Beth Ciotta: Anything but Love

“Couldn’t you at least crave something good? Like cookies and ice cream? Then I could join you.”

Rae hugged Luke tight, desperately wanting what he offered. “You make it sound so tempting, but we’d be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.”

“So? We may get singed, but we’ll survive. One way or the other.” He gave her a squeeze then took her by the hand. “Let me show you around.”

Rae felt as though she were floating through a dream as Luke toured her around his home. She loved the vaulted ceilings, the rich woodwork, the stone fireplace. The living room was spacious and sparsely furnished with an overstuffed couch, recliner, club chair, and ottoman. She adored the cushioned window seat with its view of nearby evergreens and distant mountains. Now there was a space crying for brightly colored throw pillows! She could sit in that picturesque cubby and read for hours .

She fell in love with the kitchen. The den—not so much. The dining room was nice, but she could make it nicer. Luke’s fitness room was what it was—a room crammed with weights, a treadmill, and various other torture devices.

He steered her upstairs and into the first room on the right. It was sparsely furnished—a futon and what looked to be one of Sam’s handcrafted, hand-painted bureaus. “I thought we could turn this spare room into a nursery. As you see it has a great view of the mountains and plenty of sunlight. I could paint the walls yellow or green—something neutral since we don’t know the sex of the baby and—”

“Okay.”

“Okay to yellow? Or okay to green?”

“Okay to living with you.” Her heart roared in her ears. Her blood sizzled with lust. Hearing Luke talking about their baby’s nursery was an electrifying turn-on!

Zap!

She turned and kissed him and he must have felt the same jolt because Luke swept her off her feet and carried her … somewhere. Rae was too lost in the kiss to take note of his path. Too aware of the way he was holding her, too absorbed in the heady feel of his lips, his tongue. Too crazy in love to think beyond, “ Take me .”

Luke laid her down gently. Someplace soft.

Bed, she thought.

He said nothing as he pulled off her boots then slowly peeled off her jeans.

Sexy.

Said nothing as he shucked his own boots and pants. He just watched.

Her.

Hot.

By the time he was completely naked, Rae had stripped off her tunic and bra. Sprawled on the bed, she held out her arms, sighing when he covered her with his warm, hard body.

She was naked and ready. So ready, she exploded on Luke’s first thrust.

He froze, hard and deep inside of her, a bemused look on his face as she shuddered with a lingering orgasm.

“I’m sorry,” she rasped.

“I’m not.” He brushed a kiss over her mouth, smiled. “That was damn hot.”

“Yeah, well…”

“And now I get to work you up all over again.” He smoothed a hand over her face, over the curve of her neck, then down her body as he moved inside her—slow and deep.

Luke took his time and worked her up. Rae’s body responded in wondrous waves, but the most exciting and erotic bonus was the way he held her gaze. Luke looked into her eyes the entire time he made love to her. As if she was the most captivating woman in the world. As if she was the center of his universe. As if …

Rae cried out with an earth-moving orgasm and Luke climaxed right behind her.

Her brain fairly shut down as her body rode a wave of intense euphoria. “Holy—”

“—hell,” Luke finished as he collapsed beside her and pulled her into his arms.

Heart full, Rae struggled to find the right words to express what she was feeling. Description failed her, but words flowed all the same. “I love you, Luke.”

He smiled into her eyes. “I love you, Reagan. Good and true.”

No two ways about it. Rocky was irritated with the universe.

The relief she’d experienced after learning her dad’s cancer hadn’t progressed had morphed into anger that they’d been faced with that worry at all. Hadn’t her dad suffered enough without having to deal with the fallout of that previous glitchy test? And what about her mom and the rest of the family? Everyone’s nerves were stretched thin. Everyone was distracted. Not just with her dad’s illness but now this thing with Rae. The media thing. The baby thing.

On the plane ride home all her mom talked about was the fact that she now had two grandkids on the way. All her dad talked about was his youngest son and how he’d grown up overnight. Luke buying out Dev and taking over full responsibility of the Sugar Shack was huge. Luke settling down and committing to one woman was enormous. At the rate he was moving, no one would be surprised if Luke ended up marrying Rae before spring. Which brought up talk of Dev and Chloe and their reluctance to commit to a wedding date, although Dev pointed out that if it was up to him they’d elope tomorrow.

It’s not that Rocky didn’t care about her brothers’ lives. She adored them both, but it would have been nice if at least a portion of the family discussion would have centered on Rocky’s impending wedding. She could have brought it up herself, but she was feeling churlish. Not that anyone had noticed. Well, except for Jayce. He’d noticed, but instead of explaining—because it made her feel petty—she’d blamed her grumpy mood on exhaustion.

Now, instead relaxing at home with Jayce and Brewster and putting together the last of her wedding favors, Rocky was immersed in an emergency Cupcake Lover meeting at Harper’s house. A house Rocky had been struggling to redecorate and fully furnish because of Harper’s indecisiveness. A quick look around showed that Sam had made more progress in three days than Rocky had made in three and a half months. His work on the staircase, several doorframes, and the kitchen in general was unmistakable. Pure quality. Pure Sam.

There was, however, little evidence of Rocky’s influence. Not that she hadn’t presented Harper with hundreds of ideas. Another bone of contention.

Just now everyone was gathered in the main living room. Harper and Sam had pulled in chairs from other rooms to create a circle of seating big enough to accommodate twelve people. She’d covered a couple of accent tables and a trunk with fabric samples, surfaces to accommodate paper plates and cups. No one cared that dinnerware was disposable. They were impressed that Harper had gone to the trouble of brewing tea and coffee as well as serving a batch of her own homemade cupcakes. Vanilla cupcakes with strawberry filling. Pretty damned tasty.

“I apologize for the cramped seating,” Harper said. “This house is a work in progress and I’m not set up for entertaining. Obviously. But if everyone’s comfortable—”

“We’re good,” Rocky said, speaking for everyone in order to get this ball rolling. Almost all of the members had arrived within minutes of one another, with the exception of Rae and Luke, who’d been five minutes late.

Considering this had once been the home of one of the original Cupcake Lovers, there’d been a lot of chatter about Mary Rothwell and the fact that she supposedly haunted this place. Not that Rocky had ever seen her ghost, but there was a definite vibe in the house even if only in her mind because of the legend.

Chatter of Mary had naturally segued into the history of the Cupcake Lovers, which segued into talk of the memoir/recipe book, which segued into whether to self-publish, which is when Rae and Luke had arrived, hand in hand, looking ridiculously happy. Since Luke was still a member of the club, he had every right to be here and even more so, Rocky supposed, given his personal relationship with Rae. But Rocky sort of wished her brother would’ve stayed away. Everyone, including Rocky, was keenly aware of Sam’s crush or former crush on Rae. The tension was just plain awkward.