He chuckled. “We don’t have to.”
“No!” I shot a hand out, then reeled it back in and cleared my throat.
Dial it back a notch, Mina, sheesh.
I wanted to roll my eyes at myself, but didn’t want Luke to think it was aimed at him. His request took me by surprise, as did my response to him backpedaling. Apparently, I was more eager to see where things could go between us than I thought.
Inhaling, I tried again. “Dinner sounds fine. I can be in Juneau by five-thirty.”
A slow smile broke over his chiseled features. Those stormy eyes warmed as his grin grew. “Okay. How about we meet here? I’m pretty familiar with the city, but I don’t know about you.”
“That’s fine. I don’t come here much.” I knew where the big box stores were, but that was about it. I avoided Juneau. Cities weren’t my thing. “Just don’t pick anything fancy for dinner. I’m coming from the coffeeshop and will likely still be in my usual work uniform of jeans and a t-shirt.”
“That works. I’ll be coming from work too.” He took a step back toward the driver’s door of his truck. “So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
I backed toward my car. “Yep. Tomorrow.” With a quick flip of my hand, I spun on my heel just as the eye roll finally released. I couldn’t hold it back this time. I sounded like a teenager with her first crush, not a thirty-two-year-old woman who’d been on her fair share of dates.
But none of the men from my past made my insides liquify the way one lopsided smile and a heated look from Luke Decker did.
“Be careful driving home.”
His voice carried over the hood of his truck.
The gooeyness going on in my belly intensified. Forget his looks. It was the genuine niceness that truly did me in. I wanted to wrap myself around him and let him hold up my liquifying bones. It was his fault, after all.
I also wouldn’t be opposed to him making the liquefaction worse, but in much more delicious ways than with just his smile and his words.
Down girl. You barely know him, I reminded myself.
I cast a quick glance over as I reached the driver’s door. The sun highlighted the blond in his hair, giving him a bit of a halo effect.
Somehow, I doubted the thoughts running through his mind were angelic. His eyes blazed with the same heat burning in my belly.
Barely trusting my voice not to crack, I replied, “I will.” My thumb found the button on my door handle to unlock my car. With a quick click, the locks popped, and I climbed inside before he could say or do anything else to turn more of me into a gooey pile of horny woman.
CHAPTER 10
Mina
“Ow!” I shook my hand at the burn of scalding-hot coffee dripping over the web of my thumb. “Damn,” I muttered under my breath. Drawing in a hiss of air, I wiped it off with a damp towel, then grabbed a lid and snapped it on the cup. My mother would yell at me to run my hand under cold water, but my skin had long since developed a callous against minor burns.
Adding a sleeve to the cup, I turned and set it on the counter in front of the receipt to which it belonged. Reading the name, I called it out. “Toren.”
A mountain of a man walked up, scooping the cup into a hand so big it nearly swallowed it whole. Inky dark eyes stared down at me from beneath thick, black eyebrows and a swath of wavy raven-colored hair.
I kept my expression neutral as I studied him for a quick second. He was new around here. I would remember a man who looked like him. Not just for his height. He was quite handsome as well.
A tourist, maybe? It was that time of year. One I had hoped to capitalize on with the café, but Miranda Benning and her shenanigans set me back too far.
Not that it would have mattered after finding the woman in the wall.
A tight-lipped smile toyed with the man’s mouth. He gave a curt nod. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Have a nice day.” I offered him a sunny smile.
Raising his cup in acknowledgment, he turned and walked away. The bell over the door dinged as he left.
Claire darted inside right after he stepped out. She ignored the stranger and got in line.
