THE RESTAURANT COULD have been tucked away on a back alley somewhere in Florence or Rome.
Heavy beams on the ceiling had trailing vines coming from hanging baskets. The tables were rustic and covered with checked red cloth. Slim white candles had dribbled wax for a long time judging by how encrusted the old wine bottle in the centre of their small table was.
Kate had a glass of Prosecco in front of her but Luke was filling his glass from a carafe of water.
‘Just in case I get called back,’ he said. ‘Even if I don’t, I’ll go and check on Jacob on my way home.’
‘He’s going to be fine.’ Kate smiled. ‘You did such an amazing job, Luke. He’s one lucky little boy.’
She knew that her admiration of how Luke had handled such a critical case had to be written all over her face but she didn’t care. He should be very proud of himself. She was proud of him.
‘I only got to do what I did because you got him to the right place at the right time. If it had been anyone less competent receiving him in Emergency and not recognising what was going on, it would have been a very different story.’
Maybe it was the candlelight but Luke’s gaze seemed just as admiring as Kate knew hers was. As if to remove any doubt, he lifted his glass to tap it gently against the edge of hers.
‘Well done, you,’ he said quietly.
‘Well done, us,’ Kate countered.
One side of Luke’s mouth tilted upwards. ‘We always were a great team, weren’t we? Do you remember our first cardiac arrest?’
‘How could I forget? Back in the days when you had to hold the paddles onto the chest to defibrillate and I was so scared my hands were shaking like I was holding a pair of castanets.’
She could smile about being a nervous medical student now but there was a far more lasting memory from that case. The way Luke had caught her frightened gaze as he’d paused his chest compressions to stand clear. That steady gaze had told her that she knew exactly what to do. That she could do this.
‘How great was it when we got him back?’
‘It was the best.’ Kate took a long sip of her wine. ‘And do you remember the kid that bit your finger?’
Luke laughed. ‘I think I still have a scar.’
Kate was laughing, too. ‘The look on your face! It was priceless.’
‘It was a lesson I’ve never forgotten. I protect my fingers at all times now.’
‘Didn’t put you off working with kids, though.’
‘Ah…but I keep them unconscious most of the time. I find it easier not to get bitten that way.’
Memories—and laughter—were easy to find as they shared an antipasti platter of calamari and olives and then deep dishes of the restaurant’s signature lasagne that came with a fresh green salad and slices of crusty bread. It was only when they both sighed with pleasure over the first taste of the tiramisu they had both ordered for dessert that Kate realised something unusual.
‘Do you know, this is the first time I’ve ever been to a restaurant when someone else has ordered exactly the same things I did.’
‘That’s bad, isn’t it? It means you don’t get the chance to taste something different.’
‘No, no…it’s good. I get terrible food envy.’
Luke grinned. ‘You mean when you see what someone else has ordered and it suddenly looks so much better than what you chose?’
‘Exactly.’
He was still smiling. ‘We always did like the same things pretty much, didn’t we? Same music, same movies.’
‘Same friends, same careers…’ Kate couldn’t look away from that smile. The way his eyes crinkled at the sides. The warmth she could feel that came from knowing how intelligent this man was. How funny he could be. How caring she knew he was.
And then she remembered that kiss in the moonlight up in the mountains of the Czech Republic and the warmth twisted into something a heck of a lot more powerful.
Powerful enough to take her breath away.
Their friends had been right, all those years ago. She and Luke were perfect for each other. Why on earth hadn’t Luke seen it before he’d met Nadia? Before it had been too late?
Luke had raised his glass again.
‘To friendship,’ he offered.
The toast was welcome because it gave Kate a much-needed gulp of her wine. Friendship wasn’t what was making her blood sing right now. It couldn’t account for the delicious knot of desire in her belly or the way her heart was being squeezed so hard it almost hurt.
This…
This was falling in love.
No. It was worse than that.
It wasn’t falling. It was the moment when you hit the ground having fallen.
Maybe it had happened back at the competition. Or sometime over the last few weeks when she’d been thinking about Luke so often. Or maybe it had always been there and she’d just been trying to protect her heart by dismissing it as no more than a passing physical attraction. A silly crush…
Surely Luke could feel that something huge had just changed between them?
But he was busy scraping the last delicious morsels from his dessert plate. And then he glanced up and saw that Kate was watching.
‘So much better than falling in love, isn’t it?’
‘Huh…?’ For a heart-stopping moment, Kate thought he’d been reading her mind.
‘Friendship.’
‘Oh…’ Kate blinked. She tried to smile. He hadn’t noticed anything different, then.
Because he wasn’t looking?
No. It was more likely because he’d never felt the same way. And never would.
‘Especially this kind of friendship,’ Luke continued. ‘The kind that lasts for ever. It’s what you’d hope you could have if you fell in love with the right person. After all the crazy stuff wears off.’
Kate swallowed hard. ‘But what’s wrong with the crazy stuff?’
She could feel a good dose of it herself right now, making her hyperaware of everything around her. The flicker of the candlelight, the rich smell of good food. Of how impossibly gorgeous Luke Anderson was. She couldn’t take her eyes off him as he finished scraping the last of his dessert onto his spoon and lifted it to his lips. She could imagine those hands on her skin. Those lips on hers. The way he ran his tongue over his lips after the spoon had delivered its prize was the last straw. Desire was spiralling into something that felt out of control.
Feeling out of control was so alien to Kate she was sure she shouldn’t be liking it at all. Not this much, anyway.
‘It doesn’t last.’ Luke’s clipped tone was like a splash of cold water. More than enough to halt that spiralling sensation. ‘And you can’t trust it, believe me.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘Are you going to eat the rest of your tiramisu?’
‘Um…no.’ Her appetite for the sweet treat had somehow vanished in the last few minutes. ‘I’ve had enough. Here…’ She pushed her plate towards him and the ease with which Luke accepted the gesture underlined everything they had between them. A closeness that could be tapped back into so easily. Like family…
But he was wrong. Okay, he’d been burned but so had she in the past, albeit that she’d never gone as far as marrying someone. You couldn’t give up on something like being in love. If you found the right person, this feeling could last a very long time. Maybe for ever, if you were really lucky.
Kate believed in it. She trusted it. But she couldn’t tell Luke that. And she certainly couldn’t tell him that it was exactly the way she was feeling. If he even got a hint of it, that easy familiarity between them would vanish. He might convince himself that even friendship couldn’t be trusted either and there would never be any more times like this. She might try and text him to set something up but he would always be unavailable. Working. Or simply wary.
‘So…it’s the sensible thing to do, isn’t it?’
‘Sorry?’ Had she been on another planet while Luke was polishing off her dessert and had missed something he’d said?
Luke put his spoon down.
‘To marry someone that you’re already great friends with.’
‘Oh, no…’ Kate put her hands over her eyes. ‘This is about that pact again, isn’t it?’
‘Is it such a crazy idea?’
Kate dropped her hands, her eyes widening. ‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘You can’t just marry someone because they’re a friend…’ The concept was shocking. Why would anyone give up on the idea of finding true love that swept everything else into complete shade?
But Luke seemed to be taking this idea seriously. ‘Why not? Seems like a pretty good place to start, if you ask me. You always hear people say “I married my best friend”.’
Kate could feel furrow lines appearing on her forehead. ‘Yes, but…’
‘But what?’
‘But they have more than that to begin with. You’ve got to have more than that.’
‘Such as?’
Kate could feel colour creeping into her face now. ‘Um…attraction?’
Luke leaned towards her. His eyes had a mischievous glint and his mouth had a cheeky curl on one side. ‘You don’t think I’m attractive? Are you saying I’m ugly?’
‘No…’ Her cheeks were on fire now. Her body was telling her just how woefully inadequate her embarrassed response was. Weirdly, it was also increasing its response to Luke. Maybe it was that glint in his eyes. Or that smile. He was not only incredibly attractive but he would probably be fun in bed, too.
Oh, help…there was that out-of-control sensation again. Sucking her in and hurling her into that spiral of desire.
‘And you’re gorgeous,’ Luke said softly. ‘No red-blooded male wouldn’t find you attractive.’
Kate’s head was spinning now. He found her attractive? He wanted her…? With a desperate effort, she tried to find a sane corner of her brain.
‘It’s not just about looks. There’s got to be…um…chemistry.’
‘Ahh…’ Luke sat back in his chair, nodding slowly. ‘I get it. You mean the sexual compatibility thing.’
Kate had to close her eyes for a moment so that she could concentrate on breathing. There didn’t seem to be enough air in here any more. Her cheeks still felt hot. Good grief, what if someone at a nearby table was listening in to this extraordinary conversation?
Her eyes snapped open. ‘Can we go now?’
‘Sure.’ Luke still seemed perfectly relaxed as he signalled that he was ready for the bill.
‘I’ll wait outside for you. I could do with a bit of fresh air.’
The air was fresher than she’d expected and Kate pulled on Luke’s heavy, wool-lined anorak she had grabbed from the peg on her way out. It was far too big for her but it was warm and…she wrapped her arms around herself and let her chin sink so that her nose was buried in the lining…it smelt like Luke. All macho and masculine and…totally delicious.
She was so lost in the moment that she didn’t hear Luke coming up behind her. Wasn’t aware of him until she heard the low growl of his voice right beside her ear.
‘I think we’d be very compatible.’
Oh… Lord… She’d always thought that women in books going weak at the knees was verging on ridiculous but it was actually a thing.
Instinctively, she lifted her head to turn towards that compelling growl and Luke’s fingers captured her chin. In slow motion, he tilted his head and closed the gap between them. Kate knew he was going to kiss her and now her brain felt just as weak as her knees. She couldn’t have stopped this happening if her life depended on it.
Because she didn’t want to stop it happening.
That gentle kiss under the moonlight weeks ago had been laced with pleasure and surprise.
This one was a revelation.
It ignited a level of desire that she’d never dreamed she was capable of feeling. She’d certainly never, ever felt anything like this before. But, then, she’d never fallen in love with someone that she already knew so well. Someone she had always loved as a friend…
The combination of that shared history and trust with this newly awoken—and astonishingly fierce—attraction was stunning.
It felt old and familiar as well as being totally new and unbelievably exciting. The softness and warmth of Luke’s lips, the teasing touch of his tongue, the way he was holding her face as if it was made of something precious and fragile…
Her eyes remained closed as Luke finally lifted his head.
‘See?’ His voice sounded a little hoarse. ‘That wasn’t so bad, was it?’
Kate opened her eyes. She opened her mouth, too, but no words came out.
‘But it was only a kiss,’ Luke added.
Kate blinked. Only a kiss? That had been the most amazing kiss ever. Had anyone else in the world ever experienced a kiss quite like that?
‘So…’ Luke had that glint in his eyes again. ‘All we need to find out is if the rest of it works.’
Kate’s voice came out in a strangled sort of croak. ‘The rest of it…?’
Luke wriggled his eyebrows. ‘Sex, Katy.’
How could a single word have an effect like being hit on that vulnerable point just behind your knees? It actually felt like she was stumbling even though she was standing perfectly still. Luke must have felt her lack of balance because his arm was around her now, holding her steady. He was smiling at her. Confidently—as though he’d found the perfect answer to a problem she was having.
And perhaps he had…
Kate sucked in a deep breath. ‘And…um…when do you think we should investigate that?’
His smile widened. ‘No time like the present. My apartment’s only a couple of blocks from here.’
Kate had already discovered that going weak at the knees was a thing. Now it seemed that your eyes could grow stalks, too.
Luke’s smile faded just enough to make him look, and sound, quite sincere.
‘If we give ourselves too much time to think about it, we’ll find all sorts of reasons why it might not be a good idea and then it’ll just get harder.’ He cleared his throat and a corner of his mouth quirked. ‘No pun intended.’
Kate’s breath came out in a huff of laughter. This was the friend she remembered. Incorrigible but, oh, so charming…
‘This is a bit weird for me, too,’ Luke said quietly. ‘But I really think it makes sense. We’re thirty-five. We both want more in our lives than just our jobs and we know we like each other, don’t we?’
Kate could only nod. He made this sound so reasonable. Sensible, even. Or was desire sabotaging her brain and looking for any excuse to allow her to do what was rapidly becoming the thing she wanted more than anything else in the world?
‘More than like,’ Luke continued. ‘I think we really care about each other. Trust each other. You do trust me, don’t you, Katy?’
Kate swallowed hard. ‘Yes.’
‘Then trust me on this. It’ll work.’
Of course it would work. After that kiss, Kate had no doubts whatsoever that sex with Luke would be the most amazing physical experience she would probably ever have. But what about afterwards? Would that work?
It might…
You couldn’t really just decide to never fall in love again, could you? It either happened or it didn’t—it wasn’t something you could control.
Was it possible that Luke was already in love with her but he didn’t recognise it yet? Possible that he would get the same kind of revelation that she had had?
That would make what they were planning to do a lot more than some kind of social experiment, wouldn’t it? It would make it, well…necessary…
Luke found her hand and squeezed it. Still holding it, he turned and started walking.
And, without even a beat of hesitation, Kate followed him.