“I was shot, if that’s what you mean.”
“Shot?”
Uh-oh. He’d gone too far. Tessa jerked back in her chair and the view disappeared. And now he was just sitting there with a lap full of regretful lust. He never talked about being shot. Her cleavage was a damned menace.
“Oh, my God! Where were you shot?”
“In the shoulder. It wasn’t a big deal.”
“How did it happen?”
“A bullet came through a wall. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s all.”
“Oooh, you’re so stoic and manly about it.”
Luke felt his scowl tip up into a smile. He reached for his margarita. “Oh, yeah? You like that?”
“I sure do. Come on. Don’t tell me that story hasn’t gotten you laid a few times.”
Lime juice burned like hell when it went down your windpipe, and that was knowledge Luke could’ve happily lived without. As he coughed, Tessa lifted her own margarita and winked. “You probably practice that sexy damaged-cop thing in the mirror.”
“Excuse me?” he choked out.
She waved her fingers toward his chest as she took a delicate sip. “I’ve got you all figured out, Detective Luke Asher.”
“Have I already suggested that you watch too many cop shows?”
She shrugged. “Maybe I do. I hope you’re not refusing to play along.”
At that moment, Luke was pretty sure he’d play whatever games she wanted. She thought he was sexy. And damaged. Maybe if he told her how screwed up his life was she’d get off on it. Then again, maybe this was a sign that she was naive and sheltered and he should really back off. After all, he’d seen enough screwed-up cops to know there was nothing appealing about them.
But the bill came, and Tessa asked, “Are you ready?” and Luke found himself saying yes. Yes, he was ready. But ready for what? Even as he stood and pulled out her chair and followed her out of the restaurant, his brain was telling him to end this here. She was too young, too sweet, too related to protective men. He did not need more complication in his life. Then she took his arm, and her hip bumped his. A breeze blew her hair toward him, sweeping it along his shoulder, and the scent of her shampoo drifted through him. She smelled … delicious. Like a treat that would be really, truly bad for you. Luke found himself thinking of kissing her neck and dragging his mouth down the neckline of that shirt. He thought of pulling it down farther and devouring her.
Christ, he wanted to strip her naked and have her for days.
He opened her car door, and Tessa winked as she got in, as if she knew what he was thinking. But surely not. She was flirting, not giving him the green light to jump her. She probably had no idea of the kinds of filthy things men fantasized about.
Luke shook his head to try to clear it. A girl like Tessa Donovan wasn’t looking to fall into bed after one date. Which was good news. Because he clearly had no willpower where she was involved.
By the time Luke settled into the driver’s seat and started the car, he’d talked himself down to a reasonable state. Her cleavage wasn’t in view. Her hip wasn’t touching his. Luke’s libido was under his control again. And then she touched his thigh. Just laid her hand on his thigh as if she had the right to do that. Holy shit, this girl had no idea what she was doing to him. There was an incredibly short distance between the nerves of his thigh and the nerves of his cock.
“That was fun,” she said, sliding her hand up an inch higher before she slid it right back to her side of the car. The air in the hot car felt cold against his thigh now that her hand had deserted him.
He inhaled very slowly. “Yeah, that was fun,” he said with a casual smile.
Her gaze dipped to his mouth, and she smiled, as well. “Would you like to—?” A high-pitched tune interrupted her words with cruel timing. Tessa cringed and reached for her purse.
Would you like to what? Scowling, Luke put the car in gear and pulled out as Tessa glanced down at the phone. She bit out something that soundly strangely like, “Oh, balls.”
“Did you just say ‘balls’?” Luke asked.
She turned a look on him that seemed to accuse him of complete insanity. Shaking her head, she put a finger to her mouth to shush him. Embarrassment fell over him in a scalding wash. He’d just said balls to this girl.
“Hey, Jamie,” she said into the phone, and Luke felt another rush of heat. He’d promised Jamie he’d stay away from Tessa; now Luke was holding his breath in the seat beside her.
“She called?” Tessa asked, turning her head to face the window. “Okay. Do you think I should call her back …? Well, someone has to talk to her. She didn’t say anything in the message?”
Luke unashamedly listened in, but he couldn’t hear Jamie’s side of the conversation. He’d gotten a weird vibe from these two at the robbery call, not to mention this afternoon. There was a tension between them that they were pretending didn’t exist.
Tessa made a couple of affirmative noises before telling her brother she’d call him later. She was quiet when she hung up, any hint of flirtation gone from her body language. Luke tried to let it go, but he was a cop at heart.
“Is everything okay?”
“Oh, yeah!” she said too brightly. “Just brewery stuff.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. Are cops always so suspicious?”
Yeah, she was lying through her charming teeth. “You don’t have to tell me, Tessa, but it was obvious to me that you and Jamie were hiding something at the brewery this morning. Does it have anything to do with the robbery?”
“What?” she breathed, her voice weak with shock. “No, of course not.” Now there was honesty in her eyes.
“I didn’t really think so or I would have pushed it at the scene. So do you want to talk about it?”
She wasn’t flirting with him anymore, but somehow Luke found that he liked her even more now. Her eyes were soft with worry, and he could see pale gold flames streaking through her green irises. Her mouth was still pink and beautiful, and her teeth pressed into her lower lip as she considered his offer. Her teeth. Her lip. The tiny indentation she made with the pressure. The hint of moisture that glistened against the pink …
A car horn blasted the air, and Luke looked up in utter shock. He was stopped at a four-way stop sign, and there were two cars behind him. Real smooth, Asher.
But Tessa didn’t seem to notice, thank God. She was too busy frowning down at her hands. “It’s not my story to tell. Suffice to say that I know something I don’t want Eric to find out about. It’s family stuff.”
“I understand.” Oh, boy, did he.
“It’s no big deal,” she insisted. But clearly it was. She stayed quiet for the rest of the drive, staring out at the gingerbread houses of the street. It was strange to think of her living in one of these big old houses by herself. Yet somehow it fit her perfectly. He could picture her wearing one of those frilly aprons while she baked cookies and—
“Oh, shit!” she yelped, ruining the pretty picture he’d painted. “Eric is here.” Instead of caressing his thigh again, her hand slammed into his chest. “Stop!”
He followed her wide-eyed stare to the sight of her place three houses down. A pale gray SUV sat at the curb, glowing under the streetlight.
“I’m sorry. He comes by pretty often. He’s probably looking