Page 63 of Unexpected

“I figured you would say that. I will say, though, that if you want to lease this unit, y’all should come back and fill out this paperwork immediately. There’re a few things to take care of in the office here, and then the rest can be done online.”

“Okay, we’ll head back that way now. Thank you so much for letting me know.”

She laughed over the line as Luke pulled into a left-hand turn lane to go back toward Ella Apartments, the second spot we looked at.

I disconnected the call and did a small happy dance in my seat, which consisted of me wiggling back and forth and punching the air. I didn’t care if I looked like an idiot. I was too freaking excited.

“They have a unit available at the end of the week,” I relayed to Luke as he stopped at the light right outside of the complex.

“Sweet. I think that place will work out well for you.”

I nodded. I hoped it would work out well. “Maybe Savannah pulled some strings to be able to see you again. It wouldn’t surprise me the way she was staring at you the entire time.”

Luke laughed and rolled his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“You can’t tell me you didn’t notice her gawking and obnoxiously flirting the entire time we were there. Or that her boobs are huge and pushed up to her nose.”

He narrowed his eyes and rubbed his hand over his chin. “Yeah, her boobs were pretty hard to miss, especially in such a low-cut top.”

I jerked my head forward and tried not to react to his comment. It wasn’t what I was expecting in the least, but I didn’t have a say in the women he found interest in or where he looked. Even though I knew I didn’t have a right to feel those things, it didn’t make the feelings of disappointment any less real.

Luke pulled into the same parking spot we had stopped in a few hours earlier and chuckled. I couldn’t look at him though, otherwise I knew he’d see my emotions clearly written on my face. I needed to get my reactions under control.

When the truck was in park, Luke reached over the center console to grip the back of my neck and urged me to look at him. His thumb softly rubbed back and forth over my cheek while he held my eyes with his own. Humor danced playfully behind his emerald-green gaze as a sly smile pulled at one corner of his mouth.

“I’m kidding, Angel. I seriously didn’t notice much about her past shaking her hand. I had other things on my mind.” He chuckled.

I shrugged and tried to seem nonchalant. “That’s fine. You’re a single guy, and you can look at whoever you want, whenever you want.”

He quirked a brow and opened his mouth to respond before shutting it again. He shook his head and then said, “I’m a little preoccupied with this beautiful brunette. Seems like I can’t focus on anything else at the fucking moment. If you must know.”

I wanted him to kiss me. The words coming out of his mouth were as sweet as his lips actually were, and I needed to feel them on mine again. His constant contact all day long—holding my hand, gripping my thighs, grasping the back of my neck—had me wound tight.

For a moment, it looked like he wouldn’t kiss me as he hesitated. His eyes flitted back and forth from holding my gaze to my lips and back again. I didn’t know what it was that was causing his hesitation, but I was ready for good things in my life, and he seemed to be one of the good things. So, I closed the gap between us.

I pushed against the center console with my forearms and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. I didn’t mean to let the kiss linger for more than a moment, but Luke had other ideas. He used his grip on the back of my neck to deepen our kiss and hold me to him.

The kiss still wasn’t long and only lasted a few seconds before we both pulled back. I had to bite my lip to keep the cheesy grin from splitting my face, but I couldn’t do anything about the flush spreading over my cheeks.

With another kiss to my forehead, Luke released me and hopped out of the truck. I fixed my beanie before I also jumped out of the truck—literally, I had to jump—and tangled my fingers with Luke’s as he reached out his hand from where he stood.

“Looks like it’s all working out,” Luke said.

I smiled. “Looks like it.”

TWENTY-FIVE

Luke

For the twentiethtime that day, my phone buzzed with a call from an unknown number.

I had tried to ignore them for as long as I could, but I eventually got fed up and answered one of the calls two days earlier. I had some colorful words for the person on the other line who only breathed deeply as I berated their attempts to get ahold of me. I made veiled threats toward them if they didn’t stop, and the following day, there were no calls.

My relief was short lived, though, because the calls had begun again.

Josh had witnessed me almost chuck my phone across the fucking living room while he was leaving to go to Murphy’s and as I was finally getting home from a long day at the clinic.

“Dude, just answer and don’t say anything. They’ll think they’ve got a wrong number or something and will take your name off the list. It’s worked for me a few times in the past,” Josh instructed.

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