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(Luke)
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STEPPING OFF HIS HARLEY, Luke caught sight of the sexy little brunette just before her fair-haired friend pulled her inside and out of his sight. Unless his eyesight had gone very bad, Luke knew she was a rare beauty, indeed. The hint he’d caught just as the door closed wasn’t going to be nearly enough tonight.
Proceeding inside, he stopped, standing easily a head taller than most people in the place, Luke scanned the crowd. The hot little number was sitting at a table against the back wall with a menu in her hand.
He liked a woman who actually ate instead of picking and pecking at food like a bird. His German descent endowed him with a precocious attraction to what he called real women. He sat at the end of the bar, ordered his beer, and waited to see what the woman actually ordered to eat before he would make a decision as to whether to pursue a conversation with her.
To his delight, the waitress brought out a hamburger steak meal and set it in front of the sexy brunette while there was only a slim little salad for the other woman. Laughing to himself, Luke knew he’d be trying to talk to the brunette soon.
Sherri, his last girlfriend, had been a bird when it came to meals. That rubbed him the wrong way. She’d been a buxom, curvy woman when he’d first started dating her and he’d wanted to keep her that way, but she dropped weight quickly after they began dating steady due to her sudden picky eating habits. Then, eight months into the relationship, he’d walked into her apartment unannounced, and found out the other reason she was losing weight—keeping up with more than one relationship had apparently been stressful for her—it was definitely stressful to the other guy that day.
That had been a few months ago. Now Luke was ready to forge ahead and take the first baby steps in the direction of a new relationship. At least, he was ready to get a handful of that hot little brunette. He’d never seen a woman so beautiful. If he had, he couldn’t remember when. Sherri had been very pretty, but she was nothing compared to this woman.
Luke’s gut told him to walk away; that woman might be more than he could handle. He might not be able to retain his cool stoicism if he got with her. But something about her, some air of confidence too great to be genuine, drew him to her instead of pushing him away. That was probably a ruse to hide that she was vulnerable in some way.
In his mind, Luke was already rolling in the sheets with her, touching that supple, tanned flesh, feeling her body, soft in all the right places, submitting to his touch. He’d not had fantasies about another woman since Sherri. It was a welcome pleasure to know that he was still capable of fantasizing, that he was still able to become aroused by a woman.
The waitress came by and took the plates from the ladies’ table and dropped the check. Luke moved quickly and put his hand over the check, looking directly at the brunette, her eyes were an odd color between blue and green.
He smiled. “I would be honored if you would allow me to pay for your dinner. My name is Luke.” He offered his hand in greeting.
After a moment of shock, she recovered, returned his smile, and shook his hand. “Hello. I’m Ziti. This is Laney.”
Luke barely glanced at Laney, he was intrigued by Ziti, her eyes, her radiant smile, the fine structure of her face, her firm handshake, her smooth skin.
“Ziti, that’s an exotic name.” He turned briefly to keep from being rude, and introduced himself, and quickly turned back to Ziti. “Do you like to play pool, Ziti?” Luke picked up the check and offered his hand to Ziti.
Ziti smiled nervously and took his hand, standing beside him, looking up at him appreciatively. “As a matter of fact, I do. I’ve not played in years, though.”
Luke led her to the register, handed the cashier two twenties and the check, telling her to keep the change. “Well, you’re in luck. I play, too.” Thinking about her fair-haired friend, Luke asked, “What about your friend?”
Ziti looked behind them, Laney was already on the dancefloor. “I guess she wants to dance.”
“That’s all right; Let’s go up to the second floor. I have a pool table reserved for tournaments up there.” Luke maneuvered her through the crowd.
“But I’m not good enough for a tournament!” Ziti protested once they reached the stairs.
“There’s not a tournament tonight, so the table is mine to use as I see fit. It’s an arrangement with the owner.” He winked at her and continued up the stairs.
