Page 90 of Don't Make Me Beg
He looks sexy as sin wearing a faded black denim apron over his plain white t-shirt. He’s barefoot, his black jeans hugging his ass and a backward baseball cap on his head. And if I wasn’t already ready to jump his bones, then I would be after seeing him like this.
My eyes lock on his hands, the way his veins bulge as he masterfully dices herbs before adding them to the steaming saucepan.
Holy shit, if I thought motorcycle Luka was hot, it has nothing on seeing him cooking. When did he learn how to cook?
I don’t know why I’m surprised to learn Luka has other interests than what I remember. It’s been almost a decade; of course, there’s going to be things I don’t know about him. People are supposed to evolve.
I just hate that I missed out on being a part of his journey.
It makes me wonder what else I don’t know about him.
I think back to our fight the other night, my guilt like a boa constrictor hanging around my neck, suffocating me a little more by the second.
Things have been awkward between us—thanks to the bomb I dropped in Luka’s lap the other night. He’s no doubt freaked out about it, probably trying to figure out a way to let me down easy.
Suddenly, all of this is starting to make sense. He’s cooking me a nice meal to make me feel special so he can gently let me down and tell me the other night was a fluke. Not that I blame him. He’s probably terrified that I’ll grow attached and make things out to be a bigger deal than they are.
He was just trying to have a little casual fun, and I had to ruin it with my damn virginity.
I knew I should’ve slept with Jimmy and gotten it over with already. But as much as he wanted to sleep with me, he never wanted to cross that line. Said it’d be worth the wait on our wedding night, and he loved the idea of a virgin bride.
I don’t blame Luka one bit for wanting to set boundaries with me; any thoughts of a round two die right there, just like my virginity.
Wanting to get this over with, I clear my throat and gesture to all the ingredients he has set out. “What can I do to help?”
He shakes his head as he wipes his hands on the dish towel casually hanging off his shoulder. “Nope. I’ve got everything under control.” He spins around and pours two glasses of wine, then passes me a glass. “Why don’t you have a seat and tell me about your day?”
I start to walk to the other side of the kitchen island, but he grabs my wrist to stop me. “Not over there, that’s too far.”
I let out a yelp of surprise when he grabs my hips and lifts me onto the countertop.
“There. That’s better,” he says as he steps between my legs.
“Luka, what are you—” My words break off as I suck in a sharp breath, which apparently amuses him because he chuckles to himself and shakes his head.
“You’re pretty cute when you’re flustered,” he teases, as he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.
I ignore his teasing remarks, reminding my vagina to calm down before she does anything else to scare him away. Apparently, this is just how Luka is. He’s a shameless flirt, and the quicker I realize it doesn’t mean anything, the better off I’ll be.
He returns to the saucepan, adding more seasonings and oil, which causes steam to billow around him as he gives the mixture an even shake.
“So, how was your day?” he asks, glancing over his shoulder.
I swallow a gulp. “Good. I’m still running behind schedule with all this rain, but it’s turning out better than I expected.”
“That’s great.” He adds a handful of gnocchi to the pan, then flips the sauce to mix it all together and turns down the heat. “Don’t worry, we still have time. I’m confident that you’ll get it all done.”
“Yeah… I hope so,” I say, feeling distracted.
Luka tells me about his day, how Roman called him informing him that L.O.K.I.’s been using his identity for a dating profile to date three different women. Roman only found out after one of the women tracked him down at work to confront him after seeing his dating profile on one of thoseAre We Dating The Same Persononline forums.
“Roman was so pissed,” Luka says, shaking his head.
“Why Roman?” I say through a laugh.
“He said the online dating sites needed to be able to run a background check, and since I’m already married, Guy’s already got his own dating profiles, Leo’s already in a serious relationship, and Jett wouldn’t get him any bites due to his jobtitle and overalloff-putting demeanor… Roman seemed like the best option.”
I wipe the tears from my eyes, my stomach aching from the deep belly laugh. I’d almost forgotten what it feels like to laugh this hard.
