Kissing Her Crush (5 page)

Who had taken this study seriously in the first place?

He wasn’t there to argue his personal opinion but to observe and report—report thoroughly, if that was what it took to sufficiently impress the NIH. If he saw anything truly dangerous, of course he’d crush it…no matter how cute Natalie looked in her lab coat.

“The flavanols in this particular cocoa bean are literally laced with anti-oxidants and magnesium, which make it an ideal carrier for the serum. Plus, the proven release of endorphins and other chemicals boost feelings of wellness in nearly ninety percent of subjects—”

“What about the sugar and fat?” Luke had to cut her off here.

Natalie sighed and didn’t look at him, but kind of through him. “In small doses, there’s little impact.”

“What teenager do you know who’s satisfied with one bite of chocolate? The city we live in is proof of that.”

“You don’t live here,” she muttered.

He crossed his arms. “Does it bother you when I point out the flaws in your theory, or do you plan to gloss over them?”

Another sigh, but with an impatient edge to it—like
he
was the slow one in the room. “We’re talking controlled doses,” she said. “Less than a quarter of a square of a standard Hershey bar, not the whole damn bar five times a day. Even so, we’ve seen no indications that even hint at a danger of overdose, aside from a normal stomachache that comes from eating five bars a day. And I’d appreciate if you’d hold your comments until the end.”

He lifted his eyebrows. “I thought we were a team.”

“I thought you were here to
observe
.”

He inhaled a slow, deep breath. “Look, like I tried to explain to you the other night—”

“Other night?” Ivy interrupted. “What other night?”

Natalie pressed her lips together in a hard line and shot him a glare. “It was nothing, Ivy. I told you.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Well…I’ll tell you later.”

Something unspoken passed between the two women. They weren’t just co-workers. They were friends, probably close friends. Yet Natalie hadn’t told her about their dinner. Another mental note.

“Can we get back to the subject?” Natalie said, her gaze scanning over their faces, though barely touching Luke’s. She was annoyed, and he thought about being a smartass but knew pushing her buttons wasn’t professional. So he leaned against the counter and listened.

For a while…

“You’re wrong,” he said, finally, straight up, after ten minutes of trying to have a tactful dialogue with her.

“I’m not,” Natalie shot back, getting red in the face. “You’re obviously not listening, and we’re all familiar with your
opinion
. You’re a sugar Nazi.”

“That’s insultingly simplistic,” Luke replied, regretting—for only a second—that he’d piped in. “Especially for someone who claims to be a scientist. You’re way off.”

“I’m right on target.”

Now
he
was getting annoyed. Though it was hard to stay annoyed when she tugged at the ends of her hair.

“What would you say if I said we should agree to disagree?”

Luke grinned at her. “I’d say I won.”

Natalie exhaled a growl. “The ego on you.”

“Inner security,” he tweaked. Then winked.

“Don’t,” she snapped under her breath.

“Don’t what?”

“You know what.”

“
Hey
. You two need to stop. Step back and regroup.”

They both turned to Ivy. For a moment, Luke had forgotten there was anyone in the lab besides Natalie. She’d taken over the room, as well as his mind, and made him lose focus.

Ivy’s hands were splayed on her hips, looking tiny but menacing. “I’m serious. Leave.”

Natalie clicked to the next slide. “Right, like we have time for that.”

“What we don’t have time for is stopping every two seconds for you guys to argue the simplest points. Nat, I’m number two on the project, right? Right?” She waited for Natalie to nod. “As number two, I’m saying you’re seriously slowing down progress. When you’re both gone, I’ll pick up where you left off.”

“Sorry,” Natalie said. “There’s no need. Let’s get back to—”

Ivy grabbed the clicker out of her hand. “You think I’m kidding? Does it
sound
like I’m kidding?”

She sounds a little scary
, Luke thought.

Maybe their bickering had gotten out of hand. Something about arguing with Natalie brought out the teaser in him. But Ivy was right. It was the furthest thing from professional.

“Cool off,” Ivy said in a low voice to Natalie. “Refocus and regroup. Whatever it takes, okay?”

Natalie stared at the redhead, but Luke could tell it was no longer a battle. He’d never been kicked out of a lab before. What was going on in his brain?

“Fine,” Natalie said. “But I’m not leaving unless
he
is.”

“Oh, he’s leaving.”

Luke lifted both hands. “I don’t have a say?”

Ivy elongated her tiny stance. “I think we’ve heard enough from you for one morning.”

Yep, he was getting the boot.

“Fine. But I’d like a copy of any notes taken today. You have my email.”

“Sure, sure,” Ivy said. When he didn’t move to leave, she crossed her arms and glared.

He glanced at Natalie who was sliding out of her lab coat. She hung it on a hanger with the others and picked up her purse and a jacket.

“Well, that was a first,” she muttered once they were in the hall.

“Yeah.” When he realized his eyes were a bit too appreciative of Natalie’s body free from her uniform, he looked away. “For me, too. She’s tough.”

“She needs to be. That was really unprofessional. I’m never unprofessional..”

“It was my fault.”

“I’m not denying that.” She glanced at him and exhaled a tiny laugh. Over the weekend, he’d tried to remember what her laugh sounded like, why he’d liked it so much. And there it was. “We didn’t last one morning. We obviously need to figure out a way to work together.”

“Agreed. Compromise and communication, then?”

“We’ve probably communicated enough.”

Intriguing. “Okay. So, what do you suggest?”

She tugged at her bottom lip, thoughtfully. He liked her lips, too. “What I need right now is a major release.
Major
release. Know the kind I mean?” She looked him right in the eyes. “A tried and true one. Are you thinking the same?”

Luke’s mind spun wild at the thought of “releasing” with Natalie. “Maybe,” he said.

He was about to follow up with the classic “my place or yours” when she said, “Now. Let’s go.”

“Where?” he asked, following as she started marching toward the parking lot. Though he was so curious, he didn’t care where she was leading him.

“I came with Ivy this morning, so you’re driving. This is you, right?” She stopped at his Jeep.

He rushed to her side to open her door. She climbed in without a word, and Luke slid behind the wheel. “Where to?”

“Hersheypark.”

That thoroughly awakened him, and he frowned in confusion. “The amusement park?”

She smiled at him, the same smile from the other night. “Race you to the SooperDooperLooper.”

H
ersheypark was just what Natalie needed when she felt stressed and wanted to bust out. It reminded her of being young and carefree. Of course Luke wouldn’t come with her. He was an Elliott, after all. Dignified and polished, living in a city with actual traffic. He’d clearly shaken off the small town charm of Hershey a million years ago.

So she was surprised when he’d thrown the car in reverse and sped across town.

“What’s your favorite ride?” she asked as they walked across the parking lot.

“It’s been a while, probably twenty years,” Luke answered.

She flashed her badge at the entrance gate. “You never came in high school?”

“Guess I grew out of it.”

“Oh.” No, she was not immature, even though she’d gone at least once a month for as long as she could remember.

“Where should we start? Ladies’ choice.”

“Hmm.” Natalie couldn’t help grinning like a kid as she glanced at the familiar shops, booths, and rides. “How are you with heights and freefalls?”

“They’re my specialty.”

“Let’s hit Sidewinder.” She pointed toward the rollercoaster across the park. “It might not look tall from here, but we’re far away.”

“I’ll consider myself warned.”

Luke was first to get in the waiting two-seater car. Obviously, she’d noticed his body the other night, his chest and nice-fitting jeans. Those details weren’t lost on her today when his long legs stepped into the car. She also took note of his thick neck and broad shoulders as he pulled the paddled metal harness over his head, securing it at his chest. Nice arms, too. Nearly perfect bicep muscles. Scientifically speaking.

“Ma’am?” the worker kid said, waiting to usher her in next.

“Sorry, yeah.” She blinked awake and slid into the seat beside Luke, getting a closer look at those biceps. Damn, they were perfect, all right. Had he always been so muscular? He was this chiseled-faced, hulking mass taking up most of the space they were supposed to share.

She pulled the harness over her head, locked it in place, then stared straight ahead, trying to not feel the hard muscles of Luke’s arm and thigh against her.

“You smell nice.”

She continued to stare at the space in front of her. “That’s the cotton candy stand behind us.”

“No, it’s you.”

Right as she looked at him, their rollercoaster ride began…

L
uke gripped the metal safety bar. He’d never been afraid of thrill rides. Then again, he hadn’t been on a rollercoaster in years. As it started to creep up the hill, he glanced at Natalie. Her hair was blowing back from her face, a look of innocent excitement in her eyes, a twinkling smile of anticipation.

Caught up in watching her, he hadn’t realized they were at the top of the track until they pitched over the hump. Wind rushed against his face as they flew down the track, first one loop then another then a corkscrew through a tunnel. Natalie laughed and squealed, their bodies bumping against each other. He couldn’t help letting out a few whoops of his own.

After more loops, turns, and one sidesplitting jolt that probably gave them whiplash, the car slowed and crawled back to the start. His heart raced, and he was laughing so hard, tears blurred his vision. He hadn’t felt this exhilarated in ages.

Beside him, Natalie was hiccupping a string of laughs. Her long hair was wild and tangled, cheeks flushing like starbursts. She had a glow of satisfaction.

From the way Luke’s heart beat hard and fast, coupled with the rush of adrenaline, he couldn’t help comparing how he felt right now to how he sometimes felt after having mind-blowing—

Whoa
. Where’d that come from?

“You okay?” Natalie asked, breathless and winded. Again, reminding him of other activities.

“Sure,” he said, wiping his palms. “That was a rush.”

“Right?” She shook out her hair. “It never gets old.”

Luke was ready to suggest they take the ride again, right then. He wanted to hear her excited squealing, see that nirvana-like joy in her eyes.

“What next?” she asked, already climbing out of the car. “Your choice now.”

He sighed but quickly lifted a smile, a little preoccupied by watching as she made her way to the gate. Had Natalie had such a tight body when they were in high school?

She must not have, otherwise, why the holy hell hadn’t he noticed? He couldn’t help noticing now how her jeans hugged her in all the right places, and her pale blue shirt brightened her already bright eyes.

Luke could’ve been content right here, watching her sway and toss her tangled hair. Right as his gaze reached the back of her jeans, she slid a hand in her back pocket. Uncomfortable heat filled his chest, and he was momentarily grateful he was strapped in.

“Coming?” she said, glancing over her shoulder.

Hell to the yes…

No, wait. There was to be no hell to the yes-ing with Natalie. As it was, Luke was going to have a hard enough time explaining to Penn Med
and
the NIH why he hadn’t been in the lab for most of the first day.

Damn, man. Eye on the prize.

She’s blond and unpredictable. She wears pink Nikes and is almost as tall as I am,
he thought, reminding himself that she was the polar opposite of any woman he’d been interested in. There must’ve been a strong and logical, psychological reason why he’d always stuck to his type. He wasn’t about to question that reason now.

Chapter Four

I
t had been months since Natalie had been on the Sidewinder, and it was the exact release she needed. She’d even caught Luke having fun. The top of his hair was tousled from the wind, and that child-like grin made his eyes all sparkly.

She might not be able to wipe that image from her brain for a while.

“You had fun.” She pointed at him as they wove through the ride’s exit queue. “Admit it.”

“Gladly.” He nodded, conceding. “It’s a complete, natural rush.”

She laughed and tried to tame her hair. “Natural, except for the gasoline and engines.”

“I’m just saying, there wasn’t any sugar involved and yet you’re smiling.”

“That’s not part of the argument. The adrenaline rush from a rollercoaster is short-lived.”

“Unlike sugar’s?”

She tried to shoot him a glare, but the effort was halfhearted. She needed to behave like an adult, like the head of a research team. “I don’t want to fight about this.”

Luke opened his mouth like he was going to shoot back something triumphant, but instead he nodded and held the bar of the turnstile down for her to walk through. “No work talk?”

“If we’re going to get along, we need to…you know…start over.”

“You make us sound like a couple getting back together.”

Her body’s first reaction was her heart skipping a beat. But then “couple” echoed in her ears, and there was no more skipping.

When Jack the rat had pulled the plug on their relationship four years ago, he’d pretty much cured her of all desire to be part of a couple ever again. Especially with someone she worked with. Jeez, what a mistake that had been! One that not only left her with a severely broken heart, but a black mark on her professional reputation.

Note to self
, Natalie thought, as she made herself look away from Luke who was still wearing that adorable boyish smile.
Never let the man you’re living with, in love with, dating, or even almost kind of dating anywhere
near
the recipe you dreamed up that could revolutionize taffy. Or else said guy might one day get a huge promotion because he stole your intellectual property and passed it off as his own.

Her heart was no longer broken over Jack the rat, but she’d never again get involved with a co-worker, never assume a guy would choose her over his job…love over everything.

“You’re right, though.”

Natalie blinked and looked at Luke. “About?” she asked, feeling strangely melancholy.

“Starting over is a very good idea.” He ran a hand up the back of his head, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he gazed toward the sun.

“So, um.” She cleared her throat. “Which ride is next?”

She watched as Luke’s blue eyes moved from the sky and settled on the Comet, another fast-paced coaster.

“That.”

While on the ride, it was hard for Natalie to not look at him every two seconds. It seemed like a new experience for him. If he hadn’t been to Hersheypark since he was a kid, it was kind of like he was here for the first time—a rollercoaster virgin. She grinned at the thought of that towering beefcake of a specimen being an anything-virgin.

His dark hair was even more mussed as they disembarked the Comet, and Natalie’s wandering mind wondered what it’d be like to run her fingers through that hair, to either mess it up more or smooth it into place. She wasn’t sure which would look hotter.

“What were you like in high school?” he asked, as they stood in line to buy bottles of water.

The question was an immediate return to reality. He really hadn’t known her back then.

“Angsty.”

Luke laughed, pulling out his wallet. “Weren’t we all? What was sixteen-year-old Natalie into?”

You
, she could’ve said.
As if you don’t remember.
“Why do you want to know?”

“We’re not supposed to talk about work. Prompt: You mentioned you picked apples for the cider.”

“Indeed. I have the calluses to prove it.”

He laughed again. Natalie was getting used to the sound. “Did you help out a lot on your father’s farm?”

“My parents tried to instill a healthy work ethic in us.” She rolled her eyes. “But I would’ve much rather been hanging out in town with my friends.”

“Us?” Luke paid for the two waters, unscrewed his lid and took a drink.

“What?”

“You said us… You have siblings?”

Natalie froze mid-sip. “Uh, yeah. A brother.”

“Older?”

“Younger.”

“Would I know him?”

She shook her head, then took a long drink.

She felt Luke watching her, and she hoped he wouldn’t press the issue. She didn’t want to explain about Muff. Although, maybe if Luke knew about her brother’s situation, he wouldn’t be a hard-ass at the lab.

Not that she was intimidated by him or his questions. She could defend every detail of her research all day long. She’d never been more knowledgeable or confident about anything. But she also wasn’t about to get into it in the middle of the boardwalk. Her family’s business had nothing to do with him.

“Okay,” he said after a moment. “Tell me something else about you.”

“I love chocolate.”

“You’re exasperating.”

“That too.”

He scowled at her playfully, then nodded at a shop selling pretzels. “We’re not supposed to be talking about work, remember?”

“Fair enough.” As they got in line, she tried once more to comb her fingers through her hair but finally gave up. “Did you know the recipe for these pretzels comes from an Amish family in Lancaster?”

“Huh.” Luke glanced at the sign. “Aren’t these the same stores in malls?”

“Yep, they’re a national chain now.” She placed her order for a soft pretzel with no salt. Luke got the same. Natalie was tempted to jab him with something about trans-fat, but she’d already broken their no-shop-talk rule once.

So she cleared her mind of all jabs and boyish smiles and took a bite of pretzel. She closed her eyes, relishing its warm, doughy goodness.

“Honey?”

“Yes, Luke?” she replied, then froze. “I mean, what?”

He was holding out a small plastic cup. “I asked if you’d like honey to dip it in, but it seems you’re content with what you have. At least, judging by those noises you were making.”

She wiped her mouth with a napkin. “I enjoy food.”

“Ya think?” He pulled back a half-grin, putting Natalie in danger of that inconvenient weak-in-the-knees feeling. “Eating’s good for you. And that’s all I’ll say on the subject.” He dunked one end of his pretzel in honey and took a big bite.

As he turned to gaze across the park, she noticed a tiny spot of honey on the corner of his mouth, which he began working at with his tongue. Her mouth watered, her breath stopped all together, and her knees were definitely about to give.

“How about another ride?” he said after running a napkin over his mouth, saving her from collapsing on a bench and putting her head between her knees.

She coughed. “S-something slower, maybe?”

“Are you feeling okay? You look a little…”

“What?” She lowered her pretzel.

He turned to face her full on. Was his gaze moving over her analytically? Or was he checking her out? Hot blood crept up her neck and bloomed across her cheeks. She couldn’t stop it—she did have female hormones, after all. Preempting anything hormonal she might say, she shoved the last of her snack into her mouth.

“I guess you are feeling okay,” Luke said with a grin, taking her wrapper, and walking all their trash to a recycling bin. “How about that one next?” He pointed to the ride on the other side of the food stand.

Natalie’s breath stalled in her windpipe, and she couldn’t swallow the rest of her pretzel. “You want to take me on the
Kiss
Tunnel?”

“Nothing slower than boats on a lazy river.”

She still couldn’t swallow. “But…”

He chuckled under his breath, a deep, manly sound. Then he rested a hand on the small of her back. It sent tingly goose bumps over her arms. “I don’t think kissing is an actual requirement.” He tilted his head. “Or is it?”

“Of course it’s not,” she blurted, making Luke chuckle again. Since she couldn’t tell if he was flirting or not, she made herself smile breezily while trying not to breathe in his cologne. “I mean, sure. The tunnel sounds nice—um, restful. Darkness is easy on the eyes.”

Why are you still talking?

Thanks to the short line, before Natalie could even process that she was about to enter a tunnel of love with Luke Elliott, they were escorted to an empty boat. The couple exiting looked like they’d taken full advantage of the five minutes in the tunnels. Her hair was halfway out of its bun, and he had lipstick marks all over his face.

Luke had already stepped into the boat and was reaching a hand out to help Natalie. She swallowed hard and took it. It was warm and as strong as steel, but he dropped her hand the second she hopped in.

Okay, fine. He probably regretted his joke about kissing being a requirement on the ride. Whatever. She didn’t need his hand. Or his eyes. Or mouth.

It
was
a joke. Obviously. Just because the two-person seat was only the size of a single seat—their bodies were practically wedged together—didn’t mean it was meant as a romantic ride.

Luke didn’t seem to notice the forced close proximity. He settled in his seat with his legs outstretched. “You all strapped in?”

“Uh-huh.” She made sure her lap bar was in place. Though the thing was nothing more than a safety precaution, it didn’t get even close to her lap and had a good two-feet of give.

The boat lurched forward, water gently sloshing around them.

“This slow enough for you?” he asked after they’d moved no more than ten feet in thirty seconds.

“I like thrill rides, too. But taking it down a notch is its own kind of fun.”

Their boat entered the tunnel, and it was suddenly pitch black. Without sight, her other senses perked up. She heard Luke’s breathing, smelled more of that aftershave, felt the side of his body against her.

“Slower rides also give a guy opportunities.”

“Opportunities for…?” Answering her question, Luke shifted, his arm settling around her shoulders. “Um, that’s not a good idea,” she said, forcing her voice to sound scolding.

“It’s just an arm.”

True. She nodded in the dark.

Around the next turn, soft red lights illuminated the tunnel, casting dark rosy shadows over the walls, over Luke’s face, his profile, the strong cut of his jaw.

“Are you scared?” he asked. “You’re gripping the bar.”

Although she couldn’t see them clearly, she felt her hands white-knuckling the thing.

“Relax.” His voice was calm and lazy as he reached out to pry her grip loose using those steely-strong hands. “This is supposed to be chill, no adrenaline rush, change of pace.”

She nodded about five times. “Exactly.”

Being with Luke in the dark zapped her back to another time and place where they’d been together with the lights off. A time when she’d been so completely hardcore infatuated with him that her thirteen-year-old heart knew it was love.

Of course it
wasn’t
love, but it was one heck of a crush. Just tapping into that memory made her palms feel tingly, and her stomach turn a backflip.

“Why did you call this the Kiss Tunnel?” Luke asked. “The sign says Lost River.”

Ohmigad
, Natalie’s teenaged-self squealed.
You’re totally in the Kiss Tunnel with Luke!

“It’s what everyone calls it,” she said, trying to shush that voice, swat away those antiquated crushy feelings.

“Because it’s where you come to make out?”

She shrugged. “In middle school, maybe.”

“Ah. So kissing’s required after all?”

“Not
required
.” Her protest echoed off the tunnel walls, so she lowered her voice. “It’s the only ride with privacy. Teenagers don’t need much more romantic atmosphere than a room with the lights off.”

Just when she’d almost wiped the image from her mind, she was back to remembering that night all those years ago. The two times they’d been alone this week, Luke hadn’t brought it up. Either he’d blocked it out, or it had been so anti-climactic for him that he’d forgotten about it.

Which was worse?

“I see your point. This is the perfect place to make out,” Luke said as his arm tightened around her shoulders. Or maybe he was only adjusting his position. “The sound of the water,” he continued, his voice hushed like hers. “The rocking of the boat, up and down, up and down.” His eyes shifted her way. “You next to me, bathed in this hypnotic, unearthly light.” His free hand brushed across her cheek, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Natalie tried to speak, but everything in her stopped. Everything except the recall of how familiar and amazing it felt to be crushing on Luke.

“Kissing is definitely a requirement,” he added, leaning in.

Her eyes stayed open. Because her brain was mush. Because she was sixteen again. Because she was too dang shocked to breathe.

Luke Elliott was kissing her.

His arm around her rotated her shoulders so she angled toward him. Warmth rushed to her lips, pulsating blood at the spot where their bodies touched. They’d barely gotten started when Luke drew back, their noses still close enough to touch. He looked at her through the shadowy red light, his gaze holding, a glimpse of hesitation in his eyes. Before what that meant could register, she saw something else in his eyes, something he could probably see in hers.

Natalie grabbed his face and pulled him in. The tiniest voice in the back of her head was saying something about danger or rules or ethics, but the second Luke’s lips parted hers, everything faded, except the taste of honey.

W
hat were those rational, psychological reasons for why Luke shouldn’t be attracted to Natalie? He’d just been reviewing them, but he couldn’t even remember the basic food pyramid when he’d seen her under the glowing red lights. Instead, he’d babbled on and on about all the reasons why this was the perfect place to kiss…almost like he’d been talking himself into it.