Sure it had hurt then, but he’d brought it up now to draw out the woman he’d known from this seductress before him.
She shrugged. “You don’t really want to talk about Sam, do you, Luke?”
He didn’t know what he was trying to prove. He looked around the dance floor. Now wasn’t the time to rehash the past. No time would be the right time. “No.”
“How about a drink?” she said. Her gaze flicked over his face.
“A couple of glasses of wine between old friends? Why not. Wait here.”
* * *
Penny’s heart pounded as she sank into a chair and watched Luke walk away. Her knees had barely held her up. Without Luke’s arms around her, she would have been down on the ground. She watched him move through the crowd.
Sam had been a means to an end. She’d hated herself for using him, but it had done exactly what she needed it to. Luke had to leave for college without her.
As the DJ cued up some fast dance music, Penny took a deep breath. Tonight had turned out perfectly for Brady and Maggie. They were dancing with Amber in the circle of people on the dance floor.
If her knees recovered, she might go join them. A glass of wine appeared over her shoulder and Luke’s breath teased the hairs on the back of her neck. “I had to turn down a lot of eligible ladies to get back here.”
Glancing over at the bar, she took the wineglass and felt him sit in the chair behind hers. All of her cells were attuned to whatever frequency Luke gave off. At the bar stood a gathering of white-haired women all giving Luke come-hither looks and finger waves.
Penny choked back a laugh. She tried her hardest to look serious when she turned to Luke. “I hope you let them down easy. It’s just as hard to find a man at their age as mine.”
Leaning in so he could speak in her ear and be heard over the music, Luke’s cheek rubbed against hers, sending a wave of heat through her. “I always try to be gentle.”
“I’m sure you do.” She could feel his cheek lift in a grin. A shiver rippled down her back.
He moved back until they were eye to eye. “They were actually encouraging me to hit on the wedding coordinator.”
Penny glanced over at Rebecca in her peach suit. She was a few years younger than Penny and looked as if the pressure of this wedding was about to make her explode.
“I suppose you could go for Rebecca....” Penny put on a pretend thoughtful look.
The music changed to a slow song again. “Come on. You can tell me all about what that look means on the dance floor.”
Luke pulled her out of the chair and guided her into his arms. She’d given up on love songs when Luke left, preferring the rawness of modern rock. Slow songs messed with her brain and made her think about things she couldn’t have.
“So are we for or against chatting up the wedding coordinator?” Luke raised his eyebrow as he looked down at Penny.
“I think she’d have an aneurysm if ‘we’ approached her.” Penny mocked Luke’s look.
Luke laughed. “Fair enough. Besides, I’m only here until tomorrow. Wouldn’t be fair to get anyone’s hopes up.”
“No, you wouldn’t want to do that.”
He pressed his hand into the small of her back and she allowed herself to move closer to him. To breathe in his scent. To feel the heat of his body against hers. The song didn’t matter as long as it didn’t stop.
“Besides—” he leaned down as if he had a secret to whisper in her ear “—I always heard that the best man was supposed to hook up with the maid of honor.”
Penny’s breathing hitched as she met his eyes. “I think it’s actually a written law somewhere that if both parties are single, it’s required.”
“So we’d be in a lot of trouble if we didn’t at least attempt to...” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Heaps of trouble.” Her heart beat hard against her chest as she tried to keep a teasing tone.
“We wouldn’t want that.” Luke gave her a cocky smile. “But then you were never the type to follow rules.”
“I’ll have you know I’m one of the upstanding citizens in Tawnee Valley now.”
“Really?” His sarcastic tone made her laugh.
“I’m a valued member of the Chamber of Commerce. My shop brings in tons of tourists.”
“I guess that nails it, then.” He made a serious face even though his eyes were twinkling. Still dancing, he led her to the side of the dance floor. “Rules are rules, after all.”
She swallowed as liquid heat flooded her system. Her fingers locked around the back of his neck. “I suppose after the reception...”
The heat in his blue eyes made her breath catch. He didn’t have to say he wanted her. It was there and it scorched her through to her soul. She didn’t want to wait. It had been too long since she’d held him, since her skin had brushed against his.
His smile grew cocky. “Why wait?”
Penny glanced around them. The music had shifted to a fast song again. Most everyone was on the dance floor. Amber was dancing with her parents. Sam was brooding in a corner with a glass of liquor. The older folks were on the other side of the dance floor gathered around a few tables. It looked as if they were shouting to talk above the music.
His hand closed firmly around hers and she met his eyes. Apparently they’d reached the same conclusion. No one would miss them if they ducked out at this moment. She doubted anyone would even think anything of it if they did disappear.
Luke started backing up, pulling her with him. Giddiness welled inside her, the same feeling she used to get in high school when Luke would pick her up for a date. Anticipation mixed with the knowledge that no one would know what they were doing. Something hidden that was hers alone.
“You know, I’m not this type of guy.” He stopped and pulled her hard until she stumbled into his chest. His teasing smile made her heart skip a beat. “I usually require dinner and wine first.”
She smiled up at him. “Good thing we came to a wedding, then. Dinner, check. Wine, check.”
“I wouldn’t want you to think less of me.” He was joking around, but her heart wouldn’t let her say something flippant. It demanded she let him know this much.
“Nothing would make me think less of you.”
He glanced over her shoulder toward the rest of the party as they approached the exit. “Where should we go?”
When he turned back to her, she forgot to breathe, let alone think. She knew that in Luke’s eyes, they were equals, but she’d always known she wasn’t as good as he was. During sex was the only time she felt like his match.
“Follow me.” She led him past the curtain and into the darkness behind it. The closet door opened easily and she slid in with Luke behind her.
“Classy,” Luke muttered. The door closed and the small space seemed to close in on them. Even the music was muffled beyond recognition. The smell of lemon cleaner tinged the air.
“If you’d rather go out in the parking lot and risk causing Bitsy heart palpitations when she sees me straddling you in your brother’s truck—”
“Stop thinking, Penny.” In the darkness, he moved closer until she felt his whole body pressed against hers. Her breath quickened as she waited. For his next move. For his touch.