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“That’s too much,” I state.
“Jillian, it’s fine. That’s what friends are for.”
With my hand on her shoulder, I give her a hug. “Thanks, but I want to bring my girl home. I need her tonight.”
I carry Ainsley to the car and buckle her into her booster seat. Melissa gave me a pillow for her head.
It’s a decent drive back to Greenwood Village. A good thirty minutes at this time of night. I listen to Niall Horan. His grainy tenor soothes me. As he sings, I become melancholy when I think about life, love, the stars, falling in love, magic, and electricity.
“Do you believe in love at first sight?” Luke asked as we held each other under the moonlight.
“Not at all,” I sighed as his finger stroked my arm sensuously.
“Me neither.” His grin and the way his eyes crinkled gave me a flicker of electricity that shot up my spine. “Until I met you.”
“When are you going to learn that your corny lines have little effect on me?”
His lips rested on mine. “When they stop making you smile.”
He kissed me.
His lips were warm and soft as they parted, and my tongue slipped inside.
“I’m crazy about you,” he whispered before his tongue dipped into my mouth.
I gripped the fabric of his shirt in an attempt to steady myself. He was a great kisser. The kind that had me standing on my toes, not just to meet his height, but because I felt like I was flying.
A groan escaped his mouth as he gripped me with his hands, one firmly on my back and the other on the side of my face, bringing me into him as he savored every caress of our lips and flick of our tongues. The sensations traveled straight down to my core. I gripped the side of his neck and felt the throbbing of his heart under my thumb, and the need in his groin pressed against my belly.
This wasn’t just a kiss.
It was a promise.
I wanted to keep the promise.
Forever.
My memories are of perfect moments when I was blissfully happy.
And as I pull up to my house, I’m surprised by the sight of the man who elicits these beautiful memories.
Seated on the stoop. Head in his hands. Looking distraught and devastated.
Luke is here.
twenty-three
AS MY CAR PULLSinto the driveway, Luke looks up. The headlights catch his glassy eyes. He’s wearing the same clothes he had on yesterday, and his face is worn.
Luke stands up, brushing the gravel off his pant legs.
I stop in my place as I close my car door and approach him tentatively. “What are you doing here?”
Luke’s eyes are sullen and heavy with emotion. He takes a deep breath, and when he lets it out, I start to hold my own. His hands splay out wide in the air, as if offering himself. He takes a beat to start, as if the weight of his words is hard to lift off his tongue. His red-rimmed eyes look deep into mine, and I know what he is about to say is going to be potent with meaning.
“I’m scared.”
I let out the breath and sink into his words.
