Steal My Breath (Elixir 1)
* * *
The Thai restaurant he takes me to for lunch is god-awful. It’s the worst Thai I’ve ever had the bad fortune of tasting. But it leads us to the bar again and after a few drinks, the tension I’ve felt around him has disappeared.
We’ve just spent the last twenty minutes reminiscing over some of the good times we’ve shared when he raises the first meal I tried to cook him.
“Remember that roast you cooked me?”
“Oh, you mean the one I burnt? That you had to resurrect.”
He laughs. “Yeah, baby, that one. You were so damn cute that night.” He leans forward, and his voice drops. “That was the night I realised I really wanted you to choose me.”
I frown. “Choose you?”
He nods. “Yeah, I wanted to be the man you chose to spend your life with.”
I still. “You gave me the Ron Pope album that night, Luke. And you rattled off all the things you knew about me. To say I was sold is an understatement. You owned my heart from that night.”
“And you bought me Fat Yak and roast you couldn’t afford. And told me about your swoon cave, that for the record I still don’t understand. You showed me you were exactly the woman for me—more real than I’d ever known.”
My head spins.
He remembers all that?
Even about the damn swoon cave?
I gulp some vodka down. “For the record, that swoon cave was some bullshit that just fell out of my mouth in my nervous state.”
“I know.”
“Luke…” I start but am unsure of what I really want to say.
He doesn’t push me. He always seems to know what I need, and right now I need time to figure out my thoughts. Instead, he says, “Do you know what I think could be fun to do?”
I empty my glass. “I can only imagine. If you’re going to suggest skinny-dipping, I’m not up for it.”
He laughs. My gaze is drawn to his eyes. How I love those laughter lines of his. “I hadn’t thought of that, but I’ll keep it for later.” He shifts forward in his seat and lowers his sexy voice. “For after I’ve loosened you up.”
I suck in a breath and fiddle with my necklace. “Jesus, what have you got planned? What do you think would be fun?”
“Bowling.”
Dead.
That’s what he’s doing to me—killing me.
“Right, so seems as though we can’t go bowlin—”
“We can.” He stands and holds out his hand to me. “I’ve sussed it out. They have a bowling alley in the resort.”
Of course they do.
What was I thinking?
I place my hand in his and give in to the desire his touch shoots through my veins.
* * *
I sit back and watch Luke as he takes his go. My gaze clings to his arm and then his ass and then his legs and finally, his face when he turns around. I couldn’t even list the other people in this bowling alley. My attention is solely on Luke.