chapter 5

the rest of the week flew by. i was so busy with work and fielding calls from allie demanding details from my date with luke that i didn't have time to dwell much on the fact that i hadn't heard from him. okay, so i lied. its all i could think about. i could just shoot my brother for doing that to me, and i probably would, once i could get my hands on him. he wisely has been avoiding me.

on the bright side? my boss, sweetheart that he is, so kindly agreed without hesitation to bond me out of jail after i shoot calland. of course, i didn't tell him why it would be necessary. he's cool like that.

on friday afternoon, having spent most of my morning fielding my usual ration of legal questions, phone calls (quite a few were hang ups or heavy breathing in my ear; weird), and client meetings, i answered my phone one last time as i shut down my computer, prepared to once again explain why someone couldn't get their marriage annulled. that, let me tell you, is a fascinating conversation: they say, "i want to get my marriage annulled." i say, "okay, have you consummated the marriage?" they say, "what?" i say, "did you consummate the marriage?" they say, "what's that mean?" i say, "did you have sex with your wife/husband on your wedding night and/or any other night (or day) during the course of your marriage?" and so on, and so forth. my favorite was an older woman who had called and we had the same conversation, but her response to my last question was classic. she said, "well wasn't i supposed to? he told me it was against the law if we didn't..." poor woman.

"good afternoon, floyd grim's office, can i help you?"

"hey, sugar," a deep, sinfully rich voice said in my ear.

gah! "hey," i said breathlessly.

"i'll be there to get you at six. be ready."

ummm...no? i mean, we've had one date. so who collared me and made him master?

"sorry, luke," i replied in a clipped tone. "got plans with allie. another time?" i really did have plans with allie, but even if i didn't, i would have made some. as it was, she and i had a date with our fat clothes, junk food, and an amanda seyfried movie marathon; we had letters to juliet, mama mia, and dear john. (which we watch more for channing tatum. yum. i mean, have you seen magic mike? heellooo!)

"cancel them," came the quick reply.

"no, luke. and what gives you the right to call me up out of the blue, at my job, no less, and dictate what-"

he cut me off mid-sentence. "babe. i'll call allie. six. be ready. later, sugar."

i heard the phone click off in my ear and stood there in shock , the receiver still pressed to my cheek.

after a minute, i replaced the phone on the hook, gathered up my purse and my keys, and locked up the office. heading out to my car, i dialed allie's number on my cell. she didn't answer, so i left her a message, demanding that she call me immediately. i figured she was closing up the store or she would have answered. she's manic about answering her phone, always telling me that if she didn't, she could miss the "party of a lifetime" call that would keep her in enough nipple dip, jack rabbits, and turtle tools (oh, my!) to last a lifetime.

see, allie's a pretty free spirit. she owns a thrift store at the edge of town in a quaint little shopping center, called twice as nice. she does pretty well there, but supplements her income (supports her addiction, however you want to call it) by doing down & dirty parties. she ropes me into helping her sometimes with them and delights in presenting me with a new bob every christmas. for those of you who aren't as unlucky as me in the bedroom department, bob is my battery operated boyfriend. honestly, it's a pretty good relationship. i don't have to fight him for the remote, he doesn't hog the covers, and i get mine every time!

i pulled into my driveway a few minutes later and headed inside. allie hadn't called me back yet, but she was supposed to be here in about a half hour anyway, so i really didn't think much of it. i was dying to talk to her about luke, though.

i headed back to my bedroom after dropping my keys and purse on the sideboard by the front door. i stripped out of my work clothes, pulling on my favorite red fleece pants covered with penguins and snowflakes, soft, thick black socks, an old tank top, and one of my brother's old hoodies that he'd left behind one night. it was black with the letters f.b.i. spelled out in huge white block letters. it was so big on me that the sleeves hung way past the tips of my fingers, and the bottom of it reached the middle of my thighs. across the back was written female body inspector. eh. who cares?

i pulled my hair up into a messy knot on the very top of my head and washed my makeup off before heading into the kitchen to start dragging out the makings for english muffin pizzas, me and allie's favorite childhood meal. i also pulled out the ingredients for dried beef dip, bags of chips, stuff to make s'mores, and checked to make sure i had everything for our "special sundaes" which consisted of strawberry frozen yogurt (or ice cream) with strawberry daiquiri wine cooler poured over it. delish!

i heard the doorbell and took off to open the door, wondering why allie didn't just use her key. when i opened the door, i froze, completely thrown off by luke standing on my doorstep.

"luke." my voice cracked a little, whether in shock, confusion, anger, or lust, i wasn't sure.

"hey, sugar." he let his gaze roam up and down my body, taking in my disheveled appearance. "so, we staying in tonight?"

i cleared my throat. "um, luke, i told you i have plans with allie tonight."

"no you don't. i told you i was calling her. she understands completely, by the way. she did ask me to tell you to call her immediately after we finally get down and dirty?" his voice raised questioningly at the end and he quirked his brow at me.

i sighed, muttering under my breath, "thanks for selling me out, allie. bitch."

i moved to the side, waving him in. he stepped through the door, waiting for me to shut it behind him. i turned to look at him, cocking my head to the side because i honestly just couldn't get a handle on him. what were we doing, here?

luke shot me a quick grin before taking a step toward me. instinctively, i took a step back. he continued stalking me, and i kept stepping back until my back hit the door behind me, my hand gripping the frame in desperation. he kept coming, pressing his body against mine before tipping my head up and lightly pecking my lips in a chaste kiss before moving back and grinning.

"so, are we?" he asked.

huh? "are we what?" i know i had to sound as confused as i felt.

"staying in. i vote yes. what's for dinner?" luke headed into the kitchen and i followed him helplessly. stomped, more like it because, honestly, i was a little miffed that i had only warranted a peck as a greeting kiss; i was expecting to be ravished, especially with the way he had stalked me. humph.

my cell phone rang on the counter where i'd left it and i picked it up, noting allie's picture popped up on the screen.

"bitch." one word. that's all i said into the phone as a greeting.

"love you!" she said breezily. "you're welcome, save me a sundae, rock his world, and call me in the morning!" she sang the last word before laughing and hanging up.