AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His heart beat a furious tempo against his ribs, almost as though it were trying to escape and leap into her hands.
Yep. He was going for it. He faced her full on, looking down into her lovely face, filled with sweet concern and a touch of that hollowness around the eyes.
“You’re in luck,” he said, smiling at her.
“How so?”
“I’m not a guy. I’m a man.” He dipped his head slightly. “Given the chance, I’d love to show you the difference.”
Her eyes widened and she swallowed visibly. Her lips parted and she took a breath, the air puffing white around her. Proud satisfaction shot through him, because he knew he’d gotten through to her. And besides, it was true. He was a man, not a guy. He was a father who owned his own home and ran his own business. He had duties and responsibilities, and he was damn good at meeting them. He liked meeting them.
“Besides, one dinner is hardly getting involved.” He smiled at her again, trying to read the expression on her face in the shifting shadows cast by the parade’s lights. And yet he knew the reason he’d asked her out was because he wanted to get involved. Involved beyond his usual casual little flings that had everything to do with sex and nothing to do with Ethan or a future or love.
Whoa. Slow down there, cowboy.
A fire truck from the Laramie County Fire Department rolled down the street, firefighters waving and tossing candy canes to kids in the crowd, followed by the library’s bookmobile, decorated with a massive, twinkling wreath across its grill.
“Dr. Harmon, would you like to come to the tree-lighting ceremony with us?” Ethan poked his head around Luke, looking positively angelic. Christie’s eyes slid from Luke to Ethan and back again, and Luke didn’t miss the way her face lit up at the smile on Ethan’s face.
“I would hate to intrude,” she began, her eyes holding Luke’s.
“You wouldn’t be,” said Ethan. “Right, Dad?”
He felt like he was losing himself in the shining depths of her eyes, like he was being pulled in and that if he looked away, everything around them might come crashing down. “Right.”
* * *
The way Luke said “right,” with his blue eyes devouring her, made her feel like she’d been right to think of him as quicksand. The harder she fought against her attraction to him, the quicker it absorbed her. After he’d left the other day, she’d watched his dark blue truck with the white “Grayson Carpentry” logo on the door disappear down her street. She’d held her breath, thinking he might come back but had given up that hope after a few moments. But now, standing here in the dark, watching the parade with him, that hope was back, filling her up so much that she had to make sure her feet were still on the ground.
Given the chance, I’d love to show you the difference. Goose bumps that had nothing to do with the frigid air spread across her skin. She looked up at Luke, his chiseled features highlighted by the play of light and shadow from the twinkling parade lights. Standing so close to him, she was practically vibrating with how badly she wanted to touch him. And God, the way Ethan had looked up at her, all smiles and sparkling eyes so like his dad’s, she would’ve said yes to just about anything.
A red Cheyenne trolley covered in flashing white stars coasted down the street in front of them, chiming its bell as it passed. She wiggled her toes in her boots, trying to get the feeling back in them. She wasn’t used to the bitter, biting cold of Cheyenne. She’d grown up in Lexington, gone to med school at Tulane in New Orleans, had interned in Atlanta, and then worked in Tulsa. This dry, cold, windy climate was definitely going to take some getting used to. A chill passed through her, and she shivered, rubbing her hands together.
“Cold?” asked Luke, the corners of his mouth quirking up in a way that had her wondering what it would feel like to have those full lips on her.
“Freezing.”
“C’mere.” He extended an arm and pulled her into him, positioning her so that her back was snug against his chest. He stroked his hands up and down her arms a few times, trying to warm her, before slipping his arms around her waist, holding her tucked against him. Heat bloomed in her core, and she suddenly didn’t care about her numb toes any more. She barely knew him, and yet it felt so right to let him hold her. Right and perfect, and damn if that wasn’t terrifying. Because if she did give in to what she wanted, if she did date him (although he hadn’t asked again, she reminded herself), she’d have to tell him about the photos. It was only right to be honest with him. And the idea of Luke knowing the truth about her, of how he’d look at her, with shame and disappointment . . . but she didn’t move to free herself from Luke’s arms. Couldn’t, because her bones had melted.
All too soon, Santa’s sleigh came around the corner, red and shining. Santa waved merrily, “ho-ho-hoing” his way down the street, signaling the end of the parade. She noticed Ethan sneaking little glances at them, glee lighting up his sweet little face. Good Lord, he was a cute kid.
Luke slipped his arms from her and gripped one of her mittened hands in his gloved one. A surge of frustration rolled through her at the fabric barriers preventing any skin-to-skin contact.
“Lead the way, little man,” he said, rubbing the top of Ethan’s head affectionately, and sending fluttery sensations cascading through her chest. Hand in hand, she walked with Luke through the crowd as they headed south down Capitol Avenue toward the Depot Plaza.
“If I ask you out again, you gonna shoot me down?” Luke leaned in close to her, his voice low and warm.
She shook her head and smiled up at him, relief, happiness and apprehension all settling over her. “Not a chance.”
“Would you let me take you to dinner? Tomorrow night?”
She shook her head. “I’m on call at the hospital. What about the night after tomorrow?”
He tipped his head, considering. “That should work. I’ll see if my parents can watch Ethan. Make sure you give me your phone number before you head home tonight.”
“I will.”
He squeezed her hand, and she clenched her thighs against the anticipatory throb beginning to build there. Sure, he was gorgeous, but this crush she had on him was based on more than just his looks. It was watching him with his son. It was knowing he was handy around the house. The realization slammed into her that he really was a man, and not a beer-guzzling, video-game-playing, mom’s-basement-dwelling guy. He took care of those around him. He protected and nurtured and fixed, and Jesus, was that ever appealing.
