He throws open the door to stand here in front of me bare-chested and rippling with muscle. Tawny skin shimmers with droplets of water, and a thin, jagged scar snakes from his ribs to his hip.
Swallowing hard, I peel my cardboard tongue off the roof of my mouth. It takes all my nerve to meet his eyes. Ocean-blue eyes flecked with bright bits of copper. I’ve never seen eyes quite like his. “I’ll, um…just leave the things right here.”
I pick up the bag and set it right next to the powder room door. When I straighten I find that I’ve somehow stepped into Luke’s personal space. I’m so close I feel my hand lifting to touch one firm, rounded pec.
No!
I’m just tucking my hair behind an ear, keeping my hands to myself like a good little hostess.
So why is my palm on his chest?
“I’m sorry.” I am, but I don’t drop my hand. What is wrong with me?
Luke looks down at my hand, lips quirking up. “Sorry for being a bitch to me, or sorry for groping me?”
“I wasn’t?—”
“Don’t.” He catches my wrist before I can drag my hand back. His eyes lock with mine, copper flecks flashing. “You can flip me all the shit you want, Hazel Spencer. But don’t ever lie to me, got it?”
My mouth feels parched like I’ve spent all day licking the soapstone counter in the butler’s pantry. Other parts of me aren’t dry at all. Not my hair dripping into the back of my green Chloe top. Not my clammy palm splayed on Luke’s chest.
Not the strange, throbbing heat at the V of my thighs.
Licking my lips, I decide to come clean. “I’m sorry,” I tell him. “I’ve had a really bad day and didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
“Want to tell me about it?”
“No.” So why do I keep talking? “This morning, I woke up and learned that a charity I’ve worked with for more than a decade lost fifty grand to an embezzler. Then on my way to visit my father, I got a speeding ticket. My visit with Dad didn’t go well, and right as I left the prison, I got a call that investors I’ve courted for months decided to work with a different developer. On top of all that, all my family and friends keep getting married, which is lovely and joyful, but it all just reminds me I’m alone and haven’t had sex in forever. Then you show up looking like sin on a stick and I—shit.” I didn’t mean to say any of that. “Scratch that last part, please.”
“Nope.” Eyes sparking with mirth, Luke brushes stray hair off my face. “But here’s what we’re going to do.”
I open my mouth to retort that he has no right to make plans that involve me. To boss me around like he owns the place.
But the man talks over me, nudging me back toward the wall.
“You want me,” he says, touching my cheek and making me shiver. His fingertips tease toward my ear, tucking another damp tendril behind it. “Which is kinda handy, since I want you, too.”
I sputter as heat floods my face. “You’ve got some nerve! I don’t even know you. And what I do know, I don’t like.”
He laughs like I’ve said something funny. “The way you keep rubbing against me says otherwise.”
I look down and dammit—he’s right. I’ve somehow been grinding myself on the front of his jeans. How did that happen?
Flicking my eyes to his face, I try to retreat. To put distance between us so my skin will stop buzzing.
But the wall at my back stops me from moving away from him. So does the truth in his words.
You want me.
Swallowing hard, I summon the bravest words I’ve spoken in years. Since the day I called Dad’s attorney to deliver the news I knew would convict my own father.
Looking into Luke’s eyes, I square off my shoulders and swallow. “You’re proposing a rage fuck.”
I can’t believe I just said that.
Neither can Luke, from the shock on his face. But he recovers fast, a smile blooming over his face. “You can call it whatever you like, babe.” He presses against me, the rock-hard length of him making me whimper. “You can also tell me to leave right now. Consent’s key, so if I’m reading this wrong, I’ll step back right now and just?—”
I lunge for his mouth, sealing my lips against his. Luke pauses only an instant, then cups his hands under my butt. Hoisting me up, he presses me into the wall. My legs anaconda around his waist as I grind myself harder against him.
