07 It Had to Be You Read online

  He let out a low laugh against her temple and tried to extricate himself, but every time he freed a limb, she tightened another. She was silent through this, eyes closed. Then suddenly she opened them and looked right into his. “You haven’t left yet.”

  Sucker punched right in the gut because he knew she didn’t mean right this moment. She meant that the men in her life left her. All of them. “It’s my house,” he teased, not in any shape to have this conversation.

  But she didn’t laugh, and that took him aback. He stopped trying to free himself. “Ali,” he said, low. Desperate. “I’m trying to do the right thing here.”

  “Well, don’t.” She rocked up into him and moaned.

  The sound gave him a rush. “You’re going to sleep,” he said firmly.

  “Who will keep my feet warm?”

  “I’ll get you an extra blanket.”

  “A stick in the mud,” she muttered. “Who’d have thought that the hot, sexy Luke Hanover’s nothing but a stick in the mud?”

  “You’ll thank me in the morning.” Again he pulled the blanket up to her chin, firmly tucking her in so that he wasn’t tempted to do anything stupid.

  “My panties are wet.”

  He dropped his forehead to hers.

  “And my shoes are still on.”

  He sat back on his heels. Again she kicked the covers off and lifted her foot for him to remove her sandal.

  He pressed her foot to his chest and went to work on the buckle over her ankle, doing his damnedest not to notice that her panties were as sheer as her dress had been.

  A white lace thong that barely covered her mound.

  She smiled up at him, her eyes soft and dreamy and glazed over. He felt the helpless smile curve his mouth in return. “You’re trouble,” he said. “You know that?”

  “I’ve been told.”

  An innocent response, but it reminded him of exactly how often she’d been disappointed and hurt. He was not going to be one of those men.

  Ever.

  “I also tend to drive people crazy,” she said. “Especially men. I drove all my mom’s men right off. She’d say ‘Oh, Ali-gator, there goes another one.’ I’m pretty good at doing it to my own men too, driving them off.” She sat up and tried to pile her hair on top of her head using the hair band she’d had around her wrist, but she was having some coordination issues. And then the thing got stuck in her hair, so there she sat, in her barely there panties, arms up over her head, hands entangled in her hair, looking like a walking/talking wet dream.

  “Luke?”

  Deciding it was safest to leave her hands restrained, he ignored her, the same way he was trying to ignore the unintentionally gut-wrenching tales of her life, as he fought her sandal off.

  “Hey,” she said, tugging on her hair.

  “Hey, yourself.” When he finally got her sandals off, he leaned in carefully to take over the hair fiasco. He managed some sort of bun, though it was lopsided.

  She smiled at him in gratitude, all flushed, a little damp, and looking hotter than anything he could possibly imagine. “Kiss me, Luke.”

  A demanding drunk, he thought, amused, and gave her a short, sweet smackeroo.

  But he’d greatly underestimated her determination.

  “Mmm,” she said, wrapping him up tight in her arms, deepening the kiss, drawing him into her nefarious plans like a moth to the flame. He let her have her way—hell, who was he kidding, he probably wanted it even more than she did—but when she slid her hands beneath his shirt and then paused, he sucked in a breath. A few moments ago he’d been trying to extract himself but now all he could think was: Up or down, Ali?

  She chose up first, brushing his nipples, tugging a low groan from him. Then down, over his abs and farther, her fingers playing with the tie on his board shorts.

  When she tugged, he caught her hands and pinned them above her head. He had no idea where the hell he found the strength, but he couldn’t let her do this. He kept trying not to get sucked in by her.

  And kept failing. But she had the singular ability to both break his heart and make him yearn and burn.

  He’d told Sara she was work, but she wasn’t work at all. Nor was she a vacation diversion. She was…real. The first real thing in his life in far too long.

  Ali fought a hand free and touched his face. “You’re a good man, Luke, you know that?”

  With a groan, he tried to concentrate on anything besides the sexy, warm woman beneath him. Her curves were pressed up against him, chest to chest, hips to hips, thighs to thighs.

  But that’s not what was grabbing him by the throat and holding on. As always, it was her eyes. And all the things he could see there, which was everything, every single thing, including the fact that she cared about him.

  Far more than he deserved.

  He dropped his head to the pillow beside hers, thinking here she was, all sweet and sleepy, snuggling up to him. And here he was, wanting to fuck her until she screamed his name.

  Some good guy.

  “Ali.” She didn’t answer.

  He lifted his head to kiss her goodnight because he was leaving.

  Right now.

  But caressing her hair from her face, he had to laugh softly. Her eyes were closed, her mouth slightly open, her limbs loose and relaxed.

  She was fast asleep.

  And he hurt just looking at her. Pressing his lips to her temple, he breathed her in. “You’re perfect,” he whispered, “just the way you are.”

  Chapter 20

  Lucky Harbor was a town of hearty souls, and they rose early, whether for work or play. Ali had always been one of those early risers too, but this morning, she tried to get up and could only groan in misery.

  “Yeah. Thought you might be having trouble.”

  Along with Luke’s dry tone came the scent of coffee. Ali whimpered in gratitude and cracked open an eye. “Why is the world spinning?”

  “Because alcohol is a finicky bitch.” Luke set a cup of coffee on the nightstand. “You going to live?”

  Not at all certain, she sat up, clutching the covers to herself as it all came back. Last night. The Scotch. Falling into the water…She took a peek beneath the covers. Just a thong. “Oh God, I’m naked.”

  “Not quite,” Luke said. “And not for lack of trying either.”

  She stared up at him, remembering everything but completely unable to get a read on his mood. He was dressed for paddleboarding, looking like a Greek god. “You didn’t want me.”

  “Wrong. I just prefer my women conscious.”

  His board shorts were lifeguard red today, down to his knees and frayed at the hem. “You were a lifeguard?” she asked.

  “Yeah, with Jack and Ben. But only because we got to sit on the beach and look at girls in bikinis all day. It was a no-brainer.”

  He could still fit into a bathing suit from ten years ago, which was a good reason to hate him. That, and the fact that he didn’t appear to be the slightest bit hungover. Where was the justice in that? “Who got the most girls?”

  “Ben. He had his dad’s truck and a black Lab pup named Ketchup. Both Ketchup and the truck were babe magnets.”

  “You should have gotten a dog.”

  He smiled sexily, as if the memories were that good. “I did okay.”

  She bet.

  “I have news,” he said.

  Uh-oh. “Good or bad?”

  “I wanted to tell you last night, but you fell asleep on me,” he said without answering her question. “There’s nothing on the surveillance tapes.”

  She absorbed the hit of it and shook her head. “I’m not going to get lucky today in bed or out of it, is that what you’re saying?”

  At the look of regret on his face, she blew out her breath. “Forget it. I know, you’re leaving and you don’t want anyone to get hurt, blah, blah, blah. And anyway, I might be getting arrested today, so it doesn’t matter. I hope Zach isn’t in L.A.” Not wanting to face him, or the fact that her heart had