“Luke,” she murmured in her least effective attempt yet to get his attention.
“Ah, Katie,” he said with a sigh as he kissed a spot on her neck just below her ear.
Katie shivered, which he must have taken as an invitation. He scattered kisses from the base of her throat to her chin, from her forehead to her cheeks, from the tip of her nose to her lips. Her mouth opened, formed his name, but not a sound emerged before she was caught up in the slow, sensual feel of Luke’s velvet lips against her own. Her arms crept around his neck, her fingers tangled in his thick hair as she gave herself over to the kiss.
The touch of his mouth against hers, the beckoning heat that stole through her, set off a riot of memories. Sweet, wicked, dangerous memories. For what seemed an eternity, Katie indulged herself in sensation, accepting, provoking, hungering for more. She was swept away on the tide of tenderness. She lost herself to need, Luke’s and her own.
A gentle, insistent caress of her breast sent her pulse scrambling. The slow slide of Luke’s hand from calf to inner thigh made her heart thunder in her chest. Her entire body throbbed with a desperate yearning to know again this man who’d branded her heart as his own years ago.
She could fight it. She could pretend that she didn’t want what was happening between them, but the truth of it was that she did. She wanted Luke to make love to her, wanted him to possess her as he once had. She hungered for it illogically, in a way that ignored past hurts and present problems, in a way that didn’t give a damn for the emotional consequences. Every fiber of her being was straining toward fulfillment of a dream she’d thought only weeks ago would elude her forever. Logic and reason had nothing to do with it. All that mattered was a love that had never died.
Katie gave up the battle, gave herself over to the joy of the moment...just in time to hear footsteps on the front porch, a loud knock on the screen door.
“What the hell?” Luke muttered, clearly dazed and definitely unhappy about the untimely interruption.
“Tommy,” she guessed, untangling herself from Luke and rising unsteadily to her feet. She straightened her clothes as she went to the door. There was nothing she could do about the flood of color in her cheeks.
Naturally Tommy couldn’t let her obvious state of arousal pass without comment. His blue eyes filled with insolent amusement. “I could come back later, if I’m interrupting anything,” he offered.
“Or not at all,” Luke said, coming up behind Katie.
Katie saw the flash of hurt in Tommy’s eyes, before he covered it with belligerence. “Or not at all,” he agreed. “It’s up to Katie. It’s her house. I don’t go where I’m not wanted.”
Fully aware of Luke’s disapproving scowl, she determinedly pushed open the screen door. “Of course you’re wanted. I invited you, didn’t I? We were late getting here. We’re just running a little behind.”
Tommy seemed eager to accept the explanation. Never once glancing at his brother, he asked Katie, “What can I do to help? If the grill’s out back, I can start the coal.”
“Terrific. I’m lousy at it,” she said, leading the way to the kitchen. “Luke, why don’t you help him?”
Luke looked as if he’d rather eat dirt. Shooting her a wry look, he dutifully followed his brother out the door.
The instant he’d gone, Katie’s knees seemed to give way. She sank onto a chair and released the breath she’d been holding. Sweet, heavenly days, what had she been thinking in the other room?
Of course, the point was that she hadn’t been thinking at all. She’d been giving her hormones free rein. It appeared she owed Tommy Cassidy a debt of gratitude. His arrival had just saved her from what could have been the second most costly mistake of her life.
She listened to the low, halting murmur of voices from the backyard and gave a little nod of satisfaction. Maybe she was already repaying him by giving him time to win back Luke’s love and approval.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Luke couldn’t decide whether to be more furious with his brother for showing up just when he had Katie on the brink of making love with him or with his wife for inviting Tommy in the first place. It was a toss-up.
But the bottom line was that Tommy was here and there didn’t seem much likelihood that anything short of a shotgun would persuade him to leave. Katie, with her strong notions about family loyalty, would definitely frown on his waving a gun threateningly at his brother.
At the moment, Tommy was working intently on getting the grill started. For the first time Luke took a minute to study him with at least some semblance of objectivity. He realized with a sense of shock that Tommy was far too thin, practically gaunt, in fact. His skin was a pasty color that didn’t look healthy.
“Are you okay?” he asked, drawing a surprised look.
“I’m fine.”
“You look like hell. When was the last time you had a decent meal?”
“Today at lunch,” Tommy said too quickly.
At the diner, Luke realized and wondered if Katie had paid for whatever Tommy had eaten. More than likely. “Before that,” he said.
Tommy shrugged. “Sometime yesterday, I guess.”
“Have you been drinking away your money?” Luke asked, thinking of the beer Tommy had asked for the morning before.
The question drew more emotion than Luke had anticipated. Tommy whirled away from the grill and glared at him.
“You know damn well I don’t drink, not after the way Dad was,” Tommy said heatedly. “An occasional beer is about it. That one I had yesterday was the first in weeks.”
Something about his indignant tone rang true. It was hardly surprising that Tommy rarely touched alcohol. Neither did Luke. Watching their father’s bouts with the stuff, seeing his dissolution before he’d finally taken
