I snorted. “I just brushed my hair. It makes me wonder how bad I must look the rest of the time when people are so shocked with my hair brushing.”
Suddenly she hugged me. “Emily Brennan, you are a beautiful, smart, loving woman.”
I was stunned. “Tara, are you ok? What’s the matter?” I asked anxiously.
“Nothing, you wench. But now I’m wondering how bad I must be the rest of the time if you’re this shocked that I gave you a compliment.”
I opened my mouth, but she held up her hand. “Don’t say it. I know exactly how bad I am.”
“But I love you anyway,” I told her, and gave her another hug.
“I’ll pick him up in the morning, ok?” I asked, as she walked me down to my car.
“Don’t rush over. They’ll probably stay up late and sleep in.”
“Then I’ll sleep in too. Ok, thank you, Tara.”
I was a mess at Roy’s. I almost dropped a tray. I messed up two orders. Roy was glaring at me constantly from those half-closed eyes. I kept drifting from table to table, unable to focus, waiting for my phone to vibrate in my pocket, waiting for the door to open. Waiting.
And then Luke walked in.
I took a deep breath in and it lodged in my chest.
He looked taller. Was he taller? The look on his face when he saw me made my heart skip a beat and then rev into fifth gear.
Everything at Roy’s narrowed down to just Luke, looking at me, walking toward me.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” I breathed.
We were just standing and staring at each other, matching goofy smiles on our faces.
“Emily!” Roy called from behind the bar. “What’re you doing?”
I turned to look at him, shaken out of the spell. “Do I pay you to stand around yapping?” he asked. The regulars at the bar laughed, the jerks.
Luke reached out and rubbed my arm gently. Every cell in my body flew to attention. “I have to get back to work,” I stuttered.
He nodded. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I don’t know how I got through the rest of the night. Luke sat at a table, nursing a beer. I tried my hardest not to look at him. I really did. But it was like there was some kind of magnetic pull; I could not stop my eyes from seeking him out. And every time I looked over at him, he was watching me too.
Finally Roy hollered out for last call. Finally he went to the bathroom to root out any stragglers, we swept the floor, and wiped down the bar. Roy locked up and I looked around the parking lot.
Luke was leaning against his car at the back of the lot. Vaguely I heard Roy back up his car and leave. I walked toward Luke, my legs moving faster and faster, until I was almost running. He stood up as I reached him and without any clear thought I put my arms around his neck and kissed him.
He kissed me back, one strong arm encircling my waist, theother drawing up my neck to cup the back of my head, threading his fingers through my hair. He pulled me tighter and his tongue dipped farther into my mouth. I thrust closer to him. I couldn’t get close enough.
Luke swung me around, leaned me back against the car, his mouth dropping down to kiss my neck, biting softly, nosing my ear. I could feel him panting as he put his lips on mine again, then he reached down and grabbed my leg under my knee, pulling it up against his hip and pushing his hips into mine, grinding against me. Oh, it felt so good. I moaned softly and he pulled back, looking into my eyes.
“Emily,” he breathed. “Emily…”
“I missed you,” I told him, and pulled his head back down to kiss me again.
I wasn’t sure how long we stood in the parking lot, kissing, laughing, my hands running up under his shirt to feel his smooth skin and his muscles rippling under my fingers. His hands snuck under my shirt too, sweeping up over my stomach, under my bra, cupping my breasts and pinching my nipples until I gasped and pushed back against him, pressing into his hands. Oh, oh. I lost all track of time, of everything. My head fell to the side and he bent to my neck again, sucking and biting and I moaned louder.
He breathed hard into my neck and pulled back a bit. “I don’t want to do this in a parking lot.”
