When they both finally stilled, he collapsed gently around her, careful not to hurt her. He laid there for long moments, completely sated, blown away by how damn good sex was with Julie. Sex. God. He didn’t know how he’d come to hate that word, when before Julie, he’d loved it so much.

Then, suddenly, he heard her muffled sobs. Crying. Julie, who put on this power chick facade, who made him believe she felt nothing, was crying. She’d buried her face in the chair, trying to muffle the sound, but she was absolutely crying. He’d done everything wrong with her, let emotion he wasn’t used to experiencing drive his actions. And now he had to figure out how, and even if, he could fix this.

Chapter Ten

Julie tried to bite back her tears and failed. She had never been so confused and emotional in all her life. In fact, the past few days were all about confused. She was crying in front of Luke, or well, in his presence, and she really didn’t want him to know.

He buried his face in her hair. “Don’t cry.” His voice was a gentle whisper against her neck. “Please baby, don’t cry.”

So much for hiding her face, so much for being the strong, in control woman, that she’d always been.

“Sweetheart, turn around,” he urged, sliding away from her.

She turned all right, and tried to scoot off the chair before he saw her face, hoping for a mad dash for her clothes. No such luck. He tossed the condom in a trashcan and still managed to stop her progress, only to hug her and say, “I’m sorry.”

He was sorry? Oh God. Now, she was so pathetic she’d made the man feel he had to apologize for ha**ng s*x with her? She pushed back from him.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” she insisted, swiping at her damp cheeks, frustrated at herself for her weakness. “I’m hormonal, and my best friend got married, and my client might have killed his wife. I’m not myself. I just...I need to go home and have some time to myself.” She tried to get up.

He stopped her again. “If you go home, I’m going with you.”

She shook her head. “No.” She crossed her arms over her chest, aware of her nakedness in a way she never had been before. And his. She was very aware of his long, lean, muscular body that she hadn’t seen until now, because he put her back to him. “My building is safe. I have top notch security. I’ll be fine.”

“Your client might have killed his wife,” he said. “You just said that yourself.” He studied her for a long, intense moment. “You told me to f**k you and I got pissed about it.”

The confession surprised her. “I...you used to like it when I said that.”

“And I still would if the circumstances were different.” He brushed the hair from her eyes. “I wanted tonight to be different. I...” He scrubbed his hand over his jaw and let out a heavy breath, leaning his elbows on his knees. “I screwed this up royally.”

“You didn’t screw up anything, Luke. I just don’t know what you want from me.”

He turned to her again. “What do you want from me?”

“I don’t know,” she said, feeling cornered and uncertain.

“You didn’t complain when I brought you here tonight. You didn’t argue when I said I was going to stay with you. What did you come here wanting tonight?”

She could say sex. She could, and she knew she could, and maybe she even should. But she didn’t. She reached up and ran her fingers over the strong line of his jaw and she said exactly what she felt. “I just wanted to be with you.”

His eyes settled heavily on her face, a muscle in his jaw flexing. “You wanted sex.”

“No,” she said quickly. “I mean yes. No. I just wanted to be with you, Luke, and if that’s the wrong–”

He picked her up and she yelped at the sudden action, clinging to him until they were off the main living room and inside the master suite.

Unlike Lauren and Royce’s place, there was a huge window above a massive bed, where moonlight beamed down and illuminated the room. He laid her on the bed and settled his big, wonderful, na**d body on top of hers.

“Do you know what I wanted when I brought you here tonight?”

There was something in his eyes that made her heart thunder in her ears and her chest tighten. “What?”

“To make love to you, Julie,” he said. “To have you make love to me. And I didn’t think that’s what you wanted at all.”

That tight feeling in her chest expanded and her eyes began to burn again. He was asking her to give them a chance beyond sex and while she knew this was the moment of no return she really should run from, she couldn’t. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’d like that very much.”

With those words, there was a dangerously scary and somehow remarkably wonderful crack in her armor that became even more wonderful when he kissed her, when he made love to her with that kiss. But when he was inside her again, when they moved together, when she stared into his eyes, she felt no fear. There was nothing left but Luke and endless possibility.

***

Julie woke in a dark, dark place. She tried to move, but her shoulders were lodged against something. She reached up with her hands and hit something solid. Oh God. Where was she? Hello! Hello! She tried to move again, and panic rose inside her. She started pushing on the hard surface over her head. It was too dark, way too dark. Suffocating. She coughed, realizing she couldn’t breathe and suddenly it was hot. So very hot. Orange light flamed around her and she could see now. She was in a casket. The wood around her began to burn, flames licking at her limbs.