Pretend You're Mine: A Small Town Love Story (16 page)

“It’s a lot of money,” she hissed.

“You help with the books. I’m good for it.”

“I haven’t gotten through your books yet and this seems like kind of a large investment for one cookout.”

“Cookout?” Luke swore. “Now we need a damn picnic table.”

While Becky wrote up the sale of her career, Luke rubbed Harper’s shoulders. He smiled at the tension he felt there. Maybe it was time to take pity on her.

“I’m not mad at you ... anymore,” he murmured against her ear.

She leaned back against him and looked up.

“I’m still sorry. It wasn’t very thoughtful of me to invite people into your home without asking you.”

“Maybe it won’t be horrible.”

Harper smiled. “There will be beer and hamburgers, and potato salad if we can stop at the grocery store on the way home.”

“More shopping? I’ll reserve judgment.”

“I was thinking. Now that there’s a couch in the house, you could have your bed all to yourself if you wanted.”

Luke pinched her. “Sweetheart, after last night, you’re lucky if I let you leave the bedroom at all for the rest of the month.”

He could see her blush creep down her neck.

Harper turned around and put her arms around his neck. “You know, Gloria’s bringing homemade apple pie. We could pick up some vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce to go with it, or for later.” She grinned wickedly.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so horrible, after all.

He hid his grin behind a sigh. “You might as well find some kind of breakfast table thing while we’re here because we’re
never
coming back,” he whispered to Harper.

She obligingly scampered off with Becky in tow while Bob himself stepped in to ring up the purchase.

“You ready to head back, son?”

Bob was twenty years his senior and had retired from a thirty-year career with the National Guard before taking on the home furnishings world.

“Yes, sir.”

“Word has it you’re a strong leader,” he said, peering over his reading glasses.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Thank you for your service, son. Is this her first deployment?” He nodded towards Harper and Becky who had their heads together over a pub-height table set.

“It is.”

“Think she’ll hold up?”

“That girl can survive anything.” She already had. She would handle him leaving. She would handle starting a new life, yet again.

***

T
he fire in the cleaned up fire pit crackled, casting a warm, flickering glow around the backyard. Luke shifted his weight in the new wooden Adirondack chair.

Bob had thrown in four chairs with the purchase of the picnic table and the rest of the furniture. As soon as Luke’s credit card had cleared, Bob had loaded everything up on a truck and had it delivered. They had just enough time to get everything set up, the tags cut off, and the potato and pasta salads chucked into bowls before Aldo and Gloria arrived.

Aldo, the smart ass, accused Luke of nesting now that he finally convinced a woman to tolerate him. Luke hadn’t been amused by the joke, but Harper got a good laugh out of it.

She laughed a lot. It was a sound that warmed him up. A sound that made him realize how quiet his life had become before. A sound that made him wonder why he had valued the silence so much.

He took a sip of beer and watched her through the licks of flames as she and Gloria tried their hands at toasting marshmallows. The firelight danced gold in her hair. She was beautiful to begin with, but add that grin and her bubbly laugh, and it pulled at something deep inside. Rooting and taking hold.

“Hey, lover boy, if you’re done staring dreamily at your girl, I’m empty.” Aldo wiggled his beer bottle. “It’s your turn to play host.”

Luke stood up and took Aldo’s bottle before tipping his friend’s chair sideways and depositing Aldo on the ground. “Sure, no problem. Ladies, can I get you anything?” Harper jumped up.

“I’ll help you,” she said brightly.

“I think I can carry a few beers myself,” Luke teased, holding the back door open for her. “Or are you just trying to get me alone?”

Harper brushed up against him as she walked past. “I’m multi-tasking.”

He shut the door a little harder than he meant to in his haste to get his hands on her. Harper ran her finger down his chest to his stomach. He was hard even before she skimmed lower to the top of his jeans. “I’m helping you carry beers, stealing a very private moment with you, and letting Gloria and Aldo talk.” She dipped her fingers in his waistband.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, baby,” he warned.

Harper let him back her up against the refrigerator. He saw the eagerness in her eyes and wondered if it was mirrored in his. His hands slid under her sweatshirt, fingers running over the impossibly soft skin. His mouth hovered over hers.

“The lights are on. They can see us,” Harper whispered. Her eyes danced and he knew she would let him do anything regardless of audience.

Wordlessly he dragged her into the darkened dining room and almost tripped over the table that he forgot he bought. He caged her between his arms against the table.

“I think I’ve earned a kiss for tonight.”

He read hot lust in her gaze. “I think we can start with a kiss,” she said in a breathy whisper.

Luke stayed where he was and let her make the move.

She put her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him, her breasts gently rubbing against his chest. She slowly closed the distance between their lips.

He was determined to keep it playful, sweet. But as soon as she bit his bottom lip, all gentleness was forgotten. He growled as she sucked it into her mouth.

Luke grabbed her hand and pressed it against his erection.

“Get rid of them, baby.”

She laughed against his mouth and he almost took her there on the table. The way she responded to him took him closer and closer to the line.

After another scorching kiss, he pried her hands off of him and took a step back.

He sighed. “We’d better get back out there.”

Harper licked her lip and sighed. “Whose idea was it to have people over tonight?”

He smacked her on the ass and put his hands on her shoulders. She smelled like sunshine and fire. He guided her back to the kitchen. “If you’re done attacking me, I’ll grab the beers.”

“I don’t plan to be done attacking you any time soon, captain.” She winked before sneaking a peek out the window. Aldo had taken the chair she vacated and was sitting next to Gloria. Harper smiled.

“Why are you looking so smug?” Luke demanded, coming up behind her.

“Just spying on Aldo to see if he’s worked up the courage to tell Gloria how much he likes her.”

“Aldo and Gloria?” Luke snorted. “Baby, the day Aldo settles down is the day hell freezes over, pigs fly, and I go vegetarian. Don’t get your hopes up.”

“I’ll take that bet.”

Luke dropped a kiss on her neck. “Deal. When Aldo and Gloria get married, I’ll go vegetarian.”

T
heir guests left late that evening with Luke practically shoving them out the door. Aldo was on the front porch, offering to give Gloria a ride home, when Luke shut and locked the front door behind them.

It made Harper tingle with the thought that he wanted to have her alone so badly. Luke pushed her back against the door and kissed her with a heat that scorched. “We’ll clean up the kitchen tomorrow,” he decided.

Harper nodded. “Definitely.”

“Shower?”

“Yes, please.”

He dragged her, laughing, upstairs to the bathroom and turned on the water.

Luke pulled his shirt over his head while Harper pretended not to watch. When he slid his jeans down his muscular thighs, she wet her lips. His underwear clung to the bulge between his legs.

“What?” he demanded.

“I was just wondering how it’s physically possible for a human being to be so perfectly formed.” She stepped forward to trail her fingers over his chest.

Luke smirked and stilled her hand on his skin. “I was wondering how it’s physically possible for you to still have all your clothes on.”

Harper pulled off her sweatshirt and tossed it at him. Her shorts came next. The second her bra hit the floor, Luke was dragging her into the steaming water.

They stroked and played, raining wet kisses on slick skin.

Luke moved behind her and squeezed her shampoo into his hand. Harper let him work his strong fingers through her hair under the spray.

He lifted her wet tresses from her back, lips brushing the nape of her neck. Goose bumps cropped up even under the heat of the water.

She turned in his arms, letting the water cascade down her back. “My turn,” she said, nipping his lower lip with her teeth.

He let her lather him with body wash. Harper took her time, smoothing her hands across his chest and across his stomach. His cock twitched the closer her strokes came to it. He dropped his forehead to hers. “Baby, you drive me crazy.”

Harper gripped his shaft in her soapy hand. “Right back at you. Put your hands on the wall,” she whispered.

He hesitated and she slid her hands lower to cup his heavy sack. “Please, Luke?”

When he finally did as she asked, she sank to her knees under the spray of the showerhead.

“Harper.”

She didn’t bother hiding her triumphant smile before she took him into her mouth.

Luke swore and Harper slid her lips further down his shaft. Resting her hands on his thighs, she could feel the tension running through his body.

She moaned and felt him get harder instantly. His hips flexed, forcing him deeper into her mouth. Again and again. She eagerly met his short, fast thrusts.

“My God, Harper.”

He grabbed her under the arms and pulled her to her feet and out of the shower.

“I don’t want to come yet.”

Skipping the towel, he pressed her against the vanity and used his knee to spread her legs wider. He took a hand and swiped a path of steam from the mirror. “I want to see you,” he said, lips moving against her ear, eyes never breaking from hers in the reflection.

She shivered against him.

“Trust me.”

Harper nodded. She did. Something deep inside her recognized him. Knew him.

Luke slid his hand slowly down her spine following the trail of water from her wet hair to the cleft between her cheeks. His fingers lightly traced the water’s path, skimming over her anus. She tensed.

“I’ve never —”

“Put your hands on the counter.” He reached up and squeezed more water from her hair and she felt it trickle down her back to her behind. Harper shut her eyes as his hand once again followed the water.

“Open your eyes, baby.” He said it so softly, so sweetly Harper couldn’t disobey.

Luke’s hand snaked around to the front and he cupped her sex, fingers pressing into her lips. “I can feel how wet you are for me. His fingers spread her open and found her clitoris. He rubbed gently with the pads of his fingers. A smooth, circular motion.

Harper felt the heat pool between her legs, the familiar heaviness deep in her belly. She had no control around him. She was always wet for him.

Luke’s gaze followed the trails of water from her hair as they made a lazy path to her nipple, before beading and dripping off.

With his other hand, he took one of hers and brought it to her breast. Harper squeezed and she heard him exhale behind her. His busy fingers pressed against her in approval. Harper cupped her breast and tried to focus on Luke’s eyes in the mirror.

He was fiercely in control, but still exploring. She wondered how far he would take it. How far she would let him go.

Watching her, Luke straightened a finger and drove it inside her. Harper felt her knees buckle and she bumped back against him. His cock rubbed between the cheeks of her behind. He gripped his shaft and slapped it lightly against her back.

Harper moaned and moved her fingers to tug gently at her nipple. Luke withdrew his finger and replaced it with two. He leaned over her, pressing her forward and she had to bring both hands to the counter to steady them.

Luke reached around to cup her other breast, rubbing his thumb over her straining nipple. Everything he did to her felt like heaven and torture at the same time. Sheathing his fingers in her to the hilt, he curled them inside her.

“I’m going to watch you come,” he whispered it darkly against her hair. Like she was under a spell, her body obeyed. He drove his fingers into her again and she shuddered, already at the edge. He kneaded her breast and pressed his cock against her cleft. She felt herself tighten around his fingers as his other hand tugged at her nipple. Harper fell forward on the vanity and let the sweet waves take her.

Luke’s eyes never left hers, and in them was possession.

She felt the last of the orgasm slide through her and braced herself, catching her breath. “Jesus, Luke,” she whispered over her pounding pulse. Her body felt like it was designed for his.

He withdrew his fingers and held them up to her. She could see the slick coating and blushed. It was a dark pleasure.

Luke leaned back, still clutching her breast, and moved his hand to the small of her back. She felt his thumb press against the top of her cleft before his wet fingers traveled lower still.

She inhaled sharply when his fingers found her anus. She had never been touched like this before. Never been this vulnerable. Luke paused, applying a slight pressure with his finger. Harper felt a need she had never known begin to build. She pressed her back against him, testing the sensation.

He smiled grimly in the mirror, and tugged at her nipple again. Rolling it between his finger and thumb, he mimicked the pulls of a mouth on her. Harper’s lips parted and she felt him shift his weight into her. His finger ever so slowly breached her opening and she gasped. It felt wrong. It felt good.

She could see the set of his jaw in the mirror and knew he was struggling to hold back. Harper shifted back against him, urging him deeper. Slowly, he fingered her hole, filling her. He reached his hand across to the other breast rubbing his palm lazily over the nipple.

His fingers withdrew and thrust in again and then again. A slow, consuming rhythm. She felt her herself flex towards him every time he withdrew. She could feel juices gathering between her thighs and mingling with the water on her skin.