Perfect Stranger (Serendipity's Finest 2.50)

Now, Luke turned back to his female and watched her lacing up the skates.

“They fit!” she exclaimed, her excitement like that of his niece’s on Christmas.

“But they’re new, so you’ll probably end up with blisters,” he warned her. “We’ll take it easy.” He stood and held out a hand, which she readily grabbed.

A few minutes later, they were on the ice. He wished he could say she was a natural. She wasn’t. But what she lacked in skill, she more than made up for in both enthusiasm and a willingness to keep getting back up—no matter how many spills she took. And unfortunately for her, she took plenty. Her ass was going to be sore tomorrow, which meant he’d have to give her some TLC today.

No big chore.

On what felt to Luke like her hundredth tumble, he caught her before her butt hit the ice. “And we’re all finished for today,” he said.

“I can go more,” she said through chattering teeth.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and steered them toward the edge of the rink. “If you won’t admit to freezing your ass off, I will. I’m cold and I need your body heat to warm me up.”

Her eyes darkened, but she didn’t give up that easily. “One more circle around the rink.”

At that moment, Luke cursed her father for instilling that need to prove herself in his daughter. “No. You’re freezing and your butt cheeks hurt like hell, but I’ll bet you’ve never given up on anything in your life. If I don’t call it a day, we’ll be out here while you try to prove something to me you don’t have to prove. This was supposed to be fun, remember?”

She blushed. “I…yeah, I remember. And I did have fun!” From the sparkle in her eyes, he couldn’t help but believe her.

“Me, too. Now just a short drive away, we have a cabin all to ourselves where the heat’s pumping and the bed’

s warm. So you tell me, do you want to keep on bruising your pretty behind, or let me ease those aches and pains in a way that I promise you’ll like?” His own blood pumped faster at the notion. He raised an eyebrow and waited for her to decide.

“Well, when you put it that way…” She grasped his hand. “Last one to the truck is a rotten egg.” She took off, but Luke wasn’t about to let her fall again, so he grabbed her around the waist and carried her off the ice, listening to her shrieks of put me down the entire way.

* * *

Alexa had a blast on the ice. Sure, she sucked at skating. Who knew that it wasn’t like riding a bike, easy to pick up again? Not that her father encouraged that either—Concussions are dangerous, Alexa. But Luke never lost patience, he just held out a hand, helped her back onto her feet, and off they went again, him holding her tight in his strong arms until she was ready to try going solo again. She inevitably fell onto her butt again.

By the end, her feet hurt like hell, she probably had those blisters he’d mentioned, and the cold was setting in, and he’d still had to drag her off the ice. “Luke?” she asked, as he drove them from the rink to the cabin.

“Yeah?”

“I loved every minute,” she said, wanting him to know exactly what kind of gift he’d given her.

“Yeah?” A smile pulled at his lips.

“Absolutely.”

He parked in front of the cabin and cut the engine, got out, and met her on the passenger side, opening her door.

Before she could hop out, he braced a hand on the roof over her head. “You know you didn’t need to prove anything to me. I didn’t care if you could skate or not. I just wanted you to enjoy the day.” His serious gaze told her he was worried she’d pushed herself too hard.

“I did. Every last minute. Even when I fell on my ass,” she said with a grin.

He scowled at her comment. “You won’t be feeling so generous about that tomorrow.”

She smoothed the frown lines on either side of his luscious mouth with her fingers. “I will if you take care of me like you promised,” she said, her voice deep and husky.

Next thing she knew, she was back in his arms as he carried her to the front door. He smelled delicious, a combination of outdoors and sexy man, and she tangled her fingers in his hair as he somehow worked the key, never putting her down as he let them in.

“What’d you have to promise Sawyer to get this cabin again?” she asked as she kicked off her shoes and let them fall to the floor.

He laughed, the deep sound rumbling through her. “Just my firstborn.” On his kidding words, his gaze snared hers and her breath caught at the intensity she saw there.

Luke and kids. The idea, once planted, no matter how lightly, buzzed around her brain. Alexa loved kids, worked with them when she could, because as patients, they were far more fun than cranky adults. Hence her youth center hours and free medical care for them. She was beginning to think she’d never have a family of her own. With one joking comment, this man caused a yearning deep in her soul.