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“Really? Well, that’s interesting. Which brother?”
“Jamie.”
“He told you to stay away from me?”
“He did.”
“Why?” she asked.
Luke wasn’t stupid enough to offer up his divorce at this point, not even the truthful version of it. Especially not the truthful version. “Why? Because I’m a man. And you’re his little sister.”
She chuckled again, and this time it was a soft, sensual sound. “Well, what my brother doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
Yikes. Luke’s brain stuttered, preventing him from coming up with a witty response. Or any response at all. Dinner was tempting enough, but when she said something naughty like that …
Luke glanced over at the empty space where Simone’s car had been parked. He thought about going home to his empty condo and having yet another cold sandwich for dinner. He’d promised Jamie he’d stay away from Tessa, but this wasn’t medieval England. Tessa was right. What Jamie didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
“Should I pick you up?” he asked.
His question met silence, but he was sure he could actually hear her smiling.
“Absolutely,” she said before rattling off her address.
When Luke hung up, anticipation was streaking along his nerves like fireworks. Hadn’t he just been telling himself that she wasn’t his type? Then again, what was his type? Jaded and dumped like him? What a tragedy that would be.
Still, Tessa Donovan was a complication he didn’t need. Too sweet to be a quick hookup. Too innocent to date a guy who’d already been married and divorced. This was going nowhere. But he needed some kind of distraction for a few hours, and he was damn glad the distraction was going to be her.
CHAPTER FOUR
TESSA PUT HER HANDS on her hips and made a slow turn, watching herself in the bathroom mirror. The shirt was perfect. Vivid blue and draped just right so that it looked entirely modest even though the neckline scooped low. She leaned slightly down to be sure she was showing just the right amount of cleavage—a lot. Perfect. Luke Asher had only seen her in Levis and T-shirts. Hopefully he’d like skinny jeans and high heels even better. She knew her ponytail made her look like she went to the U, so Tessa had quickly blown out her hair and left it down. She added some red lipstick to top off the look, then gave her reflection a nod.
Jamie was working the bar tonight, and Eric was closing up with him, so she didn’t have to worry she’d run into one of them. And that was a good thing. She had enough to worry about.
As she’d expected, Roland Kendall hadn’t been at his office. She’d had no idea what she was going to say to him, anyway; she just needed to know which cover-up to enact. Was it a matter of swearing Jamie to secrecy and hoping that Monica Kendall never told a soul? Or was it DEFCON level 5, wherein she pulled off the miracle of calming down an angry father while simultaneously convincing him to go through with the deal and forget he ever saw a thing?
It would be difficult, but she was sure she could pull it off. Hadn’t she convinced the principal not to call Eric that time she’d been caught skipping class to go river rafting? Hadn’t she gotten Jamie off a yearlong academic probation without even a hint to Eric that anything was going on? If she could handle the public education system, surely she could handle one sixty-year-old businessman. His daughter was a grown woman, after all. Maybe Roland Kendall wasn’t even upset.
It was a foolish and stupid hope, and that’s exactly why she’d called Luke Asher. She couldn’t just sit around and do nothing. She’d go crazy. Five minutes into her drive home from Denver, she’d been close to hyperventilating. Luke had been the only thought strong enough to distract her.
And she hadn’t been able to shake the appeal of his quiet strength. He was a man who needed nothing from her. No emotional tiptoeing. No complicated negotiations. No pretense of sweet temper and sisterly innocence. Whatever Luke was interested in, it was something he might want from her, but not something he expected.
Ignoring the brief thought of how pissed her brothers would be if they knew about the men she’d dated, Tessa gave herself one last review before she switched off the light and walked out of her room. Her heels snapped against the old wood floors of the house. The floors needed refinishing, but every time she considered it, she decided it could wait another year. This was the house they’d all grown up in. It was the house where her parents had raised them. Every scar on the oak was a story, and she didn’t want to let those stories go.
She wanted everything to stay the same.
Entering the living room just in time to hear the hum of a car pulling up to the front curb, she bit back a smile, then waited for the knock on the door before walking toward it. She hadn’t listened to all of Eric’s advice about boys—in fact, she’d ignored most of it—but she had found him to be right about some things. Men liked the thrill of the chase … almost as much as women did. So Tessa tried to encourage a good give and take. She might ask a man out, but she wouldn’t rush breathless and smiling to the door. She might let him get to third base on the first date, but then she might not answer his calls for a week. It kept things interesting, and that was just the way she liked it.
Though when she opened the door it was damn hard not to grin in nervous excitement. Luke looked like he had stories to tell and things to teach her. His black hair had the slightest unruly wave to it. His brown eyes were dark as chocolate, but hard with sadness. His body was hard, too, and lean. He’d changed out of his work clothes, and now wore black slacks and a pale blue shirt. His eyes traveled down her body so quickly that Tessa would’ve missed the glance if she hadn’t been watching for it. He was good.
“You look great,” he said.
“Thank you.”
“Where would you like to eat?”
“Why don’t you surprise me?” she suggested as she locked the door behind her. “Take me to one of your favorites.”
She could feel him watching her, but when she turned around, she didn’t catch even a flicker of his eyes. Yeah, he was good. Some sort of cop skill, maybe.
And a gentleman. When she walked down the porch steps, Luke put his hand under her elbow, and he didn’t even accidentally brush her breast with his fingers. Still, a sizzle crept up her arm where his skin touched hers. The pads of his fingers were slightly rough and made him seem that much more intriguing.
He opened the car door and when she slipped in it smelled like leather and … perfume?
“Did you just finish another date?”
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as he got into the car. “Excuse me?”
“It smells like perfume in here.”
“That’s from my partner. Maybe her soap or something.”
“Oh, your partner is a woman? The pregnant woman?”
“Yes.”
“Is that weird? Having a female partner?”
He cleared his throat. “It’s not weird, no. She brings stuff to the table that I don’t have.”
Tessa smiled. “I’d hope so.”
“I meant, you know … perspective. Questions I wouldn’t think to ask. Plus, some witnesses or victims are more comfortable dealing with her. It works great.”
“Aw, that’s sweet.”
Frowning as if she’d insulted him, he pulled out onto the narrow street. “I’m not sweet.”
Boys. Tessa leaned toward him and lowered her voice to a whisper. “It’s okay, Luke. Despite what you’ve heard, men can be sweet and hot at the same time.”
“I see,” he said. “Good to know.”
She couldn’t quite tell if he was blushing, but he was staring hard out the windshield, very carefully not looking at her. Tessa waved at a neighbor who jogged past and felt very glad she’d called Luke. He had a bad-boy aura she found appealing, and yet he was a polite police detective who had no problem working with women. In other words, the guy was smoking hot. She might have to break her third-base rule for him. Though it’d always been more of a gentle suggestion than a hard-and-fast rule. A girl had to keep her options open.
Luke finally spoke. “I was surprised by your call.”
Not a question, but an opening. Tessa made a sound that was equally noncommittal.
“Jamie seemed clear that you wouldn’t be interested in a guy like me.”
“Oh, I think what he was making clear was that he wouldn’t want me to show interest in a guy like you. And why is that?”
“Why is what?”
“Why did he feel compelled to warn you off, aside from you being a man? Are you dangerous?” Oooh, just saying it aloud formed a hot weight low in her belly. Clearly he was dangerous enough to turn her on and make her forget her problems.
“No. He thought I was checking you out.”
“And were you?”
Luke pulled up to a stoplight, and this time he turned the full force of his dark gaze on her. His mouth quirked up into a half smile. “I think I’d better plead the fifth.”
“Isn’t that an admission of guilt, Detective?”
“Legally, it’s a neutral position.”
“Oh, but it’s morally damning, isn’t it?”
“Morally?” His deep brown eyes sparkled and the weight in Tessa’s belly melted all over her insides. “Oh, yeah,” he said softly. “Morally, it’s a big problem.”
Tessa made a point not to giggle like a schoolgirl, but it was a close call. No wonder Jamie didn’t want her dating Luke. They’d gone to college together, and her brother had likely seen girls drop their panties at the first hint of Luke’s smile. His features were a little harsh. His jaw a little too cruel looking, but the sparkle in his eyes transformed him into a charming rogue. Tessa was glad her tight jeans would keep her panties firmly in place … for a few hours.
She waited till she was sure her voice wouldn’t squeak before she spoke again. “So what will you do when she has the baby?”
Luke seemed to choke on his breath. “What?”
“Your partner? What will you do when she’s on maternity leave?”
“I’ll work by myself,” he said brusquely. “That’s all.”
“Is it a sensitive subject?”
“No.”
No. And that was it. Interesting. Maybe he was worried she wouldn’t come back. Or maybe he thought she shouldn’t. Either way, he changed the subject. “Any more news on your employee files?”
“Honestly, it looks pretty good. Thanks to the security systems at the human resources firm I pushed last year.”
“You sound triumphant.”
“Eric doesn’t like change,” Tessa said, glancing out the window as if lightning might strike at such an understatement.
“Interesting. That’s a classic oldest-sibling issue, I think.”
“Oh, he’s got issues,” she started, then she noticed that Luke was slowing to turn into the parking lot of one of Tessa’s favorite restaurants. The little Mexican café had a patio that was shaded by mature aspens and provided the perfect place to sip the best margaritas in town. “Good choice,” she said approvingly.
“Sounds like this was a test.”
“One of many,” she answered with a smile that was all challenge.
Luke raised an eyebrow and turned off the car. When he got out and circled around, Tessa waited. He opened her door, and when she stood, she was only inches from him.
He tipped his chin down so that their faces drew even closer. “I wasn’t sure I was your type,” he said softly, draping his arm over the open door. “I thought you’d made a mistake asking me out to dinner.”
“Oh? Have you changed your mind?”
This time, he didn’t bother to hide the way his eyes dipped down her body. “You look different tonight. Less like …”
“Your friend’s little sister?”
The sexy quirk of his mouth widened into that wicked smile. “Yeah.”
“Good. Because I already have two brothers, Luke. I don’t need another man around asking me to be a good girl.”
Luke’s eyes dilated, his lips parted, but he stepped back so quickly that her hair shifted forward in the breeze he created.
“I’m glad I don’t remember you as a kid,” he said.
“Yeah,” she said with a big smile. “Me, too.”
Oh, it was going to be fun playing this game with him. Lots of fun. And good Lord, if she didn’t need fun, who did?
APPARENTLY TESSA DONOVAN didn’t want to be a good girl. Not anymore. And not with him.
Luke couldn’t get the thought out of his head as they shared dinner and drinks and exchanged stories about their lives. Luke had been raised by a single mom in various apartments in Denver, and Tessa had grown up here in Boulder in the same big house she lived in now. He couldn’t quite imagine that kind of continuity. He’d never lived in an actual house his whole life. He and his wife had owned a condo a half mile from the beach in L.A., but he wasn’t about to bring that up.
Still, he seemed to remember that not everything had been wine and roses for the Donovan family. “Your parents passed away when you were young, right?” Another thing he couldn’t imagine.
“I was fourteen.”
“What happened?”
“They were driving in the mountains at night. There was a rock slide, and they drove head-on into a boulder. It was quick, at least.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“It was a long time ago, and we had one another. That’s one reason my brothers are so protective. Eric, especially. He had to take over raising us.”
“That’s pretty amazing.” And so damn touching that it resurrected Luke’s guilt about going out with Tessa, adding another awful layer to it. She was an orphan. Great. Sure, she looked sexy as hell tonight in her heels and tight jeans and that damn shirt that flashed an intriguing amount of cleavage whenever she leaned forward. But that wasn’t the real Tessa. The real Tessa was a sweet orphan girl in a T-shirt and a ponytail who deserved to find a little stability in her life. She’d had it rough enough without a man like Luke around.
She leaned forward, and the mounds of her breasts made another brief appearance. Jesus, her skin looked soft and sweet.
“So,” she said, “you lived in Denver and then you came here for school and never left?”
Yikes. He really didn’t want to talk about his life in California. But avoiding the question would only draw more curiosity. “My first job as a police officer was in L.A.”
“Wow, was that scary?”
“Scary?” He was distracted by her mouth. It made a little O of surprise and she leaned farther forward. Her mouth … her cleavage … Luke found himself thinking some very dirty things about Tessa Donovan.
