With Me in Seattle Bundle One (3 page)

“Well…” I gratefully sip the water the waitress has set down before me.  “You just seem…”

“What?”

“Quiet all of a sudden.”  It’s the best I can come up with.  Damn, why does he make me so nervous?

“I’m happy to be here, with you.  I just…” He shakes his head, runs a hand through that beautiful hair.  “I am a private man, Natalie.”  He exhales quickly and closes his eyes, like he’s struggling through some difficult internal debate, before turning his bright blue gaze back to mine.

“It’s okay.” I hold my hands up in front of me as if in surrender.  “I was just checking.  No worries.”

I smile reassuringly and grab the happy hour menu before he can say any more.  His change in mood and the reasons behind it are none of my business.  We’re just out for a drink.  Let’s keep it light.

He smiles at me, and I’m rescued from having to start small talk by Flirty Waitress taking our orders. 

Luke raises an eyebrow in my direction.  “What would the lady like?”

“A margarita on the rocks, no salt, extra lime.” My eyebrows climb when the waitress’ cheeks redden and the only acknowledgment to my statement is her scribbling ferociously on her notepad. Luke is hot, I can’t blame her for paying attention to him, yet something primal in me wants to scratch her pretty brown eyes out.

And he’s not even
mine.

Luke chuckles.  “Make it two.”

“You bet. Anything else?” she asks Luke, pointedly ignoring me, and I smile to myself as Luke hardly spares her a glance before muttering, “No, thanks.”

“I deserve a margarita after the day I’ve had.”  I sip my water.

“And what kind of day was that?”  Luke leans forward, and I love that he genuinely looks interested.

“Well.” I sit back, look up at the ceiling like I’m deep in thought.  “Let’s see.  I couldn’t sleep much last night, so I decided to take an early morning walk to get some work done.  At which point, I was almost mugged.”  I look back at him and give him a sarcastic look of horror.  Luke laughs, a full-out belly laugh, and my own belly clenches down again.  Holy Jesus, he’s so beautiful!

“And then…?”

“And then, after I made my very daring escape”—I smile at him, and he is grinning from ear to ear, his chin resting in his palm—“I went home, had breakfast with my roommate, then took a short nap.”

“I would have loved to see that.” His eyes have narrowed, and I feel myself blush.

“Loved to see me have breakfast with my roommate?”

“No, smart-ass, loved to see you nap.” 

“I’m sure it’s not that exciting.”  I thank the waitress for my drink and take a long sip.  Oh, that’s good.

“And when you woke up?”

“You really want to know about my whole day?”

“Yes, please.”  Luke sips his drink, and I watch his lips pucker over his straw..

“Um…”  I clear my throat, and Luke grins again, enjoying my reaction to him.  “I had a photo session at noon. It wrapped around two.  Then I made some deliveries around the neighborhood and ran into this handsome mugger I know, whom I am now enjoying a drink with.”

“I like that last part the best.”

Oh.

“And what did you do today, sir?” I rest my elbows on the table, happy to have turned the attention back to him.

“Coincidentally, I couldn’t sleep well last night either, so I got up early to take a walk and enjoy the water.”  He pauses to take a sip.

“Mmm hmm…”

“Then I made an ass of myself with this incredibly sexy and beautiful woman that I ran into.” 

I gasp and bite my lip.  Sexy and beautiful?  Wow.

Luke’s eyes narrow on my lips. 

“Did she forgive you for being an ass?” My voice sounds breathy.

“I’m not sure.  I hope so.”

“Then what did you do?”

“I walked home to do some reading.”

“What kind of reading?”  Mmm, this margarita is delicious.

Luke frowns a bit then shrugs.  “Just some reading for work.”

“Oh?  What do you do?”  I motion to Miss Flirty for a refill, raise my eyebrow at Luke and signal for his refill as well at his nod.

“Why do you want to know?”  He whispers this and suddenly looks ashen. 

What the fuck?  Is he really a serial killer?  A spy?  Is he unemployed and looking for a sugar mama?  I dismiss that last thought. He wouldn’t be able to live in this neighborhood if he were unemployed.

“Well, now I’m intrigued.”  I lean forward. He looks so uncomfortable, I decide to put him out of his misery.  “But it’s really none of my business.  So, you read, and then?”

Luke visibly relaxes, and I can’t help but be more than a bit disappointed that he won’t tell me what he does for a living.

“I also took a nap.”

I grin and look him up and down.  “To be a fly on the wall.”

Oh, I almost forgot how much fun it is to flirt!

He laughs, and it tickles me, making me laugh, too. 

“Then I went shopping for my sister’s birthday gift and found the perfect thing.”

“Oh?  And what was that?” I tilt my head to the side, enjoying this flirty game, sipping my delicious drink.

“Well, there’s this brilliant local artist that takes beautiful photos, and I was lucky enough to find some of her work.”  He almost looks proud, and it gives me a warm, happy glow.

“That’s great.”  I don’t know what else to say.

“So, you had a photo session today?”

Whoa…change of topic.

“Yes.”  I think I need another margarita if this conversation is about to take the turn I think it is.  I signal to Miss Flirty and, without asking, order him one, too. 

He raises an eyebrow.  “I didn’t think you did portrait photography.”

“Why did you think that?” I ask with a frown.

“Because you said so this morning during our most unusual meeting.”

“Oh, that’s right.  I don’t do traditional portrait photography.”  I clear my throat and look around the bar, anywhere but at him, praying he doesn’t ask his next question, and grimace when he asks anyway.

“What kind of portrait photography do you do?”  He looks confused.

I take a deep breath.  Crap.

“Well, it varies.  Depends on the client.”  I’m nervous again.  I don’t tell many people about this side of my photography business. I find that most people are too judgmental, and it’s honestly no one’s business but mine and my clients’. 

“Look at me.”  His voice is low and serious, and he’s not playful anymore.  Shit.

I look into his eyes and swallow.

“You can tell me, Natalie.”

Oh, he’s so…sexy.  And nice.  Is that possible?

“Perhaps one day I will.  When you tell me what you do for a living.”  I smirk and kick him under the table, and his mood immediately lifts.

“So there’s going to be a ‘one day’?”

Oh, I hope so!  “If you play your cards right.”

“Sassy little thing, aren’t you?”

“You have no idea, Luke.”

“I’d like to learn, Natalie.” And there is that serious face again, making me squirm.

“You’re quite the charmer, aren’t you?”

Luke grins his wide, gorgeous grin.  I smirk again and finish my third drink.  My head is getting fuzzy, and I know I’d better stop with the alcohol.

“Another drink.” Luke starts to call for Miss Flirty, but I shake my head. 

“I’d better go back to water.”

“Of course.  More water for my lady friend and I, please.”  The overly friendly waitress saunters away, deliberately swaying her hips, hoping to get Luke’s attention, but he’s staring at me, ignoring her.

“What kind of movies do you like?”

Huh?  Is he asking me out to the movies? 

“I don’t watch a lot of movies.”

He tilts that beautiful head to the side and looks at me like I just told him that pigs fly.  “Really?”

“I don’t have a lot of time for it.”

“Who’s your favorite actor?”  He smiles, and I feel like this is some sort of test, but I haven’t been given the study notes.

“I don’t even know who’s popular right now.”  I sit back into the booth seat and purse my lips, thinking about it.  “When I was a teenager, I loved Robert Redford.”  I shrug.

Luke looks like he’s been kicked in the stomach, and I’m suddenly embarrassed.  Then that beautiful face transforms into his smile, and his eyes soften as they take me in.  “Why? Isn’t he a little old for you?”

I giggle.  “Yes.  But I saw
The Way We Were
with him and Barbra Streisand when I was fifteen and fell in love with Hubbell.  He was dreamy.  I don’t pay a lot of attention to movies.  There’s too much drivel out there.”

Luke laughs.  “Drivel?”

“Yes!  If I see a trailer for one more stupid vampire movie, I’m going to kill myself.”

He frowns again, looks around the bar and back to me, his eyes narrowed and apprehensive.

“What?  What did I say?”

“Nothing.  You’re just very unexpected.  What are you, twenty-three?”

Why does he want to know my age?

“Twenty-five.  You?”

“Twenty-eight.”

“So, you’re old then.” I giggle.

“You have a great laugh.”  His eyes are shining with happiness, and I mentally hug myself again, forgetting to be nervous, and I realize I’m just really enjoying him.  He’s just so easy to talk to.

I check my watch and gasp at the time.  We’ve been sitting here for three hours!

“I should go.”  I smile up at him.  “We’ve been here a long time.”

“Time flies when you’re with someone beautiful.”  He leans over and grabs my hand, and I am so caught up in his spell right now.  My eyes focus on his lips, and he licks them, making me squirm.  Before I know it, he retracts his hand, and I’m left feeling frustrated and missing the warmth of his touch.

“Right back at you.”  I put my sassy smile back on my face and reach for the check.

“Oh no.  That’s mine.”  Luke pulls the check from my fingers and digs out his wallet.

“I’m happy to pay for my own drinks.”

He glares at me, and I’m stunned that he looks genuinely mad.  Whoa.

“No.”

“Okay.  Thank you.”

His smile is back as he says, “You’re most welcome.”

Luke settles the bill, and we head back out onto the sidewalk.  He hastily puts his sunglasses back on and is visibly aware of who’s around us.  My heart flips as he takes my hand, and we start to walk toward my car.

The sun is just starting to set, and I look out over the gorgeous sound, the blue water, the boats and the mountains, and long for my camera.  I glance up at Luke, and his jaw is tense. He’s looking down, and we’re walking briskly.

“Hey, slow down.”  I tug on his hand a bit and deliberately slow my steps.  “Are you in a hurry to be rid of me?” 

“No, not at all.”  He looks around us again, then grins down at me, slowing his pace. 

“It’s going to be a great sunset.  Wanna walk along the water?  I promise, no camera.”  I hold my free hand up to show him it’s empty.  

Luke smirks, and then looks around once more, and I follow his gaze.  There are a lot of people out and about enjoying the beautiful day on Alki Beach.  Luke shakes his head and looks forlorn for a moment.

We stop by my car, and I think he’s looking down at me, but it’s hard to tell through his dark glasses. 

“I don’t like crowds, Natalie.  It’s kind of a phobia.”  He shakes his head again, runs his hand through that sexy hair and releases my hand, putting his hands on his hips.

“It’s no problem.”  I feel sorry for him in that moment and want to comfort him.  I’ve never wanted to comfort any man before, ever.  I’ve never had soft feelings toward a man.  They’ve always just been a pleasant diversion, or my worst nightmare.  Confusingly, I find myself reaching up and cupping his face in my palm to soothe him.

“Hey,” I say softly.  “Don’t sweat it, Luke.”

He leans into my touch and exhales, puts his hand over mine, then clasps it and kisses my knuckles.

Oh my.

“Come on.” I deliberately interrupt this lovely moment, needing just a little space. “I’ll drive you home.”

Luke’s jaw drops open.

“I’m not going to make you walk home, carrying these brilliantly genius photos, through the crowds.  Hop in.”

He flashes me his sexy, face-splitting smile and hops into the passenger seat.

Oh, Natalie, what are you getting yourself into?

Chapter Three

Luke’s home is a very short drive along the coast, and it strikes me that his place is less than a quarter mile from mine.  He directs me to pull into a gated driveway.  I can see only a single-lane drive ahead of me. There is no house in view.

“The code is 112774,” he directs me.

“Wow, you trust me with the code to your gate?” I am trying to keep the banter between us light to mask my nervousness of going to his house.  Will he even invite me inside?

“You’d be amazed at what I’d trust you with, Natalie.”  I glance back at him and catch his frown.  “In fact, so would I.”

I ignore his comment and pull through the gate, winding to the left, and gasp at the beautiful modern home before me.  It’s not huge, it’s simple, but the view of the sound is breathtaking, and the white home itself is newer, with clean lines, tons of large windows, beautiful purple and blue hydrangeas lining the front of the house, and pruned shrubs lining the driveway.

“Wow, Luke, this is beautiful.” 

“Thank you.”  The pride is back in his voice, and it’s evident that he loves his home.  I smile at him, completely understanding the feeling.

I park so the passenger side is facing the front door and don’t make a move to take my seat belt off.  Luke has already jumped out and, to my surprise, walks around the front of my car to my door and opens it.

“Please, come in.”  He holds a hand out to me, but I pause.

“I should go…”

“I’d really love for you to come inside.”  He gives me that charming grin, and I feel myself softening.  “Let me show you the view.  Maybe make you dinner.  That’s all, I swear.”  His eyes shine with mischief, and I just can’t resist him.

I don’t want to resist him.

“I’m not keeping you from anything?”

“Nope, I’m a free man, Natalie.  Come on.” 

I shut off the car and take his hand.  Wow.  The electricity from his touch is still there, and my eyes widen as they find his.  His smile is gone, and he’s staring intently into my eyes.  He pulls my hand up to his lips, then closes my door behind me and leads me up to his door without letting go of me, as if I could run away at any minute.