for all.
“Coming,” she called, breathless at the thought of flirting with him. “It smells delicious.”
He set the wine bottle on the table near his plate and dished up their dinner while she fought a sudden bout of nerves. He must have dropped by his condo and changed before dropping in, because he now wore faded cargo shorts and a shirt with a detailed artistic rendering of a fish she didn’t recognize.
“Have a seat.” He held out her chair for her with the same cosmopolitan deftness that had always set him apart from other guys she knew back when they were younger. Now, the intimacy of slipping into the seat while he tucked her close to the table made her breath catch.
He smelled fantastic. His aftershave teased her senses for a moment, and then he was gone, sitting beside her at the round pub table she used for meals.
“You must have left work early today,” she observed, her body sending all kinds of happy signals that told her it was really on board with this plan.
