Page 42 of This Loving Feeling (Mirror Lake)

What the hell?“Why would you want to do that?”

“The Hulk, man. Don’t you read comic books?”

“There are other ways, dude. It’s not all about muscle.”

“Yeah, right. Tell that to Jessica.”

“You’re a bright guy. I mean, you just saved me from looking like a fool. Use your talents to find her love language.”

“Her love language,” he repeated, before a couple of his students called his name. “I’ve got to go. But nice meeting you. Thanks.” He gave a parting nod before making his way back across the lot.

“You, too. And dude,” Lukas waited for him to turn around. “A haircut wouldn’t hurt.”

Evan shook his head and laughed. Lukas had just gotten back to focusing on his guitar again when a familiar voice said, “You’re not gearing up to do another Christopher Plummer imitation, are you?” And there Sam was, looking magnificent in a powder-blue T-shirt and cutoffs, not too short for the kids’ sakes but enough to hug her fine ass and kick his imagination into high gear. He took in her bright green eyes, her pale skin that was already a little flushed from the sun.

Maybe she’d sensed trouble between him and Harris. So be it. He’d just decided his primary goal today would be to make her forget that Harris ever existed.

He shot her a mischievous look. Caressing the guitar, he strummed a few bars with ease and grace. Then he strummed and sang, very sweetly and slowly, “How do you solve a problem like Samantha?”

She rolled her eyes. But her lips lifted in a little smile.

“Hey, Lukas, play ‘You Don’t Know Me,’” one of the kids yelled. Lukas stiffened. He wasn’t about to ruin the fact that he’d finally made her smile.

“You know, that song’s getting sort of old,” Lukas said, winking at Sam, pleased when she blushed prettily. “How about we sing something a little fresher?” He started the riff to one of his hits from last year, “That Girl Is Trouble.” “You all help me sing it now, all right?”

Stevie ran over, surrounded by Sam’s students who were laughing and joking with him. Someone had given him a pair of round sunglasses that made him look like the adorable little kid fromJerry Maguire. The kids started to dance while Calvin stood in the middle and sprayed the hose straight up in the air so water rained down on everyone. One of the guys lifted Stevie up on his shoulders. His sunglasses were falling down his nose and he was clapping his hands and belly laughing so hard he hiccupped.

Suddenly Sam joined the circle of kids. She danced. She swung Stevie around. The water fell down in drops and made rainbows shoot over their heads. The sun was hot, the smell of spring and water hitting the hot pavement thick in the air. Lukas crooned a wicked love song that worked its magic and filled everyone with pure joy. He tried not to look at Sam but every time he gave into the urge, he found himself catching her eye across the lot, and it felt in more ways than one as if he was singing to her. As ifshewas the girl who was trouble.

When the song was through, she was breathing hard and completely soaked.

The music ended. There was a long line of cars that stretched out of the parking lot and up the nearest side street. As the kids got to work, Sam caught Lukas’s eye as she put Stevie down so the boy could go help a group of kids with the washing.

This time, he stared for an entirely different reason. Directly at her boobs, which were covered with a hot pink bra that was outlined perfectly through her wet pale blue shirt. He saw the second she realized the problem. And he couldn’t help the grin that surely must have spread across his face from ear to ear.

Sam hurriedly crossed her arms and jogged to the abandoned side of the tour bus, which was now gleaming cleanly in the sun, but Lukas was quicker. He got to the bus first and pulled the door open for her. As she slipped past him, he couldn’t resist saying, “The real question is if the panties match the bra.”

He let his gaze trace a slow, lazy path from her flip-flops, up her pretty toned legs, and lingering on the aforementioned bra before he met her eyes. There was a fine mix of horror and panic there. He told himself he really shouldn’t capitalize on her discomfort but it was too fun not to.

He was about to make another smartass comment but at that moment their eyes locked and for a second he was unable to breathe. A jolt of electricity passed silently between them that walloped him like a thunderclap.

Lukas was not one to be thrown off balance by a woman. Rather,hewas usually the one to do the unbalancing. So he was pleased when she turned as bright pink as her underwear. Just when he’d thought he’d regained control, she leaned toward him and said in the softest whisper that brushed his cheek, “You’ll never know,” and punctuated the comment with a simple lift of her brow.

He laughed out loud. Shook his head. Fisted his hands to prevent himself from scooping her into his arms and kissing her senseless.

“So can I borrow another shirt before I lose my teaching job or what?”

He somehow managed to rip himself away and walk to the back of the bus, where he disappeared around a corner and snagged a black T-shirt. “Here you go,” he said, tossing it at her.

The shirt said “Lukas Live!” in white lettering, similar to what was on the side of the bus. “Thanks,” she said, looking for a place to take off her sopping wet shirt. He motioned toward the bathroom, which she quickly ducked into.

She came out wearing the shirt and with her wet hair smoothed back in a ponytail. “Thanks for helping me. I should have worn a bathing suit but all I have are bikinis and I didn’t think that was appropriate. I should have known better not to act like one of the kids.”

Oh my God. Bikinis. Hisfavorite. “You were just having fun. Nothing wrong with that, and I don’t think anyone even noticed.” Except for him. He’d noticed, all right. So had certain parts of his anatomy.

She gave her wet ponytail a squeeze. “Thanks for showing up today,” she said. “The kids loved it and from the looks of it, we’ll be washing cars for hours.”

He shrugged. “Always good to drum up some business. Stevie’s having a ball, too. I want him meeting people.”

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