She’d woken up Saturday morning to a good morning text from Luke, and they texted back and forth all weekend. As much as Embry needed to focus on law school, she wanted to talk to Luke and get to know him better. She had never felt such a pull toward a man.

“Um, wow!” Morgan exclaimed. “What was that and why do I feel like I need a cold shower after watching the two of you devour each other with your eyes?”

Embry took in Morgan’s surprised face and couldn’t help but laugh.

“On Friday, you weren’t even sure if you were going to text him back. Now he’s looking at you like he wants to eat you alive. What did I miss?”

“Um …” Embry gave a shy smile. “I wound up texting him back.”

“Clearly! And?”

“We’ve kind of been talking all weekend.”

“Why didn’t I hear about this?”

“You left to spend the weekend with Brett before I even woke up. It’s not like anything monumental happened. We just texted back and forth. He’s really sweet.”

“Sweet isn’t the adjective I would choose after seeing him molest you with his eyes, but okay, go on,” Morgan said, her face splitting into a wide grin.

Embry playfully shoved Morgan’s shoulder. “Shut it. He is sweet. He asked to see me tonight.”

“Ooooh, he did?”

“Mmhmm.”

“And?”

“I said yes, but I figured—”

“Oh. Em. Geeeee,” Morgan squealed. “A date! I’m coming over after class to help you get ready, and you better give me minute-to-minute updates throughout the night.”

Embry grabbed Morgan’s shoulders to stop her bouncing. “Morgan, calm. I told him that I wanted to see him, but I was worried about getting all of my studying done. So he offered to come over and cook for me instead of us going out.”

Morgan’s eyes widened in awe. “He’s hot and he cooks? Where can I get one?”

“You already have one. His name is Brett, and you just spent a romantic weekend away with him, remember?”

Morgan laughed. “You know Brett’s idea of cooking is putting a Pop-Tart in the toaster, right? And even those wind up burnt most of the time. But nice try.”

Embry shook her head. Her phone buzzed, and Luke’s name popped up.


Hi beautiful. Looking forward to tonight.


Embry looked up with a huge grin and showed Morgan the text.

“You really think you’re going to get any studying done with that fine piece of man in your apartment? I’m pretty sure everyone in the atrium felt the sex pulsing between you two. Ask Jeremy to send you his notes because the last thing you’ll be doing tonight is homework.” Morgan winked.

Embry raised an eyebrow. “Are you calling me a slut, Morgan Jade?”

“If the slutty shoe fits.”

Embry narrowed her eyes, and both girls broke out into giggles.

Composing herself, Morgan grabbed her things from the table. “All right, girlie, time for class. I’ll text you after. If you’re having a night in, I don’t think I need to come dress you, but I still want updates.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll text you later.”

Embry waved good-bye to Morgan and walked toward her next class. She pulled out her phone to text Luke and walked into what felt like a solid chest. I need to stop walking into people in hallways. Embry mumbled an apology without looking up and made her way around the chest in question. She froze when two big hands lightly gripped her shoulders.

“Fancy meeting you here.”

Embry’s eyes shot up. Luke stared down at her, smirking. “Hmmm, I have a thing for good-looking men in hallways,” Embry joked. “I was actually just texting you back.”

“Well now you can tell me in person,” he said in that deep, sexy voice.

Embry noticed that his hands were still gripping her arms. He gently rubbed his thumbs back and forth across her skin, and for a second, she forgot how to speak. Nervously shoving her hair behind her ear, she looked up through her long eyelashes. “I, um … I can’t wait for tonight.”

Luke gave her a dazzling smile. “Me neither.” He glanced over her shoulder and dropped his hands. “I have to run; I’ll see you at six?”

“Yep. I’ll text you my address.”

Embry walked into her classroom and plopped down next to Jeremy. “Hey, stranger.”

“Hey, Blondie. How was your weekend?”

“It was good. Yours?”

“Great. How was the social?”

“It was fun! You were missed,” Embry said, nudging his arm.

“Hopefully there’ll be more!”

“Yeah. You can bring Becky along next time,” she suggested.

“Nah, she turned out to be a dud. I wound up hanging out with Angela from section two.”

Embry’s mouth fell open.

The professor walked in, ending their conversation. Embry spent the entire class mindlessly typing notes and daydreaming about Luke. Thank God her professor put an outline up on the projector, because Embry didn’t hear a word he said.

By the time class was over, she was a nervous wreck. What was I thinking inviting him to my apartment? Embry hadn’t been alone with a man in quite a while, and she wasn’t sure being alone with Luke was the best idea. At the same time, she couldn’t wait to spend some time with him. She tapped out a quick text giving Luke her address and headed home to get ready.

She walked through her apartment door and immediately regretted inviting him over. Ugh, when did this place become such a mess? Embry ran around picking up shoes and purses and shoving them in her closet. All of her law textbooks were strewn around the apartment, so she stacked them neatly on her desk.

Once she’d cleaned the apartment, she had about an hour until Luke came over. She hopped in the shower, and shaved in all the important places, just in case. She blow-dried and curled her hair, threw on some makeup, and stared into her underwear drawer. Lace or practical? Sexy or cute? He is so not seeing my underwear tonight.

Embry was startled out of her thoughts by her phone. She grabbed it and saw that she had a text from Luke. He was on his way. Crap. She grabbed a lace set, threw on a silky, mint button-down blouse, dark skinny jeans, nude flats, and a gold chunky necklace. Embry took the wine out of the freezer and was in the bathroom giving herself a spritz of perfume when the doorbell rang.

“Coming!” She smoothed her shirt and headed for the front door. She pulled open the door, and instead of Luke, she was face to face with her creepy upstairs neighbor.

“Hey, Embry,” he said, leaning against the doorjamb. He gave her a thorough once-over, which left her feeling as though she needed another shower. “Looking good.”

“What can I do for you?”

Reggie had seen Embry moving in and taken it upon himself to be her one-man welcoming committee. Since then, he’d stopped by her apartment randomly, trying to convince her to go out with him so he could “show her the sights.”

“All dressed up and no place to go?” Reggie asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Um, no …”

“Actually,” said a familiar raspy voice, “she has dinner plans with me.”

Embry turned to see Luke walking up the stairs, grocery bag in hand. He looked sexy as hell in tan, pressed khakis and a dark blue button-down that made his eyes look even more amazing, if that was possible. Reggie backed up, and Luke slipped in through the door, bending down to give Embry a kiss on the cheek before walking into the kitchen to put down the groceries.

Luke came back to the door and put his arm around Embry’s waist. “Hey, man, I’m Luke. Nice to meet you.” He stuck out his free hand for Reggie to shake.

“Reggie,” he said, shaking Luke’s hand. “Well, I guess I’ll see you around, Embry. Have a nice dinner.”

“Bye, Reggie,” Embry said, relieved that Luke had saved her from an awkward conversation. She shut the door and turned around right into Luke’s chest. She lifted her gaze up to him. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Luke replied, tucking a stray hair behind Embry’s ear.

“Hey,” Embry said again, sounding more breathless than she would’ve liked.

“Hey,” he whispered, his eyes burning into hers.

He hooked his finger beneath her chin, gently tilting her head, and before she had time to think, his mouth was on hers. He ran his tongue lightly along her bottom lip until she opened for him, their tongues tentative, exploring. She thought her knees would give out at the sensation. Luke deepened the kiss, his hands roaming her curves as his hard body covered hers. Embry reached up, digging her hands into his perfect hair. She was a second away from climbing him and wrapping her legs around him.

Luke pulled back slightly, causing Embry’s hands to fall to his chest. He gently nipped and sucked at her bottom lip before dragging his mouth from hers. Staring at her with desire in his eyes, Luke braced his hands on the door on either side of Embry’s head, clearly trying to calm himself. She could only focus on the warmth of his chest beneath her hands and the sweet taste of him lingering on her lips.

Luke leaned his head against his shoulder and looked down at her. “I’m sorry, Bree, I just … I’ve been wanting to do that since I laid eyes on you in the hallway. Was that okay?”

Embry nodded, her hands playing with the buttons on his shirt. “More than okay,” she said quietly. As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she knew they were true. She felt safe with Luke.

“Good,” he said, placing a sweet kiss on her forehead. He grabbed her hand and led her toward the kitchen. “Let’s get you fed then.”

“Want to see the apartment first? I can give you a quick tour if you want,” Embry offered.