Jess groaned. ‘Sorry. Did they go all he-man on you?’
‘Well, they did try to outpace me.’ Luke smiled into his coffee cup. ‘I managed to keep up.’
Jess took her cup and winced when her injuries brushed the bedclothes. ‘If you beat Patrick I’ll kiss you senseless.’
‘I beat Patrick. I ran twenty-three-ten.’
Jess’s jaw dropped open. ‘You beat them all?’
Luke looked like the cat who ate the cream. ‘I whipped them all.’
‘Woo-hoo!’ Jess shouted with glee. ‘You are the man!’
Jess settled back on the pillows and after a minute or so smiled at Luke. ‘You know that you’re going to have to marry me now, don’t you?’
Luke spluttered tiny drops of coffee over his white towel. ‘What?’
Jess patted his knee. ‘By standing up for me last night, you—in my mother’s eyes at least—practically declared your intentions. As I speak, she’s probably planning our wedding.’
‘God, families are complicated,’ Luke complained. ‘And yours is, I suspect, more complicated than most.’
‘I’m the youngest child—a daughter with four older protective brothers.’
‘Who threatened to cut off my balls if I hurt you,’ Luke told her.
‘Oh, grief, they didn’t?’ Jess blew air into her cheeks. ‘Of course they did... Sorry. Did they thump their chests as well?’
Luke grinned. ‘Yep. Then they spent the rest of the run deciding what to do about your ex. Concrete shoes were mentioned.’
‘Their anger will blow off and then they’ll just ignore him. I hope.’ Jess sipped her coffee. ‘I’m sorry. I know that they are impossible and in-your-face. I’ll understand if you want to keep your distance from them...’
Luke placed his hand on the other side of her stretched out legs and leaned on it. ‘I haven’t had much to do with large families, Jess—hell, with any families. I don’t know how to act, what to do... Last night I was nervous as anything.’
‘Seriously? You didn’t look it.’
‘Practice. My legs were bouncing under the table.’
Jess heard the insecurity in his voice and felt her heart jump into her throat. ‘You just need to be who you are, do what you do. Don’t worry about my mother and her machinations. If your little speech last night didn’t get through to her, she knows that I can’t and won’t be forced into anything. So, what do you think about the fact that my dad knew your mom?’
Jess felt his mood shift from relaxed to wary.
‘I guess the art world in the seventies was smaller than I supposed.’
‘Are you going to try to track down your aunt?’
Luke lifted his head to look at her. ‘Why should I?’
Why should he? Jess frowned. ‘Luke, she could tell you about your mother.’
Luke’s face hardened. ‘I know all I need to about Katelyn. She was a really good artist who decided she didn’t want me any more. Then she died.’
The lack of emotion in his voice whipped at Jess’s soul. It spoke of hurt and betrayal buried deep. ‘Your aunt could explain—’
‘I’m thirty-six years old. She must’ve known about me. She’s had thirty-plus years to find me and explain,’ Luke shot back. ‘It’s not like we went anywhere.’
His tone told her to leave the subject alone and Jess backed off. They’d just got back onto an even keel. She didn’t want to argue with him and risk upsetting that.
Muscles rippled in Luke’s torso as he leaned forward and gently touched her chin with the tips of his fingers. ‘How are you feeling?’
Jess licked her lips at the passion slumbering in his eyes. ‘Good. Much better.’
Luke moved forward and slipped his hand around her neck. ‘Then did I hear you say something about kissing me senseless? Especially since I whipped your brothers?’
‘I might have said that,’ Jess whispered as his head dropped. She sighed when his lips met hers in a kiss that was as simple as it was devastating. She wanted more than just a kiss. She wanted him in every way.
Luke’s tongue tangled with hers and she reached out her hand and patted his waist, finding the towel and tugging.
Luke pulled back and sent her a look full of regret and frustration. ‘Sweetheart, we can’t. Your leg.’
Jess tugged again. ‘You’ll be careful of me. I trust you,’ she said against his mouth. ‘I’m tired of just sleeping in your bed, Savage.’
Luke covered her as his towel fell open. ‘Well, when you put it like that...’