Tanya had seen it all, and Vicky, whoever she was. A lot of women had seen him naked.
‘Hey, are you okay?’ Luke slipped his hands into his pockets, his expression concerned. ‘You don’t look too happy to be locked in with me.’
Crap, she needed to stop thinking about him with other women. Or him naked. ‘Sorry, I was remembering what Bill said earlier, about you charming people into doing things.’ She glanced around her at the empty bar. ‘This is my first lock-in.’
‘Then we’d better make it a good one.’ He strode round the bar and picked up a silver cocktail shaker, his movements easy; a man totally in tune with his body. ‘So, the big question is, do you trust me?’
‘Well I’m locked in here with you, so I guess I must.’
He grinned, a flash of straight white teeth, and her heart gave a little dance. ‘Enough for me to make you a cocktail?’
‘Of course. I enjoyed the Electric Smurf and the Manchester Bee.’
‘Ah, but they weren’t made by me.’ He flicked the cocktail shaker upside down and caught it casually, eyes appraising her. ‘Any special requests?’
‘You managed to convince those women to let you choose one. I’m sure you can convince me to do the same.’
Another smile, though this one was more cautious. ‘You know that’s just the job, don’t you? That I only see them as customers.’
‘Sure.’ She glanced down, flicking a non-existent fluff ball from her leggings. ‘I was one once.’
‘You were never just a customer, Mia.’ At his quietly spoken words, her eyes jumped to his. ‘Right from the outset, you intrigued me. I felt, I don’t know, some sort of magnetic pull towards you. I mean, you shot me down, but I still wanted to see you. Can’t say that’s ever happened before.’ He gave her a wry smile. ‘Must be that blue-green hair. I reckon you’re some sort of witch.’
‘Ha, first I’m a Leprechaun, then a Smurf, now I’m a witch. Make up your mind.’
He turned towards the line of spirits hanging behind the bar and squirted a measure of vodka into the shaker. ‘I’ll let you know if I find a broom and a pointy hat.’
‘Fair enough. So what are you making me?’
‘Star Wars is still your favourite film?’
She gave him a quizzical look. ‘Err, I’m not sure that answered my question, but yes.’
‘Okay, let me just check in the kitchen.’ She watched as he disappeared into the room behind, his bum looking just exactly right in his black jeans.
Friends don’t ogle each other’s bums.
She groaned, aware she was failing so badly at this friends-only rule she’d instigated, it seemed futile to carry on with it.
A few seconds later he emerged, a wide grin on his face as he shook the cocktail shaker. ‘Okay, so it’s not exactly as per the recipe, but behold…’ He poured the mixture into two waiting glasses. ‘The Giggling Yoda.’
‘The, what? Seriously?’ God, he cracked her up with his daft cocktails. Laughing, she took a sip. ‘Are you making all these drinks up?’
He gave her a mock affronted look. ‘Of course not. They’re all genuine cocktails.’ He took a swig of his own and grimaced. ‘Though I’m not sure the apples work as well as the pear would have.’
‘I’m sure Yoda won’t mind. Being a Jedi Master and all that, he’s probably got more important things to worry about.’
They shared a smile, and Mia found she couldn’t drag her eyes from his. The longer they stared at each other, the more her skin began to prickle, her belly swooped and heat pooled between her legs.
Luke cleared his throat and carefully placed his glass onto the counter. ‘I’ve got to be honest, this doesn’t feel like friends, Mia. It feels more. Much more.’
‘I know.’ She avoided his eyes, the atmosphere feeling suddenly charged and heavy, like before a thunderstorm. ‘But I like having you as my friend.’ She caught at the condensation on the glass with her finger. ‘I’m scared if we change that, we’ll muck our friendship up.’
‘Why would we?’
‘The nerd and the cool kid, really?’
‘It seems to be working so far.’
She shrugged, trying to feel casual when inside everything felt tight. ‘I told you, my track record with men is terrible.’
‘They were the wrong men.’
She snorted. ‘They definitely were, but they didn’t start out that way.’ Taking a swallow of her drink, she raised her eyes to his. ‘In the beginning, they seemed like the right men.’ It made Luke even more of a non-starter, because he wasn’t even right for her now. At least not on paper. When she was with him, though? When he held her hand, made her laugh, danced with her … then he felt perfect.
He exhaled sharply, jamming a hand through his hair. ‘I can’t lie to you, Mia. It’s hard to be just your friend when every time I see you, I want to kiss you.’
God, she didn’t think her heart could take much more of this, it was beating so fast. ‘I know that, too.’
‘You do?’
The look he gave her was full of longing, yet it was the doubt mixed in with it that made her chest squeeze. As if he had no clue of the effect he had on her. The idea was so crazy, it made her smile. ‘You seriously think I don’t want to kiss you?’
A slow smile spread across his face. ‘Well, I was wondering if I’d lost my touch.’
The reminder that he was used to women wanting to kiss him was a welcome blast of cold air to the heat raging inside her. ‘No need to fear, your reputation as a sex god is safe.’
As if she’d slapped him, he took a step back, a flash of hurt in his expression. ‘I guess I deserved that.’
‘No, you didn’t.’ God, she was a bitch. Who was she to judge him? A hugely attractive guy, working in an environment that brought him into contact with lots of women out for a good time … what single guy wouldn’t take up what was on offer? Yet she couldn’t pretend to like it, either. ‘I’m sorry. It was meant as a joke, but I guess it came out a bit snarky.’
For a few beats he said nothing, just went to pick up his drink again, the cocktail glass looking so delicate in his large hands, attached to his big, strapping body. Finally his green gaze pressed hers. ‘I’ve not slept with another woman since I met you.’
His quietly worded admission stunned her. ‘Why? We’re only friends.’
‘So you keep saying.’ With a sigh he nodded over to one of the green leather sofas. ‘Why don’t we sit somewhere more comfortable? I’ve had enough of standing behind this bar tonight.’
Luke needed to sit. His legs ached from standing all evening, his balls ached from wanting to lift Mia onto the bar and kiss the life out of her, and his chest … well, he wasn’t sure why that ached. Maybe it had something to do with knowing that Mia wasn’t ever going to be more than a friend.
Mia slipped off her Converses and sat cross-legged on the sofa. He eased in next to her, giving his balls a little more teasing. Here she is, all natural and warm and smelling like spring, but you can’t touch her.