Perfect Stranger (Serendipity's Finest 2.50)

Alexa had been silent on the drive and he had no doubt she was angsting over leaving work, the argument with her father, and now being alone with him. He hopped out and headed to her side in time to help her out of the high truck.

“Thank you.” She glanced over her shoulder at the rustic cabin behind them. “Whose place is this?”

“Sawyer and his dad’s.” Luke clasped her hand and led her toward the door. “Let’s get inside, I’ll turn the heat up and go back out for the food.”

“You really thought this through,” she murmured as he toyed with the thermostat and, thankfully, the loud rumbling noise indicated they were in business.

“You left me with plenty of time to do it,” he said, referring to the time after she’d abandoned him in bed.

“I had an emergency,” she said, rubbing her hands together, but not meeting his gaze.

“Did that emergency involve getting the hell out before you had to face me?” He wanted to clear the air before the lie went any further. Luke was a light sleeper, and if her phone, beeper, cell, or whatever had gone off,

he’d have heard it. If she was scheduled to be at work, she’d have just said that. She hadn’t. Besides, Luke had used deception often enough in similar situations to recognize it.

He wanted to think they were different than any old one-night stand, and right here, right now, he intended to find out if he was right.

CHAPTER FIVE

Luke called her on her deception and Alexa reared back in shock. No man had ever questioned her motives or truthfulness before, not in a relationship and not on the job. In fact, she was so used to people respecting her word—well, everyone except her father, and because he respected nobody’s word, he didn’t count—she couldn’t believe this man had seen through her and called her on the lie.

It humbled her.

It embarrassed her.

She forced herself to face him. “You may be a pro at one-night stands, but I’m not. I thought it would be easier on both of us if I just left.”

He blinked, obviously startled that she’d opted for the truth without trying to bluster through.

She taught her interns that if they made a mistake, it was better to own up to it and face the consequences. She could do no less in her personal life.

His eyes darkened. “I may have been a pro at it once, but it’s been a long time since I pulled a stunt like that.”

It was her turn to blink. “Really?”

He grinned. “Yep. You’re not the end of a long line, darlin’. Not by a long shot.”

“At least not lately.”

He laughed. “Exactly.”

She wondered why not and decided not to ask. “Yet despite my leaving, you came after me.” She bit down on her lower lip, pondering that fact.

He’d done a lot more than just come to talk, too, she thought, taking in the bags filled with food on the counter and the cabin he’d appropriated the keys for.

“You’re an eye-opener,” he said, answering her unspoken question. “I’ve been on the doing end, never on the receiving end of waking up alone, and I didn’t like what I learned.”

She winced. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m a man who likes to learn a good lesson. And if I thought you left ’cuz you weren’t interested, I wouldn’t be here now.”

She couldn’t stop the smile his words inspired. “So you think I’m interested.”

A dimple formed in one cheek. “Don’t think it. I know it.”

“Cocky.” She liked the hint of ego in him and figured it fit his sports persona. Oddly, the display of conceit made him even more appealing.

Not that she’d let him know it so easily.