She wound her legs round him and arched upward in blatant invitation.
“Luke Whittaker,” she purred, “I think you should—” Her phone beeped, cutting off her indecent suggestion in midsentence.
“You were saying?” His voice thickened and she sighed.
“I’d better check that, in case it’s something important. Can you grab it for me?”
He kissed her again and then reached across and picked up her phone. It took him a minute to focus. “It’s a text from Beth.”
“What does it say?”
“Nothing important.” He put the phone back and shifted over her again so that his body was intimately aligned with hers. “You have great legs. Have I already told you that?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know. I can’t think too well when you’re doing what you’re doing.” She slid her hands down his back. “What did Beth want?”
“Nothing.” He kissed his way down her neck to her shoulder. “Something about being worried about the weather.”
Posy stilled. “The weather?”
“Yes.”
“Those were her exact words? Damn.” Posy wriggled out from under him and sprang from the bed, cursing as she tripped over their abandoned clothing. “I need to talk to her. Sorry. Bad timing, but this is an emergency.” She ignored the part of herself that was screaming at her to get back into bed with him.
“Since when has bad weather been an emergency?” Luke raised himself up on his elbow, his hair in disarray and his eyes sleepy and sexy. “Could you be overreacting? It snows a lot in New York, although admittedly the heavy snow usually comes after Christmas.”
“That text is nothing to do with the weather. It’s a code.” Posy scooped up her shirt and her socks. “We used it when we were teenagers and didn’t want our parents to know about what we were doing. It means she’s in trouble.”
“Trouble?” Luke frowned and sat up. “What sort of trouble?”
“I don’t know yet.” Posy tugged on her socks, glanced in the mirror and recoiled. “I look as if I’ve been caught in a howling gale.” She scraped her fingers through her hair and then gave up and scooped it up in a ponytail.
Luke leaned back against the pillows. “I think you look like someone who just had great sex. Three times. I was about to make it four times, but—”
Her phone pinged again and this time Posy grabbed it herself, trying not to think about the fourth time that wasn’t going to happen now.
“She’s at the airport. Not JFK, our local airport.” She felt a flash of concern. “Why is she at the airport?”
“Because flying is the normal way to travel from the US?”
“She’s not due home for another week. And usually she—” She broke off and stared at her phone in shock as she noticed the time. “It’s half past three! How can it be half past three?”
“I don’t know. I can’t honestly say I was thinking about the passage of time. Seeing you naked impairs my ability to think about anything much.”
“I’m going to need some fancy excuses to explain away this one. And still more excuses for going to pick up my sister.” Posy leaned down and kissed him, feeling a tug of regret. “I don’t know how long this is going to take. You should probably—”
He cupped her face in his hands, kissing her until she was dizzy.
The kick of desire almost had her sliding back into bed with him.
She groaned. “Can’t. Mustn’t. I need to—” She pulled away, then changed her mind and crushed her mouth to his again. It was a full minute before she found the willpower to step back. “I’d tell you to stay right where you are, but this might take a while.” She slid out of his arms for a second time and glanced around the room. Where were her jeans? She didn’t even remember Luke taking them off, but she’d ended up naked, so it must have happened at some point.
“This isn’t an elaborate excuse to leave my bed?”
She found her jeans on the floor by the sofa. “It’s my bed, so no. And I don’t play those games. If I wanted you out of my bed, I’d say get out of my bed.”
“I know. It’s one of the many things I like about you. I’ll go back downstairs and work, but bang on my door when you’re back.” He hesitated. “And if you need anything—if she’s in trouble and there’s some way I can help—call me.”
“Thanks.” Touched by the offer of support, she finished dressing, grabbed her coat and car keys, and gave him a last sorrowful look. “This was fun.”