by Talia Hunter
Luke chuckled, kneeling by the bed to take off my shoes and jeans, while I tugged the ribbon out of my hair, managing to pull out a clump of hair in the process.
His eyes roved over me like he couldn’t get enough of looking at me. “I might be falling for you already,” he said. “I’m not asking for anything. I just thought you should know.”
I blinked, propping myself up on my elbows. “But it’s only been a few days.”
“Yup.” He shrugged, a smile lifting one side of his mouth. “It’s way too early to admit I like you that much, but I can’t seem to help it.”
“I think I’m falling for you too.” The words surprised me. I hadn’t expected to say them, but once they were out, they felt right. I laughed, because they made me feel good, and decided to say it again. “I believe I’m in serious danger of falling in love with you, Luke. Weird, but true.”
“Weird but wonderful,” he said softly, and I wasn’t sure whether he was talking about love, or about me.
Either way, I’d take it.
We made love gently at first, slowly and almost reverently. Then came the urgency, the gasps and the moans. There may even have been some biblical cries, and a scream or two.
From Luke, of course. Not me.
Afterward, I lay panting on Luke’s chest. I felt simultaneously dazed and so full of happiness my body hardly felt like it could contain it all.
Luke kissed my hair. “You’re not leaving again until New Year, right?” He ran one hand over my back. “Tell me you’re not going anywhere before then.”
“Um.” I kissed his chest thoughtfully, and tried to suppress a secret smile. “Well, that depends.”
“On what?”
“On how long you want me to stay.”
“Forever.” His answer came so quickly it sounded flippant.
I laughed. “Forever? You don’t mean that.”
“Oh yes, I do. But I’m realistic, and I know you can’t stay. When’s your next event booking?”
“Actually, I’m so busy working on licensing the franchise operations, my business manager said I should employ a manager to take over my regular work in Las Vegas. That’ll free up my time for training the new franchisees. And it means that theoretically, San Dante could become my base of operations. I mean, if you wanted me to stay.” I felt suddenly shy. “Not that I’m about to try to move in or anything, so you don’t have to worry about—”
He lifted his head, his eyes sparkling. “Move in with me.”
My heart leapt. “Really?”
“Are you kidding?” His grin was wider than I’d ever seen it. “Move in and run your business from here. If it means I get to see you naked every day and every night, it’ll be the best Christmas gift ever.”
“Well.” I tried for a doubtful expression. “Every day? And every night? Aren’t you being a little reckless?”
“Reckless is good,” he said, lifting my chin so he could kiss me. “Reckless is my new favorite thing.”
“Imagine it,” I murmured. “This could become our new ordinary.”
“With you around, nothing will ever be ordinary. Not even me.”
“You were never…” I started to say.
But then I was too busy kissing him to finish saying the words, and his hands were moving down my body, reawakening it in the best possible way. When he rolled over me, there wasn’t room in my mind for anything but the things he was doing to me.
Oh well. We’d have plenty of time to continue our conversation later. Much, much later.
Chapter Fifteen
Willow: New Year’s Eve
I let go of the last balloon and watched it shoot up to the ceiling, bumping the other balloons aside until it couldn’t rise any further.
“Willow?” Mom’s voice came from her hallway. “Where are you?”
Perfect timing. I hadn’t left a square inch of ceiling of her living room uncovered, and there was no room for any more balloons.
“In here,” I called.
Mom appeared in the doorway and stopped, staring upward, her eyes wide. “Oh my goodness,” she breathed. “What did you do?”
“I told you I’d give you something you haven’t seen before. Well, ta da!” I tried to sound confident, but her doubtful expression made my stomach churn.
Hundreds of white balloons floated overhead. I’d filled them with helium so they’d stay up all night, and long strings dangled from each balloon.
I’d decided to go all out for Mom’s New Year party, with a Las Vegas style of decoration. The opposite of understated.
Mom frowned. “The balloons are lovely, but what’s hanging from them?”
I crossed to the light switch, and wiped sweat off my suddenly damp hands. “Watch this.”
Taking a deep breath, I switched off the room’s bright main lights.
The strings of LED lights hanging from the balloons all switched on at once, twinkling like a million tiny stars above our heads.
The effect was dazzling.
Mom gasped. She reached out to grab my arm, squeezing it for a moment before she released it. “Oh, Willow. It’s gorgeous.”
“You really like it?” When clients told me they liked my work, I usually smiled, thanked them, and presented my invoice. But with Mom, I needed to make sure she meant it. I couldn’t quite believe she was reacting so positively. Having spent all day making the room perfect, I’d half expected her to walk in and start pointing out all the things she didn’t like.
“I had no idea it would look like this.” She walked further into the room, gazing up. “Is this what you usually do?”
“I can do all kinds of different looks, but this is a popular theme for New Year.”
She gave me a smile that looked real. “Well, no wonder.”
“No wonder what?”
“I didn’t really understand your business before, but now it makes sense. I’m proud of you, honey.”
“You are?” I probably sounded as incredulous as I felt. Mom had never been proud of me for anything.
“Of course.” She crossed to the bar and started moving glasses around on their trays, although I’d already set them out in their perfect positions.
Our conversation seemed to be making her uncomfortable, but I couldn’t keep a grin from spreading over my face. “The guests will start arriving soon,” I said to her back. “I’d better go home and change.”
Mom moved another glass, her face still turned away from me. “Don’t you want to say hello to your sister before you go?”
“How can I do that? Holly’s skiing in Aspen.”
“Not anymore.”
“She flew home early from her honeymoon?”
As though to answer my question, my sister hobbled into the room. Her leg was in a cast and she was using crutches. “Hey,” she said, looking up. “This looks amazing. Did you do this, Willow?”
“What happened to you?” I demanded.
She huffed out a breath. “Let’s just say that next time I go on a honeymoon, I’m going to sunbathe on a beach, not hurtle over steep cliffs with boards strapped to my feet.”
“I’m sorry you had to come home early.”
“I guess you’re not the only one who has accidents.” She gave me a rueful smile. “Mom said you came back to San Dante for Luke? I’m glad you two are a couple now. He’s a great guy.”
Every time I thought about Luke, I couldn’t help but smile. “I’d better get home and make sure he’s getting ready for the party. We’ll see you here later, Hol?”
She shook her head. “My leg’s aching. Rudy and I are going to give the party a miss and stay home tonight.”
It’d be nice if Luke and I could do the same. My mother’s parties were thinly veiled publicity events for her re-election campaign. But spending time with Mom was the price of moving back to San Dante, and when I saw how much Luke missed his sister, I felt far more accepting of my family’s quirks.
When I got back to Luke’s apartment, it was empty, Luke
not yet home from work. I took a shower, and did my hair and makeup. I’d just slipped into my party dress when I heard the front door open and Luke called out.
“Hi honey. I’m home.”
I smiled. It was still a novelty to hear him say that. Four simple words, but they gave me a warm feeling in my chest. Go figure.
“In here,” I called back.
He appeared at the bedroom door and stopped short, his eyes widening.
“Wow,” he whispered.
“You like it?” I swept my hands down my new, silky, off-the-shoulder, sheath dress.
“You’re stunning.” He stepped close, sliding his arms around me and kissing me.
I closed my eyes, loving the feel of his mouth and the press of his body. His tongue had the magical ability to instantly arouse me, so when he pulled back a little, I sighed, wanting more.
“I missed you,” he murmured, gazing into my eyes. One of his irises looked more green than usual and the other looked bluer. If I knew nothing else about him, I could have fallen in love with just his eyes, they were that beautiful.
“I get it,” I teased softly. “You’ve been at work for eight whole hours. Of course you missed me.”
“I would have missed you even more if I knew what you’d be wearing when I got home.” He leaned back to run his appreciative gaze over me. I’d splashed out on a new dress because its shimmering black fabric did great things for my curves, and now I was glad I had. This moment made it worth every penny.
He stroked his hands over my bare shoulders, settling his palms over the straps of my dress on my upper arms. “You look sensational. But I have one question.”
“A question?”
“What happens if I do…” He flicked the straps down my arms. “…This?”
The silky fabric slipped all the way off my body. My dress pooled at my feet. Underneath it, I wore only a strapless bra and silky black panties.
Luke’s smile grew. “Wow,” he whispered again.
I gave him a stern look. So much for being already dressed. “We don’t have time to fool around. The party starts at eight.”
“We can be a little late. Nobody arrives at parties on time.”
Sliding his hands around my back, he stroked my bare skin while he kissed me again. With his warm, hard body pressed against my almost naked one, it was hard to remember we were supposed to be going somewhere.
“I’m supposed to be the reckless one,” I murmured. “You’re the one who plays by the rules.”
“Is this against the rules?” He snapped the clasp and my bra landed on the floor.
“Luke, we don’t have time—” I gasped as his fingers teased my nipple.
Problem was, he knew exactly what I liked. How was I supposed to keep thinking clearly when he was so good at focusing my thoughts in an entirely different direction?
Giving in to temptation, I undid his shirt and pushed it off so I could run my hands over his gorgeous torso. “Don’t take this for permission to make us late.” I ran kisses over his chest. His leather-scented cologne mixed with his natural Luke-scent to make the best smell ever.
“So this isn’t allowed either?” He pushed my panties over my hips. They slid down my legs onto the floor as easily as everything else had.
“Nope. Highly illegal.” I snapped his jeans open and shoved them down.
He toed off his shoes, kicking them across the room, then stepped out of his jeans.
Pulling me into his naked body, he lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around him, kissing him as he stumbled to the bed and lowered me onto it. Lying over me, he spread my legs with his but didn’t go any further.
“Still illegal?” he asked, holding his lower body off mine.
“Strictly forbidden.” I kissed his neck and slid my hand down to his butt, trying to pull his body onto me. I needed him, and I didn’t want to wait.
“So you’re going to turn me in?” He resisted my efforts easily.
“You’re not going anywhere. I’ll be your judge, jury, and…”
“Sexecutioner?”
With a mighty heave, I pushed up and flipped him over, then sat on top of him. “That’s right, buster.” Grabbing his wrists, I lifted them over his head and leaned on them to pin his arms up. “Now it’s time for your punishment.”
“What’s my sentence?”
Lowering myself onto him, I groaned with pleasure.
“You’ll do hard time,” I managed to say. “With no leniency for good behaviour.”
Then I couldn’t say anything much at all. At least, nothing that came out as complete words.
Afterward, we lay side-by-side, naked on the bed in spite of the wintery chill in the air, both of us too content and drowsy to move. My arm was across his chest, and his face was turned to me. His eyes were closed, and even though I was afraid we’d both fall asleep, I felt so good, I didn’t want to get up.
But just when I was sure Luke was about to start snoring, he flicked his eyes open and gave me a soft smile. “I love you,” he murmured.
“I love you too.”
He kissed my shoulder, his eyes warm. “Are you sure it’s not too soon to tell me you love me? We’ve only been living together six days, which means we’ve only made love twenty-four times.”
I blinked. “You’ve counted the number of times we’ve made love?”
“I figure it’s been an average of about four times a day. Six days makes twenty-four times.” His brow furrowed. “And considering it’s December thirty-one, that could be a serious problem.”
“Why?”
“Twenty-four is an unlucky number to finish the year on. Twenty-five, on the other hand….” He rolled toward me and ran his fingers very slowly down the middle of my body, between my breasts and over my stomach. “Twenty five is auspicious. Finishing the year on number twenty-five will give us happiness and prosperity for the year to come.”
“Mom’s only just forgiven me for running out on Holly’s wedding,” I reminded him. “If we’re late to her party…oh!”
Luke moved down my body and kissed my stomach, still stroking between my legs. “You want me to stop?”
“I do, but twenty four’s a very unlucky number,” I said weakly. “We don’t want bad karma for the coming year.”
Luke grunted something that sounded like agreement, but the sound was muffled.
And we were very late to the party.
Sneaking in an hour before midnight, we snagged some drinks and mingled with the other guests, pretending we’d been here all along.
Mom had invited every bigwig in the area to her New Year party, and we made polite small talk with several people, although the conversation was a little tricky because we had to avoid questions about Luke’s work.
Apparently, it was a secret operation. I knew he was on a surveillance team watching a suspected drug dealer, but he couldn’t tell me who he was watching, or where he was based. And nobody else could know even that much. If anyone asked, he pretended he was solving regular crimes.
It was a little before midnight when I had a brilliant idea.
“Come with me.” I grabbed Luke’s hand and tugged him into the kitchen, steering him to the pantry. Then I pulled out the tall, heavy metal bottle I’d stashed there earlier.
“What’s that?” he asked.
Putting the end of the hose attachment in my mouth, I turned on the valve at the top of the bottle for just a second and breathed down the gas.
“The helium I used to fill the balloons.” My eyes widened as my voice came out even squeakier than I’d imagined. We both burst out laughing.
“Let me try.” When I handed him the hose, Luke breathed in some gas, barely able to supress his grin for long enough to suck it down.
“I love how wild you are.” His words came out in a squeaky rush, like a hyperactive mouse. He sounded even funnier than I had.
Then I heard the music cut off in the living room. In the sudden silence, Mom called out, “Where’s my daughter? H
as anyone seen my daughter?” She was slurring her words, like she’d indulged in a little too much champagne.
“Uh-oh,” squeaked Luke.
I cracked up again. His voice was so hilarious, I couldn’t help it.
Grabbing the hose, I took another hit of helium. “Don’t worry,” I squeaked through high-pitched giggles. “Mom will be looking for Holly, not me.”
Too late, I remembered Holly had stayed home tonight. Then the kitchen door flew open.
“There she is!” Mom grabbed my hand to pull me into the living room. “Everyone give a round of applause for my daughter, the clever decorator who made the house look fabulous!”
There was a short burst of claps, and I gazed around at the guests. At the politicians and local dignitaries. San Dante’s most important people.
“Thank you,” I squeaked in a voice like Donald Duck’s.
Behind me, Luke was laughing so hard he couldn’t stand up.
My mother gaped at me for a long moment. “Um. Well.” She clapped her hands briskly. “We’re ready to start the countdown. Ten seconds to New Year, everyone!”
“Ten!” shouted a man at the back of the room, before everyone else joined in. “Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five…”
Luke pulled me into him. “Three,” he squeaked. “Two. One.”
I hadn’t arranged any fireworks for Mom’s party. But when Luke kissed me, they definitely went off.
“This year will be the best ever.” Luke’s voice was back to normal. He rested his forehead against mine, his eyes shining with love. Around us, people were still hugging and cheering, but it felt like we were in our own private world. Just the two of us loving each other. Everything else had faded away.
I smiled back at Luke, realizing my heart had grown several sizes too big for my chest. “It already is,” I said.
Dear Wonderful Reader,
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed Luke and Willow’s story.
The story continues when Carlotta Watson returns to town and moves in with her mother, Trixie. Mason Lennox once broke Carlotta’s heart, and their parents are sworn enemies.
