“Why is he unhappy?” Harper asked, stabbing at her salad. She had seen it in those hazel eyes, flashes of sadness, of pain.
“Some things take longer getting over than others, but there comes a point in time when you edge over the line to never recovering. I think Luke’s too close to the line.”
“Recovering from what?”
“I think it would be better if he told you himself.” She bit a French fry in half. “So how did you end up naked in the kitchen?”
***
Harper tried to enjoy the rest of her lunch with Sophie, but she couldn’t shake the curiosity. Even when she returned to the office, her head was full of questions. What was Luke’s secret? What did he lose? Was that why he lived in an empty house? And what did this morning mean?
She had never wanted like that before. Craved. Thinking about Luke’s hands on her gave her goose bumps, even under the bright spring sunshine streaming through the office’s arched windows.
She tried to focus on what Beth was telling her about accounts receivable when the scuff of work boots on the hardwood floor stole Harper’s attention. “Nice to see you in some clothes for a change.” Frank snickered and strolled past them into Luke’s office.
“Funny, Frank.” She shot his departing back a dirty look.
Beth snickered.
“Hey.”
Harper spun in her chair. Luke, hands shoved in his pockets, stood behind her.
“Hey.” She felt her cheeks flush. The last time she had seen him, her hand had been wrapped around his throbbing, hard—
“Hi, boss,” Beth chirped.
“Beth.” He nodded without taking his eyes off of Harper. “Give us a minute, will you?”
“Sure thing. Gotta call my mother-in-law anyway and make sure the twins haven’t destroyed the house yet.” She hustled out of the office and down the stairs.
Luke stepped in and leaned against Harper’s desk. She felt her nipples tighten and hastily crossed her arms over her chest. Keep it together, Harper, she cautioned herself.
“How was your meeting this morning?”
“Not distracting enough,” he said, leaning against her desk.
Harper blushed.
“We’re probably going to have to talk about this.”
Talk about it? She’d rather do something about it.
“You just want to tell me all the reasons this is a bad idea.”
“I don’t want you to get hurt, Harper. This can’t go anywhere. I’m leaving. This is all temporary.”
“Haven’t you ever made a temporary bad decision before?” she asked lightly.
He shook his head. “I’ve never been tempted before.”
“How about now?”
“Now?” He reached out and ran his thumb over her lower lip. She parted her lips at the touch and tasted him. “I’m very tempted.”
He leaned down to her, bracing his hands on the arms of her chair. Her white sundress rode higher on her thighs. Luke’s gaze locked with hers and he ran a calloused palm up the inside of her thigh.
Harper took a shaky breath, her hands in a death grip on the arms of her chair. “Do you see why this is a bad idea, Harper?” he said quietly. His fingers brushed the edge of her white cotton briefs.
She swore her heart stopped.
“One look at you and all I can think about is being inside you.” The pads of his fingers leisurely circled her sensitive folds through the thin layer of fabric. “Of how close I came to making you come today. Of what it would be like to drive you to the edge and feel you come on my cock.”
“Any day now, boss,” Frank called from Luke’s office.
Luke closed Harper’s legs and dropped a hard kiss on her mouth. “We’ll talk later.”
He turned and headed to his office, leaving a boneless Harper trembling behind him.
***
Harper was still feeling the tremors of what Luke had said to her. She spent a good portion of the rest of the afternoon staring blankly at her screen. When Luke left to hit another job site, the smoldering look he sent left her breathless.
She suddenly wasn’t so sure she could survive sex with a man like Luke. If just a glance from him had this effect on her, and if the rest of his body was as skilled as his fingers, she might literally die in his arms.
It was a risk she was willing to take.
Beth whistled when Luke closed the door behind him. “Talk about chemistry. I thought he was going to eat you alive with his eyes.”
Harper fanned herself to fade the blush on her cheeks. “Is he always like this?”
Beth shook her head. “No way. This is the first time I’ve seen about-to-erupt-volcano Luke.”
That put some hot visions in Harper’s head. Luke about to erupt. Oh, God. She was going to get brain damage just thinking about it.