I whipped my head toward him. “Midnight? Where in the world did that name come from?”
He laughed, his strong hands gripping the wheel. “It popped into my mind the moment I laid eyes on you. The color of your hair reminds of the night sky.”
I snorted. “Is this one of your lines you use when trying to bed the opposite sex?”
“I only hook up with blondes,” he said as sure as the trees blipping by outside the passenger window.
His answer felt like a knife to the stomach, and I didn’t know why. He was as hot as hell. Sweet as sugar and as smooth as Gentleman Jack.
“That’s good to know,” I replied. “I’m safe then.” I hoped I sounded like his comment didn’t affect me.
“As safe as you want to be.” His copper orbs flashed with mischief.
I didn’t want safe with him. I wanted wild sex, but I couldn’t bring myself to say that. “A movie sounds good until Bailey is done.”
He flicked on his blinker. “You’ll be waiting all night. Erik will have her tangled around him until the sun comes up.”
Argh! My frustration multiplied. Not only because that wasn’t the plan but because I was quite jealous that she was having sex and not me, and a night of steamy, sweaty, and seductive bedroom gymnastics with Lucas was off the table since he only hooked up with blondes.
Oh well. He was right. I was safe. Probably for the better.
“If you fall asleep on the couch, I can carry you to Ryker’s room. He’s staying at the ranch house tonight.”
“The couch is fine.” I was not crawling into QB1’s bed. That would be odd.
Lucas navigated the quiet streets around campus, and five minutes later, we were pulling into a driveway of a two-story home nestled beneath long-standing oak trees that climbed toward the starlit sky.
After he cut the engine, he hopped out like the Flash and rounded the truck to open my door.
My eyebrows came together. “For real? What guy opens doors for girls these days?” I asked myself more than him.
“I have flaws,” he said as a matter of fact. “But my mom taught me to be a gentleman.” He sounded hurt.
He was totally blowing my mind in ways I didn’t care to analyze. Because if I did, I might fall faster than the speed of light for him, and I didn’t believe in love at first sight. I was too jaded from all the years of seeing the men my mom brought home. When I was too young to understand the male species, I’d stayed up all night consoling her. Not anymore. My responsibility was making sure my sister was protected, fed, and happy, as a child should be.
I took his hand, but my flip-flops betrayed me, slipping on the shiny step and sending me straight into his arms for the second time that night.
Grinning, he caught me like I was the most precious thing in the world. “Are you accident-prone?”
“No, but it seems around you I am.”
One hand dove through my hair as he held me securely to him. He smelled of the ocean and all kinds of manly scents that had my clit throbbing endlessly.
“Nervous?” he asked.
More than he knew. “I think you’ve got some weird gravitational pull.” I slid down his hard body until I was on two feet, my legs somewhat trembling.
He shifted those copper eyes back and forth then lowered his gaze to my lips.
A lightning bolt of lust tethered us together.
I thought he was about to kiss me, and my pulse sped up then died a quick death as he guided me out of the way so he could close the truck’s door.
I almost pouted.
“Come on,” he said, escorting me to the front door.
I felt like my world was about to change. That after I went inside, I would come out a different human being. One who would never be the same.
