“Yeah, it’s a great workout if one survives it,” Stella quipped. The words jumped out of her mouth before she could rein them back in. It wasn’t as if she was trying to impress Luke or anything, but she didn’t want him to see how nonathletic she was.
Luke let out a deep-throated chuckle that sounded rich and inviting. It went straight to her belly, causing all sorts of tingles and prickles of awareness.Uh oh.Although it had been a while since a man had given her the warm and fuzzies, Luke was giving her all the feels.Dang it!They were too similar to how she’d felt about Rafe during their relationship. And that had ended disastrously. She wanted to avoid these emotions at all costs. They made her feel too vulnerable, yet here she was crushing on Luke all over again. And now she was staring at him, mesmerized by the strong tilt of his jaw and his glorious brown skin dotted with little droplets of moisture.
“Do you want a cold water or something?” she asked him, willing herself not to stare. In the cold light of day, he was even more smolderingly handsome than she’d realized. “My house is right over there. The white one with the blue shingles.” She pointed to her house in the distance. It always gave her a sense of pride to tell someone she was a homeowner. She’d put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into renovating her beach cottage, and the end result had been a smashing success.
“Nice place. I ran by it earlier.” Luke looked at her quizzically. “Didn’t Mr. Jackson live there back when we were in school?”
“Yes,” Stella said with a nod. “He sold it to me three years ago. He had a few health setbacks and went to live with his daughter in Boston. It was a bit of a fixer-upper, but I made it my own and added some new features.” Stella couldn’t help but smile. Buying a home on her own had been one of her proudest moments. It had been her haven when the bottom fell out of her world.
“I’ll take that water,” Luke said, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. “It’s getting hot out here.”
Yes, indeed.It was getting downright scorching out here. Feeling slightly flustered by his close proximity, Stella began walking back down the beach toward her house with Luke right beside her. “So how is Mistletoe treating you so far?” she asked, curious about how Luke was acclimating to life in his quaint New England hometown. Although it suited her perfectly, she knew small-town living wasn’t for everyone.
“Not bad at all. The town has changed a lot since I was last living here, but it’s fun to scope it out.”
Stella wrinkled her nose. “I guess it has transformed a bit over the years, although I’ve always lived in Mistletoe so it’s hard for me to spot the changes. The only time I’ve lived elsewhere was during college.”
Luke jerked his chin in the direction of her T-shirt. “Spelman, huh? Atlanta is a beautiful city. I spent some time there a few years ago with one of my SEAL team members.” Luke couldn’t contain his enthusiasm. “It was fun hanging out with my buddy and his big, gregarious family. They showed me all the major sites and the best restaurants in town. It was a great example of Southern hospitality.”
Stella nodded. “There’s a warmth that you don’t find in too many places. I loved going to college there. It gave me a chance to spend some time in a city and expose myself to museums and restaurants and concerts at big venues. I enjoyed it, but I prefer the intimacy of a small town.” She stopped as they reached her house and pushed open the back gate. “Mistletoe has a lot to offer. You’ll see.”
Luke grinned at her. “This town is lucky to have such a passionate resident. Are you sure you don’t work as part of the tourism bureau here in town? If not, they need to hire you.” Luke’s tone was slightly flirtatious. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been receptive to a man’s flirtations. But before she knew it, Stella was engaging in banter with him.
She giggled. “You’re not a tourist, Luke. Mistletoe is your hometown. So I’m just refreshing your mind about the wonderful place you’ve come back to. That’s all.”
“Well, it’s a far cry from Afghanistan,” he said, his features slightly pinched. His tone had suddenly shifted, going from upbeat to somber in the blink of an eye.
Something about the way he’d spoken set off a warning bell. She didn’t really know him well enough to ask any questions, but she sensed he was reflecting on something specific. Stella knew from Nick that Luke had gone through some tough times while serving overseas. At the moment it was lurking in the depth of his eyes and pulsing in the air around them. She couldn’t remember the details, but she knew he’d earned a medal for his heroism. The local news had eaten the story up, eager to profile Mistletoe’s town hero.
“Let me go get that water,” Stella said, wanting to ease the tension.
Stella brought Coco Chanel back inside, then grabbed a cold water from the fridge. When she returned, Luke was standing with his hands on his hips, facing the ocean. Her eyes lingered for a moment on his back and shoulders. He radiated strength. She didn’t know all that much about Navy SEALs, but she’d heard a lot about their discipline and bravery.
At the sound of her footsteps, Luke turned away from the glorious view of the water.
“Here you go,” Stella said as she handed Luke the bottle, her fingers grazing his as he took it. She felt a frisson of electricity as their skin came into contact, but she quickly shrugged it off. That’s what happened when a person went two years without being touched or kissed or embraced.
“Thank you,” he said, twisting off the top and raising it to his lips. As Luke guzzled down the bottle of water, his Adam’s apple convulsed. Stella didn’t think she’d ever seen a man drink with so much gusto. Or finesse. He resembled one of those buff male models on a healthy living commercial.
“Thanks for the hydration,” Luke said. “I need to finish this run before I lose my momentum.”
“You’re welcome,” Stella said, reaching out to take the empty bottle off his hands.
“In a town as small as Mistletoe, I’m sure I’ll see you around,” Luke said. “Stay cool.”
He was probably right. In a small town like Mistletoe, they were bound to run into each other. Not to mention the fact that someone like Luke would stand out in any setting. He was the type of man whose presence would always command attention.
Stella turned around and snuck a last look at Luke as he ran off down the beach. Although she had no business gawking at him, Stella couldn’t resist. She wasn’t sure, but he appeared to be limping slightly on his right leg. And he was wearing some type of wrap on it that she hadn’t noticed before. Perhaps he’d pulled a muscle or strained something. It served as further proof that running was a dangerous activity.
As far as she was concerned, he was the sexiest man who’d ever set foot in Mistletoe, Maine. And, if she wasn’t so dead set against getting involved in any romantic entanglements, she might just consider something completely out of her comfort zone—a smoldering summer fling with the handsome Navy SEAL.
Humph!She was certain that Luke was causing a lot of temperatures to rise all across town. He was a one-man heat wave.
As she turned to head back inside, she spotted her neighbor, Patsy Sampson, standing on her back porch with her eyes glued on Stella. She sighed. Patsy was the nosiest gossip in town, and it was just Stella’s luck that she lived right next door. Widowed for the past decade, Patsy was fond of saying she was on the lookout for love and if it ever came knocking, she would open up her door in a flash. Strangely enough, her nose seemed to be planted in everybody’s business but her own.
Stella raised her hand and waved. “Hey there, Patsy. It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”
“Glorious,” the older woman called out. Patsy’s eyes trailed after Luke as he sprinted away. “And I’m not talking about the weather,” she said with a chuckle. “I’m so glad you’re putting yourself back out there, Stella. He’s quite the catch.”
