He met her gaze, not saying a word, as if he were giving her time to change her mind. Then he rose and walked toward the pool table. Smiling, Tessa grabbed some quarters from the till and followed.
Ten minutes later, she was pretty sure he was trying to scrape his pride off the floor. “Damn,” Luke grumbled. “Did you major in pool in college?”
“Oh, please. I work in a bar. And I majored in economics.”
“Really?”
Tessa shrugged. “With a minor in accounting. The brewery budget is a little small for macroeconomics. What about you?”
“Criminal justice, just to be predictable. Honestly, I would have gone straight to the police academy, but my mom’s a teacher. I didn’t want her to disown me.”
“I didn’t know that! What does she teach?”
“High school English. She has a lot of experience with teenagers, which was a damn good skill set for raising a son on her own.”
Tessa prepped the table for another set of annihilation and studied him past her lashes. “Do you get along with her?”
Luke smiled, but then his smile stretched to a laugh. “Yeah. As a matter of fact, I just saw her today.”
“Oh? So, what’s funny?”
“You know how moms can—” His laughter fell away to reveal shock at his own words. “I’m so sorry. I forgot…”
“Don’t be silly. I like hearing about other people’s moms. It makes me happy.”
Luke shook his head and walked around the table. Her pulse quickened with each step he took. By the time he stopped in front of her, she felt like a bird was trembling in her chest.
He curved his hand to the nape of her neck. “Everything makes you happy, Tessa.”
“That’s not true,” she whispered, but then he was kissing her, slow and deep, and Tessa was too happy to bother with talking.
CHAPTER TEN
SHE PARKED HER CAR in the garage and signaled Luke to park right behind her. She’d invited him over for a glass of wine, but they both knew why he was here.
Or… Tessa frowned as she unlocked the back door. Was there a possibility he didn’t know he was here for sex? Because they’d certainly stumbled over a few misunderstandings the night before.
But as she turned on the lights, Luke came in behind her and he unknotted his tie and slipped it off. Maybe he did know why he was here. Then she noticed how tired he looked and wondered if she should just tuck him into bed.
No fricken way. She poured two glasses of wine and waved him toward the couch. Then she slipped off her shoes and settled right down on his lap, her knees straddling his hips.
“Now,” she murmured, “where were we when you so rudely interrupted us last night?”
A short half hour later, Tessa was flat on her back on the couch, her jeans unzipped, her arms curled around Luke’s neck, and his mouth on hers. The only thing that could make this better would be Luke’s hand easing down the front of her pants, and God bless him, he was taking care of that right this moment.
Now that he’d finally made the decision to have her, there was no hesitation. His fingers slid into her panties and touched her, and Tessa moaned into his mouth. She was surrounded by him. His whole body pressed against her side, his tongue worked rhythmically against hers and now his fingers were taking up that same slow rhythm, rubbing her clit. Jesus, she was in heaven. Or purgatory. Her whole body felt close to boiling, after all.
She felt his fingers get slicker as he worked her, lubricating her with her own wetness. Finally, he slid his hand lower, pushing one finger deep into her pussy.
“Oh, God,” she gasped, tearing her mouth from his to draw a deep breath. “God, yes.” He fucked her slowly with his finger, while the heel of his hand pressed her clit with each thrust.
Tessa tilted her hips up, urging him deeper, faster, but he was unmoved by her obvious begging. He went slow. So slow. Sliding and rubbing and pushing against her. She was dying.
“Luke.”
“Mmm.” His mouth slid to her neck to suck there. White shivers danced down her spine and coiled around her sex. His teeth scraped her skin and she gasped, rolling her hips. “Oh, yes. Faster.”
“I don’t think so,” he murmured.