Skin Deep

And then it happened. I should have known it. I mean, I was thinking it in the back of my mind, but Allie’s my best friend and even I would never have said it out loud. Ever.



Brandon pulled back, opened his mouth and said, “Are you sure it was just a fudge bar you were sucking on? I’m just sayin’…” he trailed off as he watched Allie’s eyes flash fire and then took a step back.



I gasped at the same time I heard Luke groan, “Oh, Brandon, no…” and then the resounding smack of a palm meeting cheek in what I’ll term, “The Slap Heard ‘Round the World.” It was loud!



I opened my eyes, since I had squeezed them tightly shut knowing what was coming, and watched as Brandon reached up to grab his cheek, mumbling, “FUCK” under his breath while Allie stood there shaking her hand. I looked over at Luke and saw him standing with his head down, one hand covering his eyes, the other rubbing the back of his neck.



He dropped his hands suddenly and glanced my way. Our eyes caught and held and I wondered if it was getting hot in there, or if it was just me? Even more confusing was the fact that my panties had started to dampen suspiciously, but my cha-chi hadn’t seen any action in so long, I figured the damn thing would have been dry as the desert by now.



I started as Brandon cleared his throat and softly said, “ I’m sorry, Allie. That was way out of line, and I didn’t mean anything by it.” He cut his eyes down to hers and continued, “Forgive me?”



Allie took a breath, nodded, and retorted, “For future reference, if I had something much more interesting than a fucking fudge bar in my mouth, I’d have said-”



I cleared my throat loudly, diverting the disaster that I knew was headed out of Allie’s mouth.



“For further reference,” she said as if I hadn’t just interrupted her, “if you want to question my intelligence as to if I know the difference between something soft, cold, creamy, and sweet versus hot, smooth, velvety and hard pushing past my lips…” Allie trailed off as she sidled closer to Brandon and smiled slyly up at him. “Then I assure you, I do,” she whispered.



She reached up and ran her finger lightly down the bridge of Brandon’s nose before sashaying towards the door.



I felt the wall behind me and leaned back against it for support, trying not to laugh at Brandon’s stunned expression and the way he shifted uncomfortably and stared out the door after Allie. My laughter died in my throat as I put my head back against the wall, only to realize that the wall was breathing…(Oh, God, not again…)



I turned my head slightly to the right and found myself face to face with Luke, his lips curved slightly upwards in a crooked smile. I froze for a second and then stepped quickly away from him before I did the first thing that had popped in my head, which was lick his lip where the silver hoop sat.



He reached out to steady me before saying, “Well, that was interesting.” He looked at Brandon , who was still standing there in stunned silence, before turning back to me and asking, “so, you ready for your next tattoo?”



I gulped. “Uh…no, not quite, but thanks…” I stuttered before turning to head out the door to see where Allie had gone.



Before I got too far, strong fingers reached out and grabbed my wrist, pulling me back to face Luke. I looked down at my wrist where his fingers encircled my flesh before letting my gaze roam upwards, taking in the thick, black lines of ink swirled in an intricate tribal design on his forearm, before disappearing under the sleeve of his long sleeved henley that he had pushed up to his elbows. I noticed lines of script positioned on the inside of his wrist but couldn’t make out what they said.



I dipped my head to look closer at the lines tattooed on his wrist but was stopped by his other hand as it came up to lightly turn my face up to his. I blinked at the heat in his eyes.



A small smile started to quirk Luke’s lips again as he said, “Dinner. Tonight. Say, seven o’clock?”



Huh? He was asking me out? Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod…this can’t be happening.



I managed to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat (barely) and managed to squeak, “Okay…yeah. Seven. Are you sure? I mean, you must be awfully busy…”



“Emma. I’m sure.” Luke’s smile grew wider as he took in the glazed look in my eyes.



He released my wrist and twined his fingers through mine instead, then pulled me out into the hall, walking toward the lobby. Allie was no where in sight, so I assumed she had already gone out to the car.



When we got to the front door, I turned to Luke and opened my mouth to protest that dinner wasn’t necessary, but before I got a word out, he placed a finger gently over my lips, effectively shutting me up for the moment.



“Dinner. Seven. I’ll pick you up. Where do you live?” Luke murmured.



I gave him my address, flushing as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear, and walked out into the sunshine where Allie was waiting in my car.



When I got in the car, Allie turned to me expectantly and asked, “What the hell took so long? You’re gonna be late getting back to work!”



Glancing at my watch, I groaned before putting the car in drive and tearing off towards Allie’s house to drop her off and make a mad dash back to the office. As I drove, I filled Allie in with the unbelievable details of what happened after she left.



“Aiiyeeeee!” Allie screamed excitedly. “I cant believe he asked you out! Where are you going, what are you going to wear, are you gonna finally get some?” The questions came fast off Allie’s tongue.



“Me, either, I don’t know, clothes, I guess, and HELL NO!” I replied. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that Luke had even asked me out, let alone the thought of getting naked with him. Hell, one hour with me during dinner might render him comatose from boredom, and then I’d be stuck doing all the work. Not that that’s not how its always been with the douche bags I’ve dated in the past. Let’s just say that none of them have ever tickled me pink in the bedroom department.



I pulled up outside Allie’s house and as she opened the door to get out she said, “Call me with the details as soon as you get home. That’s an order, Jensen.” Sheesh.



I pulled away and headed back to the office, praying to anyone who might be listening to have mercy on me and not let me get pulled over.



Once I got back to the office, I didn’t have much time to think about my date with Luke. The phone rang off the hook, I had about a million files to put away, and Floyd had been busy; he had dictated three tapes for me to transcribe.



At five o’clock I pushed back from my desk, pulled files for the next day, and locked up the office. I headed home to get ready, my nerves starting to show themselves in full force.



Chapter 4



By quarter after six, I was putting the finishing touches on my makeup. My hair was twisted up into a messy chignon, and I was wearing a soft, black, fitted cowl neck sweater over my charcoal grey skinny jeans that were tucked down into my knee high, cuffed, black suede boots with a stacked heel. (I finally settled on these after trying on all sixteen other pairs of boots that I own. What can I say? I have a shoe fetish, and you don’t even wanna know how many pairs of shoes I have on top of those sixteen pairs of boots. Its ridiculous; I need rehab.)