On my way.

I stood up and grabbed my purse, digging for my keys. I couldn’t find them; however, I did hear a slight jingling coming from my left where Leah was sitting.

“Leah,” I gritted out, my jaw clenched tight. “Give. Me. My. Keys.”

She gave me a blank stare while trying to keep from grinning. “What keys?”

“LEAH!” I yelled. “Give me my keys! Now!”

She gave up the fight and just grinned unabashedly at me. “Nope.”

I repeated myself again, and when her answer didn’t change, I lunged at her. She squealed and tossed the keys to Allie who caught them and took off running inside the house, while Leah headed around the side of the house through the yard. I followed, hot on Allie’s heels, yelling threats at her. She ran through the house and out the front door, heading off the front porch and into the yard where Leah was waiting to grab my keys again.

Allie got about three feet into the yard before I managed to twist my fingers into the back of her shirt and pull, tackling her into the grass. We rolled, her trying to get away, or at least find an opening to toss the keys to Leah, and me trying to hold on to her as I worked my way up her body to get to her hand.

A shadow fell over us as we struggled on the ground and Allie and I both looked up. Dancing grey-blue eyes looked down at us, and I slumped over Allie, laying my forehead in the grass and groaning. Allie laughed and pushed me off to the side before accepting the hand that Luke held down to help her up. He stood her on her feet and reached down for me. I got to my feet myself, avoiding his hand.

Luke just shook his head and sighed before asking Allie and Leah, “Is she always this difficult?”

Leah, big fat mouth that she is, replied, “Eh, she wasn’t always. Douche Bag Brad did a number on her.”

He quirked a brow at her response, silently entreating her to expound on just who Douche Bag Brad was.

I shot Leah a glare, daring her to say another word before I turned to Luke, crossing my arms in front of me. “What are you doing here? I thought I told you that we were through!” I shouted at him.

He just smiled at me and calmly said, “That’s just it. You think too much, sugar. We’re not done, not by a long shot.” He looked over at Leah, who had taken my keys back from Allie, and asked her, “You good to take her car back?”

Leah nodded, her and Allie both grinning widely.

Luke grabbed my hand and pulled, tucking me into his side, his arm wrapping around my shoulders as he started walking me toward his car parked in front of Allie’s house.

“Luke, wait!” I yelled, frantically trying to think of a way to stall him. “My purse! I need it!”

“No you don’t,” he stated.

“My cell phone!”

“Don’t need it either, sugar.”

He stopped us by the passenger door of his car, opening it and lightly pushing me in, one hand on the top of my head and one on my hip. He closed the door as soon as I was completely inside and walked around to get in.

I turned to him. “Resorting to kidnapping now, are we? Where do you get off?” I huffed.

“In your tight little body,” he responded, deliberately twisting my words.

I gasped as butterflies started dancing in my belly at his words, while other parts of me became damp. No! Not going there, not giving in! I sat quietly for a minute, twisting my hands in my lap.

“Where are you taking me, then? Will you please just take me home?” I asked the last question quietly, pleading with him and hoping that he would fall for it.

“No, and you’ll see. We’re almost there,” he replied.

I didn’t say anything else, just stared out the window as he drove. After about fifteen minutes, we turned onto a narrow lane, winding back through the trees. We pulled up in front of a two story log cabin style house with large windows framed by red shutters, a red tin roof, and a wraparound porch. It was beautiful, set back in a clearing in the woods, and it looked so homey and inviting. I wondered who lived there and asked Luke the same.

“I’ll show you,” he said.

We got out of the car and walked up on the porch. Luke slid a key into the lock and opened the door, stepping back to let me pass.

I stared at him, not moving into the house like he intended. “You live here?” I asked.

He nodded. “Well, me and Brandon and Doug.”

“Doug?” I asked. I got my answer when a large yellow lab came bounding out the door at me, tail wagging, tongue lolling out the side of his wide open, full of large, sharp, pointy teeth mouth…yikes! I took a step back as he gathered himself to leap at me, terrified that I was about to be eaten. I looked at Luke, waiting for him to do something, say something, anything to save me, but he just grinned at me.

I felt two saucer sized paws come up on my shoulders, surprisingly gentle, and a big, wet tongue licked up the side of my face. My eyes flew open (I didn’t even realize that I had closed them) and I stared into deep brown doggie eyes. My heart melted and I brought my hands up to rub his soft, floppy ears. After a second, he dropped to the ground and ambled away.

Luke smiled. “Emma, meet Doug. He likes you.”

I smiled back. “I think I like him, too. He just caught me off guard and he’s so big!”

We both turned to watch Doug as he marked about a dozen trees before ambling back towards the porch. He walked up the steps and stopped by my side, where he reached his nose up and nipped the sleeve of my hoodie in his teeth, tugging me towards the door. I walked inside, not given much choice.

I heard Luke laughing behind me as he followed, closing the door behind him. Doug let me go once I cleared the door, walked to a large overstuffed tan couch, climbed up on it and laid down with a sigh.

I looked around the living room, surprised by the openness and warmth. It was definitely lived in, but not cluttered or dirty. To the left, a wide staircase led upstairs, and the kitchen was on the other side of the living room, separated by a long breakfast bar, complete with stool seating. To the right was a door I assumed would be a closet, and then a hallway leading to unseen rooms.

As I stood there taking everything in, I felt Luke come up behind me and lift my hair over my shoulder sweeping it off my neck. He then leaned in and pressed his lips softly behind my ear, kissing my tattoo. I felt myself melting back against him and stiffened, refusing to give in to the need starting to course through my body.

“Luke,” I whispered. “Why did you bring me here?”

He answered me with his mouth still against my skin. “So you can know me. And because I’ve been dreaming of having you in my bed since I touched you the first time.” He pressed kisses down my throat, nipping my skin when he reached my shoulder.

I shivered at the feel of his teeth, closing my eyes at the sensation. I started to turn, forgetting for the moment that I was fighting against this, when he stepped back, dropping his hands from me.

He sat on the couch beside Doug, stroking his head absent-mindedly as he began speaking unexpectedly.

“I bought this place for me and Brandon after Lenny passed away. He had left us a pretty good sum in addition to the shop. Brandon could have gotten his own place, but honestly, neither one of us wanted that. This is the first real home we’ve ever had, and we’ve only really had each other.” He paused as I crossed the room to sink into the overstuffed armchair that matched the couch he and Doug were sitting on.