A plate was set in front of April and she murmured her thanks as she discreetly watched the man sitting beside her out of the corner of her eye. Was he an over-orderer like Noah? Or did he have plans that he’d abandoned to help them out? But if so, why had he said he was on his way over anyway?
She scooped up a forkful of rice and sauce and groaned when the tangy flavor hit her tongue, and then abruptly felt guilty for eating Luke’s food. “Do you, um, want some money for the food?”
Kathy halted in place opposite them, plate in hand as she gasped. “Gosh, yes! It was my turn to buy. I’m sorry, this was all just so unexpected …” She set theplate down on the table and hurried out of the room, presumably for her purse.
April dropped her cutlery and turned to Luke with her eyes narrowed. “What is going on here? Her turn to buy? Are you seducing my mother?”
Luke choked and his eyes were watering when he looked at her. “W-What?” Then he was laughing silently, shoulders shaking until he blew out a long breath and tried to talk, lips twitching like he was fighting off more laughter. “God, Jones. What do you take me for?No. I helped out a few times after your dad died and Noah was busy. Then … I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I started checking in on her. She was lonely and I had the time.”
April looked up, blinking furiously to keep the prickle of tears at bay. “Thank you. That was really … Just, thanks.”
“Of course,” he said, voice soft, and when her mom appeared back in the kitchen April looked down at her food and tried to ignore the way her vision blurred thanks to the moisture in her eyes. “Kathy,” Luke chided as her mom tried to hand him cash. “Put that away. You can get the next one.”
“You say that every time,” Kathy grumbled and April couldn’t help her small chuckle. Luke Pointer was a charmer. Who’d have known?
Once the food was gone and the plates were cleared away, Kathy shooed Luke out of the house, insisting he’d given up enough of his evening to help them.
“I’ll walk you out,” April said and smiled reassuringly at her mom when she looked questioningly at her. “I’m just going to thank him,” she murmured as she passed.
The air was cooler now, the dark settling around them comfortably, and she smiled when they passed the violas that had started to bloom to one side of the blackberry bushes. Their color was bright, but the sweet, honeyed scent of them was what drew April in. They’d always been one of her favorites. Spring was well on the way and she couldn’t help feeling excited to see the garden in bloom again, even wild as it was.
She caught the gate at the bottom of the pathway and let it close quietly behind her as they walked down a little to where Luke had parked his car. He stopped when they reached it and turned to face her. The streetlight above them had just flickered to life but, enclosed on one side by a bush so tall it crested even over Luke’s head, they were cast into shadow. As she looked at him in the half-darkness, she felt an increasingly familiar pull rising inside her that drew her to him, but alongside it was something new that she couldn’t quite put a name to.
“Thank you for tonight. For all the nights you’ve been here, making sure she wasn’t alone.”
One side of his mouth kicked up as he shrugged. “It’s fine—she’s good company. Plays a mean game of Scrabble.”
April laughed, unbidden, the sound muffled by the dense shrubbery, but Luke heard and his eyes darkened. “Still, it was kind of you. You’re like the second son she never had,” she teased, and maybe the words were a dare, a small taunt, poking at him to see if he’d say more things to simultaneously shock and intrigue her like he had earlier that evening. Was it obvious? Did she care?
He took a step forward, his chest brushing hers, and when she looked up at him her breath got caught in her throat. “I love your mom; she’s great. But, for the love of God, April, don’t try to make out like I’m just a brother to you. There isnothing,” he rasped, leaning even closer to speak directly into her ear, “brotherly about the things I want to do to you.”
The moment stretched and held, Luke’s mouth dangerously close to her own, and when he didn’t back away she let go.
“Fuck it,” she muttered, and kissed him. Their mouths fit perfectly against each other and she could still taste the raspberry sorbet he’d eaten for dessert on his tongue as they deepened the kiss. He lifted her easily and her legs twined around his waist, locking them together until she couldfeelexactly how badly he wanted her.
Was this what freefalling felt like? Her heart was beating so hard she was scared it might come out of her chest, and they kissed for so long that she was gasping for breath, still chasing his lips for more, more,more.
Luke’s arms wrapped around her, like he was as desperate to consume her as she was to be consumed; her hips rolled against his and when the prickle of leaves met her fingers behind his head she barely noticed. How was this somehow better than last time? Somehowmore?
A hot hand skated up her side under her loose-fitting top, sending shivers down her spine as he caressed her. Her head fell back as his hand moved to her front, closing over one breast, kneading it in his palm as his fingers rolled over her nipple, until she cried out and the sound was captured with Luke’s tongue.
Her teeth caught his bottom lip, biting down hard enough to make him hiss before she soothed the sting with her tongue and felt him throb in response through his jeans.
“Fuck,” he mumbled against her throat, scattering open-mouthed kisses down her neck. The cool air rolled across her skin where her top had bunched up and it almost sobered her.Almost.
But then Luke adjusted his hold on her and they both gasped at the new friction.
“This is insane,” she breathed between kisses, desire fogging her thoughts. “I don’t like you.”
He chuckled, the sound vibrating through her. “Correct.” His hand found her breast under her top again, two fingers stroking and teasing her nipple until she whined.
“You don’t likeme.”
Luke paused, lifting his mouth away from her throat to smirk lazily as he pinched her nipple firmly and made her moan. “I contain multitudes.” He lowered his lips to her neck, pressing kisses along her exposed collarbone until his mouth was inches away from her ear. “Come back to mine?”
Part of April wanted to yell no, to push him away, but she couldn’t seem to drag herself from his arms as he pressed his lips firmly to hers, his nails scraping delicately at her back, causing her to arch into him with pleasure. She was on the verge of agreeing to go back to Luke’s place—who cared what her mom thought? Hell, she’d let him fuck her in the backseat of his car if it meant finally getting some release from the need that was burning inside her at his touch.
As she opened her mouth to respond, a loud throat-clearing made them both freeze. April glanced over through the curtain of her hair and shrieked.