Free Kiss Me by Kristine Mason

fix, and I’ll take care of it tomorrow, before we head to the comedy club.”
    Relief settled through her jumpy stomach as she led him to her bedroom. After the way he’d been acting, she’d worried he’d either forgotten or didn’t want to keep their date.
    As he trailed behind, she gave her hips a little extra sway, hoping her short denim skirt would draw his attention to her butt and legs. Too busy concentrating on the sex appeal stuff, she misjudged her footing. Her four inch heel caught on the runner in the hallway. She tripped and stumbled, flailed her arms. As she nose-dived toward the floor, a strong arm latched around her waist.
    Luke held her back against his chest. His cologne drifted around her. She drew in a deep breath to help calm her racing heart, while her inner thighs grew moist and heavy with need.
    “Are you okay?” he asked, his beard stubble tickling her cheek and sending goose bumps along her skin.
    “Mmm-hmm,” she hummed. Buzzed on the crazy emotions bursting through her heart, she melted against his chest, then wriggled her hips.
    His entire body tensed. “Right…I mean good.” He released her and cleared his throat. “Let’s see the damage.” Acting as if she was infected with scurvies, he moved around her, bumped the wall and the few pictures hanging in the narrow hallway, then hurried into the bedroom.
    She shoved her jaw forward and pursed her lips. Luke’s mood had nothing to do with work. For some reason, he was running from her. Maybe she’d gone overboard with all the added make-up, the big hair, and the sexy clothes. But it didn’t matter, she smiled. She had Luke exactly where she’d wanted him.
    In her bedroom.
    After straightening the pictures, she moseyed through the door. She had to dig deep to maintain her confidence, though. Luke’s rigid posture, the way he narrowed his eyes with suspicion as he watched her, had her second guessing what she was about to do, what had to be done.
    Seduction, plain and simple.
    Once she had Luke in her bed, once they’d had sex, she’d know then and there if this, what she felt for him, was the real deal. She’d had sex with so many guys, she’d know the difference. Most of those men had been out for a simple lay. But there had been a few that had wanted more. A few nice guys who had actually wanted a relationship with her. Only she hadn’t. Positive a commitment to any of them would have led to disaster and heartache, after sex she’d scrambled to find her clothes, then ran for the door.
    Would the same thing happen with Luke? She didn’t think so, considering they were in her house. But would he run for the door? After all, until recently, he was just as much of a commitment-phobe.
    She stopped short and nearly stumbled again as her heels snagged the thick carpet.
    Holy crap. She was a commitment-phobe.
    How could she have not seen this before? Sure, she’d come up with the Cognitive Dissonance comparison last night, but she hadn’t really thought about herself as someone who purposefully avoided relationships. And she was a psychologist?
    “Are you okay?” Luke asked, sliding his narrowed gaze to her black tube top — which she knew made her boobs look downright huge — past her denim skirt and all the way to the red heels a klutz had no business wearing.
    She flipped a thick curl off her bare shoulder, ignored the way he’d blatantly scrutinized her, and manufactured a smile. “I’m fine, why?”
    He shrugged, then turned toward the window. “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about this rod coming down anytime soon. How many rolls of duct tape did you use?” He glanced over his shoulder and sent her a grin. “I think it’ll take me longer to remove the tape than it will to fix the curtain rod.” His smile quickly disappeared, only to be replaced with the wary mask he’d worn all night. “I’ll have to pluck and tug it slowly to avoid damaging the plaster walls, but I’m a patient guy,” he said and