Stealing Home(38)

“Nice to meet you, Alex. All set for shopping?”

She lifted a foot, which she already had her sneaker tied onto. “I’ve got my shopping shoes on and everything. Maximum speed. Minimum fatigue.”

I was reconsidering my own shoe choice—I saw just how serious this girl was about her shopping—when I felt it. His presence. His stare. His nearness. I wasn’t sure what exactly it was that I felt, but I knew he was close and he was watching me.

I tried to paint the most unaffected of looks on my face before glancing up. That plan lasted a whole half second before my eyes connected with his.

He was standing in the middle of the hall, watching me like no one was around . . . like three of his sisters. When his eyes dropped from mine to examine what I was wearing, his arm jetted out, his hand molding against the wall like he was bracing himself.

His eyes had some sort of direct connection to every nerve ending in my possession. They all fired to life at the same time, making it both impossible to stay frozen in place and to move.

“Hey.” He gave me a smile that wasn’t exactly “little sister appropriate” as he started down the hall toward me.

But when I detected his subtle limp, the trainer in me resurfaced. “What are you doing on your feet?”

Behind me, Alex popped off a, “Busted.”

“Walking,” Luke answered with an easy shrug. “I’ve been doing it for twenty-four years now. Mastered it twenty-three years ago. Been doing it ever since.”

“And if you want to keep walking, I’d suggest you get in this thing and keep your leg elevated for the rest of the day like you promised me.” Rolling the wheelchair toward him, I tried out a glare on him. It was a weak attempt, made weaker still when his eyes continued to roam me. When they reached the hem of my summer dress, the crease in his forehead told me exactly what he was imagining.

“Did you two already meet?” Luke cleared his throat.

“Yep, and she’s my new favorite person since she’s going to make you ride in this all day. Your throne awaits, Grandpa.”

Luke threw Alex an annoyed look, but it was the kind that was borne from affection. “Yeah, yeah. I’d watch it with the teasing since Grandpa here is the one with the credit cards in his wallet.”

With that, Alex sealed her lips and painted on a sweet smile.

“Cameron! Gaby! I want you to meet someone!” he called.

Luke’s jaw set when his gaze dropped to the neckline of my dress. There wasn’t anything special about the dress I’d slipped into this morning. No plunging necklines. No hems that floated closer to the ass than the knee. No clingy places that threatened to cut off circulation to my upper or lower half. Feminine maybe, but the dress was definitely not sexy. But I supposed compared to the khakis and polo shirts Luke typically saw me in, this was the red light attire equivalent.

From the last look he’d given me before turning around and planting his butt in the wheelchair, I was confident he had plans that included ripping my dress off instead of removing it . . . after a full day of shopping and getting his sisters to the airport later tonight.

After coming around the front of the chair, I lowered to get the leg rest adjusted to fit him. His mouth curled up on one side as he took in the view of me on my knees in front of him.

“Don’t make me ice you,” I whispered, my eyes dropping to his crotch, when Alex wandered into the kitchen.

“Don’t make me have to do even filthier things to you in my head than I’m already doing.” His brow lifted at me, my hand still wrapped around his ankle even after getting his leg settled into place. “Although I think the red impression of my hand on your ass would be something to behold. I think I’d need to take a picture of it so I can blow it up, hang it on the ceiling above my bed, and fall asleep each night to the sight of my hand print on your perfect ass.”

My throat went dry, my heartbeat vibrating in my ears. Scanning the area, I found it sister-free, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long. Saying the kinds of things he was, giving me the kinds of looks he was, when we had a good fifteen hours before we could be together was cruel.

When he observed how I was responding to his words, a smirk worked into place. Fine. He wanted to start the foreplay this early in the day, I’d return the favor. Checking the room to make sure his sisters were still missing, I crawled forward on my knees until I was more between his legs than in front of them. I gave a little tug on my dress, and Luke’s eyes darted to the freshly exposed shadow of my cleavage.

“If you think what you’re imaging right now is filthy,” I whispered, my eyes lowering to the spot between his legs. I moved closer, right into the same position I’d be in if I was about to go down on him. “You should hear what I imagined last night.” When my gaze lifted from the growing mass between his legs, I found his breathing speeding up, his pupils dilated, his expression similar to the one I saw whenever he thrust inside me for the first time. “While I was touching myself. Wearing your jersey.”

My eyes held his for another moment before I popped to a stand, gave his leg a pat, and pretended like nothing had happened between us. Just in time. A door at the end of the hall exploded open, and a couple of girls spilled out, the music having come to a merciful end.

Blinking a few times, Luke caught up to my nothing-just-happened fa?ade. “Cameron, Gaby, this is Allie.” He waved between us, but his voice was higher than normal. I gloated on the inside from knowing I’d riled him up. “Allie, these are my sisters.”