“Fancy meeting you here.”
Embry’s eyes shot up. Luke stared down at her, smirking. “Hmmm, I have a thing for good-looking men in hallways,” Embry joked. “I was actually just texting you back.”
“Well now you can tell me in person,” he said in that deep, sexy voice.
Embry noticed that his hands were still gripping her arms. He gently rubbed his thumbs back and forth across her skin, and for a second, she forgot how to speak. Nervously shoving her hair behind her ear, she looked up through her long eyelashes. “I, um … I can’t wait for tonight.”
Luke gave her a dazzling smile. “Me neither.” He glanced over her shoulder and dropped his hands. “I have to run; I’ll see you at six?”
“Yep. I’ll text you my address.”
Embry walked into her classroom and plopped down next to Jeremy. “Hey, stranger.”
“Hey, Blondie. How was your weekend?”
“It was good. Yours?”
“Great. How was the social?”
“It was fun! You were missed,” Embry said, nudging his arm.
“Hopefully there’ll be more!”
“Yeah. You can bring Becky along next time,” she suggested.
“Nah, she turned out to be a dud. I wound up hanging out with Angela from section two.”
Embry’s mouth fell open.
The professor walked in, ending their conversation. Embry spent the entire class mindlessly typing notes and daydreaming about Luke. Thank God her professor put an outline up on the projector, because Embry didn’t hear a word he said.
By the time class was over, she was a nervous wreck. What was I thinking inviting him to my apartment? Embry hadn’t been alone with a man in quite a while, and she wasn’t sure being alone with Luke was the best idea. At the same time, she couldn’t wait to spend some time with him. She tapped out a quick text giving Luke her address and headed home to get ready.
She walked through her apartment door and immediately regretted inviting him over. Ugh, when did this place become such a mess? Embry ran around picking up shoes and purses and shoving them in her closet. All of her law textbooks were strewn around the apartment, so she stacked them neatly on her desk.
Once she’d cleaned the apartment, she had about an hour until Luke came over. She hopped in the shower, and shaved in all the important places, just in case. She blow-dried and curled her hair, threw on some makeup, and stared into her underwear drawer. Lace or practical? Sexy or cute? He is so not seeing my underwear tonight.
Embry was startled out of her thoughts by her phone. She grabbed it and saw that she had a text from Luke. He was on his way. Crap. She grabbed a lace set, threw on a silky, mint button-down blouse, dark skinny jeans, nude flats, and a gold chunky necklace. Embry took the wine out of the freezer and was in the bathroom giving herself a spritz of perfume when the doorbell rang.
“Coming!” She smoothed her shirt and headed for the front door. She pulled open the door, and instead of Luke, she was face to face with her creepy upstairs neighbor.
“Hey, Embry,” he said, leaning against the doorjamb. He gave her a thorough once-over, which left her feeling as though she needed another shower. “Looking good.”
“What can I do for you?”
Reggie had seen Embry moving in and taken it upon himself to be her one-man welcoming committee. Since then, he’d stopped by her apartment randomly, trying to convince her to go out with him so he could “show her the sights.”
“All dressed up and no place to go?” Reggie asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Um, no …”
“Actually,” said a familiar raspy voice, “she has dinner plans with me.”
Embry turned to see Luke walking up the stairs, grocery bag in hand. He looked sexy as hell in tan, pressed khakis and a dark blue button-down that made his eyes look even more amazing, if that was possible. Reggie backed up, and Luke slipped in through the door, bending down to give Embry a kiss on the cheek before walking into the kitchen to put down the groceries.
Luke came back to the door and put his arm around Embry’s waist. “Hey, man, I’m Luke. Nice to meet you.” He stuck out his free hand for Reggie to shake.
“Reggie,” he said, shaking Luke’s hand. “Well, I guess I’ll see you around, Embry. Have a nice dinner.”
“Bye, Reggie,” Embry said, relieved that Luke had saved her from an awkward conversation. She shut the door and turned around right into Luke’s chest. She lifted her gaze up to him. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Luke replied, tucking a stray hair behind Embry’s ear.
“Hey,” Embry said again, sounding more breathless than she would’ve liked.
“Hey,” he whispered, his eyes burning into hers.
He hooked his finger beneath her chin, gently tilting her head, and before she had time to think, his mouth was on hers. He ran his tongue lightly along her bottom lip until she opened for him, their tongues tentative, exploring. She thought her knees would give out at the sensation. Luke deepened the kiss, his hands roaming her curves as his hard body covered hers. Embry reached up, digging her hands into his perfect hair. She was a second away from climbing him and wrapping her legs around him.
Luke pulled back slightly, causing Embry’s hands to fall to his chest. He gently nipped and sucked at her bottom lip before dragging his mouth from hers. Staring at her with desire in his eyes, Luke braced his hands on the door on either side of Embry’s head, clearly trying to calm himself. She could only focus on the warmth of his chest beneath her hands and the sweet taste of him lingering on her lips.
Luke leaned his head against his shoulder and looked down at her. “I’m sorry, Bree, I just … I’ve been wanting to do that since I laid eyes on you in the hallway. Was that okay?”
Embry nodded, her hands playing with the buttons on his shirt. “More than okay,” she said quietly. As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she knew they were true. She felt safe with Luke.
“Good,” he said, placing a sweet kiss on her forehead. He grabbed her hand and led her toward the kitchen. “Let’s get you fed then.”
“Want to see the apartment first? I can give you a quick tour if you want,” Embry offered.
“Sure, beautiful. Lead the way,” he said, a smile lighting his eyes.
5
Embry led Luke around her apartment. The front door opened into a living room/dining room combo with an open kitchen to the left. Through the dining room was the hallway to the guest bedroom/office, bathroom, and the master bedroom at the end. The master bedroom had its own bathroom. Both the living room and bedroom had sliding glass doors that led onto a sizeable balcony.
“Nice setup you’ve got here,” Luke said, looking out from the balcony. “No roommate?”
“Nope, just me. I was supposed to live with Morgan; her parents own the apartment. But her boyfriend asked her to move in with him, so I got the place to myself.”
“You don’t get too lonely all by yourself?” he asked.
“Nah. I don’t really have the chance to get lonely, Morgan still hangs around so much.” Embry laughed. “What about you? Do you live alone?”
“Yep. It’s just me. I bought a place over in Bayville.”
“So don’t you get lonely?” Embry asked, turning Luke’s question back on him.
“I’m working on that right now.” He smiled down at her and pulled her in for a quick kiss.
Embry hummed her approval.
Luke tugged her back into the living room. “Come on, let me feed you.”
Embry followed Luke into the kitchen and pointed out the essentials he’d need. As he acquainted himself with her kitchen, she went over to the island where Luke had set down the grocery bag. She peeked into the bag to see what he brought. Luke came up behind her and tickled her until she squirmed away from the bag.