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“Do you ever go somewhere and not work?” I asked, looking up at him for the first time since we’d started dancing. His intense gaze was straight on me as the corner of his mouth twitched up.
“Not often. It depends on how much fun I’m having. Not many people can make me forget my work. You can, and make me want to talk about it a little at the same time.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” I smiled at him, beginning to relax a bit, and let him steer me around the dance floor.
“You should. There’s something about you. You’re a wonderful person, and it’s clear that you have a great friendship with Juno.”
I didn’t know how to reply. I still had mixed feelings about this guy, but I had to admit he made me feel good about myself. On top of being safe with him. It was a good combination.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The first song with Lukas was over far too soon, but he didn’t disappear as soon as a more upbeat tune started playing. He stuck around and danced with the rest of us. He wasn’t the most amazing dancer, sticking to pretty safe generic dance moves, but he had enough rhythm and charm that he pulled it off.
As the others returned to us and the group dancing together got bigger, he also seemed to just fit in and have fun. Before long, everyone was being ridiculous, making the pizza, stacking shopping carts, and whatever else amused people and kept us in time. The lack of egos and our ability to be silly made the whole thing lighthearted, and the drinks flowed on top.
By the time my feet hurt too much to continue, we had been dancing for almost another hour, and everyone was ready to wind down the party. Lukas immediately pulled out a chair for me and had a waiter bring us some water.
“Got to take care of ourselves. This much alcohol and exercise needs to be dealt with carefully. And no one needs a hangover.” Lukas sat beside me, still smiling, although I was pretty sure he’d drunk enough whiskey to sink a battleship by this point. He didn’t appear to have a problem holding his drink.
“You sound like my aunt. Always talking about taking care of our bodies so they hold up under old age.” I shook my head, but I was smiling and I hoped he didn’t take it as an insult.
“I think it’s the job of an aunt to both spoil us and make sure we remember the difficulties of growing old like they are. Everyone has an aunt or uncle who tells us these things and makes sure we’re mindful of our elders.” He grinned and ordered more alcoholic drinks.
I chuckled as he mimicked his aunt, shifting his body. “Now, listen here, Lukas. Just because your mom is running ragged to take care of you don’t mean you don’t have to take care of yourself and her. You’re the man of the house, and you’ve got to act like it. There needs to be good food, plenty of water, and no one staying up late until the witching hour. You need to be disciplined.”
Although Lukas made it sound funny and was clearly going for the comedic route, it was also a window into his life. It sounded like his mother had worked hard and his father hadn’t been around. A lot of responsibility on his shoulders and an aunt who reminded him of them.
Despite that, he seemed happy and didn’t mind the memory. Or was that the drink talking?
Before I could think of a way to ask or to generally steer the conversation, our water and drinks arrived. He immediately poured me some water.
“There, now drink that up, and we’ll talk more about this trip and what we both want out of it.” Lukas looked at me, almost deliberately being intense as if he was studying me and making sure I did as I was told.
Although it made a part of me want to be bratty and object, I downed the glass of water. He nodded, satisfied, as I put it down again and then took a few big gulps of his own, putting the glass down less than half full.
“Good. I like a girl who knows when to listen and when not to.” He flashed me another smile.
“That sounds very bossy of you,” I shot back, teasing him a little.
“Perhaps. But I know what I want, and I take care of people. I like to think that makes me a decent guy, even if I can be…forceful sometimes. I would never violate a person’s consent.”
I frowned, surprised by the way he’d phrased it. How did encouraging me to drink water violate my consent? It almost seemed he was talking about something else entirely.
“This might be a little forward of me, but you seem like the kind of woman who appreciates a man who can make decisions and take the lead as long as he genuinely holds your best interests at heart.”
As he talked, I tilted my head to the side, trying to figure out where he was going with this.
“I guess that would work for me. But he’d have to really care. Not just pretend to make his own world better.”
“Of course not,” Lukas replied as he reached for my hand and took it between his. He started running the tips of his fingers along the back of it, and I felt heat flush through me. With his head still tilted slightly down toward our hands, he looked up at me, trying to gauge my reaction. “But if that someone knew how to make it everything you needed and more…knew how to make a woman find parts of herself she’d never found, would you like that?”
I nodded without thinking, mesmerized and distracted by the slow, gentle motion of his fingers as he traced mine and then the gaps between them, running up and down along my skin. He gently turned my hand over, exploring the palm, running a finger across all the more obvious lines, and then up and around my wrist.
The pressure was light and almost tickled, but it wasn’t quite that sort of sensation. A shudder rippled down my spine as my whole body responded to it. He smirked, enjoying the obvious impact he was having on me.
I felt self-conscious as my cheeks flushed, and I looked around the veranda. A lot of the guests had gone to bed and left the rest of us to it. If Lukas was tired, he didn’t show it, and I knew I wasn’t either. Not now. Not when he was making my body feel this way. Like I was full of electricity, intense and on the edge of something I couldn’t describe.
When Lukas was done with my wrist, he took the other hand and repeated the same patterns as if exploring every inch of them.
