AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And then what?”
“Close them.” She chuckled at his resistance, taking up both his hands. Her thumbs grazed his knuckles and a fiery chill shot through him. It was warm and cold all at once, kindling a fire low in his belly. “Good,” she whispered. “Now picture your gym.”
Luke was having trouble thinking of anything other than her hands against his skin. He had to fight with himself to pull his thoughts away from other memories of her hands ghosting over his body.Gyms.He was supposed to be thinking of gyms. And equipment. Dumbbells and rowing machines and resistance bands and benches.
“Can you see it?” Lydia whispered.
“Yep,” he said, like there was nothing but treadmills dancing in his head. Because that’s what they’d agreed on.
“What’s your biggest goal for the gym?”
Her question caught him off guard. But what shocked him most was how quickly he was ready to answer. “I want to partner with the youth center to offer classes and programs.”
“That’s an amazing idea.”
Luke’s eyes popped open, finding Lydia’s vibrant green ones staring back at him. Her hands suddenly fell away from his, and he missed her touch. “Yeah?”
“It’s unique, and I think unique sells when it comes to businesses.”
“It’s not about making money,” he said.
“I didn’t think it was.” Lydia’s answering smile was soft and reassuring, and for a second Luke thought he might do something ridiculous like kiss her.
This reminded him of that night in the pub, when he’d first confided in her about the gym and she’d been so supportive. She hadn’t even hesitated to tell him he’d be a great business owner, and he’d believed her. Just like he believed her now. The longer he looked at her, the harder his heart hammered in his chest. He wanted to reach for her. To be the one to make the first move this time. But this was a boundary they couldn’t cross. Not again. They’d promised. To stop himself from acting on his tumbling thoughts, he stepped away, digging the warehouse key out of his pocket. “We should probably head out. Do a proper cooldown.”
Something in Lydia’s soft stare sharpened, and she darted forward, snagging the key from his hand. “I thought we were done for today,” she said, dangling the key like bait. “You said I did good.”
He tried to grab it but she slipped away, glaring at him playfully. That did nothing to help the sensations he was trying to keep at bay. “Lydia—”
“You said we should listen to my body.”
Luke groaned, wishing she wouldn’t take his words out of context.
“My body says no to your cooldown.”
From where Luke was standing they both needed a cooldown, because everything inside him was on fire.
“You can’t just break your own rules.”
He surged forward and caught her by the wrist. She laughed, leaning back against the wall, tugging him closer. Luke realized the position he’d put them in, but suddenly nothing in the world was strong enough to pull him away. His hand tangled with hers, around the key, but she didn’t let go and neither did he. “I don’t mean to break my rules,” he whispered. They were standing too close for anything else.
“Then what do you mean to do?” she asked. Was she thinking about the same thing? Was she remembering the night they’d stumbled into his apartment?
His eyes drifted down to her lips.Don’t ask me that, he should say. But when he found her gaze again, hot and daring, it was all too much and they both closed the distance desperately. Luke wrapped his free arm around her waist, pulling her flush against him, and Lydia fisted her hand in his shirt, her lips searing against his. He savored the sensation, the risk, until his heart felt like it would pound out of his chest. Lydia tilted her head so he could run his lips along her jaw and down her neck. She moaned in a way that had his blood boiling, and it was suddenly too hot to do anything but chase relief from the heat. He leaned against her, pressing his leg between hers, and she moved against his thigh.
Lydia made a desperate noise, the sound rubbing against him like a caress, and suddenly Luke was bumping up against the wall, his hands scrambling to find purchase at her waist as their lips connected again and again. It felt like something inside him had been set free, and he was terrified that it would be locked away again.
Lydia let her hands roam up and down his chest. The sensation of her fingers dipping over his muscles drove him wild. So much so that he knew he was in danger of getting lost in this. Of making excuses like he had the night after the pub. How easy would it be to say just once more? Lydia was a tidal wave that had crashed into his self-control and despite their having agreed to boundaries, he was barely treading water around her.What does this mean?he wanted to ask. How had they ended up in this position again?
Something rattled in the warehouse, the sound echoing over the beat of his heart, and they both jumped. Luke forced his eyes open, forced himself to look at her. Lydia was already staring at him, the sound having startled them both back to reality.
“Pigeons,” he said breathlessly.
“What?”
“They get in...” He gestured upward. “Through the skylight sometimes. There’s a shattered pane of glass or something.”
They both looked up for a beat, and when they looked back down, their eyes connecting again, Lydia jumped back as if his touch scalded her. He immediately missed the weight of her in his arms.
