Luke

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Alexa looked … amazing.

I had to pinch myself that she was mine for the night when I saw her in that dress that hugged her very delicious curves. She was built, and she was beautiful. I wondered why she was single and had been for so long. I knew she had recently escaped a bad relationship and didn't feel able to go back to her small-town home, but could that bad relationship have turned her sour on men?

I hoped not. She seemed to enjoy being with me, but to go for a whole year without sex?

I couldn’t imagine it…

"Hello," I said and leaned over, kissing her softly on the lips. "I'm so glad you decided not to throw me over."

She smiled, her expression softening. "I'm glad you asked. I was feeling bad that I'd probably never see you again. In fact," she said when we drove off. "I decided to ignore your text and delete your contact info from my cell so I wouldn't."

"You were really going to delete me?" I said, and made a face of mock horror, although I really did feel badly that she considered it. "I'm crushed."

She glanced away, a smile on her face. "Self-defense. Who needs a broken heart?"

"No one," I said, pulling out into traffic. "We won't break our hearts. We'll just enjoy each other while we can. How does that sound?"

She shrugged. "I'm going to try."

I took her hand. "Look," I said, trying to find the right words. "We've both got plans. You're starting your PhD. I'm planning to sail around the world. We should consider ourselves lucky that we met at all, considering everything. It was fate, I tell you."

"Fate?" she said with a laugh. "It was an accident. A slip of the fingers on your keyboard."

I maneuvered through traffic and drove down Broadway to 8^th Avenue and my apartment in Hell's Kitchen.

"Thank God for that slip of my fingers." I turned to her and squeezed her hand. "I'm glad I met you instead of the real Lexxi911."

"But your plans to teach Eric a lesson fell through."

"No, I don't think so. I think we gave enough hints that I knew about his use of Lexxi911 that he got the message, even if it wasn't you. Besides, she's not nearly as pretty as you. Or as smart."

"You flatter me, sir," she said, a hint of protest in her voice but she smiled, hiding it behind her hand.

"I speak the truth," I replied. “After that first night, when I discovered you weren’t Lexxi911, John spent some time searching through his recycling for the piece of paper with Lexxi911's contact info. When he found it, John sent her a PM asking for a pic. She sent him one so I actually saw her. There's no competition. Not in looks and I'm sure not in brains either."

"Plus, I don't sell it." She grinned at me and I felt a surge of affection for her. I liked her. Really liked her…

We arrived at my building and drove into the parking garage. I slipped into my parking spot and hopped out, helping her out of her door. I took her hand and led her up into my building, which was an entire brownstone owned by my family. It had been renovated with top of the line fixtures and had been featured once in the Times real estate section.

"This is amazing…"

I could see the awe in her eyes as we took in the entry, which retained the original dark wood paneling, crown molding and plaster, but which now included all new hardwood flooring, new electrical and pretty much new everything else.

"When I'm with you, I forget how rich your family is. How even more rich you're going to be."

I smiled and closed the door behind me. "It means nothing to me except a way to do what I want. I'm not into possessions as much as what money can free me from – being forced to do work I hate. I'm very lucky and I know it."

We walked through the living room to the great room at the back, complete with a gas fireplace and huge modern chef's kitchen. I was used to the elegance, but I knew Alexa wasn't.

In truth, at that moment, I could be happy being anywhere with Alexa – eating a hotdog in Central Park, getting a pizza slice from a storefront, eating fresh crab cakes at the beach. She was fun, she was smart, and she was real.

She'd be someone I could imagine getting involved with on a more long-term basis – if I was into that kind of thing. Which I wasn't.

Not any longer, anyway.

But if I was, Alexa would be it.

"What do I smell?"

"Dinner, my lady. Prepared especially for you."

She entered the kitchen and glanced at the pots on the stove.

"Fresh asparagus, steamed and almost ready. In the fridge is a fresh spinach salad and my grill on the rooftop patio will cook the two New York Strip steaks I got from my neighborhood butcher. In the oven is a fresh baguette heating up."

"I didn't realize you're a chef," she said with a smile.

"I enjoy cooking. My mother took a course from one of Julia Child's students when she was young and she and I used to cook together."

She glanced at me, an expression of sympathy on her pretty face. "You were young when she died."

"I was," I said, "but I had enough time with her to pick up her love of cooking and her appreciation for space. She was a maverick for her time, studying astronomy in school instead of how to find a husband."

"I doubt a rich woman with a fortune would have a hard time finding a husband…"

I laughed. "She didn't," I replied, thinking of my mother and father. "My mother was an heiress to a fortune and had all the money in their marriage. My father was a banker, but he wasn't wealthy in his own right."

"Your family is pretty convoluted," she said. "You and Dana are orphans."

"We are," I said with a sigh. "Neither one of us likes our adoptive parents. They're tolerable, but only. We have each other."

"It must have been hard to find out that Eric was cheating on Dana.”

"I wanted to kill him," I replied and leaned against the counter. "Honestly, it was the closest I've ever come to violence. John had to hold me back from driving right over to their house and punching him in the face."

Alexa nodded and smiled softly. "John is a good friend if he kept you from doing it. That would have done no one any good. You'd be charged with assault. Your sister would be angry with you, and would probably side with Eric."

"I know, I know," I said, the thought still making my heart race, my blood pressure rise. "Luckily, cooler heads prevailed and I went to talk to a marriage counselor instead. She told me to let Eric know I knew about his infidelity and that if he didn’t stop, I'd tell my sister."

"You thought hiring Lexxi911 would accomplish the same thing?"

I nodded. "Yep. I didn’t trust myself alone with him. Honestly, I get angry just seeing his smug face."

"Violence is never the answer. Seriously. I know."

I examined her face. An expression of dismay crossed it. She'd only spoken briefly about her bad relationship. Her last boyfriend had been a control freak and that she felt she had to leave Portland because he was stalking her.

"Tell me more about Blaine."

She forced a smile. "I'd rather not. You know all you need to know about him. Let’s say I escaped with my life and leave it at that, okay?"

"Sounds serious. Did he hurt you?"

She lifted her shoulder. "Not really badly but he would have." She sighed audibly so I knew it would be better to drop it.

"Sorry to pry. Let's move on to more happy matters. Like how do you like your steak cooked? And please, don't tell me well done with ketchup."

I grinned at her and she smiled back. Her smile was so infectious that I couldn’t resist kissing her, and so I pulled her against me, my arms around her waist. She seemed a bit startled but leaned into my embrace, her arms slipping around my neck.

We kissed, our mouths meeting, the kiss tender at first, both of us smiling.

Soon, the kiss turned more intense and my smile faded. I was surprised at the intensity of my emotions when I kissed her. Arousal, yes. Desire, yes. But there was more.

It felt right.

Kissing Alexa, having her there in my apartment, fixing her dinner, felt right.

Once upon a time, I had been ready to be a married man, and had been planning for the day when Jenna and I would move in together and start our life as a married couple. I wanted someone in my bed every night and I wanted to wake up with that person every morning. I wanted to become comfortable with someone, passing time together, doing everything with her.

Doing nothing with her.

Then Jenna betrayed me and all those plans were gone in a heartbeat.

Every woman I'd been with afterwards was merely a means to an end – an orgasm.

I wanted that from Alexa, but part of me – a part I thought was gone for good – wanted more. I wanted everything else for a change and that surprised me to the center of my very being.

But I couldn't have her that way…

As much as I knew that I shouldn't allow myself to get any closer to her, I couldn't resist. For the first time since Jenna, I felt at home with a woman.

Instead of shutting things down – shutting myself down – I went full steam ahead, pulling her with me down the hallway to my bedroom, smiling the entire time, enjoying her playful resistance. When I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder, she squealed in delight, giggling as I laid her down across my bed.

I laid on top of her, my arms on either side of her face, and just stared down at her for a moment, both of us smiling like idiots.

"Why is this so easy?"

Her smile faded. "It's too easy. I know I'm going to have a broken heart out of the deal."

"Should we stop? End it now and say goodbye?"

I watched her, wondering how she'd respond. A range of expression crossed her face, from surprise that I said it, to concern, and finally, what I thought was a fuck-it face.

"To hell with it," she said and placed her hand behind my head, pulling me down for a kiss.

When she rolled me over and got on top, riding me like I was a bucking bronco, I didn't fight.