That he, too, was obviously a runner didn’t help matters; she didn’t need anything they had in common bouncing around in her head right now. She took the stairs with tentative, soft footsteps, careful not to wake Luke. This was a good opportunity to check out the cameras on the grounds anyway—analyze where they were positioned and where she might suggest her team place new ones. She’d seen enough of his limited security system to know that an upgrade was an absolute must.
Katie turned off the alarm system long enough to slip out the back patio door, a rainbow of colors streaking the early morning sky as the sun began to break what had been a pitch-black horizon. She loved this—simply going to the backyard to take a run rather than taking the subway to Central Park as she usually did at home. Katie stretched first and with her iPod attached to her hip she weaved through a courtyard, complete with pool and hot tub, and found the edge of the track.
And then she was off, running but not escaping her thoughts. Donna’s words bounced around in her head as readily as the memory of Luke’s lips on hers, his powerful arms around her. And though Katie was so completely over Joey he wasn’t even a consideration, Donna’s lecture that Katie had not moved on held some truth. Because the impact of what she’d been through with him was far from gone.
Katie needed to get over her fear of being hurt as much as she needed to get over her prejudice. She’d judged Luke unfairly—if Luke was a jerk, he deserved to earn that label all by himself, like any guy. But working through those feelings while on an assignment didn’t seem smart, though Ron had all but handed Luke to her on a silver platter—and handed her to Luke. They were both on the rebound from a nasty past. Both perhaps were using that “silver platter” to push the past, to the past. Katie wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Rocks outlined the path, fancy spotlights nestled between them, illuminating her path and allowing her to inspect the area, but as she cut a corner while noting a camera not properly rotating, she suddenly blasted into a hard object.
Katie gasped as she was knocked off her feet and hit the ground, scraping her leg down one of the light fixtures as she landed. Pain shot through her leg, but Katie instinctively rolled, assuming attack, ready to fight. She was in a squatting position, her palms bracing her weight when she brought Luke into focus, towering above her, hands on his hips, breathing heavily.
“Shit,” he mumbled under his breath as he knelt down in front of her. “Katie, are you all right? I’m sorry. I didn’t expect anyone else to be out here.” He reached out and steadied her, his hands on her bare thighs. “You’re bleeding.”
Instant awareness raced through her body. His broad, well-chiseled chest evident in his snug T-shirt, his hands warm on her legs. Her mind was still a cluttered mess that left her body in control. And her body wanted Luke.
“I… I’m fine,” she said, summoning her voice, and some mental wherewithal. “Why are you out here in the first place?” She started to stand up, and realized blood was gushing down her leg. “Damn.” Still, she wanted to make her point. “You have to tell the person responsible for your security before you go running around in the dark. That person would be me. That’s a new rule. You have to follow it.”
“You need stitches, Katie,” he said, ignoring her rule, as he did all the others, which she would have complained about, yelled even, if not for what he did next. Luke ripped his shirt over his head, his broad chest bared to display rippling muscle and a sprinkle of light brown, mouthwatering hair. “Sit,” he ordered. “I need to tie off the wound to stop the bleeding.”
So, aside from itsy-bitsy running shorts, the man was naked. Almost gloriously, wonderfully naked. “You’ll ruin your shirt,” she insisted. “And I’m fine. Just grab me some paper towels before we go in the door so I don’t get blood on your floor.”
“Sit down and let me do this, or I will sit you down, Katie,” Luke said, fixing her in a steady stare. “Don’t be stubborn.”
She inhaled, still breathless from her run, and sat down. He wiped off the cut, his head tilted down to study the gash along the side of her calf, which didn’t worry her nearly as much as the throbbing of her bad knee. She knew the routine well. Ice and lots of it. Pain reliever. Lots of it. Take it easy for a day.
“It’s deep,” Luke said. “Have you had a tetanus shot lately?”