Chapter 4

Luke

The blush on her cheeks looked damn good. Her deep blue eyes drawing me in deep. She had the look of a woman I could find myself falling in love with. The very thought had me pulling back as she walked toward me.

"So... you're a chef, or is cooking just a past time?" She reached up and pushed her dark locks over her shoulder.

"I don't have a job, so I just help out around town where I'm needed, volunteer here and there and work the farm." I licked my lips, unable to help myself. "Cooking is a hobby. You?"

She stiffened and reached up to wrap her arms around her chest like she had the night before. The position accentuated her breasts, and my body grew hard at the thought of getting her naked and making love to her. It wasn't like me to want to take a woman to bed before I got to know her a little better, but something about the poutiness of her lips, the intelligence in her eyes. We could talk after I worshiped her body for a few hours.

"I love to read, though I can't seem to sit still much nowadays." She glanced over her shoulder as if uncomfortable and looking for someone to save her.

I scooped up some of the chili in a ladle and waited for her to turn back. "Onions and cheese?"

"Both." She smiled, capturing me in the moment.

"So you're from the big city? You always lived there?" I had to make small talk until I could get her to relax a little. Maybe digging into any part of her life was bad territory, but I couldn't help myself.

"Yeah." She took the bowl from me and picked up her spoon, her eyes never leaving mine. "I'm a psychologist there."

"Oh, interesting." I brushed my hands down the front of my shirt. "Now, be honest about the chili. I'm trying to win an award later today. No buttering me up in hopes of asking me out on a date while you're here."

She laughed and blew on the dark liquid in her bowl before looking back up at me. "Are you asking me out?"

"Do you want me to?" I smiled and watched her closely. I didn't know a damn thing about her, but something drew me in, forced me to step forward. The way her eyes widened a little let me know she wasn't ready for anything more than a friendship.

"I don't know." She took a tentative bite and went in for more. The soft moan that left her had my body aching.

There was no way for me to adjust myself so that the thick erection growing by the second below my stomach didn't grab her attention. Hell, Jeremy would have used that to his advantage, but I wasn't him. My playboy days were long over, and I was fucking thrilled to have that door closed.

Too many broken hearts, including my own.

"Well, you think about it and let me know when you do." I reached out and wiped the side of her perfect mouth. "Come on. Let's go walk around. I need a break, and you need to experience a county fair in full effect."

"Alright, but don't let anyone touch my bowl. Have someone watch it." She sat it down and wiped at her mouth. "And not your brother. He'll eat it and say he didn't."

I laughed. "Wow. You've already figured Jeremy out, hm? Poor guy can't get a head start with any of the pretty girls around here."

"Pretty girls?" She chuckled, and the sound lit me on fire. An angel with a broken heart. There had to be more to the story. Was she a good girl like her sister? A sweet woman with no desire to be involved with anyone? Not from what I could tell.

"You don't like the term?" I nodded toward the Ferris Wheel and forced my hands in my jeans pockets. I wanted to take her hand, but even at my age, it seemed silly. Trite. Like something two lovers would do, and where I wanted that to be what we became, I was trying to be realistic. Two weeks would go by in a flash, and she didn't need her world turned upside down, nor did I.

"I do, but I'm not really a girl."

I let my eyes move down the length of her body, enjoying her curves more than I should have. "You sure as hell look like one to me."

She swatted at me. "I'm a woman."

"Agreed." I stopped beside the Ferris Wheel and stuck out my hand. Old man Timmons shook it and opened the gate without a word passing between us.

"Do we need to pay?" She moved up beside me, and I reached out and took her hand, helping her onto the cable car.

"No. I help everyone where with their businesses or farms from time to time. They won't charge us." I got into the cart and locked the bar down in front of us. "Tell me what you do for fun, Miss New York City."

She smirked. "I'm not really sure life can be fun after a certain age."

I balked. "Are you shitting me? We're still young, and to be honest, the people who have the most fun are those who are old enough to know that all life can be is fun."

"You think so?" Her voice softened, and I caught a glimpse of that hurt, that timid nature that she seemed to be trying hard to hide.

"I do." I leaned back and extended my arm around the back of her shoulders as the ride started to move. She squealed, and I laughed. "You sounded all of ten years old just then."

"I wish." She scooted a little closer. "My sister and I haven't talked in three years."

"Why is that?" I cupped her shoulder and forced myself to relax. I wanted to lean down and kiss her exposed shoulder, to breath her in, to let myself fall in love with the gorgeous stranger pressed to my side. I hadn't wanted for anything or anyone in years. How weird it was to feel those feelings again. The slight fear that she would return to New York and leave my plain world just that - plain.

She glanced down and cupped her hands together. "My mom and dad were killed in an accident coming to see Nora and me in L.A."

"I'm sorry to hear that. My folks died on the way back from a funeral about ten years ago. They were five miles from the house." I cleared my throat. It wouldn't ever be easy to talk about losing them, not that I brought it up much. Jeremy and I steered clear of the conversation and had for the longest time. It was too painful. Even still.

"Wow. That's horrible." She glanced over at me, the kindness in her eyes meaning far more than the heat I'd seen earlier. "Who's funeral? Were you with them?"

"No. I was in the service. I joined the Navy out of high school and had worked my way up to flying at the Air Force flight school, but after mom and dad died, Jeremy was a mess. I got out of the military and came back here to help him work through everything."

"And is he better?" She glanced around as if trying to pick him out from all the other bodies that moved around on the earth far below us. He wouldn't be too hard to find. He was the only one in slacks and a button-down shirt. He'd never fit in again. He didn't want to.

"I don't know if better is the right word. He's become a different man than the one I left when I graduated high school and went on with my life, but he is who he is now." I reached up and ran my fingers through my hair. "So tell me why you and Nora haven't talked in three years."

"Because I look like my daddy and she looks like my momma." She glanced over at me, her face so close to mine. Up close I could see the laugh lines on the side of her mouth and cute little freckles lining her nose.

"You're beautiful." I reached up with my free hand and touched her cheek softly as the world seemed to fade. "Did you know that?"

"No," she whispered and pulled my hand down. "My sister is the pretty one."

"Not from where I'm sitting." I pushed her hand away from mine softly and cupped her face again. "Let me kiss you. I've wanted too since I drove up the road to my home last night."

She laughed, and I could tell it was genuine. "What? That's ridiculous. Do you use these lines on all the girls around here that are after you?"

"Ain't nobody after me." I glanced down toward her lips and licked mine. "And it's not ridiculous. I could see sadness in your face yesterday. Something inside of me wants to force it to fuck off. Why is that?" I glanced back up, locking eyes with her.

"Because you said it yourself. You help everyone around here. A wounded bird shows up, and you're the first one in line to fix its wings and help it fly again." She pressed against my palm, her cheek soft, her perfume sweet.

"Do you need help flying again?" I leaned in and brushed my nose by hers, breathing her in.

"Do I look like I do?" Her soft panting left me so hungry for her touch, so needy to help her find release of any kind.

"Not in the slightest, but we all wear the mask we want others to believe in." I brushed my lips by hers. "Time for that kiss, pretty girl."

"Please?" She whimpered and closed her eyes as I leaned in to devour her sweet mouth.