Jenna propped herself up on her elbow and looked down at the man sleeping in the bed beside her.
He was on his back, his mouth open. As were both of his eyes. Just a little.
She waved a hand in front of them to check. No reaction. He was sleeping, but the eye half-open thing was creepy.
But how wonderful to find out that Luke was anything but. He’d been a real gentleman since their very first interaction. And now here he was in her bed. Naked.
She traced a light line from the hollow at the base of his neck and down his chest to where the quilt rested halfway down his stomach. There she resisted the impulse to move any lower. Let the man sleep, she thought. He always looked so tired, as if sleep was a rare gift.
He stirred.
Jenna removed her hand.
His eyes opened. He smiled, his teeth flashing in the pale light.
‘Hey you,’ he said, and then yawned, and stretched.
‘Hey,’ she replied, feeling a flutter in her stomach. It had been a long time since a man consistently provoked that reaction.
‘Sorry, I must’ve dozed off.’ Luke pushed himself up onto his elbows. ‘What time is it?’
Jenna craned her neck to look at the alarm clock on the bedside cabinet beyond him. ‘Just gone midnight.’
‘Shit.’ He sat up. Offered a smile of apology. ‘I’d better go. My babysitter will be wondering where I got to.’
‘Maybe next time you’ll be able to ask her to stay overnight. Would be nice to wake up in the morning and you still be here.’ Jenna reached out to hold Luke’s hand.
‘I’d like nothing more,’ Luke said. ‘But softly, softly, eh? Nathan has to be my priority. I don’t want to spook him by introducing a new girlfriend too soon.’
‘Why, when was the last girlfriend you brought home?’ Jenna worried her tone was defensive so she added a smile.
‘I haven’t,’ Luke replied.
‘You mean…?’
‘There’s been no one since his mum died.’
‘But that was over two years ago. You must have been lonely.’
‘Grief was the over-riding emotion, to be honest. Didn’t leave much room for that kind of loneliness.’
Jenna shifted position on the bed, bringing her head up to rest on Luke’s chest. ‘Does it make me egocentric that I’m stupidly pleased that I was the one you chose to be the first since…’
Luke laughed. ‘Does it make me egocentric that I’m stupidly pleased that you would be stupidly pleased?’
He moved his head down towards hers. She met his lips with hers and felt her breathing contract.
They each stopped moving. Lips pressed lightly together. Each of them breathing in the other. Lingering in the moment.
‘Your lips feel amazing,’ Luke said as he created a tiny bit of distance between them. ‘But…’
‘You need to go.’ Jenna closed the distance a little. ‘And I’m not stopping you.’
Luke laughed. ‘God, I would like nothing more…’
She could feel his longing. And decided to be the grown-up. She put a hand on his chest and pushed. ‘Go. You don’t want to piss off your babysitter, cos then you won’t come back.’
‘I’m so lucky, really. Nathan’s granny’s been a star.’
‘She’ll be beyond pleased that you took Nathan on after her daughter died. I’m sure you won’t have any—’
Jenna sat up, looking at the window. She hadn’t fully closed the curtains when they’d entered the room – her mind being on other things. But although this was a ground-floor flat, her bedroom wasn’t overlooked; you’d have to go to some effort to spy in.
‘I thought I saw something there. Someone.’ She pulled the quilt up over her breasts.
Movement just outside her window.
Shadows shifted.
The cold glitter of hard eyes and bare teeth.
Jenna screamed. ‘There’s someone outside.’