“What if she won’t go for it?” Wes asked. “I don’t want to piss her off and I sure don’t want to mess up my friendship with her. We have too much fun for that shit.”
“She’ll go for it,” Luke said confidently.
He’d seen the longing in her eyes, the need for something she probably couldn’t even explain. He knew it because he’d felt the same thing. He also knew that he was the man who could give it to her.
Wes scrubbed a hand over his closely shaved goatee in a thoughtful motion. “I don’t know, man. It’s not like we’re going to fuck some chick we won’t ever see again. This is Gracie we’re talking about. What happens when it’s over with? I don’t want there to be any awkward shit.”
“You’re over thinking this,” Luke said impatiently. “We give Gracie an experience she won’t ever forget. We show her things she’s been craving. If anything it makes us even closer. I mean there’s no way in hell I’d fuck her and just go on like nothing ever happened. We both like her a hell of a lot. More than any other woman apart from Michelle, that’s for sure. I don’t see the problem here.”
“Just how much do you like her?” Wes asked, a peculiar expression on his face.
Luke shifted uncomfortably. What the hell kind of question was that? “I—I care about her,” he said lamely.
Wes continued to stare at him. “Do you have a thing for her?”
“Shut the fuck up,” Luke growled. “Jesus, this is sex. Gracie’s our friend. Our very gorgeous, hot friend. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t like to get next to her.”
Wes took a sip of his beer. “No, I can’t tell you that. But wanting something or knowing I’d enjoy it is different than actually doing it. Look, I just don’t want to fuck things up between us all.”
“What if she wanted it?” Luke challenged. “I mean what if she wanted what we could give her? Would you be so reluctant then?”
Wes thought for a minute then shook his head. “Hell no. I just don’t want to hurt her. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Well, shit, Wes. Do you think I’d do anything to hurt her? She’s one of my best friends. I want to make it good for her.”
“You’re serious about this.”
“Fuck. No, I’ve just spent the last ten minutes going on about my plan to seduce Gracie for nothing.”
“No need to be sarcastic,” Wes said with a chuckle. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. This is your idea, so you plan it. Tell me when and where to show up. I’ll be there. But if she shows any sign of not wanting this, I’m out.”
Luke scowled at him. “No shit, dumbass. It’s not my plan to rape her for God’s sake. But I’m telling you, she wants something. Something she doesn’t quite understand but knows she wants. You didn’t hear the things she said or the way she said them. And I think I can give her what she wants.”
Wes looked quietly at him, studying him with that cop look he was so famous for. “Yeah, maybe you can.”
Chapter Four
Gracie twisted restlessly in her chair and flipped another contract in the to be signed pile. Mondays were always busy. Tickets to process, contracts to look over. It was dull, tedious work, but it paid the bills, and she could do it with half a brain. Important when the other half was consumed with her nonexistent sex life.
Yesterday’s encounter with Keith had only reinforced that she’d made the right decision. She still felt the uncomfortable burn of embarrassment that Luke had stepped in when Keith had gone over the line. She didn’t like Luke seeing yet another of her failures.
Her office door swung open, and she looked up to see Luke standing there. She blinked, wondering if she’d conjured him. She smiled welcomingly.
“Hey, what are you doing here?”
He ambled further into her office, his thumbs thrust into his jeans pockets. Jeans that were tightly molded to his muscular legs. His leather jacket hung loosely to his waist, and underneath she could see he wore a simple T-shirt. Obviously a day he wasn’t meeting prospective clients.
“Hey, Gracie,” he said, returning her smile. “I was in the neighborhood and wondered if you wanted to grab lunch with me.”
Her smile widened. “Barbeque?”
He chuckled. “As if I’d suggest anything else.”
She made a grab for her jacket on the floor at her feet before standing. “As long as you’re buying.”
As she rounded the desk, his arm came out, and he pressed his hand to the small of her back to usher her out the door. It was an intimate gesture, one that puzzled her. He was usually all about punching her in the arm or pointing out a nonexistent spot on her shirt so she’d look down and he could chuck her nose.
They walked outside, and Gracie shivered slightly. Damn cold front had moved in overnight. The sky was overcast and gray, and a cold drizzle escaped in fine droplets.
She slid into Luke’s truck and sank into the heated leather seats with a contented sigh. She’d given him hell when he’d bought the truck. Top of the line, tricked out, no expense spared. He spent money like it was nothing. But then he did have a lot of it to burn.
“Cold?” Luke asked as he started the engine and turned the heat on full blast.
She grumbled under her breath and stuck her hands out to the vents. He knew damn well she was freezing her ass off. Anything below fifty degrees and she was breaking out the winter parka.
They drove a few miles to the Barbeque Shack and pulled into the crowded parking lot. Aside from a Mexican restaurant and a hole-in-the-wall burger joint, this was the only other place to eat without driving into the neighboring town. Which was fine with Gracie, because if it wasn’t grilled and slathered with barbeque sauce, it wasn’t worth eating.
Luke walked ahead of her treating her to a look at those very tight jeans stretched across a very nice ass. His hair was all messed up as usual, but that was Luke. The wind blew at it, ruffling it up and sending it scattering across his head. She nearly reached up to smooth it, but caught herself before she did.
He held the door open for her, and she walked by him, sniffing appreciatively as the mixture of leather and the smell that was Luke sifted through her nostrils.
Minutes later, they were sitting at a table by the window sipping their drinks and waiting for their order to come. Luke leaned back in his chair and gazed lazily at her.
“Tell me something, Gracie. How come you and I haven’t ever gone out?”
She nearly choked on her drink. She set it down with a plunk and wheezed as she tried to make the last swallow go down.
“What?” she g
asped.
His eyes narrowed. “You heard me.”
“Well hell, Luke, I don’t know what to say.”
Her mind reeled as she stared at him. What on earth had possessed him?
“We like each other, right?”
“Well, of course,” she said crossly. She wasn’t sure she liked where this conversation was heading. Now was not the time for Luke to get some strange bug up his ass.
She was feeling oddly vulnerable after her latest dead-end relationship. Like she was some freak of nature, destined to never find a guy who understood her, much less one who could satisfy her.
“We get along great. We understand each other,” Luke continued.
Yeah, right. If he only knew. He understood she was a nice girl who kept picking the wrong guy. He had no idea that underneath all the sweetness was a woman itching to break out. She was tired of being good. The girl next door. She wanted to be bad. And she was damn sure tired of being viewed as little sister, good pal, hunting and fishing partner.
“Is there a point to all this?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “There is. I’m trying to figure out why we’ve never gone out on a date.”
She stared at him for a long second, debating whether to even go there. But she wasn’t a liar, and she wasn’t big on playing games. So she just told the truth.
“Because you never asked,” she said softly.
They were interrupted by the waitress bringing their plates and dumping them in front of them. Gracie was grateful for the break because Luke was looking at her like he could crawl right under her skin and see everything she was hiding.
The waitress took her sweet time in leaving, and as she started away, she slid a napkin across the table toward Luke. Gracie didn’t give it a single thought until Luke picked it up and looked over his shoulder, a look of surprise on his face.
“What’s wrong?” Gracie asked, finally breaking the silence between them.
Luke turned back around, shaking his head. “She gave me her phone number. Wrote it on the napkin.”
A surge of irritation rippled through her chest. “That’s probably one reason we’ve never gone out,” she muttered.
“But you were sitting right there,” he said, ignoring her comment. “How the hell did she know we weren’t here together, that you aren’t my girlfriend or something?”
Gracie burst out laughing. “Luke, are you feeling well today? I swear you aren’t yourself. Half the town is used to seeing us together. No one’s ever assumed you were interested in me.”
“Well, what do they know?” he growled.
He stared across the table at her, his blue eyes sparking with something she wasn’t used to seeing. At least not when he was looking at her.
“I’m asking now, Gracie.”
She looked dumbly at him. “You want us to go out? As in a real date? I mean because we usually hook up on the weekends anyway.”
He dropped the napkin and leaned forward impatiently. “I mean you and me on a date. No Jeremy, Michelle or Wes. Friday night.”
She blinked in surprise. A peculiar sensation ran circles in her belly. She felt nervous. For God’s sake. This was Luke.
A real date. She sank back in her chair, still staring at him like he’d lost his mind.