Kissing Her Crush

by Ophelia London

  He didn’t interrupt. She might not be biting her lip, but the thought of never finishing that kiss made his brain ache.

  She slid on a pair of sunglasses and turned into the breeze. “The subject is officially dropped forever. Okay?”

  Though Luke wasn’t quite ready to not think about what they’d done in the tunnel, he did agree with her. Nothing was more important than landing this job at the NIH.

  “Okay by me,” he said, facing the other direction. “Anyway, it was only a kiss.”

  Chapter Five

  After refusing a ride home from Luke, Natalie didn’t have the guts to wait for Ivy to finish at the med center. Her best friend would have questions about why she’d dragged Luke to the park, what they’d done there, and why she was now standing at the entrance gate alone. Fuming.

  So instead, she called Muff.

  “What were you doing here?” her brother asked while Natalie fastened her seatbelt.

  “Working,” she said, as he maneuvered though the parking lot.

  “Since when do you work at Hersheypark?”

  “I don’t.” So much for no nagging questions. She rolled down her window for fresh air and immediately spotted a black Jeep tailing them. “Son of a— He’s following me.”

  Muff hit the brakes. “Who?”

  “Don’t stop!” Natalie slid down in the seat, though it was too late to hide. Luke obviously hadn’t left the park but had waited until someone came to get her. She wasn’t sure if she should be flattered or ticked.

  It was only a kiss. Luke had actually said that to her. Only a kiss. Nothing could’ve ticked her off more or made her feel like she had when they were kids and Luke never gave her the time of day. Even after the boathouse.

  He hadn’t noticed her back then, so why would he notice her now?

  Before her heart could fill with the familiar disappointment that should’ve been buried deep, she decided to think of it as only a kiss, too. She was a grown woman and could kiss anyone she wanted without it meaning anything.

  “Who’s following you?” Brandon repeated.

  Natalie bit the inside of her cheeks. “No one. A work colleague.”

  “You said he.”

  “Yeah.” She scrunched lower in the seat, practically eating her knees.

  “Since when do you work with guys?”

  “Since always. I don’t tell you everything.”

  “Liar.”

  Natalie turned to him. “Why are you being a pain in the ass?”

  He adjusted the rearview mirror. “You caught me on a good day.”

  “I like it. I miss your pain in my ass.”

  “Gross. My good day is over.”

  Normally, she’d be thrilled to get more than two words out of her brother. And she was tempted to circle back to the subject he seemed interested in.

  Only a kiss. She inwardly scoffed. Bite me.

  After they passed through an intersection, she casually glanced behind them. The Jeep was gone.

  Good. No reason for him to follow me like he’s my brother.

  This made her turn to Brandon. His shaggy hair wasn’t blocking his eyes. Probably because he was driving. Muff wasn’t a danger to himself or others, and ever since he’d gotten his license, he was very careful behind the wheel. Driving was one of the only times he seemed almost like a normal kid.

  “Do you mind if I ask why you’re in a better mood?”

  He shrugged. ”I don’t know. Right before you called my cell, I finished my homework and was about to turn on the TV when I heard Mom on the phone. I usually don’t care what she’s saying, even when it’s about me—and it’s always about me. She was saying something about you and…what you’re doing at work. For me.”

  Natalie hadn’t told Brandon the subject matter of her research, or what she hoped to accomplish if she proved her thesis. “Is that okay?” she asked. Even if it wasn’t, she was going through with the trial anyway.

  “I guess.” A corner of his otherwise flat mouth twitched. It could’ve been a frown, could’ve been a smile. Either way, emotion was a good sign. “But, um, I mean, thanks for at least trying to help.”

  “Of course,” she said, feeling so much love for her little brother it actually hurt her heart. As they drove home, more than ever, Natalie knew she had to get through this first phase and secure another grant. Nothing and nobody would stand in her way.

  Even after she’d refused a ride home for the tenth time, Luke hadn’t been about to leave her standing at the entrance gate alone. He wasn’t a complete ass. So he’d sat in his car and waited, keeping an eye on her from the side mirror.

  Huh. She had a temper, too. He’d never been into annoyingly stubborn women—not that he was into Natalie. He’d meant what he’d said. It was only a kiss. And just a kiss—even an extraordinarily hot one—would not make him forget his reason for being in Hershey. He’d finish this job, go back to Philly, then hopefully begin planning his move to DC.

  Now that he was far removed from that kiss and could think, he also had to admit his brain was in no way ready to be into someone. The lies, the manipulating, the total betrayal of trust. Even the memory of what led to his divorce was enough to stop his irrational attraction to Natalie Holden dead in its tracks.

  He didn’t have to wait in the Jeep for long. A silver car pulled up and she got inside. Luke was too far away to get a good look at the driver, but it was definitely a dude. Tall, from the looks of it. But not nearly as tall as Luke. He could take him.

  Take him? Where the hell had that come from?

  On the heels of that, a chilling thought landed in his mind. Luke hadn’t once considered that Natalie wasn’t available. Had she mentioned a boyfriend? If she did have one, what was all that in the tunnel? Sure, he’d started it, and he still blamed most of it on the atmosphere of that stupid ride—“entrapment,” they’d both called it. But she’d been into it, because Luke wasn’t in the habit of breaking innocent amusement park rides without just cause. And there had definitely been cause.

  He ran a tight fist over his jaw. Not that “cause” mattered. The thought of her having a boyfriend was the basic equivalent of jumping in the freezing cold ocean. He’d never pursue someone who wasn’t 100 percent available. Celeste’s betrayal was too fresh on his mind to put another guy through that. Ever.

  He only followed the silver car for two blocks, because he was sure he’d been made when Natalie poked her head out the window. After that, he hung a right at the light and headed to Derry Woods Road, up the windy hill toward his parents’ house.

  Roxy had driven back to Jersey the day before, but Dexter’s car was there when he pulled into the driveway.

  “Rough day at the salt mine, bro?” Dex called from the porch.

  Aw, shit. Had someone told his family about what happened in the Kiss Tunnel? He kept his sunglasses on to hide his expression. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Dexter pointed at his Apple Watch. Did Dad know Dex was wearing their competition? He was also in a suit and tie. Even away from his Manhattan corner office, his brother dressed the part.

  “It means it’s not even three-thirty and you’re done for the day. How do I land a cush job like that?”

  “Oh.” Luke reminded himself to breathe. “No, um, yeah, we finished early.” Three hours ago, actually. “First day. Still feeling each other out.”

  Dexter’s eyebrows shot up. “Feeling each other out? Are you referring to the girl from the other night?”

  Damn. Luke was so not in the mood to talk about Natalie or give any details about what went on today—in or out of the med center. “Don’t read into anything. We’re completely professional.” Lie. “Speaking of work, why are you here and not back in the city? Enjoying another four-day weekend?”

  He and Dex walked into the house. “Not even. Pop and I have been on conference calls all day. Sometimes I think you made the right move by not working the family business.”

  “You make us sound like the
Hershey Township mafia.”

  Dex moaned and looked at the ceiling. “Actually feels like that on days like today. Good thing I’m a workaholic.”

  “As I recall, you lost your shirt in a certain bet we made about me finishing grad school.”

  “Don’t remind me,” his brother said with a laugh. “So really, how was the first day?”

  “Fine. Nothing unusual.” Big fat lie. They entered the kitchen, and since it was too early for a beer, Luke tossed Dex a water.

  Despite his mind over matter philosophy, Luke knew if he didn’t stay distracted, he might spend the rest of the afternoon trying not to think about Natalie’s bottom lip.

  “Feel like going to the club and hitting balls?” he asked.

  “Dude, you’ve been away from home too long. We don’t go to the club. We have our own driving range.”

  “Since when?”

  “Since I turned the balcony of the guest house into one.”

  “What about all the balls?”

  “Ya know the Voyles family down the hill with all the kids? I told them they can keep whatever they find. Clean shots over three hundred yards go straight into the pond.”

  Luke crossed his arms. “Isn’t that bad for the fish or ducks or whatever Mom stocks it with?” Not that Luke was a bleeding heart, but he didn’t like the idea of purposely polluting the environment.

  “I had a filtering system installed.”

  “In the pond?”

  Dex nodded. “And I tip the pool guy to run a net over it once a week. He said he’s never fished out a single ball.”

  Luke put a hand on is brother’s shoulder. “That’s because golf balls don’t float. That’s physics.”

  “Huh.” Dex scratched his head. “Hadn’t thought of that. Anyway, it’s a perfect day to work on your terrible backswing.”

  “My backswing kills yours.”

  “Care to make it interesting?”

  For the next two hours, Luke and Dexter smacked Titleists, accompanied by plenty of sibling trash talk. By the time their parents came home, Luke had practically forgotten about Natalie. And her bottom lip.

  Natalie hadn’t slept well the night before. Not only did Luke keep popping into her dreams at the most random times, but after their short drive from Hersheypark, Brandon went straight to his room and didn’t come out the rest of the day. Not even for dinner.

  One step forward sometimes means three steps back, she had to tell herself.

  After dinner with her parents, she drove to her apartment. Ivy had called twice, wanting to recap the rest of the day. But Natalie didn’t feel like talking.

  Her first session at the med center had been a colossal failure. The next morning, as she threw on work clothes and minimal makeup, she could barely look at herself in the mirror.

  How could she have blown an entire day just because she couldn’t stop arguing with Luke? And then, after the humiliation of being kicked out of her own lab, when she’d tried to play nice, they’d played too nice and it had turned into a full-on teenager make-out session, hot enough for Instagram.

  What the hell had come over her?

  The simple truth was, she hadn’t been with a guy in three years, not even a kiss, and she was overly ripe—and Luke’s gorgeous, willing face just happened to be there, along with feelings she used to have.

  Frickin’ inconvenient time for those feelings to make a brief comeback in that tunnel.

  She made it a point to arrive at the lab early to catch some alone time and read Ivy’s notes. Instead, she found Luke leaning against the locked door, his hands in his jeans pockets, his long legs crossed at the ankles. The epitome of relaxed and confident dude made her lips start to tingle.

  “Hey,” he said.

  Damn, he looked good. His brown hair had some sexy bed-head going, and he was rocking the unshaved look. She couldn’t help noticing his muscles flex when he saw her. From the way his blue button down shirt strained over his chest and biceps, she had a heck of a time replying to his greeting.

  “Hey,” she managed to utter. “Why are you early?”

  He pushed off the door. “No email from Ivy, so I need to get caught up from yesterday.” He nodded at her. “I take it you had the same idea?”

  “Yeah,” she said, trying not to notice how blue his eyes were the closer she got to him. Really, very bluey-blue. Had they always been such a bright color? Or was it only when they were aimed directly at her?

  No! She slammed her eyes shut and turned the other way. That’s a childish thought, juvenile, the foolish daydream of a silly teenager who knows nothing—and I’m done with that. I just won’t look at him all day. No problem.

  She unlocked the door, pushed inside, dropped her purse on the workbench, and went straight for her lab coat.

  “Speaking of yesterday…” Luke said while putting on his coat beside her. “Should we talk about it?”

  “Um, no.” She exhaled a laugh/scoff combo as she fingered her hair into a ponytail. “That’s the last thing I need.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we need to be professional. This is work—really, really important work—and I can’t allow myself to be distracted.”

  “Is my being here distracting you?”

  She still wouldn’t look at him. “Yes.”

  “But I haven’t done anything. I’m just standing here.”

  Right! she wanted to say. And that’s enough!

  While thinking about distractions, she got sucked into a memory of the way he’d turned to her right before the kiss. Then his mouth had covered hers, his lips everywhere. Natalie knew darn well if they hadn’t been confined on that ride—never mind the broken lap bar—she wouldn’t have stopped with only a kiss.

  Knowing she was capable of that, that Luke’s mouth and hands and aftershave were capable of making her completely lose herself in a split-second made him dangerous…to her career, the clinical trial for Muff, and to her heart. She’d never really gotten over being rejected by Luke—when she’d been too young to know how to build a brick wall to keep out the boy who was sure to break her heart.

  Well, that brick wall was in place now.

  “Thought we had a deal,” Luke said, stirring her awake. “You’re already breaking your side of the bargain.”

  Finally, she looked at him. “How?”

  He pointed at her. “No biting your lip.”

  She hadn’t been aware she was doing it. Or had she done it subconsciously because he’d admitted it made him want to kiss her?

  No. She’d never been into head games. In her experience, guys were the big teases, making promises they didn’t keep, painting pictures of a future they’d never have, disappointing her, not putting her first. Not remembering her name…

  She was done with that crap. Over the past few years, she’d convinced herself to be fine with what she had now. No messy feelings or heartbreaks or games.

  “Sorry,” she said, unlatching her teeth from her lip. “I didn’t mean to.”

  Despite his messy hair and stubbly chin, he smelled amazing. He was wearing something classic like Old Spice. Somehow the scent drifted through her mental brick wall and made her mouth water. “Aren’t you supposed to be wearing a bag over your head?”

  “Maybe I didn’t want to.”

  “Luke,” she said firmly, “I might be small town, but I’m perfectly aware when a guy is trying to flirt with me—don’t.”

  He exhaled like he’d known this was coming. “Just kidding around. I swear; we’ll never talk about what happened in the tunnel.”

  “What tunnel?”

  Natalie flinched and nearly gave herself whiplash as she jerked around to see Ivy in the doorway.

  “What tunnel, Nat?” she repeated.

  “The one at, um, Hersheypark.”

  Ivy’s eyebrows smashed together. “That’s where you went after I booted you?” She put both hands on her hips. “What happened in the tunnel that you don’t want to talk about?”

 
Both Natalie’s heart and brain froze. “We um…I, uh, it—”

  “Broke,” Luke finished. “One of the safety bars came off its hinges while we were, um…”

  “Riding?” Ivy cut in.

  Luke shot Natalie a not-so-subtle glance, and she felt her cheeks flame red. “R-riding, yeah.” She forced a laugh. “It was the damnedest thing. It just broke.”

  “Right in my hand,” Luke added. “Like I was fueled by super-power strength.” The way he looked at her made Natalie’s blush deepen. Crap, no blushing in front of Ivy.

  “You should sue,” Ivy said as she pulled her lab coat off a hanger. “Get some of those Hershey billions.”

  “Yeah, I should!” Natalie’s next laugh was a little too loud and horsey. “Anyway, what’d I miss yesterday?”

  As Ivy gave them her report, Natalie tried very hard to concentrate and not look at Luke, not smell Old Spice in the air, taste honey on her tongue, or bite her lip.

  “Sounds like you were productive without us,” Luke said, capping his pen. He looked at Natalie, who’d barely glanced at him during Ivy’s summary. “Maybe we should get kicked out again.”

  “Stop it,” she hissed, barely moving her lips. Enough time had passed that she wasn’t blushing anymore, but damn, that comment about breaking the safety bar while she’d been riding… Luke couldn’t think about it without wanting to smile.

  Smiling was one thing. Doing something about it was another. And Luke was not about to do anything. Besides his current job, his future job, and bitterness from his ex, there was another glaring reason to keep his mind off Natalie: He’d never be the “other guy.”

  “Anyway,” he said, pushing up his sleeves. “Sounds like we’ve got a lot of work today.”

  “We?” Natalie said, opening her laptop. “You’re here to observe.”

  He leaned against the counter between a row of microscopes. “That’s what I meant.” He tried not to observe Natalie’s curves beneath her lab coat, the upstairs curves as well as the curves downstairs.

  He had to stop his dirty thoughts right there, and the ridiculous semi-flirting. Otherwise, he might be tempted to semi-kiss her. After that, there’d be no semi-anything.