Buzz. Buzz.
Rush’s forehead lifted as he looked behind her to the phone vibrating insistently on the counter.
“Check it,” he said gruffly. “Could be your family.”
She fumbled for it, without looking away from his lips, still wet, still parted.
Lord have mercy, the man was pure sin.
She looked down and frowned. “It’s Evie.” She cleared her throat. “She said if I don’t call her right now, she’s calling the sheriff’s office.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
The last stepat the top of the wooden stairs squeaked loudly, and Lily winced. So much for slipping into Evie’s apartment unnoticed. She touched her lips, knowing she also looked like a woman who’d just had a screaming orgasm ripped from her. There was no hiding that either.
Rush’s hand was steady at her back as he guided her down the hallway, the warmth of his touch burning through her coat, or maybe that was just leftover heat. And now here they were. The respectable sheriff of Northfield had insisted on escorting her to her door as if they hadn’t just ravaged each other in his kitchen.
Hard launch, apparently.
At Evie’s apartment door, Rush’s hand dropped, and they both stared at the big red velvet bow taped there.
“You okay?” Rush asked, eyeing her when she hesitated.
“Yep,” Lily said, staring at the door. “Just realizing you’ll probably have to meet my family at some point.” She made a face. “They can be… a lot. Sweet, but a lot.”
Rush grinned. “I’ve met them, remember?”
“Oh, I bet,” Lily muttered, just imagining the inappropriatethings the aunts had probably said to Rush. “Evie knows… by the way. About the cabin.” She shot him a glance. “We don’t keep secrets from each other. It’s a twin thing, but everyone else thinks you dropped me off at a motel for the weekend.”
He raised an eyebrow. “She knows how we spent the weekend?”
“She knows I wasn’t up there crocheting an afghan, if that’s what you’re asking,” Lily said dryly, while Rush let out a laugh. “But no, not everything.” Evie’s teasing imitation of Rush’sride my face, sweetheartechoed in her ears, and she felt a guilty flush staining her cheeks. “Some things are better left private,” she said primly.
Rush laughed knowingly, but she took a deep breath, gathering herself to open the door just as another door across the hall opened. Evie’s new neighbor stepped out with a tall, leggy blonde in a tiny red dress and heels behind him.
The woman melted bonelessly against the man’s tall frame with a satisfied little hum. “You know where to find me, Lukey,” she purred, her finger trailing down his chest to the dark ink peeking just above the waistband of his low-slung jeans.
Her blond hair was tousled, and the strap of her dress slipped down over her shoulder, revealing a lacy black bra and a deep swell of cleavage.
Lily tried to keep her eyes down politely, but it didn’t matter. She had eyes only for one person, and it wasn’t her.
Luke Holloway’s jeans rode low enough to flash the cut lines of his pelvis. His arms bracketed the woman easily, all the muscles flexing as the woman draped herself over him. From what she’d picked up in the month since he’d moved into Evie’s building, Luke was all rough edges and undeniable charm, if the ladies coming out of his apartment over the last few weeks were anything to go by.
He dipped his head and nuzzled the woman’s neck, pullinga breathless giggle from the blonde that echoed down the hall before he let her go. “I sure do. Night, Darcy,” Luke said, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, barefoot despite the chilly hallway, with a smear of red lipstick on the corner of his mouth. Utterly shameless.
The blonde giggled and swayed off toward the stairs. Lily straightened up and gave her a smile, but the woman seemed to be in some sort of sex haze and didn’t spare her a glance. Luke didn’t watch her go.
Instead, he aimed those charming blues straight at Lily.
“Evening, Miss Hart,” he drawled shamelessly, like he hadn’t just sent home a satisfied, glowing woman. He tipped his head at Rush. “Sheriff Callahan.”
Evie’s door swung open, and her sister appeared, her eyes immediately narrowing on Luke’s bare chest.
“Do you ever close that revolving door?” she snapped.
Lily glanced at her sister, a tad taken aback at the venom in her voice. Evie’s nose crinkled, and her lips pressed together into a thin white line. Lily did a double take, looking between the two of them. It wasn’t like her sister to be such a prude.
Luke’s grin only widened. “Hello, Lady Librarian. Didn’t know you kept such close tabs on my comings and goings.” He scratched his unfair abs lazily.
