“Luke?” I reach for the wall, propping myself with one hand, the other pressed against my thundering heart.
“Trip? What are you doing out here?”
I crouch, reaching for my phone, shining the flashlight at him.
“Could you… could you not blind me? I like having my vision.” He holds his hands over his face, blocking the light.
“Oh, sorry.” I aim the light toward the wall instead and inspect him. He’s in loose gray sweatpants that hang low on his hips, flip-flops, and a plain white wrinkled t-shirt. The tops of his shoulders are soaked, and droplets of water drip from his tousled hair.
“What are you doing out here? Are you okay?” he asks again, tone both curious and concerned.
No. I hate storms, and my cat, who is supposed to be my personal comfort animal, isn’t in my room.
“Yeah, totally, I’m fine. Just can’t find Sunny. I’m worried the storm is scaring him.” I tug on the hem of my shirt, eyes scanning the space. My guess is Sunny is fine. Storms have never bothered him before. But Ineedhim.
“I’ll help you look.” Luke angles his body and holds out a hand so I can pass him.
“What are you doing here?” I resume my search, looking around the couch and under it, calling Sunny’s name. Luke takes his own flashlight—a real one—and aims it around the tables.
“Power is out so we came to see if we could get it up and running again. Josh is checking the breaker, I’m supposed to check the lights. Ran into you instead.” I can hear the smile in his voice and involuntarily smile to myself in return.
“You ran into me, all right. I nearly had a heart attack.”
“Payback for the pepper-spray. And the rosebush.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Ridiculously handsome?”
Yes.“You wish.”
He barks out a laugh that echoes through the empty room, then stifles it quickly.
As I round the side of the couch, a sudden burst of blinding light flashes through the great room. I flinch, losing my footing—and smash my toe against the leg of the coffee table.
“Ow!” I reach forward to grab my foot, hopping backward and bumping into a hard, muscular chest.
“We really need to stop meeting like this,” Luke says against the shell of my ear, gripping my shoulders. Thunder rolls through, and it takes everything in me not to reach up and cover my face. Slamming my eyes shut, I focus on the feel of his hands on my shoulders and his body heat against my back. His hands, strong, yet gentle, guide me to the arm of the couch so I can sit.
“Which one was it?” Luke shines a light on my toe.
“The pinky,” I whine.
“Oof, that’s an important one. Crucial forbalance, though it doesn’t seem to helpyoumuch.” There’s laughter in his voice as he reaches out, grasping the arch of my foot gently. “Let me see.”
Luke settles on the armrest and pulls my foot into his lap. His hands are warm. Gray-green eyes meet mine, and a moment passes between us. Something unspoken coils tight as his thumb brushes against the side of my foot.
“Hey man, did that work? Did the lights—” Josh plows through the door between the great room and kitchen, flashlight bright in our eyes. “Oh shit, my bad…”
I move to pull my foot away, but Luke grips it tighter. Josh’s flashlight jumps between us, a grin spreading across his face.
“Am I interrupting something?”
“We were looking for her cat, and—” Luke gestures around the room.
“Ehhh,” Josh says, his head tilting, lips pursed. “I may not be as fluent with the female anatomy, cousin, but I’m pretty positive you’re in the wrong area.”
Luke laughs before pretending it was a cough, shaking his head.
