Page 36 of Bluebird

It was impossible not to absorb the southern accent I listened to daily for the past nine years in Nashville.

I winced, shaking my head. “Argh, sorry, my accent is all messed up now.”

“Nah, don’t be,” he said, with sexy smirk. “It’s cute.”

I fluttered my eyelashes in shock at his direct attempt at flirting. I giggled happily, as his cheeks reddened.

Luke’s undivided attention was intoxicating. Perhaps he finally, after all these years, was seeing me in a different light. As a woman, instead of a little girl with an embarrassing crush.

We both fell quiet and smiled bashfully at each other. The underlying spark between us was undeniable, but I felt unsure of its meaning.

A girl suddenly appeared in front of me, breaking the moment. Her beaming smile was surely the result of too many wines. As she greeted me, my brain raced in circles trying to place her familiar face. Luke must have sensed my cluelessness.

“This is Kate, Kate Ludstone,” he stated, but it didn’t help.

“Luke and I used to date,” she assisted. That helped, probably too much.

A sudden rush of guilt flowed through me, as I remembered exactly who she was. Luke watched my reaction closely.

“But that seems like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it, Luke?” she added brightly, clearly unaffected by their breakup.

Luke chuckled, with a half-smile. “A lot of things seem like a lifetime ago.”

He glanced back over at Dan and frowned. The bar was swamped.

As he rose from the bar stool, his hand grazed my bare leg and sent a charge through my entire body. “I’ll be back in a bit,” he uttered softy, and excused himself.

Kate began chatting to me like we were old friends. She told me about her kids, her husband, and life on their farm. All the things my parents wished for me. As Kate spoke, I remembered the heartache I felt when I used to see them together, and the unrelenting remorse that endured after I kissed him.

Hoping I wasn’t the reason for their break up, I decided to take advantage of her drunken state. With Luke busy serving drinks, I had the perfect opportunity to ask.

“So, when did you and Luke break up?” I asked, abruptly changing the subject. Kate didn’t even seem to notice the sudden change in topic. She just took a breath and kept on talking. “Oh gee, let me think. It wasn’t long after you left town. Luke was distracted and busy all the time, and I guess I wanted something more,” she said. “You know, he hasn’t been in a serious relationship since. If you ask me, I think he has commitment issues. Or…perhaps I ruined him for all other women…”

I stifled a giggle. The girl was a classic.

Luke returned for a brief moment, and narrowed his eyes at the both of us. “Are you talking about me?”

I cleared my throat, but Kate stared at him intently. Worry lines consumed her forehead. “Luke, did I ruin you for all other women?”

My eyes bulged, and I pursed my lips.

Luke looked at me inquisitively, before turning back to Kate. “Ah, Katie, how can anyone possibly compare to you?” he jested, offering me a cheeky wink.

She giggled and shook her head. “Can you believe this guy is still single?”

Luke smirked in amusement as she rambled on.

“Tell me Luke, are you holding out for ‘The One’? Because may I remind you…we live in Fairleigh. So you may be waiting a looong time before she walks through that door.”

Luke’s eyes flickered over mine, before returning to Kate. “Perhaps she already has,” he teased back and left as quick as he appeared.

Heat rushed to my face, but Kate was too tipsy to notice.

She continued to gossip about everything and anything, and I politely listened and nodded my head at all the appropriate moments, but I was dying inside. I sent multiple ‘help me’ glances to Luke, whilst she jumped from one topic to another, but he pretended not to notice. Instead, he served even more drinks and discreetly chuckled to himself at my situation, before finally putting me out of my misery.

“Hey, Kate, Jeremy’s challenging folks to arm wrestling competitions, want to tone him down a tad?” Luke interrupted.

“Oh no, not again!” she complained, rushing off to find her husband. We both laughed as we watched her stumble off into the crowd.