Bargain in Bronze

“Um.”

Her inability to articulate even a word dragged him back from his blatant lust-fest. Shy, oversensitive Lexie had needed gentleness and consideration seven years ago—no doubt she still did. Luke was suddenly glad of the counter between them, hiding how much he wanted her wide-awake in his bed. She’d turned her back to him anyway, going to the sink and rinsing her glass. Luke was riveted—oh yeah, her curves had filled out beautifully. She had the sweetest peach of a butt. He’d already noticed the breasts that deserved hours of attention. Hours and hours. And he was a sick, sick unit who didn’t have the heart to tell her the apron didn’t fully cover her rear.

He’d nearly had a coronary when he’d seen her. And when he’d thought she was here with some other guy? A freak storm of rage had ripped through him. But there was no guy. Just Mango. That’s when he’d felt an insane amount of satisfaction.

Lexie Peterson was the forbidden fruit of his youth. And a guy always wants what he can’t have. He definitely hadn’t been allowed to have Lexie. Being unable to have a girl had been something of a novelty for him even back then. Hence the extreme resurgence of that attraction now, right? This instant, extreme reaction was merely a throwback to that. No real biggie, he could just relax and step away.

Then again, Luke deserved a little fun, didn’t he? After the huge disappointment of today, didn’t he deserve a sweet treat? Except there was no way he could perform right now. Any attempt would be lame—literally.

“So what have you been doing these last few years?” he asked. “Got a twenty-second recap?” He could manage some normal conversation and not leer at her. Sure he could.

“I’ve been traveling a bit. Worked in Australia for a while,” she answered. “After that exchange trip to the US, I really wanted to travel more, but stayed nearer to Mum and Dad.”

Luke had heard snippets from Dani, had seen occasional pics. Now he was distracted from her answer by her hair—the glorious strawberry-blond length caught the lights above and seemed to spark. He was pretty sure it was her natural color too. It had been the same when she’d been a shy teen and she certainly hadn’t dyed it then. She hadn’t done anything to draw attention to herself. Which wasn’t to say she didn’t get it—then or now.

“Have you heard a word I’ve said?”

Her voice cut sharp. He focused on her face—her narrowed green eyes unwaveringly on his.

Her bold look threw him—the shy kid who’d once been unable to say anything but “um” had suddenly upped her game.

“Um.” Hell, now he was the one with the speechless problem.

Luke pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to pull it back together, but he was frustrated that he couldn’t pace the way he needed, to release this ferocious energy surge. He’d been bitter enough before walking in the door, now—incomprehensibly—he was at the point of needing to punch something. Or screw someone into submission.

“I’ll take the sofa for tonight,” she suddenly said in a chillier tone. “And I’ll move on tomorrow. You don’t need to worry. I can take care of myself.” Without breaking that killer eye contact, she leaned back against the sink as if she was too damn at ease.

Could she now? Really? Because last he knew, Lexie Peterson had been a chicken. All scaredy-cat and too shy to look a guy in the eye.

Okay, she was looking him in the eye now and was coolly provocative with it. He was almost overcome with the urge to scoop her up on the counter and spread her legs so he could step between them. But judging by that ice-queen look, Lexie didn’t want to play. Now why was that? Because she had once.

Yeah. Once he’d kissed her and she’d been more than sweet. Her lips had clung, parted. She’d wanted. And he wanted her to want him again because there was no reason for him to be banned from her now. Instead he turned to the damn coffee machine just for something to do with himself—the last thing he needed was the caffeine.

“Why are you limping?”

Damn, he’d stood still for too long and now she’d caught him moving slower than a snail. He’d wanted to hide it as long as possible because he didn’t want to dwell on it. Didn’t want to admit defeat to anyone. Bitterness burned in his chest. He’d been such an idiot. But he couldn’t help glancing to see her reaction. “I fell in training. Wrecked my knee. I can’t run.”

“Oh, Luke.” Her defensive attitude melted away as her eyes warmed with compassion. She lifted away from the counter as if she were about to come hug him. Only she paused, and slowly leaned back again. “I’m sorry.” Her mouth softened but then she lifted her hand, rubbing her thumbnail over her lower lip. He really wished she wouldn’t do that. She’d done it all the time all those years ago and he’d always wanted to soothe her lips with his own. Clearly she hadn’t broken her habit—and his reaction remained the same, too. “You must be disappointed.”

Major understatement.

He looked away, forcing his throat to swallow. Yeah, this was the Lexie he remembered. The pretty girl with the world’s most expressive eyes. Sensitive and caring and sweet. He’d seen it several times—but never once directed at him like this. It had always been Dani. Lexie had been there that dreadful day when Dani’s dog had been hit by a car. Dani had been beside herself but Lexie had been so empathetic, helping more than either Luke or his parents could. Very, very sweet. And unfortunately, as sexy as hell. For a youth only still learning such a thing as self-control, she’d been pure torment.

“I feel bad for Kate.” He focused on the mess of the last twenty-four hours.

“She’s your runner?”

He nodded. Dani must have told her. Kate had been born blind. She was also a born runner. He had the privilege of being her guide runner—tethered together for the marathon.

Lexie was silent for a moment. “Does she have another guide?”

“They’ve found one for her.” He sighed. He and Kate had worked so hard, training together for over a year. Running so many events. She was like a sister to him. He’d wanted to help her get there—to the London Paralympics—across the finish line, on the podium. The whole big dream. And he’d let her down with a stupid mistake.

“Is she okay?” Lexie moved closer.

“She’ll be fine. A few training sessions with her new guide and it’ll be great again.” He hoped.

“What about your knee?”

“Six weeks.” Six weeks of almost nothing when he should have been taking on the marathon.

“Bet that feels like forever.”

It felt like a bitch. “I’m going to take a shower.” He had to get away from her before he did something he’d regret. He was in no shape to try it on with Lexie. If—when—that was going to happen, he needed to be in top form.

“Okay,” she said softly.

Luke walked down the hall, his knee throbbing now. He went into his bedroom, leaning back against the door to close it. He noticed the changes immediately—even the scent in the room.

Lexie.

She was right inside his space, right in his head. He painfully stalked to his bathroom and hell, a bag spilling all kinds of personal stuff was sitting beside the sink. Her shampoo and conditioner bottles stood on the shower floor. He closed his eyes and willed resistance. But that subtle scent still got to him. Hell, had he gone psycho stalker? Getting turned on by the mere scent of the woman? He screwed his eyelids more tightly together. It wasn’t just the scent. It was the knowledge that she was there—in his home, wearing not a hell of a lot. All grown up and even more luscious.

Hotter than he’d ever been in his life, he flicked the shower to ice-cold. He soaped down, sighing as he encountered the erection that just wasn’t going away. He could indulge in a bit of self-gratification to take the edge off—because he didn’t see how the hell else he was going to get a wink of sleep tonight. But he wanted to be more in control of himself. It was his damn body and he could deal with it. There was no need for him to be teen-boy-at-the-mercy-of-unruly-hormones all over again. He could will it away,

of course he could. He wasn’t that weak.

He withstood the icy water for a full ten minutes. Blocking wayward thoughts by reliving the moment he’d slipped on the muddy track in training today. He’d shouted out to Kate, releasing the tether that connected them so he didn’t take her down with him. But he’d twisted, ripping tendons and messing everything up.