She slid her wide rimmed sunglasses over her eyes and stared straight ahead. “We’re not discussing this.”

Luke laughed and mimicked Felix by tucking her arm in his.

“I can’t believe how fast the weekend flew by.”

Luke sat back as Jo and Zoe said their good-byes before they moved through security and onto the flight that would take them both back to Eugene.

“You need to ditch that uniform and come here more often.”

“The same goes for you,” Jo told her as she bent down to tug her duffel bag over her shoulder.

“Tell Mel and Miss Gina I said hi.”

“I will.” Jo looked over at Luke and said, “I’ll see you at the gate.”

She left the two of them alone.

When Zoe turned her gaze on him, nerves sat on the surface of her smile.

“I’m glad you came,” she said.

“I am, too. I see why you like it here.”

“You do?” She seemed surprised.

“Lots going on . . . good friends, great food. Everything you like.”

“I suppose.”

“And none of your family drama.” Which was the real reason she enjoyed Dallas so much.

“They do have a way of reaching me here.”

“Not easily,” he said.

Zoe glanced beyond him where Jo had disappeared in a sea of people walking through security. “Well, you don’t want to miss your flight.”

He opened his arms for the obligatory friend hug. She stepped into them as he folded her close. Luke wasn’t sure who sighed first . . . him, or her. With a deep inhale he sucked in the feel and scent of her and rested his cheek on the side of her head. He considered telling her he missed her, that he wanted a chance.

He didn’t.

With a fortifying sigh, he ended their hug.

Moisture gathered behind her dark, soulful eyes. He wanted to call her on the tears.

He didn’t.

It was his turn to pick up his backpack and sling it over a shoulder.

Zoe watched his every move with a forced smile.

“Tell your parents I said hi.”

“I will.”

“Good-bye, Luke.”

Yeah . . . he wasn’t about to say those words to her again. Instead, he saluted her with two fingers and turned.

He managed three steps before swinging back around.

Luke didn’t give her a chance to back away, didn’t offer an out. He dropped his bag at her feet and pushed both hands into her hair before taking her startled lips with his own. If he thought their hug had made her offer a moan, it was nothing compared to the one they both hummed with their kiss.

She was honey on his lips, sweet and savory and open to explore.

He remembered this. The way she bent into his embrace, the way her timid hands fanned on his chest. The way her nails dug deep when she wanted more. He deepened the kiss long enough to make sure she knew he wasn’t saying good-bye.

This was hello.

Not the kind of greeting they’d shared when they were kids, but the kind adults who knew what they wanted shared at the beginning of something good.

He tasted her tongue, vaguely aware of those people passing by without comment.

As his body hardened in response to her frame pressed against his, he knew he needed to back away. When he did, her head was tilted up toward his, her eyes closed, her lips slack with wanting.

Zoe’s eyes fluttered open and he rested a finger on her lips.

“I’ll be back,” he told her with a wink.

He wanted her back.

The information took root inside his brain and he smiled.

Before she could utter a syllable, he lifted his bag a second time and strutted as he walked away.

The temperature inside the studio felt as if it were ten below zero, hence Zoe and September sitting at a tiny outside table between the buildings usually reserved for those who smoked.

“You’ve been awfully quiet these days.”

September pulled Zoe from her thoughts of Luke in slow degrees. “Hmm?”

“Man, you are distracted. Is everything okay?”

A feral cat regarded the two of them from several yards away. “Everything is fine.”

It registered that September was still talking, but for some reason Zoe couldn’t stop watching the gray and white cat long enough to concentrate on what her friend was saying. As if sensing it was on display, the cat stuck its nose in the air as it passed through the sun that gleamed between the buildings before resting in a shady spot under a lone tree.

“. . . about a man, isn’t it?”

Zoe caught the word man. “What?”

September waved a hand in front of Zoe’s face. “Hello?”

Zoe closed her eyes and forced herself to concentrate. “I’m sorry. I’m distracted.”

“Obviously. I said, this is about a man, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” There was no use pretending. “First, he shows up like fog on the beach, and then he kisses me. Who does that?”

September smiled. “Is that a rhetorical question? Cuz I think lots of men do that if they know what they want.”

“He doesn’t want me. I’ve changed. I’m not the same girl.”

“How about we start at the beginning. Which man are we talking about?”

Zoe was sure she looked at September as if she were missing a few screws. “Luke. You know . . . Luke!”

She raised a hand. “Never heard of a man named Luke in your life.”

“From River Bend.”