But ten years have passed since we were together, and a lot can happen in that time.
“Did someone hurt you?” I have to fight to keep my voice even, because the thought of someone hurting my girl triggers a swell of rage in my chest.
“No!” she exclaims. “No. Nothing like that.”
“Okay.” Some of my tension eases. “Okay. I didn’t mean to push you too fast, Milly. We don’t have to do anything unless you want to.”
“I want to!” she blurts. “I’m just afraid . . . “
Her voice is so soft I have to strain to hear. “Afraid of what, Milly?”
“Afraid you’ll be disappointed if you see me naked.”
TWENTY-FOUR
MELISSA
“You could never disappoint me, Melissa,” Luke says softly.
I look up from the floor and meet his eye. He’s looking sexy as sin in a forest green shirt that brings out the green in his eyes, and I can hardly believe I stopped him. My body certainly doesn’t understand it, and there’s still a tightness in my belly and a throbbing between my legs. But when he started to take off my shirt, I remembered that the last time Luke saw me naked, I was twenty-one.
And I can’t bear to watch his face when he sees how I’ve changed. There are the stretch marks, and the pouch of skin on my lower belly that will probably never go away, regardless of how many sit-ups I do. The softness of my upper arms and thighs. Luke will try to hide what he thinks, because that’s the sort of man he is, but I’ll know.
You could never disappoint me, Melissa.
It’s the right thing to say, and I’m sure he thinks he means it, but somehow I can’t believe it.
“I look different than I did in undergrad,” I explain. If there’s any chance for this to work, he has to be prepared.Forewarned. “I kind of let myself go after the divorce. I’ve gained weight, haven’t exercised,” I continue, just so there’s no misunderstanding. “I’ve been trying to get back in shape, but I still have a ways to go, and?—”
“Shut up, Melissa,” Luke says hoarsely. “Your body’s a fucking wet dream.”
Oh. Well, then. A man might lie and call a girl pretty if he was trying be nice, but calling my body a fucking wet dream? There’s a raw honesty there that makes me believe Luke’s speaking the truth.
So when he sayscome here, in that gruff, familiar voice, I move across the couch toward him. And as soon as I’m within his reach, he wraps his arms around me and pulls me into his chest. It’s as though he knows how hard it was for me to admit that I’m nervous about my body, and he’s trying to give me the comfort of his.
“I must have been doing something wrong,” he murmurs in my ear. “If you thought there was a chance I’d be disappointed by the sight of you naked.”
He rubs a hand up and down my spine, and I melt into his chest. He’s muscular, but not obscenely so; just in the way of a man who’s always been athletic, and could carry your luggage or your toddler without breaking a sweat.
“You’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” he whispers huskily. “And you’re even more beautiful now than you were at twenty-one.”
“Really?” I ask. “You’re not just saying that because you’re hoping to get me into bed?”
I can feel his chest shake as he chuckles. “Hell, no. I mean, of course I’m hoping to get you into bed, but that’s not why I’m saying it. I’m a man, Milly. I like curves.”
He adjusts our position a little, putting a little distance between us so he can run his fingertips over my stomach. “And your curves are sexy as hell.” His hand moves loweracross my belly, over the stubborn pouch of skin that’s driven me crazy ever since my first pregnancy. But now, with Luke’s fingers on me, even that extra skin feels sexy.
He adjusts me again so I’m straddling his lap, and I feel his erection against my lower belly. He’s obviously not faking that, or the way his breath catches when I shift against him. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt desirable, but there’s no doubt that Luke Carlton wants me.
But even though he’s hard as a rock, when I told him to stop, he did. And instead of trying to pressure me, he took me in his arms, stroked my back, and told me I was beautiful.
Not only beautiful. He told me my body was afucking dream.
Almost unconsciously, I shift my hips forward and roll against him, and the movement sends a jolt of pleasure straight down to my toes. Luke’s hands move down to cup my ass.
“Okay?” he asks hoarsely.
“Harder,” I mutter. He snuffles a laugh and squeezes my ass, pulling me more firmly against him. My hips seem to be moving of their own volition, grinding against his cock. The denim of our jeans provides the perfect friction, right where I need it.
