He knew the couple were still waiting for their cocktail, that others were waiting to be served. Yet at that moment Mia was the only person who existed for him. Bending towards her, he gently touched her cheek. ‘You might not see how bloody amazing you are, but I do. And so do lots of other buggers out there, so it’s my mission to get you to see only me.’ Reluctantly he took a step back. ‘And about that answer I’m still waiting on. My advice is not to think too hard about it.’ He knew if she did, he was screwed.
The bar, buzzing an hour ago, was quiet as Luke closed the safe and turned off the office light. Everyone had gone. Except for Mia.
He walked out to find her leaning against the bar, her face illuminated by the green light from the sign. Part Smurf, part Leprechaun, he thought with a smile. His?
He faltered on the word. How had he become this man, the one who could only see one woman?
As he made his way back towards the bar, her gaze swung round to meet his.
‘So, have you got a reply for me yet?’
‘I have.’ Her smile was secretive, and again he felt the stirring of hope. Mia wasn’t a tease, she was straightforward, so if she was going to give him an answer she knew he wouldn’t want, he was pretty certain she’d just come out with it.
Pretty certain, but not absolutely certain.
‘And?’ He could feel his pulse hammering.
‘I’ve decided to take Stan’s advice.’
‘Sorry?’ His step faltered. ‘You’re going to take dating advice from an overweight sixty-plus-year-old who hasn’t been out with anyone since he was divorced?’
‘How do you know he hasn’t?’
‘I’m a bartender, I listen when people tell me stuff.’ The evening felt as if it was unravelling, yet Mia was still looking at him, and still smiling that little smile.
‘Then you should listen now, because I’m only going to say this once.’ She slipped off the barstool and came to stand in front of him. As he inhaled her, felt her warm, sexy body rest against his, all his nerve endings began to fire. And that was before she leant forward, her lips brushing against his ear as she whispered, ‘Take me home with you.’
Immediately all his blood rushed south, between his legs. ‘Fuck, yes.’ He reached for her, and in his haste to get that smiling mouth on his, he almost knocked her over. ‘Shit, sorry, I just…’ He groaned when her legs wrapped around his hips as he lifted her up. ‘God, I need to kiss you.’
At last his lips found hers and he let out a deep, guttural sound as he began to plunder the wet heat of her mouth, their tongues dancing. Around them there was nothing but dark and silence, yet inside him he felt like a volcano about to erupt. As he edged her onto the bar, as he pressed his aching groin closer to the core of her, he knew kissing was not going to be enough. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
Later he wouldn’t remember if he’d checked the lights were off in the kitchen, or if he’d set the alarm. All he would remember was the joy, the adrenalin rush as he grabbed Mia’s hand and ran, literally bloody ran, the short distance to his flat.
Chapter Twenty-Six
She was being rash. Taking all that sensible caution she’d displayed ever since she’d met Luke, and throwing it all into the wind.
Yet she’d never felt so good, so happy, so alive as she did right now, laughing with him as they tumbled into his flat.
They were going to have sex. His track record with women, her inability to pick the right men … she’d shove all those nasty, niggling doubts aside. Tonight was about pleasure.
His hand still clasping hers, Luke shut the door behind them and pulled her snug against him. ‘This advice of Stan’s.’ He kissed her lightly on the mouth, then set about leaving a trail of kisses along her jaw and down her throat, causing her to moan. How had she reached thirty and not realised her throat was an erogenous zone? ‘What was it exactly?’
‘Ummm.’ He wanted her to talk, to think, when he was kissing her there? As he reached the sensitive spot beneath her ear, she closed her eyes and let desire burn through her. But then his lips left hers and she blinked them back open. ‘Why did you stop?’
A sexy grin slid across his face. ‘Fuck, you’re gorgeous.’
‘Then keep kissing me. Here.’ She pointed to her neck, then slid her fingers up, along her chin, to her mouth. ‘Or here, or anywhere. Just flipping kiss me.’
His deep chuckle sent prickles across her skin. ‘I will, after you answer my question.’ Another feather-light kiss, this time on her nose. ‘What was Stan’s advice?’
‘Does it matter?’ She yearned for him … and yes, that was the first time she’d ever used the word. Never had she felt such a deep ache, a searing desire to rip off a man’s clothes and wrap herself around him, over him, under him. Have him push inside her.
Luke lifted her into his arms, just as he had in the bar, as if she was weightless. The strength of the man, the raw power. It was beyond sexy.
Yet as he sat them down on the sofa, her in his lap, buttocks pressed against his powerful thighs, she looked into his eyes and knew it wasn’t his body she was falling for. That was just an added bonus. It was the man inside she could no longer say no to.
‘I want to make sure we’re both on the same page,’ he said quietly as his arms tightened around her. ‘You know what I want. You and me, to date properly, not just as friends. I need to know that’s what you want, too. We don’t have to have sex, not if you’re not ready, but I want to be able to kiss you.’ His gaze found hers, so full of sensual heat she felt the throb of it between her legs. ‘I want to touch you in places friends can’t touch.’
‘Yes,’ she breathed, squeezing her thighs against the ache. ‘I want all of that. Plus sex.’
He laughed, the husky sound a rumble in his chest. ‘Is that what Stan told you to do, have sex?’
‘He said if I like you, I should go for it, or before I knew it I’d find I was grumpy and old like he was.’
Luke gave her a comical wide-eyed look. ‘Oh shit, are you going to turn into Stan?’
Laughing, she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a brief, hard kiss. ‘Only if you don’t have sex with me.’
‘There’s zero chance of that happening.’ She felt his thighs tense, ready to lift them both up, but then he groaned as a furry ball jumped onto her lap. ‘Sod off, Pickles.’ Mia giggled and gave the rabbit’s ears a long, luxurious stroke which caused Luke to groan louder. ‘Christ, it’s killing me watching you do that.’
‘Yeah?’ Teasing him, teasing them both, she did it again, and arousal flooded through her as Luke hardened beneath her.
Swearing, he lifted them both up and carefully slid her down his body to the floor. ‘Wait here, don’t move, don’t go anywhere. Let me feed the monster.’ He gave her a look full of molten promise. ‘Then I’ll take care of you.’
She watched as he grabbed a handful of rabbit food and dropped it into Pickles’ bowl, then went to fill up her water bottle. When he crouched and gave the rabbit a final scratch between her ears, Mia’s heart melted that little bit more. Maybe he’d been careless with women over the years, yet all she could really judge him on was what she’d seen with her own eyes. And a man on the promise of hot sex who still made sure to give his rabbit fresh water and a tender stroke, was decent to the core.