The worst mistake of all, though, had been leaving Katie behind. He’d finally accepted that and come home to claim her, albeit on terms far different from those he’d once imagined. He doubted he could ever love anyone, not even Katie, as freely as he once had. He had no one to blame but himself for the shallowness of his first marriage, but the experience had soured him on the institution and on the kind of love that was supposed to be its foundation.
But surely he and Katie could build a new relationship that would be mutually satisfying without endangering the protective wall he’d erected around his emotions after Betty Sue had left them battered and bruised.
Best friends always understood, were always quick to defend. Best friends never made unreasonable demands. And they never, ever cheated. He thought perhaps that level of loyalty, always granted him by Katie without hesitation, was something he’d missed most of all in the cutthroat environment in which he’d found himself in Atlanta—at home and in business.
He caught the softening in Katie’s expression, and for one brief instant he was able to convince himself that everything was going to be just fine. He circled her waist from behind and stood gazing out over her head. Already a deep sense of peace was stealing through him.
That and desire, he conceded ruefully when the evidence became unmistakable. Katie’s sharply indrawn breath hinted that she was aware of it, as well, but she didn’t protest, didn’t pull away.
Because the moment was so fragile, so fraught with possibilities for doing the wrong thing, Luke did nothing. He just held Katie, her back tucked against his chest, her bottom brushing against his arousal, and thanked his lucky stars that they had come this far. Tomorrow would be soon enough to worry about the rest.
* * *
When the lavish dinner Luke had ordered arrived, accompanied by champagne, Katie fled. She could no longer keep up the dangerous charade without fear of getting too caught up in the seductive fantasy it promised.
She quietly, but emphatically shut the door to the hotel suite’s bedroom, then leaned against it and sucked in a deep breath. Talk about close calls! She had very nearly succumbed to Luke’s unspoken hunger.
Surrounded by his masculine scent, enveloped by his heat, tempted by his hard body, she had felt her already flimsy resolve wavering. It would have been so easy, so natural to give in to the desire that had swept through her at his first touch. And the expensive, intoxicating champagne would have made that capitulation a certainty.
How many nights had she lain awake remembering the way it felt to be held by him? How many months had she imagined the sweet torment of his touches? How many years now had she tried to forget those very same things, only to have the memories reawakened in a heartbeat?
Slowly, she stripped off the pink silk dress she’d worn for her wedding day, then the daring gossamer lace underwear. She reached for the sexy nightie that Lucy had insisted she pack, then went into the huge tiled bathroom and turned on the shower. When the room had filled with steam, she stepped into the marbled enclosure and let the hot water slide over her body, touching her in all the places she had dreamed that Luke would caress tonight. Before she knew it her body was sensitive and throbbing with need.
Groaning, she flipped off the hot water and let the cold water cascade over her until she was shivering and no longer caught up in the kind of desperate yearnings that only Luke could fulfill. The irony, of course, was that tonight he was within reach, only a few feet away, with an unlocked door between them. Legalities and proximity had made him hers, and yet, she couldn’t bring herself to claim him.
Stepping out of the shower and putting on the sheer nightie that skimmed her figure, concealing virtually nothing, Katie looked at that door longingly. What was being accomplished by keeping Luke out of her bed? Was she merely trying to salvage her pride?
Or did she hope that the burning desire she’d seen in his eyes would come to translate into love, if only she gave it enough time?
Whatever her eventual goal, the only certainty was that she was about to spend a very sleepless wedding night and for none of the usual, provocative reasons.
“Katie?”
Luke’s low voice sent a shaft of pure need through her. “Yes.”
“Good night,” he called softly.
“Good night,” she whispered, as tears brimmed over and spilled down her cheeks. Then lower still, in a voice she knew wouldn’t carry through the thick hotel door, she murmured, “Good night, my love.”
CHAPTER FIVE
The first thing Katie heard when she awoke after a restless night of tossing and turning was the murmur of Luke’s voice coming from the living room of their suite. She rolled over and closed her eyes, thinking what a pleasure it was simply to know he was close by. This, she supposed, was one of the little-discussed benefits of marriage, a tiny intimacy that couples grew used to and took for granted. After being separated from him for what seemed an eternity, she doubted she would ever take Luke’s presence for granted.
Hearing his low murmur from just behind the closed door was such a unique and wonderful experience that she very well might have stayed in bed and listened to him for hours, except she was starved. Apparently her stomach had suffered nearly as much as her libido with last night’s stubborn decision to turn down the wedding supper Luke had ordered—and whatever might have come later.
Hopping out of the luxurious, albeit very lonely bed, she stretched lazily, donned her sexiest bra and panties, then tugged on tan linen slacks, a peach silk blouse, and slipped on a pair of flats. All were new and far dressier than what she
