Free Ready for Love by Marie Force Page B

desire rippling through him like a live wire. “Hmm?”

    “Dinner.” He kissed her again, softly, gently.

    “Oh. Right.” She let her arms drop from his shoulders but continued to stare at him with a befuddled expression that made his blood boil.

    It took all the fortitude he possessed not to scoop her up, carry her inside and take what he wanted more than anything, what he knew she’d willingly give. Only the thought of what he might see in her expressive eyes afterward stopped him from acting on the urge. He couldn’t bear to see regret or guilt or anything other than the pure joy he would feel, so rather than scoop her up, he opened the passenger door to his truck and ushered her inside.

    “It smells so clean in here.”

    “It’s always like that,” he said with a grin.

    She laughed, and just like that, his mood lightened.

    He got in the driver’s side, and before he could buckle in, she reached for his hand. “Thanks for cleaning your truck for me.”

    “No problem. It needed it anyway.”

    After he put on his seat belt, he took her hand again, linking their fingers as he drove them the long way around the island.

    “Where are you taking me?”

    “To the Lobster House with a sunset thrown in.”

    “Oh, yummy. My favorite.”

    “I know.”

    Over winding roads, he drove to the northernmost point on the island, where a lighthouse stood watch and the sun flirted with the horizon.

    “Best spot on the island to watch the sunset,” Syd said, taking it all in.

    “I love it here.”

    “I remember that.”

    He glanced over to watch a blush spread over her cheeks. Releasing her hand, he ran a finger along her cheekbone. “I know what else you’re remembering.”

    She shot him a seductive look. “And what’s that?”

    He took off his seat belt and leaned toward her. “You’re thinking about all the times we came here to make out.” His lips brushed against her ear, and he watched the goose bumps form on her arm. He’d always loved getting that reaction from her. She was so sensitive. So much for his vow to take it back a notch, to protect them both from too much too soon. Who was he kidding? He could no more resist her than he could resist breathing. “Syd. . .”

    “Yes?”

    He had to know. He needed to know. “Do you feel it, too?”

    Her breath seemed to catch in her throat as she looked at him. “Feel what?”

    “ Everything .” How else to put it?

    She ran her fingers over the jaw. “Yes.”

    Overcome with relief that he wasn’t in this alone, Luke gazed into her eyes. “I’m worried we’re moving too fast.”

    “We probably are.”

    “So we should—”

    “Enjoy it.” She framed his face with her hands and kissed him. “We should enjoy it.”

    “For how long?” He hated that he needed to ask.

    “I don’t know the answer to that. I wish I did, but all I can give you is right now. I’d understand if that wasn’t enough—”

    Luke kissed the words off her lips. “Do you promise you’ll talk to me about your plans? That you won’t leave me out of it?”

    “The way I did before.”

    “I’d rather not go through that again.”

    “I promise I’ll talk to you.”

    He twirled a lock of strawberry blonde hair that had escaped from her clip around his finger. “Then it’s enough. For now.”

    “Most guys never would’ve given me a second chance.”

    “I’m not most guys.”

    “Believe me, I know that. Why did you give me another chance?”

    Continuing to play with the strand of hair, he shrugged. “I’ve never felt everything with anyone else.”

    “Luke,” she whispered, reaching for him. She drove him wild with her teasing tongue and soft lips.

    They’d be late for their reservation, but Luke didn’t care about that. Not when he had the woman who’d haunted his dreams back in his arms. He ran his hand up from her ribs to cup a breast that was fuller than he remembered and felt her nipple harden against his palm.

    “Maybe