Closer to My Heart (3 page)

Holding Jane, sleeping so peacefully like she hadn’t a care in the world, was very cathartic. He took advantage of her exhaustion to look his fill. When she’d focused her sea green eyes on him that first time, his heart had stopped beating. They were the color of an ocean he’d once seen a world away when he was an Army Ranger. Her jet-black hair was so dark that it looked blue where it curved along her scalp. Her skin was clear of makeup, and was clean and healthy, and lightly tanned like she enjoyed her time outdoors—though it wasn’t leathery like the women he’d been around south of the border. She’d felt bad and been grumpy, and he couldn’t wait for her to wake up so he could get to know her.

For the first time in what seemed like ages, he closed his eyes and slept. And he dreamt, despite his every attempt at avoiding his memories.

A week later Jane rounded the corner on Carolina Avenue and sprinted the last block to her big Georgian house. She stopped on the sidewalk in front of the low white picket fence and hopped back and forth, like a boxer. She took a deep breath, and then checked her pulse while she walked in loose circles around the front yard to cool down. It just took two or three minutes until her breathing slowed and her pulse returned to normal. Rivulets of sweat trickled from her long hair down her back, between her breasts and to the waistband of her shorts. She bent at the waist and rested her palms flat on the ground in front of her toes, took a deep breath and then stood up and stretched her arms high overhead to let it out.

When she opened her eyes, Lucas was standing on the porch staring at her. It looked like he’d stopped speaking mid-sentence. She blushed and lowered her eyes to the lush bed of pink Impatiens that grew in front of a hedge of pale blue Hydrangea lining the shaded front walkway. It was one of her favorite spots in her summer garden.

“Excuse me, Tiffany,” she heard him say, though his gaze was focused on Jane. His cheeks flushed a deeper red as he watched her intently, and she fought against squirming under his close inspection.

She craned her neck instead to see who he was talking with.
Shit!
Amber, the elementary school teacher, had a friend named Tiffany who could easily qualify as a full-out hooker. She’d always wondered why Amber settled on teaching school as her profession when she was so openly interested in screwing as many people as was humanly possible. Poor Andy. Until they’d left last week, Amber had been actively participating in a swinger’s club with a tight knit group of people who’d gone to grad school with her at Duke. What on earth could have he have used to seduce her into marriage? Two dicks? That made her snicker, and she looked guiltily at Luke when he cleared his throat. He was coming down the stairs.

She blinked and turned on her mega-watt smile, and he nearly stumbled down the porch steps. Tiffany did not like sharing the spotlight, and stamped her foot. Jane snickered.

“Hi,” Lucas said simply. “I missed you.” He reached out and cupped her left shoulder, squeezing it affectionately.

“Hi back. I’ve been in Manhattan, with my editor and my agent.”

Her pulse raced, which really pissed her off. His full attention, in the light of day where she could clearly see what a sexy man he was, had a pleasant effect. Her breasts felt heavy and tingly, her nipples had tightened, and once again her panties were growing damp. He tightened his grip, pulling her into the shelter of his broad shoulders. She tried to resist at first, but he gently shook his head ‘no,’ forcing her to either stumble or move against him gracefully. She squirmed around to dull the throbbing in her core, but Lucas, that dog, shifted his gaze to her hips and smiled knowingly at the effect he had on her. It was a wicked, naughty grin that showed the deep dimples bracketing his sinful mouth. He licked his lips.

“The house was quiet without you,” he growled. He leaned in and kissed her on the neck, in that sensitive junction between her earlobe and the curve of her shoulder. Before pulling back, he gave her a light lick.

Her breath whooshed out and, dear Lord, she had a little orgasm. She opened her mouth to chastise him, but squeaked instead at her body’s release.

His deep, gravelly voice made her shiver. He was so intense, so … sexy. Her reaction to him was startling.

“But I enjoyed the chocolate cake you left on the stairs. It’s not often that a beautiful woman cooks for me.”

Tiffany gasped and stamped her foot. “Lucas!” Her voice was shrill and Jane had to fight the urge to laugh. “I didn’t have time to invite you to dinner and …
dessert
.” She stomped, quite unladylike, down the stairs and tried to weasel her way in between Lucas and Jane, but he shifted and wrapped his arm around the woman he really wanted—Jane.

Undeterred, she tried to push around him again and swatted at his strong shoulder. She huffed, irritated. “Well, I can just bring dinner over here tonight if that’s better.”

“You know, Tiffany, I’ve already got plans tonight, but thanks for the invitation.”

Jane smirked, and he looked over at her. Lord, she was beautiful. He looked back to Tiffany and the first thing he noticed was how unnatural her skin looked. It was mid-July and the temperature was already over 95 degrees, yet she had on a full face of makeup. She looked ridiculous; like a child playing in her mother’s vanity. Sweat ran from her temples, dragging thick globs of foundation in its wake. It was dirty looking. Dark, puffy circles, probably remnants of last night’s drinking binge, weren’t hidden quite as well as she’d have liked. Her perfume was so heavy that Lucas had to concentrate on not inhaling his lung capacity in Calvin Klein
One
. Gag.

“But you were going to have dinner with me tonight,” she whined. She managed to get her hands around his arm, but he shook them off.

It was time for Tiffany to go. She’d worn out her welcome as soon as the doorbell rang.

“Tiffany, it was nice of Amber to ask you to look in on me. As I explained earlier, though, I don’t need your help in acclimating to the south, or cooking meals, or finding out the hottest spots to party at. Thanks for your interest, though. I’ll call if, uh—well, never mind.” He was pretty certain he’d never
ever
call her.

Jane was tired from her run, but watching Luke brush off Tiffany with his easy style had rejuvenated her. Tiffany was either really dim, or playing dumb so she didn’t have to admit defeat. Regardless of her true intent, it gave Jane time to check out the big hunk holding onto her like a lifeline.

Last week, when she’d had her migraine and he’d helped her, she didn’t really register much about him beyond his easy strength. “The morning after,” as she’d come to think of it, Luke’s big rangy body had been tucked at an odd angle and folded into the chair. And to her mortification, she had turned during the night to face him so that her legs were straddling his lean hips. Her mouth had been open and resting against his throat. So she did what any modern woman bent on self-preservation would do—she ran. Today, however, with him standing so close…she could tell just how big and broad he really was. He was huge. Like Goliath big.
Yum
.

Jane was about five foot six inches tall, but he towered over her by a good foot. The arm wrapped around her shoulders was strong. Long ropy muscles wrapped around the thick bones of his forearms and wrists, and the sprinkling of hair on his forearm tickled her back. Her pulse picked up the pace again and she gave into temptation and leaned back into his body. He let out a little growl and squeezed her shoulder again. A fine tremor passed through his long body.

Jane turned to look at Luke, and her breath caught in her throat. The sun made the lighter streaks in his dark blonde hair shine, and the intensity of his dark brown eyes burned into her like molten hot fudge. He brought his other hand up and lightly, gently stroked the front of her neck from her chin to just below her collarbone with his forefinger. She jerked, but when he brought his finger to his mouth and licked her sweat off his fingertip, like an ice cream cone, she whimpered. Sheesh, how embarrassing! She cut her eyes over to see if Tiffany was still watching. She was.

The corners of his mouth turned up, and he moved his palm to cup the front of her throat. His long fingers brushed lightly against her fluttering pulse. It was a possessive action, and it was not wasted on Jane—or Tiffany. He ran his tongue along his bottom lip, as if he were savoring the taste of her, and closed his eyes. “Jane,” he said breathlessly.

Tiffany stormed past them, making a huge racket in her tantrum. Lucas paused until she had climbed in her cherry red convertible BMW, finally getting the hint that he didn’t want anything to do with her. As soon as her car was out of sight, he slid his arm down Jane’s back, brushing against her waist and wrapping his long fingers around the rounded points of her hips and turned her towards the front door. She was snickering and told him what a bad boy he was, to which he merely shrugged and said, “I didn’t ask her to stop by.”

Jane nodded and walked inside, thinking about how to proceed with him. He was beyond sexy, and she was definitely in the market for a lover…and maybe a bit more. But he was a wildcard, here to recuperate or start over or something. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. She gulped down about half of the bottle before turning to keep up the conversation, and laughed when she realized Luke was still on her heels.

“How long are you going to be here?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but twisted up his mouth and cleared his throat. She handed him the water bottle and he finished it, and cleared his throat again. “Uh, I don’t really have any definite plans. I’m trying to keep my options open. It’s been a while since I had my own place.”

“Do you like Durham?”

He nodded. “I was born up north, and this is the first I’ve ever been in North Carolina, but I like it.” He took a step toward her and she took a step back. He chuckled. “I’d like to give it a go here.”

Jane blushed and lowered her gaze shyly. They stood quietly for a minute before she headed out of the kitchen. Luke had a moment of panic and stuttered out, “Do you run everyday?”

She jumped and turned back to him. “Yes. Well, that is, I try to do
something
every day. Some days I ride my bike over on campus or on the American Tobacco Trail, some days I head over to the aquatics center and swim. Today I ran my five mile track, which is always fun. Do you run?”

He nodded. “I try to,” he said rather sarcastically. If she only knew. He’d been a soldier and spook for the better part of a decade, and rigorous physical training made the difference for him in life and death. “Maybe I could join you sometime.”

“I’d like that. I’m going to go clean up. Feel free to grab something to eat before you head back up. Oh, and I don’t think Amber’s got a TV up there. You can watch the game if you want.”

He smiled at the pretty blush that crept up her cheeks and let her escape. Almost.

She was barely out of sight when he called out to her. “Hey—sweet Jane!” Her footsteps stopped, but she didn’t return to the kitchen with him.

“I really did miss you. Would you have dinner with me tonight?”

Dinner was a casual affair, and exactly what they needed.

“So what kind of writer are you?”

“I’ve been a freelance writer since college. Travel and leisure stuff mostly, but I got tired of traveling and concentrated on a longer format that kept me on one continent for a while—I just finished my second teen novel.”

“Well that sounds interesting, too,” he said politely, but his hidden question was there: why leave a glamorous career to write books for kids? “Do you miss the travel?”