Page 45 of Don't Call Me Sweetheart (Something Borrowed 1)

“We weren’t thrown together. I saw you and wanted to meet you…bumping into you seemed like the perfect solution.”

Marley couldn’t believe he had orchestrated their first meeting “How did you know I’d bump into you?”

“Just hoping, I guess.”

Luke drifted closer, and Marley was so tempted to let him in, to feel his body wrap around hers and let this happen.

Instead, she took off for shore. “We better go. I’ve got a lot of stuff to do, and now I smell like fish.”

She made it to the shore before him, and as he climbed out, she couldn’t help but notice that he seemed to be excited and pretty damn impressive through the wet cotton of his boxer briefs.

This time, he picked up his shorts and turned his back on her without being asked. As he stepped one foot and then the other into his shorts, she noticed the way his thighs and butt muscles tightened and moved, and her libido did the lambada.

“You dressed yet?”

Shit. “Almost.”

Marley couldn’t tell him she’d been so distracted by the thought of grabbing his butt that she’d forgotten to move.

She really needed to stop ogling him. It was destroying her common sense.

Chapter 13

Luke sat in the hotel lobby that night, watching people come and go. Although The Love Shack Hotel didn’t look like much on the outside, with its red exterior that could use a new coat of paint, the inside must have had a recent upgrade. The lobby was gorgeous with a gray stone floor, and textured walls

the color of eggshells. There was a lounge area with big, comfy couches and chairs, and a bar area around the corner with tables and chairs in dark wood, matching the hardwood floors.

The rooms themselves were clean, with down comforters, and beautiful bathrooms with clawfoot tubs and tiled showers big enough for two. Luke could imagine this was the perfect place for passionate couples to “get together.”

But he was bored just sitting in his room, and he didn’t want to bother Brent. Sonora and him had seemed pretty cozy after their day interviewing caterers, kind of the way tensions had seemed to ease between Marley and himself.

Not that he wasn’t attracted to her anymore, far from it. When he’d seen her step out of the water, his wet T-shirt clinging to her lithe body, he thought he was going to embarrass himself. Instead, he caught her checking out his package, and knew, no matter what she said, that she wanted him too. He just had to let her come to him.

To Luke’s surprise, Brent stepped off the ancient elevator, and waved to him as he crossed the room.

“Hey, what are you doing? Where’s Sonora?”

“She’s got a headache, so she’s going to stay in bed and relax. I thought we could head down to Plymouth. Heard there’s a fair going on.”

“You, big city CEO, want to go to a country fair?”

Brent’s eyes twinkled with excitement. “Yeah, why not? Come on, I haven’t been to one in years and I am dying for a corn dog.”

As much as he loved Brent, hanging out with just him all night eating junk food and getting jerked around on carnival rides was not at the top of his list.

“Why don’t we invite Marley? I think she’s hanging with Kendall.”

An expression he didn’t recognize passed over Brent’s face and then he was smiling again. “Sure, give her a call. Sounds like fun.”

Luke pulled out his phone and tapped on her name. She picked up on the second ring.

“Hey, I haven’t talked to you in forever.”

Luke grinned sheepishly. “Ha, so you missed me, huh?”

“Didn’t say that, but your ego is showing.”

“You with Kendall?”