“I’m a friend, Julie,” he said. “I hope you’ll remember that. You can come to me. I’ll help you.”
Friend. That word changed everything between them. You didn’t have a fling with a friend. You had a relationship. She smiled through the tight ball of emotion coiling in her gut at that claim. “Be careful what you wish for,” she teased. “I might take you up on that and ask you to, oh I don’t know, do some manly thing like put brakes on my car.”
“You don’t have a car.”
“I might get one.”
“You don’t want to pay $600 a month to park it, anymore than you can stand to sit in traffic rather than take the subway.”
“You don’t forget anything do you?”
“Nothing,” he said softly. “Especially where you’re concerned.”
The confession took her off guard and left her tongue tied. Where had the sexy seductress persona she’d created to deal with men gone to? And why did his confession make that ball of emotion in her chest turn into a boulder? “Maybe you should,” she said, knowing they were on dangerous territory, desperate to find safe ground, justifying that desperation with the fact that Lauren was marrying his brother.
“I tried to forget,” he said. “It didn’t work.”
He’d tried and it didn’t work? What did that mean? She didn’t get the chance to ask. He tossed cash on the table, including the dollar she’d given him. “How about we get out of here?”
She shook herself inside and told herself it didn’t matter what he meant. She pushed to her feet. “Yeah. Let’s get out of here.” This didn’t have to be about emotions. They were in each other’s heads. The best way to fix that was to stop talking. Talking complicated things. Talking led to emotion, to heartache, to places she didn’t want to go. It was way past time to get back to the hotel room. They’d work each other out of their systems and move on. Maybe then, when this burn they created in each other was through, they really could be friends.
***
The crowd at the front desk had thinned and it didn’t take Julie long to get what she needed. In a matter of minutes, she and Luke were at her room. She swiped the new key and received a green light.
“It works,” she said, smiling. “Excellent.”
“I’ll grab your things,” Luke said, disappearing and reappearing quickly. She held her door open as he rolled her bag inside. Once she’d joined him and let the door shut behind them, nerves tightened her throat and sent flutters through her stomach, belying the idea that sex with Luke somehow gave her control. She didn’t feel in control at all.
He settled the suitcase in the corner by the desk and turned to face her. “We’ll want to be at the airport early to be sure we’re on the first flight out. I say we should leave no later than eight.”
“Should we go earlier?”
“I called and talked to a contact at the airport,” he said. “Nothing is leaving before ten.”
“Okay then, yes. That sounds good.”
He motioned to a separate door that connected their rooms. “Knock if you need me.”
He intended to leave, she realized with surprise. This wasn’t how she thought this night would end. Maybe he wanted her to show she wanted him. Maybe he thought they were a complication he didn’t want, regardless of the connection. She’d certainly thought that as well. That should come with relief, but it didn’t. Not at all. “I’ll be fine. Thanks. Thanks for everything.”
“Just the same,” he said. “You know I’m close.” He grabbed his cell from his belt. “We should also exchange numbers.”
“Right. Yes.” Julie dropped her purse to the bed and pulled her phone from inside. “I’m ready.”
Once they’d traded cell phone numbers, he stepped closer, less than an arm’s reach away. She could smell him, could all but taste him. “I should let you rest,” he said.
“Okay,” she said, not sure what else to say.
“Make sure you lock your door.”
She nodded. “Right. Yes.” She mentally cringed at the words she’d said just minutes before. Apparently, her witty attorney mind had already gone to bed for the night.
He stared down at her with dark, unreadable eyes. His gaze drifted to her lips, then lifted. He was thinking about kissing her. She wanted him to kiss her. Heat radiated off of him, calling to her. She told herself to act, to move. Why wasn’t she moving? Getting this back where it belonged.
“Good night, Julie,” he finally said, brushing his fingers down her cheek, sending a whole different kind of shiver down her spine. And then, just like that, he was gone, already at the door, and ordering, “Come lock up,” a moment before she heard it slam behind him.
Julie did as he said, fighting the urge to call his name and drag him onto the bed. It was too late. He was gone. She flipped the lock and let her back settle against the door.
This was good. No complications. It’s what she wanted, the way she lived. It was what was right. Only, it didn’t feel right at all.
***
Luke had stood in Julie’s room, hot, hard, and all about stripping her down and hearing her moan his name, but he’d somehow walked away. He’d left her behind. He’d succeeded in sticking to his plan to see where this thing between them would lead, besides the bedroom. He’d also ensured sleep was impossible.