Jaded (22 page)

They entered the tiny, crowded coffee house and as they did so, Isabella felt more of her resistance to the possibility of a future with Luke disappear. The scent of coffee mingled with the loud voices and the man on her arm and she couldn’t imagine a more perfect evening. She looked over at him and found him taking in his surroundings, looking a little overwhelmed. She knew this wasn’t his scene and she found his hesitancy endearing.

They walked over to a tiny round table and sat down. Isabella instantly covered his hands with her own, eyes wide and eager. “Have you ever been to a poetry reading?”

He laughed; he seemed embarrassed. “Isabella, I don’t think I’ve even read a piece of poetry in my life.”

Her grin grew wider. “This is going to be an interesting evening, then.”

The night flew by in a whirlwind of poetic articulations, clapping, microphone huffing, and cappuccinos. At first Luke seemed confused by what he was hearing but as the night wore on, he looked to be connecting with the poetry. At one point, she caught him clapping wildly along with everyone else.

After the poet had retreated from the stage and the coffeehouse settled down, Isabella leaned over the table and whispered, “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. I should be thanking you.”

“Why’s that?”

“I think this is the most fun I’ve had where a bar tab wasn’t involved.”

“Being an intellectual is fun, isn’t it?”

“Just don’t tell any of the guys.”

“Your secret is safe with me.”

Luke held her gaze, the corners of his lips turning up. “Can you keep another secret?”

“Of course. Spill it.”

He hesitated. “I’m gonna go back to school.”

Isabella blinked a few times before it sank in. “You’re serious?”

His smile widened. “Yeah. I’m already signed up for next semester.”

Isabella’s eyes got wide and she shrieked, covering her mouth with her hands. “Luke, that’s amazing!”

His eyes were sparkling as he watched her. “I’m gonna be an engineer, babe. I have you to thank.”

“Me? What did I do?”

He sighed, looking around the room as though searching for his words somewhere in the coffee shop air. “You reminded me that it’s okay to be Luke Titus Peterson.”

Isabella’s heart nearly stopped in her chest at this revealing confession. The moment hung heavy between them, too profound for her to dwell on amidst the clatter and bustle of the coffee shop. She’d think on it later, but for now, she just reveled in it.

“I...wow. Luke, that means a lot to me.”

“To me too,” he said, taking her hand in his. “Thanks, Bella. But don’t tell anyone. I’m gonna keep it on the down low for awhile, see how things work out. I’ll probably only work part time so I can go to classes.”

“And your boss won’t care?”

“Oh, he’ll be furious. Especially since I was promoted.” He paused, looking out into the coffee shop again. “But I need to do this. For me, I mean. I’ve wanted to my whole life, so I can’t care about him, you know?”

“I agree completely. And I think you will do so well.” They shared a smile and she ran her fingers over the open palm of his hand. “You wanna get out of here?”

A devilish smile licked his lips. “And do what?”

“I don’t know, maybe get something to eat, go for a ride, make some of our own poetry back at my place...”

Before anything else could be said, Luke was out of his chair and up at the cash register, paying for their coffees. Isabella gathered their things and they darted out of the coffeehouse, hand in hand like school kids skipping out on detention.

“I’m hungry,” he said, “let’s get a bite.”

“You will need to get some fuel before later tonight, no doubt.”

He pulled her down the line of shops and stopped in front of a tiny buggy with an enormous umbrella overhead. A man in a paper hat was selling hot dogs.

“How do you feel about some good old American food?”

“Order up!” Isabella could hardly keep the grin off her face. She wanted to preserve this night forever, to put it away in a scrapbook somewhere to remind herself of the night when she realized that Luke had unwittingly turned out to be something of her perfect man, despite all her best efforts to convince herself otherwise.

The thought jarred something within her. She looked up at Luke guiltily, as though he’d been inside her head for that startling revelation. He was happily exchanging money with the hot dog vendor, unaware of the tumult inside her brain. Her heart had started to race, and she couldn’t recapture her carefree attitude from before.

Luke looked over to her, a smile still etched onto his face. He furrowed his brows after he noticed the change in her demeanor. “What’s wrong?”

She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “I’m fine.”

He handed her a hot dog in a paper wrapper. “Here. Hot dogs cure all.”

“It’s an ancient medical secret, isn’t it?”

He took a huge bite of the dog and groaned. “Hell yes it is.”

They strolled away. Isabella bit nervously at her hot dog, still unsettled by her private revelation, while Luke wolfed his down and crumpled the paper in his hand.

“Hey Luke, how much longer do you guys have on the house?”

He tilted his head back, thinking hard. “We’re about halfway done.”

A pleasant silence settled between them. Eventually, Isabella ventured, “It’ll be weird, once you guys are finished.”

He didn’t say anything at first. “It will be a little sad on the last day.”

“I’m so used to having a bunch of guys in my house.”

“Yeah, and I think they all kind of like having a woman around.” He winked. “The eye candy makes the day go faster.”

She blushed. “You know Luke, this might sound strange, but...” Her heart suddenly twisted in her chest and her voice disappeared.

“What?”

She waved him off.

“Tell me.” The way he said it was more of a command than a request. When Isabella didn’t respond immediately, he stepped in front of her and looked her in the eye. His hands found the dip in her waist and suddenly his forehead was against hers. “What is it?”

She sighed deeply and let her eyes flutter shut. “I’m really starting to like you.” Her heart throbbed in her chest and his proximity did nothing to calm her careening emotions. ‘Starting to like’ him was an understatement.

A smile spread across his face. “Is that it?”

“Yeah, that’s
it
...” She paused, narrowing her eyes and fighting a smile. “You don’t know how hard that was for me to say?”

“Babe, you think you just said it now, but what you don’t realize is you said it a long time ago.” He watched her closely, as though gauging her reaction.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Bella, I watch you, I see you, I know you. You forget all this.” He watched her, letting his words hang in the air. “Besides, you already know how I feel about you.” A lock of his hair dangled over an eye and a sexy smile made its way across his face.

She shivered, unable to stop the thoughts of relationships and love from rolling through her mind. This time, they didn’t evoke pangs of guilt and uneasiness. This time she was overwhelmed with excitement. Luke and Isabella...it sounded
perfect
now, when every time before it had sounded like relationship suicide.

“But you know how I feel about relationships,” she whispered emptily. She said it as though it were reflex, not feeling the words in her heart.

“I know,” he said, the smile falling from his face. He buried his hands in his pockets, groaning loudly. “You make it really hard to pretend otherwise.”

He stared hard at her. Isabella felt like she could collapse under the weight of all her conflicting emotions. She wanted to reach out to him, but he had put a defiant distance between them that clearly stated his feelings.

“I hope you’ll get over that someday,” he said. “And I hope I’ll be the first one you’ll turn to.”

“So what, you want a relationship now? After all this time of being a bar-hopping bachelor?”

He shrugged. “I told you it was possible, if I found the right girl.”

Happiness exploded in every corner of her body and she could hardly keep herself from giggling and blushing in response. She looked away, unsure what to say that wouldn’t betray her secret relief and happiness.

“And I found the right girl,” he added quietly.

Isabella felt tears welling in her eyes, and was genuinely surprised to find them there. “How do you know? You don’t even know what relationships are like. You haven’t even experienced a failed one to teach you how worthless they really are.”

He clenched his teeth. “Isabella, you’re not listening to me.” He approached her again, as though discarding his previous resolve to stay away. He took her head in his hands and looked her in the eye. “I found you. I like you. I want you. That’s all I know, and that’s all I’m working with.” He paused, wetting his bottom lip with his tongue. “I didn’t realize what I was looking for until I found it.”

She bit her lip and smiled. He kissed her sloppily on the mouth and when he pulled away he sighed loudly, marking the end of their heavy conversation. “Listen, babe, we’ve been doing too much talking here. I need to take my mind off this stuff. Got any suggestions?”

She relished the opportunity to turn the evening toward a more risqué ending, and said, “I’ll race you to the car.”

***

Back at Isabella’s house, it was an Olympian effort to make it from the car and into the house without breaking the seal their mouths had created, but they managed. Once they were inside, the door slammed shut and Luke threw her against it, devouring her neck in wet kisses. Isabella’s breath stuck in her throat; she was already at the brink of sexual ecstasy. His hands drew tantalizing patterns up and down her thighs until finally his fingers slipped quietly beneath the elastic of her underwear. She gasped when his finger dipped deep inside her and then back out, his hands resuming their voyage up and down the length of her thighs.

Hot kisses trailed from her neck to her breasts. A free hand snaked behind her and unzipped her dress and before she realized it, the fabric had crumpled to the ground around her feet.

Luke groaned with pleasure and picked her up into his arms, pressing her hard against him.

“Don’t even try going up that ladder.” She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck, loving the feel of his body against hers, wrapping her legs even tighter around his back.

“Your new Jacuzzi sounds great, but we’re going someplace a little more convenient.” He walked into the kitchen and set her on top of the nearest counter. He took a moment to look at her, hand cupping her cheek and fingers getting tangled in her hair. Their heavy breathing receded momentarily as they got lost in the gaze. Luke blinked finally, then kissed her hard, nestling his hard-on between her legs, right against her most sensitive spot. She tensed, grabbing a fistful of his hair.

“This is just what I had in mind,” she whispered, nipping at his earlobe.

He began gyrating against her, grinding his pelvis into her with slow, methodical swirls. Pleasure trickled through her veins, lighting every square inch of her skin on fire. She unbuttoned his pants as he kissed her slowly and deeply, pushing them down until they fell to the ground. She fished a hand into the opening of his boxers, brushing the ridge of his hard-on with her fingertips. He shivered and unclasped her bra, sliding the black straps down each arm, watching it fall away from her body. He lowered his head and took a nipple in between his lips, teasing it gently with the tip of his tongue. She inhaled sharply, wishing she could make this night last forever, never wanting to be away from the warmth of his embrace, or the scent of his hair, or anything else about him. Luke was intoxicating, for sure, but now he was a part of her life, one that she wanted to continue indefinitely.

Luke’s fingers dipped beneath her underwear once more and plunged deep within her. She tensed and let out a shuddery moan. He worked his fingers in and out, slowly at first, increasing the pace as her breaths did.

“You want it,” he murmured into her ear, slipping his fingers out of her, rubbing his fingertips slowly, torturously, over her clit, massaging it between his slippery fingers.

“Keep going,” she breathed. All of his attention had to be focused down there, or else she’d die. She loved the feel of him inside her, loved his thick fingers and the magic they could work.

He slipped his penis out of his boxers and let it graze over the fabric of her underwear.

“So close,” he whispered, smiling coyly. He pressed himself hard against her, his breath leaving a hot spot on her neck. She shivered, wrapping her legs around his hips, urging him to do what they both so desperately wanted.

He slipped himself beneath her underwear and rubbed his cock against her throbbing pussy. She threw her head back and moaned. God, it was
right there
...and he was still refusing her, taking his sweet time, prolonging this delicious agony.

“Come on, Luke. Do it,” she whispered, voice catching in her throat.

He pushed the tip of his penis inside her barely an inch, and then withdrew it slowly. She clenched her firsts, resisting the urge to strangle him.

“Not funny,” she murmured, eyes half-closed and feeling delirious with the combination of agony and pleasure.

“No, but very devilish.” He covered her mouth with his in a kiss that intensified the fire burning between her legs. When they parted, the devilish gleam was still in his eyes and she didn’t think she’d be getting her pleasure very easily.

“Tonight, we play my games,” he whispered, cupping her cheek in his hand. She loved the suggestion that this was only the beginning of their journey together, that they had many more days and nights of passion to look forward to. She smiled through their kiss.

His fingers danced at her hot opening once more. His thumb made torturously slow circles over her clitoris, causing a shock of pleasure that made her jerk as he rubbed her. Sweat had pooled behind her knees and in the corners of her elbows, and she could feel how slick the back of his neck had gotten, saw moisture marks already forming on the front of his T-shirt.