in the center of downtown. Hell, aside from the spark on her skin when he took her hand in his, their encounter had been as innocent as a run-in with one of her students’ parents at the grocery store. Though admittedly, none of her students’ parents greeted her with an offer to get naked … But the prospect of what Spencer had been about to do sent a tremor of fear through her center and she’d used the first available excuse at her disposal to stop him.
She liked Spencer. But he wasn’t Mister Right. More like … Mister Right Now.
“I have an early morning tomorrow, maybe we should take off, Rach.” Colton placed his napkin on the table and scooted his chair back. Rachael, on the other hand, seemed to be glued to her seat, her eyes bugging out of her head. They’d been friends since elementary school, Kayleigh didn’t need to have telepathy to know the questions spinning around in her friend’s head.
“Rachael.”
“What? Oh, yeah.” She looked over at Colton and then from Spencer to Kayleigh. “I have to show a house in the morning, too. So … yeah …” Colton was already up and headed out of the dining room leaving Rachael to bring up the rear. “Thanks for dinner, guys. I’ll talk to you later, Kayleigh.”
Spencer remained silent, his lips drawn into a tight line, blue eyes as hard and cold as ice. When the door shut behind Rachael, Kayleigh sank back into her chair but Spencer remained standing. He let out a forceful sigh and pinned her with an accusing glare. “I think we need to talk, don’t you?”
It was going to be a long night.
Three
The great thing about small communities: you didn’t have to search too hard to find what—or who—you were looking for. Especially when she was living in her parents’ old house. Luke pulled up into Kayleigh’s driveway, his gut churning like an angry sea. Jealousy burned him from the inside out even though he knew he had no right to feel it. His heart still had a claim on her, even if she’d chosen to forget it.
For a few minutes he simply sat in the car with the engine running, headlights off. A man with even a lick of common sense would have turned his ass around and gotten out of there. But Luke never was one to play it safe. Besides, the spark that had ignited in Kayleigh’s eyes when he’d taken her hand was more than enough evidence that no matter how many years separated them, there would always be a fire that burned hot between them. And he wasn’t leaving there until she begged to feel the heat from those flames.
The porch light sparked to life and Luke recalled the many times that same light had flicked on when Kayleigh spent a little too much time out in the driveway with Luke after one of their dates. Fuck, he could practically taste the sweetness of her mouth now, feel the petal softness of her lips. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel as the front door swung open. So help him, if the boyfriend was standing on the other side of that door, it would be all he could do to keep from pressing his foot on the gas pedal and running the fucker over. Lucifer Blackwell, indeed.
He eased his foot off the gas when Kayleigh stepped out onto the porch. Bathed in the soft light of the bulb, her skin all but glowed. Luke’s gaze traveled down the length of her body and the baggy T-shirt that hung down just below her hips. The boyfriend’s? The steering wheel creaked under his grip.
He rolled down the window and drew a deep breath of crisp spring air. She placed a hand on her cocked hip. Her head fell to the side and with it, a cascade of auburn curls. “Are you going to sit out in my driveway all night, or are you coming in?” Without waiting for a response, she turned and went back inside, leaving the front door wide open.
Hot. Damn.
Luke’s brain short-circuited at the sight of Kayleigh’s ass, the round half-moons of her bare cheeks peeking out from her booty shorts. He fumbled with the key and the engine grated in protest