There was also the nastiness of Rod McGuire to face. With the passage of time, she felt less and less threatened by him. But the choice had to be Luke’s. At least he’d have all the facts. All she needed to do was find the courage to tell him everything.
Walking away wasn’t an option, either. If she’d never seen him again, maybe. Especially after her efforts to find him yielded nothing, she’d accepted the fact he would never be in her life again. But now he was here, wanting them to be together again. To be working with him on a project, seeing him, being close to him, and not be with him was impossible. She needed to make some hard decisions. She groaned softly.
“Are you okay?” Luke asked, concern in his voice.
“Yes.” She smiled at him. “More than.” She clinked her snifter against his and said, with her heart in her mouth, “To the future.”
“Tell me what’s going on with you?” Luke leaned back against the pillows.
God, where to begin. “I guess my life’s pretty ordinary. The twins graduated college and are gainfully employed, thank heavens. And doing well, I might add.” She couldn’t help the touch of pride in her voice. “We see each other as often as possible, but we have busy lives.”
“They’re still in the area?”
“Oh, yes. I’ve been lucky that way.” She sipped at the brandy. “And the business has done extremely well. I feel good about that.”
“I know.” He looked at her with those dark, dangerous eyes. “Julia, you haven’t been out of my thoughts for a single minute since that last time together. I see your face in my mind the last thing at night and first thing in the morning.” A muscle twitched in his jaw. “I ran, you know.”
She frowned. “Ran?”
“When you wouldn’t take my calls, wouldn’t talk to me, I had to leave all the places we’d been together. Fortunately, I seem to have a skill that’s marketable. It seems a lot of companies are looking for people like me.”
“Where did you go?”
“Everywhere. Different states. Even a stint in Europe for a while. But I couldn’t outrun my memories or my feelings. When Connell Wilson reached out to me I saw this as kind of an omen and I jumped.”
So that was why she couldn’t find him. Her throat tightened and her hands began to tremble. She clutched the brandy snifter to still them.
“If you tell me you haven’t thought of me at all, my heart will be broken.”
He said it lightly, but she knew what he wanted to hear.
She swallowed hard. If he only knew. “Of course I’ve thought of you, Luke. Did you think I wouldn’t?”
He bent his head to hers and kissed her, a kiss full of meaning she wasn’t sure she was ready for. His tongue dusted across her lips and when she opened for him, he plunged inside as if about to swallow her whole. Instant fire blazed through her, waking up the tiny nerves in the walls of her pussy, nerves she’d thought a moment ago were sleeping after the crashing orgasm. The familiar flutter in her vaginal walls was an erotic signal that she wanted Luke badly. Again. And so quickly.
Leaning to the side, she placed the brandy snifter carefully on the nightstand. Then she reached her hand down, trailing her fingers across his stomach until they found his cock and gripped it lightly. Luke swallowed a moan, and clamped his hand on her wrist.
“Give me a minute,” he huffed. “Okay? Remember we aren’t teenagers.”
Julia laughed with delight, forgetting everything in this moment of voluptuous bliss, at the knowledge that he could respond to her so fast.
“What about your younger daughter?” Luke changed the subject abruptly, his fingers still holding her wrist. “The one Claire has with her tonight?”
“Courtney.” His daughter.
“Tell me about her. What’s she like?”
Where to begin.
“She’s a typical teenager, I’m afraid. Full of anger and rebellion. I’d either forgotten what the teen years are like or Courtney’s taking it to greater extremes than Beth or Andy.”
“Teenagers can be pistols,” he agreed. “I’ve heard girls are much worse than boys, although as you can understand, I’ve only had occasional exposure to it.”
“Only because the pitfalls for them are so much more complex.”
“You have your hands full,” he mused.
“That’s an understatement.” She pressed closer to him. “Some days I’d like to take a pill and wake up when she’s married with a family of her own.”
“I’m sure it’s been hard for her growing up without a father. And for you, having to be both parents to her.” Luke’s tone carried a mixture of concern and latent resentment. And why shouldn’t it? She’d led him to believe her life was about to be her own, that she was finally finding herself. Then, like slamming a door, she’d walked away from him without a word.
“You’re right.” Julia lifted her hand from his erection and tangled her fingers through the crisp curls surrounding it. “I felt stretched so thin all those years. Maybe I just didn’t give her what she needed and this is payback.”
“No.” Luke shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. I can’t see you as anything but a good mother, Julia. But kids react differently to stressful situations. That’s as much as I’m saying.”
“Well, this too shall pass.” She ran her hands over the familiar lines of his body. “But I think I’m through talking for now.”
Luke pulled her into his arms, holding her close to him as he explored her with his hands. He cupped each breast in turn, lightly kneading the flesh, bending his head to take each nipple into his mouth. He took tiny nips, soothed with his tongue, then nipped again. The dual sensations of pain and pleasure sent her pulse rocketing again and the insistent throb in her cunt vibrating through her body.
She reached for his cock again, gripping it firmly this time and sliding her hand
