“Is that a happy to see me look or an unhappy to see me look?” He laughed.
“I-it’s, umm, it’s …” she trailed off helplessly. She was rusty when it came to dealing with men. Sure, she had guy friends, but they were all safe, they were involved, there wasn't a chance of any of them wanting to date her, and Luke had made his intentions of winning her affections clear from the beginning. Plus, she was unbelievably attracted to him. Which made being around him all the more difficult. The closer her proximity to him, the more it threw her body into haywire.
Luke laughed again.
She liked the sound of it. So happy and carefree. He had suffered a lot of loss in his life and yet he still hungrily sought happiness. He hadn’t given up hope.
“Have dinner with me tomorrow night,” he said. His face held its smile, but his eyes were filled with self-doubt.
Summer didn’t like to see him doubt himself. Her refusals to go out with him had nothing at all to do with him. It was all her. She just didn’t know how to explain without telling him everything. And she wasn't ready to tell him everything.
But she didn’t have to.
All she had to do was decide if she was ready to date him. Saying yes to dinner didn’t have to mean more than that. They could just go out, have some fun, it didn’t have to be serious or a big deal.
She couldn’t quite believe she was actually considering this, but she kept coming back to the timing. What were the chances that she would bump into the same guy twice on the anniversary of the day she killed her husband?
It couldn’t be a coincidence. The Universe was trying to tell her to let it go. He was dead, she wasn't.
She had to live her life otherwise she may as well be dead too.
“Okay,” she said in a rush before she could change her mind.
“Okay?” Luke repeated, looking surprised.
Summer felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. “Umm, yeah, unless …”
“No, unless,” Luke said quickly. “I'm just surprised you said yes. I thought I'd have to work harder for a couple of weeks to convince you, Summer.” Very gently he hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her face so she was looking at him again. “Iwantto go out with you. I know you’re scared of something, I hope it isn’t me.”
“It isn’t,” she said softly, surprised she could speak at all. All she could think of was the feel of Luke’s fingers on her face.
“Good, because you don’t have to be afraid of me. Ever. We can take things slow, give you time to deal with things. I don’t know if this will go anywhere, but I want to find out. The question is, do you?”
This was it.
Time to decide one way or the other. Hold on to the past or take a chance on having a future.
She already knew the answer. She’d known it ever since she’d walked into Aggie and Nick’s kitchen, seen Luke standing there, and realized he was the same man she’d just crashed into on the street.
Now it was time to admit it.
“Yes.”
February 18th
8:43 A.M.
“Is it him?” Jonathon asked as he walked up to join his partner. It had been a really long night. Brady had a cold and had been running a slight temperature for the last twenty-four hours, but his temperature had spiked at midnight. It was their little boy’s first real illness, and he and Clara had been a mess. Thankfully, Brady was doing better this morning, but none of them had slept much last night.
“It’s him,” Allina said.
“Are we positive?” He was hoping that there was a chance they were wrong. It had only been three days since he killed Zoe Kitter. He’d waited five weeks between killing the Doves and Zoe. Time between kills was diminishing. How quickly would he take his next victim?
“We’re positive.” Allina handed him two pieces of paper encased in evidence bags.
Although he didn’t really want to, Jonathon took the notes and read them.
It was true.