by six-thirty i was sitting on the edge of my oversized, overstuffed armchair, anxiously watching the seconds tick by. my eyes were getting heavy from staring at the clock and i closed them briefly. or not so briefly...

the chime of the doorbell pulled me from my dream. blinking my eyes against the light from the lamp on the table beside my chair, i shook my head to clear it. uh oh. it clicked in my head as to why someone was ringing my doorbell and i jumped out of the chair, frantically smoothing my clothes and patting my hair back into place.

taking a deep breath, i opened the door. my knees went weak at the sight of luke standing there smiling at me. he looked even more delicious than ever in a dark grey button down shirt emblazoned with a gothic looking cross on the right side. it clung to him, hanging untucked over dark rinse jeans, and he wore black leather boots on his feet. yum.

i leaned against the door jam, softly breathing, "hey."

his smile grew. "hey," he said in that deep, rich voice of his, making my insides flutter. he started grinning at me as he raised his hand to gently trace the side of my face.

"were you sleeping?" he asked.

i blinked. "umm...yeah. sorry, i dozed off waiting..." wait. how did he know?

i told him to come in as i turned to look in the mirror hanging on the wall over my sideboard table. face. palm. the whole side of my face was flushed and creased with the imprint of my sweater sleeve. i closed my eyes and wished that the floor would open up and swallow me down.

"are you ready?" luke asked from behind me.

"yeah, let's go," i replied. hopefully the imprint would be off my face before we got wherever we were going.

i grabbed my purse, turned out the lights, and walked out the door, checking the lock behind me. luke grabbed my hand and held it as we walked out to his car.

now, i'm not real knowledgeable about cars. i can't look at one driving down the road in the middle of the night and tell you what kind it is just by the headlights shining in your face, like some of those fanatics out there can. but i can tell when someone has a nice car. and luke's car was nice. as in, new camaro zl1, midnight black with cherry red pinstripes nice. wow.

i nodded in appreciation at the car and smiled up at luke. he grinned back and opened my door for me, waiting until i was safely ensconced before shutting the door and coming around to the driver side.

"manny's okay?" he asked.

i nodded in assent, trying not to drool on myself. manny's was my favorite restaurant in town and served the best authentic italian food around. you can order food to be served family style, but i've never had it that way. i'm very protective over my manny's; in fact, my brother tried to steal a piece of chicken from my fettuccini alfredo one night at dinner. note the key word, tried. didn't work, 'cause i bit him.

we pulled up to the restaurant and parked. before i could even get my seatbelt off, luke was out of the car and holding my door open for me, reaching in to take my hand and help me from the car. well whaddaya know? smoking hot and chivalrous to boot!

apparently, luke was well known here as he was greeted by name and we were led immediately to a secluded corner booth. luke ordered a bottle of wine for us to have with dinner and then, after giving our menu choices to the waiter, we were alone.

"how's your tattoo doing?" luke asked. "do you like it?"

"yes, thank you. i really do. i wasn't really sure that i would ever be one to join the ranks of the tattooed, but i'm glad i did it. you did a really good job." i replied.

he inquired about what i did for a living, so i told him the glamorous details of being a legal secretary before asking, "so how long have you been tattooing?"

"i started when i was twenty, so its been about twelve years. i've been drawing almost all my life. drew something out that i decided i wanted inked on myself. i got my first tattoo when i was eighteen. took my own work down to the shop to show them what i wanted. guy running the place said i had a good eye, wanted to see more of my work. i came back the next day with my sketch pad and the rest was history. he helped me with the classes i was required to take, let me do my apprenticeship with him, helped me get my license, and there you have it. three years after that, brandon decided that's what he wanted to do, too, so lenny took him on as well." luke's voice trailed off after that and he got a faraway look in his eyes.

"it was almost six years to the day of when i walked into that shop for the first time that i got the call that lenny had died from a heart attack. didn't have any children, but he did have a wife. jude." luke smiled. "she was hell on wheels but loved us as if we were her own. she asked me and brandon to meet her at the shop, and when we did, she handed us the keys, kissed our cheeks, and told us skin deep was ours now."

luke caught my eyes and smiled ruefully before saying, "then she told us that if we didn't do right by lenny's shop she'd kick our asses and then sic lenny's ghost on us."

i smiled back at him and said, "well, it seems like you and brandon are making it work. i'm sure lenny would be proud!"

the waiter arrived at our table then with our entrees, and the conversation lulled as we ate. i forked up a bite of my (what else?) fettuccini alfredo with grilled chicken and groaned uncontrollably with appreciation at the perfect harmony of creamy, cheesy sauce, succulent , juicy chicken, and firm but oh, so tender pasta. chewing slowly, my gaze met luke's as he stared at me hungrily.

"want to try a bite?" i asked him, hoping that he'd say no. what? i told you i was greedy with my manny's...

"no, thanks. looks delicious, though. want to try mine?" he asked.

i looked over at his plate, eyeballing his chicken marsala with appreciation. i decided i'd better not go there. "no, thanks. but i've had that here before, and its kick ass."

the waiter came and switched out our basket of garlic bread for a warm one, but neither of us reached for them. i, for one, didn't want to ruin my chances of a good night kiss with garlic breath.

we didn't talk much while we finished eating. the waiter came back to clear the table and ask if we wanted dessert. without waiting for luke to reply, i jumped in and ordered my favorite black tie mousse cake, which is absolutely like an orgasm for your taste buds. we're talking, rich, moist dark chocolate cake, creamy, smooth chocolate mousse and vanilla custard, and then decadent chocolate swirl icing with mini chocolate chips. gah! i'm drooling...

luke raised a brow at me before smiling and shaking his head. hmm. no dessert for him? too bad.

while we waited for the waiter to bring my cake, luke asked me, "so you and allie are best friends?"

"yeah," i replied. we've been friends ever since she shared her bubble gum with me on the playground in third grade. i don't even remember exactly what happened, but my piece of gum fell out of my mouth into the grass. allie saw it happen, came over, bit her piece of gum in half and gave it to me. gross, yes, because she had already been chewing hers, but hey. we were young. been inseparable ever since." i shrugged.

luke smiled. "you're right, that's gross. but sweet."

the waiter arrived with my dessert then and i wasted no time grabbing my fork and digging in. scooping up a hefty bite, i wrapped my lips around it, unable to stop the uncontrollable moan of ecstasy from escaping my throat as i chewed slowly.