He caught her watching him, and cast a look at her that made her body tighten in all the wrong places.
Just friends, Emma, remember? It was more important for him to think of her as a buddy, as just one of the guys.
Unfortunately, with her nipples beading and everything south screaming for her to jump on top of him and unzip those very worn jeans to get to the goods, she wasn’t thinking of herself as one of the guys. She was thinking of herself as a woman who hadn’t had sex in a very long time, and as Luke who was someone she’d really, really like to have sex with.
Did he have to keep looking at her? He had to have the hottest mouth she’d ever seen.
She shuddered as she inhaled. “So.”
He licked his lips. She watched his tongue, and swallowed—hard.
“So. What’s on the meal agenda?” he finally asked.
Meal? What meal? She wanted to devour him for dinner. “Uh . . . right.” She turned and stuck her head in the fridge. “How do hamburgers on the grill sound? I make killer bacon cheese fries, too.”
“How can I resist that offer? What can I do to help?”
It would help if she hadn’t stupidly asked him to come in for dinner. Distance from men was her salvation. Or at least, distance from Luke.
“You can go wrangle the dogs while I get things started in here. Oh, and the grill is out on the back patio. Can you turn it on and get it ready?”
“I can handle that.”
As soon as he left the kitchen, she exhaled, grabbed her beer, and took several long swallows, needing the cool brew to relieve her parched throat. Unfortunately, there was no help for her other throbbing body parts.
Good Lord. What was wrong with her? She’d been cool, calm, and totally immune to men ever since . . .
Well, ever since. And now there was Luke, and there was something about him that got to her in a way that no man had gotten to her in a very long time.
She wasn’t ready for it. Not yet.
Though it had been a lot of years. Maybe it was time she did get ready for it.
She’d made a lot of vows once she’d escaped the worst relationship of her life. And the number one vow was to never get involved with a man who hit all her hot buttons again. She’d only do safe and boring in the future.
Luke McCormack was anything but safe and boring. She could go up in flames with him, lose her sense of self. If he crooked his finger at her, she’d come running.
She’d done that once, and it had been a disaster.
Never again.
She set the oil on to heat, then peeled and sliced potatoes, the activity clearing her head. By the time Luke came in with the dogs, she had the distance she needed.
Until he came up behind her, and she inhaled the scent of him. He smelled of outdoors and something distinctly male.
“Need help?” he asked as he leaned over her shoulder.
Her breathing quickened. “I’ve got this. How about you make the patties?” Preferably somewhere far away, like Texas.
He took the meat out of the fridge and made the patties standing next to her, while she concentrated on not cutting off her finger. Hard to do since she was acutely aware of him and his big body nestled beside her.
Her kitchen was small, which meant not much maneuverability with two people in it. His elbow bumped her arm, her hip nudged his, their shoulders touched. While it didn’t seem to bother him, it bugged the hell out of her, and not in an annoying way, either. Body contact with men was off-limits, yet she found herself inching a little closer, despite her self-mandate to stay as far away from Luke as possible.
Even with potatoes frying in oil and bacon sizzling in the other pan, she could still smell him.
And he seemed utterly oblivious of her.
After piling the patties on the plate she’d provided, he asked, “How about a spatula or something to flip these?”
“Sure.” She dug out the one she used for the grill and handed it over to him.
“How do you like your burger?”
“Well done.”
He grinned. “Me, too. I’ll be back soon.”
“I’ll be here cutting up condiments for the burgers and finishing up these fries. Also, if you aren’t tired of baseball, there’s a game on.”
“See? We make a great team. I’m game . . . for the game.”
She laughed, then slumped against the counter after he closed the slider.
He was funny, gorgeous, he smelled good, and he was great with animals.
And he had an awesome body, a killer smile, and hands she wanted all over her.
One hell of a time for her libido to wake up and decide it wanted men again. Especially since she and Luke had decided they could be buddies. Which put her firmly in the He’s Not Having Sex With You category.
She pulled the fries out of the oil and grated cheese, crumbled up the bacon she’d fried, then finished up making the cheese fries. By the time Luke came back in with the cooked burgers, she’d set up trays in the living room, the game was on, and she had lettuce, onions, and tomato set out on the counter, along with buns and all the stuff he could possibly want to spread on his burger.
“This is a feast,” he said, as he set the platter of burgers down on the counter. “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”
She smiled at him. “This was no trouble at all. You’re obviously very easy to please.”
“Hey, I would have stopped for take-out on my way home, so, to me, this is a very big deal. Thanks, Emma.”
“You’re welcome.” She didn’t entertain. In fact, Luke was the first person she’d had over besides her mom. In South Carolina, she’d never had anyone over to her apartment.
Again, she had no idea what had gotten into her.
She fed the dogs in the kitchen, then they settled into watching the game and eating their burgers.
“Perfect,” she said as she took her first bite.
“You don’t get your man card unless you know how to cook a burger,” Luke said, sliding a French fry into his mouth. “And these fries are awesome.”
“Thanks. I never have anyone to fix them for, and they’re my favorites, so you actually did me a favor.”
“So what you’re saying is that you had an ulterior motive in inviting me for dinner.”
She waggled her brows. “Maybe.”
He shoved in another, chewed, then cast a smile her way. “I can accept that I was used to satisfy your lust for bacon cheese fries. I’m glad I was here to help you out. You just let me know whenever the urge strikes. I’ll help you satisfy your cravings.”
She took a deep breath. Yeah, she had a list of services she’d like him to perform for her. “I’ll definitely keep that in mind.”
His gaze met hers, and suddenly, she didn’t believe either of them were thinking about fries anymore.
SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN the ballpark that day and dinner that night, something major had changed in the atmosphere between Luke and Emma. He’d picked up some seriously hot signals from her, both at the park and over dinner. And yeah, maybe he’d inadvertently thrown out a come-on with that line about satisfying her cravings, but he’d actually been talking about food.
Until she’d shot him a hungry look that had nothing to do with French fries, and everything to do with sex.
He thought they’d been on the same wavelength. He’d had a great time with her. She was easy to be with. She was fun, had a great sense of humor, and for a woman, wasn’t demanding at all, something he found refreshing.