“Do you need me to get out and direct you? Or better yet, do it for you?”
I wanted to either smack the shit-eating grin off his face for totally mocking me, or kiss it because he seriously was sexy as hell, no matter what he did.
“No, jerk, I need you to not stare at me and make me nervous. I’m a freakin’ expert at this shit. I don’t have valets parking my car every night.” I gave as good as I got. He just turned his head, laughing. The second time was textbook perfect. “Take that, Luke!”
We got out of the car and walked to my place. “We have to walk up a flight of stairs. You going to make it?” I wasn’t sure why, but I couldn’t stop teasing him.
“Yes, wise ass. I’ll make it up a flight. After that, all bets are off and you may need to carry me.” He ran up behind me, gave my ass a playful ‘good game,’ and waited for me to unlock the door to my building. I loved that we played around and had fun together.
“Please, forgive the state of my place right now. I have no idea what Addison has been up to, or if it’s even clean. Don’t judge,” I said once we got to the top of the stairs. I opened the door slowly, trying to get a peek at the place before Luke saw it. It wasn’t a total dump, but it sure as hell wasn’t the Ritz.
“Welcome to my humble abode. Let me run upstairs and throw on some clothes, and then we can head over. I’m a starvin’ Marvin. Do you want anything before I go?”
“No, I’m good. Just hurry. I’m going to start eating your couch in a second.”
Once I was out of sight, I started shedding my clothes and loosening my braids. I grabbed an old pair of jeans that hugged my body in all the right places, and a comfy but flattering long sleeved t-shirt. Grabbing the baby powder, I doused my hair, trying to take out the grease. Following a quick brushing, it didn’t look half-bad, so I washed my face and swiped some mascara along my blonde eyelashes. After applying deodorant, I called it as good as it was going to get. I didn’t want to leave Luke alone long.
Coming down the hall, I looked over the staircase and saw Luke chatting with Addison. Like he did with me, I stood and admired him. He was a good-looking man, and I could stare at him for hours without being bored. His muscles were not so big that they looked gross and veiny, but not so small that I wouldn’t feel safe wrapped up in them.
Deciding I was hungrier for food than I was for him, I walked down the stairs. Addison shot me a surprised look when she caught my eye. Luke turned around and saw me approaching.
His eyes raked over my body from head to toe. “Not fair, you made yourself look gorgeous, and I’m still looking like I just ran fifteen miles,” Luke said, causing my stomach to knot.
He called me gorgeous!
“You guys headed to Cooper’s?” Addison asked, a proud momma grin on her face. She knew I liked Luke, and that this morning was a big deal to me.
“Yes, after fifteen miles, I could eat a horse,” I answered. What was my problem? With the way I was talking, it seemed as if I wanted him to friend-zone me. I looked up at Luke to see him laughing at my choice of words.
“Then let’s go. I don’t know how many horses we can find in the South End, so you may have to settle for waffles.”
“See ya, Addison. Want anything?” I asked.
“No, thanks. Have fun!”
Everything with Luke felt so natural, like we had been together for years. The whole day, so far, made me feel like we were a couple, but I knew we weren’t. There would be no making out on my doorstep at the end of this. We were friends at best. I would love to see what would happen if we gave an “us” a go, but I refused to be the aggressor. He needed to be the one to make the first move. I was a patient girl, and because I saw potential between us, I would wait him out.
Chapter Twelve
Alexa
When we arrived at Cooper’s Place, the lobby was full of other wannabe diners. We gave our name to the hostess, and settled in a corner to wait our ten minutes, which I knew was going to be closer to twenty. It was after noon, prime brunch time in the city, so the café was packed.
Luke and I sat in comfortable silence, soaking in the environment. The restaurant reminded me of my college dining hall on the weekends. Several tables of girls were still in their clubbing clothes, looking haggard after doing the walk of shame. A couple of girls looked like they woke up at eight in the morning to shower, blow dry, and flat iron or curl their hair to perfection. They wore their best outfit and pearls to sip mimosas and eat the fruit bowl, while looking over their shoulder and waiting for a hot guy two tables over to notice them. Thankfully, the rest of the people were in normal Sunday casual jeans and sweaters. I was happy I changed even if it meant brunch was delayed. Sadly, we didn’t see anyone in pajamas and would have definitely stood out in our running tights and caps.
“Who is running the spa?”
“Danny’s there today. We split the weekend. He takes off on Saturdays and I take Sundays.” Luke looked over at me. “He and I don’t take clients on the weekends, and only do admin shit. That’s how I knew you went to class yesterday. I was in the office.”
“Addison and I don’t typically have clients on Sundays either. Well, we will if we can’t arrange another time, but Sundays are what we call ‘catch up on life’ days.”
“And what does ‘life’ have in store for you the rest of the day?” Luke asked as the buzzer lit up and vibrated in my hand.
The hostess sat us next to Brunch Barbies, and handed us our menus. Her stare lingered longer on Luke than necessary before she walked off, leaving us to make our culinary choices.
“What are you going to have?” Since I was famished, everything sounded so good that I couldn’t make up my mind.
“Either the Belgian Waffles with two eggs, bacon, and toast. Or I could go the healthier route, and order a vegetable omelet, bacon, and a side of fruit salad.”
“That all sounds great. I think I’m going to do a combination of the two, and go for the veggie omelet with a side of fruit. But since I just ran fifteen miles, I’m going to add a side of bacon and toast.” Luke watched me as I spoke. It was unnerving. No one had ever hung on my every word, except my parents, around the dinner table.
“Good point. I’m going with my option one then, since I’m not on a nutrimental plan like you are. I’m carb loading.” Luke closed his menu and laid it at the edge of the table, the international “I’m ready to order” sign. It worked every time, and our waitress appeared moments later.
“You ready to order?” Our waitress directed the question solely to Luke, raping him with her eyes.
“Yes, go ahead, Lex.”
God, I loved how he called me Lex. Every time, it made me smile.
“Okay, I would like the vegetable omelet with a side of fruit, bacon, and toast. Can I also get a tall glass of apple juice and water, please?” I handed our tootsie the menu.
“And you, hun?” the server asked, staring at Luke like she was going to bend down and have a lick of him.
“Yes, I would like the Belgian Waffles with the same fruit compote as the French Toast. I also would like two eggs over easy, bacon, and whole wheat toast.” Luke stopped ordering and looked to me. “Will you have some hash browns if I order some? I usually only want a forkful or four, and can never finish a whole order.”
“Of course, I feel the same way about them.” I looked up at our server. “Can we get those crispy? I like it when they’re crunchy on the top. Thanks.”
Our waitress rolled her eyes at me and turned to Luke. “And to drink?”
“Water and OJ please.”
And with that, she was off to put in our order.
“So, you never got to answer my question about the rest of your day?” Luke dropped his napkin on his lap after polishing his silverware a little bit.