Says the woman sitting on a frilly confection of a bed with her pants undone and hair sex-mussed. “You love it.”
“I really don’t.”
“Liar.” I tilt her chin up with one finger. We haven’t kissed yet—the brush of our mouths at the bridge doesn’t count. I’ve never wanted to kiss a woman so badly. I bet she lights up. I bet she surrenders just like the woman on the cover of the book against her chest. Just the thought of her mouth has me hard again, and I’m not even thinking about it around my cock. I rub my thumb on her lower lip. “Admit it, sunshine. You love that I climbed through your window.”
“Stop calling me that.” She frowns, but she doesn’t pull away. “My dad would shoot you if he caught you in here.”
“You’re worth the risk.” I run the back of my hand down the side of her face, and she leans into the touch like she can’t help it. Like she needs this as much as I do.
The problem is, I need it too much.
If I don’t leave now, I’m going to end up staying. I’m going to climb back into bed with her, and we’re going to do this all over again, except this time it’ll be my mouth between her legs and someone’s going to catch us, because I can guarantee I’m going to make her scream.
I don’t particularly care about the consequences for myself, but Harper has a reputation to maintain. A job. A father who’s already suspicious.
So I kiss her cheek. “Lock the window behind me.”
“Luke—”
“And sleep,” I say firmly. “You need rest, and I need to not be here when your dad goes to the bathroom again.”
She doesn’t argue. She just watches me go to the window and push it open. I’m shirtless and probably look like exactly what I am—a man who just spent the last hour messing around with a sexy woman. But the darkness outside is deep, and the window is on the side of the house where no one will see me sneak out.
I swing my leg over the sill, pausing for just a second to look back at her. She’s kneeling on the bed, her curls wild, that romance novel clutched in her hands like it’s the most important thing in the world.
She’s beautiful. Completely, utterly beautiful.
“Good night, sunshine,” I say softly.
“Stop calling me that,” she whispers back, but there’s a hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth.
I’ll take it. Grinning, I disappear into the night.
27
HARPER
The window snicks shut behind him.
And just like that I know I’m fucked, because for the first time, I don’t want him to stay away. I want him to come back.
28
LUKE
Well, that went further than I’d intended.
And I’m not fucking sorry. Not one bit.
29
HARPER
The diner smells like coffee and bacon grease, and I’m sitting in a corner booth trying very hard not to squirm.
It’s seven fifteen. The morning sun is streaming through the windows, hitting the laminate tabletop, and I’m acutely, painfully aware of every single place Luke touched me last night.
But I’m more aware of the places he didn’t.