AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He hopped out of the car and went over to open her door, offering his hand.
Emma emerged from the car, holding her heels in one hand while taking Luke’s hand with the other. As they made their way to the front door, Luke couldn’t help but think how she had grown even more beautiful as the night went on. The porch light illuminated the swarm of moths and mayflies circling around the bulb, their wings creating a soft hum. He could hear the faint sound of the television coming from the inside.
“I should relieve Lisa of her dog-watching duties,” Emma said.
Luke glanced at his watch, his eyes widening in surprise. “Wow, I had no idea it was so late. I hope I haven’t kept you out too long. Do you have an early start tomorrow?
“Just 6:00. But it won’t be too bad. I’m used to it,” she smirked, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve checked with you first about your schedule.”
“Don’t be sorry. Tonight was incredible. At this point, I wouldn’t care if we were coming home at dawn.”
Luke wrapped his arms around her waist. “I wouldn’t keep you out that late. I’m sure Lisa would have something to say about that.”
Emma tilted her head up to meet his gaze. “She would most likely scold me for being out past curfew.”
“Jeremiah might do the same with me when I get home,” he said. “Fingers crossed he’s already asleep.”
“Well, I guess I’d better go inside then,” Emma whispered.
Luke nodded, pulling her closer to him. “Yeah, I guess you’d better.”
Their breath mingled together as they gazed into each other’s eyes for a few more moments, delaying the night’s end. Luke could feel the thudding of his heart, and he knew Emma could feel it too. He couldn’t resist the urge any longer and dipped his head down to kiss her. Emma’s arms tightened around his neck as their lips pressed together.
It felt like time had stood still, and Luke wasn’t sure how long they had been kissing. Minutes, hours, he had no idea. All he knew was that he wanted to stay there, with her, forever.
Time seemed to stand still as they lost themselves in the moment. But suddenly, they were interrupted by a loud scratching noise coming from the other side of the door. A high-pitched whining accompanied the scratching, and the door flew open.
Startled, they broke apart as Lisa burst through the door. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to interrupt anything,” Lisa said, her cheeks turning slightly pink with embarrassment.
Riley bounded out of the door and immediately started jumping on Luke, then Emma, then back to Luke.
“We didn’t mean to scare you. I hope you weren’t watching one of those scary movies you like and freaking yourself out,” Emma said.
“No, I wasn’t. It’s just been so quiet here all night. I almost forgot you were coming back.”
“Well, I do live here,” Emma said, with a playful tone.
“I guess you do. So, how was it? Did you have a good time?” Lisa’s eyes scanned from Emma to Luke, waggling her eyebrows.
“We had an amazing time—Riley! Sit!” Emma said, reaching down to grab his collar to keep him off of Luke.
Luke knelt down and extended his hand toward Riley, who eagerly jumped onto his lap, wagging his tail with excitement. “It’s okay. Riley and I are old buds.”
Emma shook her head as she turned back to Lisa. “I’m sorry it’s so late. I should’ve texted you if I had known we were going to be gone this long.”
Lisa waved off her concern. “Oh, it’s alright. I’ve had a great time tonight. Riley and I went for a long walk up to the marsh and then came back and made dinner. Then we played hide and seek for a little while and watched Casablanca.”
“Casablanca?” Emma asked, examining her with a curious gaze.
“It was one of the movies you had on your shelf,” Lisa said.
“Ahh, makes sense now. My grandma loved that movie. She would always talk about it and quote lines from it, but I never got around to watching it. I didn’t even know I had a copy,” Emma said, a hint of nostalgia in her voice.
“Well, you do. And you should watch it sometime. I never got into those older movies, but this one is different. Trust me.”
“I’ll have to give it a try then.” Emma gave a quick nod, before diverting her attention to Luke. His belly rubs had managed to calm Riley down. Seeing that Emma and Lisa were done talking, he stood up and brushed the sand off his knees. Emma corralled Riley inside the house and closed the door, then turned back to Luke.
