Chapter Eleven – Molly

 

“Holy—!”

I slammed the door behind me and put my back against it, Luke’s freshly pressed clothes nearly wrinkling as I gripped them to my chest. A mental picture of Luke standing there in just his black briefs, his rippling abs, his thick legs like two redwoods as they went up to two perfectly shaped…

No! I couldn’t think about that! I laid my hand over my breast and felt my heart beating hard in my chest, practically ricocheting off my ribs.

“Molly, I’m so sorry!”

“If I’d known you were practically naked, I wouldn’t have come in,” I breathed as I shook my head. “Why’d you tell me to come in if you weren’t decent?”

“Sorry!” Luke repeated. “I was thinking about Heidi and didn’t realize I was standing here in my boxers.”

Right. Of course he was. He hadn’t even met the woman, and he was already infatuated with her. Just like every other guy who literally paid to see her for a few hours.

“Ok,” I said carefully, swallowing. “Fine.”

“Shit,” he said, the door shifting as he sagged back against the other side. “That’s not what I meant, Molly. Promise.”

“What did you mean, then?” I asked, biting off each word as it passed my lips.

“I meant that I was thinking about how I could have possibly missed any clues here. There has to be something, I just can’t figure out what.”

I sighed. Okay. That was reasonable. But, still, a poor choice of words.

Seconds later, though, I realized how ridiculous I was being. I barely even knew this guy, had just met him a few hours ago. Sure, he was in my home, and practically naked, but I hardly knew him from Adam. He didn’t owe me anything. He could be in there thinking about Heidi naked for all I should care.

No, wait. Not that. That was gross.

“Molly?” he asked, still on just the other side of the door. “You there?”

“Yeah?” I asked, looking up to the ceiling for some kind of winged savior to swoop in and rescue me from this.

Silence for the space of five or six rapid heartbeats. “Can I have my clothes? I still need to get going.”

God, I was acting stupid. I let my head fall farther back till it resounded with a thud against the door. “Son of a—”

Luke was moving in a flash, it seemed, and yanked the door open to see what had happened.

Squawking in surprise, arms pinwheeling for purchase, I went tumbling back through the suddenly open door. Only to be caught by strong, naked arms that cushioned my fall into a wide, equally naked chest.

“Jesus Christ,” he said, his breath hot on my blushing cheek, the smell of his aftershave filling my senses.

The sudden fall, and even more sudden stop, left me dazed, gazing up into those bedroom eyes of his. My eyes drifted down to his lips, and I was suddenly surprised by how close, and kissable, they were. Soft and full.

His arms tightened around me and squeezed a little, his tongue flicking out to wet his lips. “Molly? Are you okay?”

I blinked rapidly as my reality seemed to rubber band back into its normal shape around me, and I realized what was happening. I pushed away from those firm pecs of his, righting myself. “Bumped my head,” I replied quickly, the blush reaching up to the tips of my ears till they were burning like the surface of the sun. “That’s all. Didn’t even hurt!” I glanced down again, quickly turning around as I realized he was still in his briefs, one hand covering my mouth and suppressing a nervous, agonized giggle.

Jesus, I was acting like an idiot schoolgirl who’d never seen a naked man before. Which, to be honest, was kind of true of Luke. None of the guys I’d been with had looked, or felt, like he did.

“Molly?”

“Y-y-yeah?”

“Clothes?”

I squeezed my eyes shut and swore quietly. I stuck my arm with the still-pressed slacks and shirt behind me. “Yeah. Sorry.”

“Thanks.” His fingertips brushed against my arm as he took the outfit from me.

A shiver went down my spine and nearly made my toes curl. “Uh-huh,” I said, then quickly cleared my throat. “I’m going to, um, wait out in the living room, all right? If you need anything else, just shout. I’ll be out in the kitchen.”

“Right. Thanks.”

I bustled out of the door, shutting it firmly behind me. I looked to the ceiling again, waving a hand over my face. I really hoped Heidi was going to be home soon. Either it was just me, or the AC was going out in this place.