“You’re not cured.”
She nodded. “But it’s a step.”
The sexy lips she craved curled into a hint of a smile. “A small step.”
“I’m better for you.”
“You’re better with me.”
She squinted at him with her brow tensed. “I’m like a dog that’s well behaved with its owner.”
His teeth peeked through his growing smile as a soft chuckle vibrated from his chest. “I’m not sure you’ll ever be ‘well behaved.’”
Everything about him captivated her. The vulnerability she felt under his control nearly broke her. It wouldn’t matter how many blankets covered her body or layers of clothing concealed her nudity, she would forever feel stripped naked in his presence.
“I have to get home and change for work.”
The lilac sheet slipped from her breasts. “Could I convince you to stay?”
He looked at her bared chest. No hesitation. No guilt. She was so completely his. He knew it and she knew it.
“Yes, but my patients would be grateful if you didn’t.”
“How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Make me surrender without taking my sense of control.”
He dropped his towel and stepped into his jeans. “Surrendering is the ultimate control.”
“Now you’re just messing with me, Jones.”
He buttoned his shirt. “Take a shower. Go to work. Be productive today and I’ll reward you later.”
“So I am your dog. Will we play fetch? I’m pretty good with a Frisbee.”
Luke tied his shoes. It thrilled her to see him struggle a little more every day to keep his smile hidden. “I’ll pick you up around seven.”
“Seven-thirty. I’m teaching class until seven.”
“Class?”
“Self-defense.”
He nodded, giving her a thoughtful look. “The battered women’s shelter?”
“Yep.”
“Seven-thirty then.”
“Hey!” she called as he began his escape. “That’s it?” She slid out of bed, baring her entire naked body to him. “No kiss goodbye?”
He looked back over his shoulder, puckered his lips, kissed the air then continued to the front door.
“Jones!” She jogged to catch up, stopping him before he opened the front door.
“Do you still love me?”
He sighed as if the sight of her naked body pained him. “I adore you.”
“You adore me? What? You no longer love me?”
Inspecting the choices on the coat tree, he grabbed a long gray sweater from it then wrapped it around her. She returned a single raised brow.
“People love chocolate, surfing, and their gold fish. Adoration is better … it means to both love and admire.”
The tough-as-nails woman melted into a teenaged girl for a bit. “You admire me?” Her voice softened in disbelief.
“I do.” He gave her a quick peck on the lips and pulled away as she began to lean in.
She shoved the sweater off her shoulders. “But you don’t admire my body?”
He made a swift move out the door. “I do … way too much,” he called as he fled down the stairs.
Her smile beamed with uncontrollable delight from his adoration confession. “He thinks I’m adorable.” That smile faded to a frown as she ran to her window and slid it open. “Dammit, Jones!”
He looked up a second before closing the door to his GTO.
“It was another dog reference. Puppies are adorable.” She scowled.
Luke shook his head, a big grin plastered to his handsome face as he shut the door.
“God, he’s adorable.” Jessica giggled as she made her way to the shower.
*
Jessica cursed the traffic and the tourist-filled cable cars that slowed her journey home. By the time she pulled into her single-car garage stall, the GTO that she adored sat parked in front of her place.
“Don’t mess with my heart, Jones. You’d better let me drive her tonight,” she murmured to herself while smiling at him with bared teeth.
“There’s my girl.” Luke grinned as she approached her front steps.
Did she like being “his girl?” Hell yes!
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his body, finding her lips and stealing her breath. She would never get used to Jones, Dr. Luke Jones, looking at her with those seductive blue eyes, pulling her into that sexy body, and kissing her with those lips that she’d coveted for so long.
When her knees gave out, he released her lips but kept her close to the hard planes of his chest.
“Let me run and change. Wait for me in the passenger seat.”
“Nice try.” He followed her up the steps.
After a quick change they were off to Sausalito for dinner. Luke drove.
“This feels like our first official date.” Jessica winked, freeing the shiny utensils from the red cloth napkin.
“You’re not counting our blind date?” Luke asked.
Jessica smiled at the waiter serving her wine. “No. Although it was our first kiss.” She grinned with her teeth clenched together.
The unappreciative victim of that first kiss narrowed his eyes at her.
“Well it was.” She laughed. “So … is this a working dinner?”
“Working dinner?”
“Yes. More unofficial therapy?”
“No. That was yesterday. I can’t see you as my unofficial patient tonight.”
She sipped her wine. “Why not?”
“Because I have a date.”
Everything about the man personified perfection. How was that possible? And why was he with arguably the biggest disaster on the West Coast? “Mmm … yes, with that nice girl I told you about.”
He closed his menu. “You said she was a real catch.”
“Do you concur?”
“I do.”
“What are you doing this weekend?”
Luke shrugged. “That depends on how much cleaning you get done around my place tomorrow.”
“So you don’t have any real plans. Great. I want you to meet my family. I’m having tea with my mom at Samovar on Saturday morning, but maybe we could all have dinner or Sunday brunch.”
“I’d love to meet your family. How will you introduce me?”
“With my voice. ‘Mom and Dad, this is Jones. Jones these are my parents, Grant and Sunny.”
“Your mom’s name is Sunny Day? Not possible.” Luke laughed.
“It’s true. Says the firstborn of Tom Jones. Anyway, we kid my dad that she married him just for his name. She lives up to her name too. I think I’ve heard her swear once, and even then it was when she was quoting someone else. Hands down, I have the most optimistic, laid-back mom in the world. She’s walking zen.”
“So you didn’t get her zen genes?”
Jessica laughed. “Astute observation, Dr. Jones. No, I have my father’s personality—a total firecracker. He doesn’t do anything in the middle. When he’s mad it’s a raging inferno and when he’s happy it’s like glitter exploded everywhere. When we work on cars and motorcycles in his garage he’s either singing his favorite song like the next American Idol contestant, or if something’s not going right he’s slinging wrenches and cussing up a storm. You’ll like him, just don’t mention that you drink imported beer. He exclusively drinks locally brewed beer.”