Page 6 of The Santa Swap

She stepped back first, but Luke reached for her hand. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I was caught up in the moment.”

Olivia held a finger to his lips. “Except that I kissed you first. There’s nothing to be sorry about.”

The moonlight bathed Olivia’s face in a soft glow. Luke studied her face, but she seemed to be genuinely okay apart from shivering in the cold. “Are you ready to go?” He offered her his arm, smiling when she grabbed it and pulled her body close to his.

The walk back to the apartment building was much too short. When they rounded the final corner, Luke found himself standing in the familiar stairwell, not wanting to say goodbye. “So.” He ran his foot back and forth over the snow, carving a small track into it.

“So,” she said, looking up into his eyes.

Luke’s arms ached to pull her close and press another kiss to her inviting lips, but he had been raised better than that. The kiss on the pond had been a celebration. Dropping her off at her house was a different story. He didn’t have the right to kiss her goodbye, no matter how much he ached to. Especially when she didn’t even know his real name.

He raised a hand to brush away a snowflake that landed on her cheek. “Does it sound stupid to say that I really don’t want our date to end?”

Olivia glanced up the stairwell towards her apartment and then back at him. “Not strange at all. I feel the same.”

He could sense the hesitation. “But?”

“But I really have to unpack a little more before real life starts tomorrow.”

Olivia stood on her tiptoes again, this time kissing his cheek.

“Goodbye, Jake,” she said, letting go of his arm. “I had a really great time.”

“Goodnight, Olivia.” He watched her walk up the stairs, waiting at the bottom in case she decided to come back down. When the echo of her footsteps faded away, Luke turned to leave. He was halfway home when his stomach began to churn. He had just spent an enchanting evening with a beautiful woman, but he had neglected to ask her for her contact information. Short of stalking her apartment building, he was unlikely to bump into her again. It was typical that he was messing up yet another good thing in his life. His brother was never going to let him hear the end of it.

CHAPTER3

Luke’s sleep was restless, with Olivia’s face dancing through his dreams. Every dream started the same way, with him taking her on a romantic date. First, they stood on the covered bridge that spanned the city’s largest river. Then they were mini golfing, with his arms around her waist to help her score the winning putt. Each dream offered him a chance to kiss her, but they all ended the same. Something would come to tear them apart. In some of the dreams it was a monster. In others, a jealous ex. After the final dream, Luke woke up in a cold sweat. It was only 4:36 in the morning, but there was no way he was closing his eyes again.

He stumbled into the bathroom, turned on the steam shower, and watched out the window while the water heated up. The penthouse overlooked a sleepy city, with street lights twinkling in the dark. On days when he timed it right, he could watch the sunrise from his shower, appreciating the privacy that the custom glass offered.

The heat from the shower eased the tension in Luke’s shoulders and he turned his thoughts towards the rest of his day. The morning was filled with board meetings, which always tended to be a bit on the boring side. His brother James had flown into town the day before, bringing with him all his big city bluster. The branch in Manhattan was significantly outperforming the office in Salt Lake, and James was here to help get them back on track.

Luke pulled on his clothes and headed out the door, trying to keep the memory of kissing Olivia out of his mind. He was only partially successful, because when Thomas greeted him in the foyer, the doorman’s first question sent his mind spinning. “How was your evening last night, sir?”

“What do you mean?” Luke asked.

“Let’s just say the night guard saw you coming in later than normal, and according to him, there was a smile on your face as wide as a city block.”

“You know you’re all a bunch of gossips, right?” Luke shook his head, trying to grimace, but Thomas would see through the act. He had been watching out for Luke the past five years, seeing him go through his worst phases to some of his best. A fake frown wasn’t going to fool anyone. He gave him a sliver of truth. “I ate dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. That always makes me smile.”

“Of course.” Thomas tipped his hat. “Enjoy your day, Mr. Stringer. You can tell me her name later.”

Luke spun to face Thomas, his stomach sinking. “Who says there’s a girl involved? Did someone take pictures?”

Thomas clamped a hand down on his arm. “I was joking, but you’ve definitely just confirmed my suspicions. I’m sorry for goading you.”

The knot that had been building in Luke’s chest loosened. “Yes. There was a woman. She was enchanting, but I already ruined things with her.”

Worry flashed across Thomas’s brow before he smoothed his features. “What did you do this time? How can I help smooth over the situation?”

An image flashed through Luke’s mind of a car wrapped around a tree, with his college girlfriend stumbling around nearby. He had certainly created his fair share of messes for other people to clean up. That car crash, with the resulting ticket for reckless endangerment, had been the start of the paparazzi craze.

“It’s nothing like that. I met a woman, we had a perfect evening, and then I left without getting her contact info.”

“If you tell me her name, I’ll have my team track her down. We have resources.”

As Luke opened his mouth to speak, he realized another flaw to his perfect evening. In his desire to keep conversation away from anything real, he had neglected to ask Olivia her last name. Stupid, stupid, stupid. There were most likely dozens of Olivia’s in a city this size.

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