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She winced. God, that sounded much harsher than she meant, especially since she wanted him to stay the night.
Rather than being hurt, he grinned at her. “You’re going to make me leave your warm bed and drive home in the cold and the snow, Ms. Smith?”
“No.” She clicked off the lamp and plunged them into darkness. “I want you to stay, but I didn’t want you to think you had to stay.”
“I want to stay.” He pulled her into his embrace. “Now go to sleep because I’m exhausted and have to work in the morning.”
She smiled as he kissed her forehead and stroked her warm back. He was asleep in minutes, but she stared sightlessly into the darkness. What the hell was she doing? She couldn’t keep sleeping with Luke, and she knew that. She had already made this mistake once before, and it had cost her. Jeremy had changed her work schedule to punish her and if it hadn’t been for this new job and her pay raise, Mama J would have been kicked out of the care home by now.
If things soured between her and Luke and she lost her job, she risked Mama J’s safety. Amy had said she wouldn’t let Luke fire her, but Jane wasn’t foolish enough to believe that. Amy was sweet and kind, but Luke was her brother. She would take Luke’s side when push came to shove, and Jane couldn’t blame her for that.
There could be something more with him, Janie. You see that, don’t you?
No, she didn’t. That was just her foolish heart talking again. She had thought Jeremy loved her, and she was dead wrong. Jeremy had initially said and done all the right things, but when she broke it off with him…
She shuddered all over. She couldn’t afford to lose her job. Christ, she sounded like a broken record even to herself, but she needed to do the right damn thing. If that meant she needed to keep reminding herself not to be an idiot, so be it.
He mentioned the weekend, her inner voice said. Take the weekend with him and then end it, okay? He’s not invested in you emotionally yet, so he won’t be angry that you don’t want to keep sleeping with him if you end it on Sunday. It’s been so long since you’ve had sex, and isn’t it nice to have him in your bed? Please, Janie? Just a few more days. Please.
It was easy enough to agree to her inner voice’s begging. A few more days was probably a good idea. If they screwed enough over the weekend, it would ease the sexual tension between them and returning to normal life would be easier.
She curled a little closer to Luke. He stroked her back in his sleep and muttered something she didn’t understand before growing quiet again. She rested her head on his chest, closed her eyes and tried to sleep.
* * *
“I know, I’m late. I’m sorry.” Jane hurried into the kitchen the following day, making a beeline for the fridge.
She hadn’t fallen asleep until almost five and forgot to set her alarm on her phone. She usually woke at six, and she and Amy left for the office at quarter after seven. She jerked awake at seven, sitting up with a gasp and reaching across the bed to shake Luke awake. His side was empty, and he wasn’t in the bathroom either. Obviously, he had already left. Trying not to be upset that he hadn’t said goodbye to her, she had raced through her morning routine, but it was seven thirty when she ran down the stairs.
Now, she whipped open the fridge and grabbed a juice. “Can you grab me an apple? Oh, and can you zip me up?”
She turned around and cracked open the juice. With no time to style her wet hair, she’d piled it into a bun. She took a sip of juice and nearly spit it all over the floor when Amy grasped the zipper of her dress and then pressed a kiss against the exposed nape of her neck.
She choked down her swallow of juice as Amy’s voice called from the hallway, “Luke, have you seen my keys?”
Jane stared wide-eyed at Amy when the blonde poked her head into the kitchen. “Lukie? My keys? Did you – oh, hey, Jane. You ready to go?”
“She’s almost ready.” Luke’s velvety, baritone voice spoke behind her, and he pressed another warm kiss against her neck before he zipped up her dress. “I found your keys on the kitchen floor last night. I hung them on the key hook by the front door.”
“Thanks, Luke.” Amy pushed by them and grabbed a juice from the fridge. “Jane will be a little late this morning. We’re leaving later than usual, and we’re out of coffee, so I’m swinging by Starbucks on the way to the office.”
“All right.” Luke swung Jane around to face him. He slipped his arm around her waist and studied her. “Did you get enough sleep last night?”
“Gross,” Amy said.
Luke rolled his eyes at her as Jane blushed. “Yes, I – I’m fine.”
A slight frown line appeared between his eyebrows, but he nodded. “Okay. I’ll see you at the office?”
“Yes. I won’t be late,” she said. “We’ll get coffee at the office.”
“Like hell, we will,” Amy said cheerfully. “The office coffee tastes like shit. We’ll be late, Luke.”
“That’s fine,” he said absently as he continued to study Jane. “Why don’t you take the day off, Jane? You’ve been working hard and -”
“No,” she said. “I’m not taking the day off.”
She gave him a furious look, and he blinked a little at her ire before nodding. “Okay. See you in a bit.”
