Page 5 of Tight Spaces

"Luke."

"Luke?" What kind of nickname was that? Then she thought for a second. Unable to believe she hadn’t gotten it right away, she asked, "Like in Luke Cage, the superhero, super strong with skin impervious to almost any weapon?"

"Yep."

She looked him up and down, making no effort to hide her perusal, but doubting it had the same effect on him as his in the hall had on her. "I can see it, but why not call you Power Man?"

"You know your superheroes."

She felt a blush climb her cheeks. "I like comic books."

"You’ve got to more than like them to know the details of Luke Cage."

"Born Carl Lucas, came by his powers in a military experiment gone wrong and first appeared in Luke Cage, Hero for Hire. One of only a handful of black superheroes in either the Marvel or DC comic universes."

Max was grinning by the time she was done reciting the basic facts of one of her favorite superheroes. "Like I said, sexy, professor. Very sexy."

Not only was his nickname from Power Man, but he thought her closet superhero obsession was sexy? Oh, this man was perfect for her, now she just had to convince him of that fact.

Not that she had a clue how to go about doing that. Her dating record was sketchy at best. She’d had blind date disasters instigated by her family and Rebekah, but that wasn’t the same as participating in the mating dance with a man that she had the hots for.

But Danusia had never even kissed a man she was attracted to. Oh, she’d been kissed. She’d even had sex. Disasters didn’t get that designation lightly, after all.

But this was different. When she’d met Max at the wedding, Danusia had been sure he was way out of her league. That a geek like her wouldn’t even register on his radar. Now he was telling her that she wasn’t just a blip, but she was a sexy one.

Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Oh, wow.

Would fainting prompt him to give her the kiss of life and would that start something she’d only be too happy to finish?

"What are you thinking about?" he asked suspiciously. "You’ve got a strange look in your eye and your brother warned me about you."

That was the second time he’d admitted to talking to her brother about her. That had to mean something, right? That he was at least interested enough to mention her in passing to Roman.

"What did he warn you about?"

"That you have an unbalanced sense of humor."

"Unbalanced? That’s harsh." Though Roman had said worse when she’d switched salt for sugar in his canister and he’d added it to his morning coffee.

It was an old trick, and she shouldn’t have gotten away with it, which is what she told him. Sugar and salt didn’t look alike to a person with their background in chemistry, not to mention the different smell, texture and melting rate in hot water.

He’d told her she needed to get a life. Of course, it was his effort to see she had one that had prompted the salt in his coffee. He’d fixed her up with the most boring, obnoxiously intelligent man she’d ever met the night before. To make matters worse, they’d gone on a double date and while her brother was having fun with his not-so-brainy arm candy, Danusia had spent the evening arguing quantum physical theory. Not discussing, but arguing.

Her blind date had been an opinionated cretin.

"Do I have to worry you’re going to sabotage the kitchen?" Max asked, proving Roman had been telling tales.

"I don’t know. Are you going to try to fix me up with the most obnoxious man on the Eastern Seaboard?"

"Is that what Roman did?"

"Yes. And when you’re contemplating murder, salt in the coffee doesn’t seem like such a harsh retaliation."

Max laughed out loud. "I can promise you; I’ve got no plans to fix you up with anyone while you’re here."

"Good." She had her own plans and they all revolved around the gorgeous black man whose laugh made her thighs clench.

Weird. Was that a primal reaction, she wondered, or an evolutionary one? Whatever it was, there was an ache between her legs that would not go away.