Page 31 of Kiss Me Forever

Four hours later, I had to admit I was happy I'd drunk all those coffees; otherwise, my mind would have probably slipped off during the meeting.

"These have been the four most intensive hours of my life," I told Luke the second we stepped out of the building.

He nodded and dropped his shoulders. I instantly noticed the change. He wasn't “customer Luke” anymore. He was just “boss Luke.”

"I have to say, I hadn’t anticipated Rick grilling us so much." He looked me straight in the eyes, then smiled at me. "And you did great."

"I did?" His compliment pleased me.

"Yes. You answered the questions you knew in a very detailed way and were vague enough on the ones where you weren't sure."

I smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, I learned that in grad school. When in doubt, keep it vague."

"How about I treat you to lunch?" he asked. "I feel like we both deserve a good one after the meeting we had."

"Won't the others need us at the office?" I asked.

His smile became more pronounced. This was a good day if he was smiling at me.

"Afraid to be alone with me, Megan?"

Holy shit. He was slowly transforming into flirty Luke. Had Rick completely exhausted Luke’s resources of self-control today? It certainly looked like it.

"No," I said boldly.

He nodded. "Good, because you shouldn't be. Just in case you were wondering, I do take my interns out for lunch."

"I wasn't wondering," I said a bit too quickly. Then I decided to change the subject. "Where are we eating? I don't know the area."

"Neither do I." He loosened his tie a bit, looking around. "I don't think we'll find anything fantastic around here. How hungry are you? Can you wait until we make the trip back downtown?"

I nodded. "Sure."

As we got in the car, Luke took off his jacket. He'd had it on the whole time at the client's. Then he took off the cuff links and rolled his shirt sleeves up to his elbows. Oh hell, that was far sexier than it should have been.

Once we were on the road, I told him, "Thank you for pitching me the way you did back there. Telling Rick I have a brilliant mind."

"You do," he said. "I did read your résumé, after all. I liked your application and your letters of recommendation. Your previous boss was very pleased with you."

"I always want to give my best. I want to learn as much as possible."

"Then you're in the right place. What made you get into architecture? Were your parents into it too?"

"Oh no. Mom was a nurse and Dad a biology teacher. I got into it in college when I signed up for an elective and fell in love. How about you?"

He frowned, looking at the road, clasping the wheel tighter.

"I just knew ever since I was a kid. Mom and Dad said I always took great interest in buildings wherever we went and constantly tried to repair stuff around the house. I have no memory of that, but they must be right."

"Are you close to your parents too or just your brothers?"

"My parents too," he said. "They’re great people. They always gave us their best. Not just financially, but they put a lot of effort into raising us to be decent people."

I was surprised at how openly he spoke about his private life even though he had made it clear that he would keep things professional between us. But then I remembered Donna knowing everything about his brothers, so it was probably a subject of conversation between everyone at the office.

“They sound great. And you also have two cousins, right? I remember reading something about Reese having a sister.”

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