Harper nodded, but didn’t move. He sighed and grabbed his tank top off the floor. “Come on, let’s cover you up.” Yanking it over her head, he pulled it down her torso. The deep armholes did little to cover her breasts, but at least her nipples were hidden from view.
Luke tugged her underwear back in place and Harper shivered when his fingers brushed her sensitive flesh.
He grabbed her by the back of the neck and yanked her to him. He looked like he wanted to say something, but instead gave her a hard kiss on the mouth. “Now get upstairs before I let Frank in.”
Harper nodded and hurried to the stairs at the front of the house, careful not to look out the sidelights to see if Frank was witnessing her walk of shame.
Luke waited until she made it into the bedroom before opening the door.
She heard Frank snicker. “Am I interrupting, boss?”
***
What the hell was wrong with him? He had been nothing but clear with her — and himself — and this is how he played it. Ripping her off the kitchen counter and practically banging her against the fridge.
Great, and now he was hard again like he had been most of the day.
He was avoiding the office like the plague because he knew as soon as he saw her, he’d want to do it all over again and more. Frank was yammering on next to him about the job and he hadn’t heard a word of it.
Was he going to get a hard-on every time he went to the kitchen for a beer now?
This was supposed to be a simple, uncomplicated arrangement. He gave her a job and a place to stay and she played a role. But obviously that role was getting tangled up for both of them. He was going to have to set things straight. Set boundaries.
How was he supposed to sleep next to her tonight without tearing that white t-shirt off of her and slamming his cock into her now that he’d tasted her?
“Are you even listening to me?” Frank was staring at him expectantly.
Luke gritted his teeth. “Just handle it, Frank. I have to go.”
“Women make you stupid,” Frank warned him as he climbed into his truck.
“Ain’t that the truth,” Luke muttered under his breath as he threw the truck in reverse. Now where the hell was he supposed to go? There was no way he was going to go into the office. One look at her with her those soft curves and sweet lips and he was going to bend her over his desk and—
“God damn it.” He punched the steering wheel. Frank was right. Harper was making him stupid. He never should have let her stay. He should have helped her find a nice little apartment on the other side of town where he’d never see her dancing naked on the kitchen counter.
What if Frank hadn’t interrupted this morning? What if he had just shredded her underwear and slammed into her tight, hot—
His hands tightened on the wheel as his cock got even harder. His brain was full of reasons why it was a bad idea. But his body wasn’t interested in listening to a single one of them.
What if he just stopped thinking about it? Let it happen? The attraction was obviously mutual. He remembered the heat in those deep gray eyes as he touched her. The girl couldn’t hide anything if she wanted to. Those eyes would always give her away.
If he gave in, he knew it would be fucking crazy. Just the way she responded to his touch, like she craved it more than oxygen. Could Harper handle it if it were just sex? Would it be just sex?
He shook his head. She deserved better than a quick, casual fuck.
And he knew with a dark certainty that when he was inside her it would be anything but just sex. It would be a fucking religious experience and he wasn’t ready for that.
Even if it was just temporary. He was leaving and soon. That should be reason enough to keep his dick in his pants. So why in the hell did it feel like a better reason to do it?
He wasn’t even stupid enough to pretend that he didn’t want it more than he wanted his next breath. If she lived in that house with him, slept in the bed next to him, it was only a matter of time before he lost control.
But for now he needed distance. And the longest, coldest fucking shower in the history of man.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Harper had her suspicions that Sophie was psychic. The woman called her within seconds of her walking into the office to offer up a lunch invitation. “I just wanted to catch up and see how things are going with you ... and Luke.”
She was new to family dynamics, but was fairly certain that Luke would be pissed off if she were to share the details of their morning with Sophie. She felt her nipples go hard again at the thought of Luke’s mouth on her, his hands roaming her skin.
