Chapter 19

Monica toyed with the hair on Luke"s chest. Before him, she found the thought of chest hair repulsive. Somehow on him, it was extremely sexy.

"Is that all it takes to get you to lose control? I just need to challenge you?"

Luke rolled his head in her direction and tried to scowl at her, but she knew without a shadow of a doubt it was only a half-hearted attempt.

"You're trouble, you know that? I was trying to be a gentleman."

"How'd that work out for you?" She shimmied her naked body closer to his.

"Like I said, you"re trouble."

Monica let her head fall back so she could laugh without restraint. It had been so long since she had this much fun with anyone other than her best friends. Running through her house naked had never been a thought before Luke.

"Being a gentleman is overrated, especially in the bedroom. I much prefer this bossy side of you."

She was learning that she was a walking cliché. She liked to be in control of every aspect of her life, but when it came to this man, she would happily hand it over in the bedroom. Maybe that"s why her former lovers never worked out. They all let her retain control.

"Is that so?" Luke flipped them over so he was settled between her legs. She could feel his hard length resting between the apex of her thighs. He had already taken her twice but that didn"t seem to be stopping him from being ready to go another round.

So much for men needing longer time to recover the older they got.

She bit back a moan when he dragged his cock through her wet folds. It was embarrassing how often she was drenched in his presence. She felt like a dog in heat who couldn"t get enough.

"So does that mean you don"t mind when I tease you?"

If he wanted her to answer a question coherently, then he probably should stop doing what he was doing to her body. But she couldn't get her brain to function enough to tell her mouth to say it.

A moan was the best she could do.

Luke chuckled. "I"m pretty sure your eyes rolled into the back of your head just now."

She was pretty sure he was right, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of confirming it. He was a smug bastard the way it was, but damn, did she like that quality about him.

"Shut up and fuck me."

"Nah ah. I"m in charge, remember. You"ll get my cock when I tell you."

Fuck, that shouldn"t sound so hot. Neither should the fact that he was only giving her the tip of him before he pulled back out. It was the sweetest torture.

"So damn bossy," she groaned. Her back arched off the bed and she tried to get more of him. It was frustrating how much restraint he was showing.

"You . . ."

Luke didn"t get to finish what he was going to say. Sudden banging on her front door had her frozen in place.

"Who the hell could that be?" she whispered.

No one but her friends visited her, and both of them were in Texas. Ash had an inkling Luke was staying with her, so she wouldn"t dare interrupt without a phone call first.

"Lock the bedroom door behind me, and don"t open it for anyone except me."

Seconds ago she had been on the verge of what promised to be one hell of an amazing orgasm. Now she was huddled under her blanket with her heart beating out of control.

"Luke, you"re naked!" She was ashamed to admit her voice trembled rather than the hiss she was going for.

"My clothes are on the way to the door. I"ll put them on before I answer it. Now lock this door like I asked you to."

Monica scrambled out of the bed and did as she was told. It wasn"t until she was at the door that it dawned on her he didn"t actually ask, like he said. Apparently, the damn man was going to be bossy out of bed as well.

Rushing to her closet, she decided the best way to wait for Luke was to get dressed. She had yelled at him for being naked, and there she was in the same state of undress. It wasn"t until she pulled a pair of pants up her legs that she heard the first set of sirens.

Shit!What the hell is happening?

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a soft knock on her bedroom door.

"Monica, it"s me. Open up."

The shirt she was attempting to put on got caught on her head as she tried to move across the room. With a frustrated sigh, she stopped to fix the shirt before making her way to the door and throwing it open.

"Your neighbor"s house caught fire. We're being advised to leave since the buildings are so close and they fear it will extend to the neighboring places."

Monica just stared at Luke like he was speaking a foreign language. Did he just say that her neighbor"s house was on fire?

"I"m sorry." She shook her head. "What did you say?"

"We need to leave. Now."

She looked around her bedroom. "I need to pack a bag." Or several suitcases. Her closet was jam-packed with clothes she loved. There had to be enough time to at least get some of it packed.

Monica turned to run back to her closet, but Luke yanked her back. "There"s no time. The fire's already shooting out of the windows next door. We need to get going."

"But . . ." She was well aware that her protests were futile and childish. Their lives were in danger and she was concerned about some material possessions. Even knowing how silly it sounded, she still put up a fight as Luke dragged her down the steps. "If my house catches fire, I'll lose everything! I need to save some of it!"

"That"s why they make homeowner"s insurance," Luke said, while shoving a pair of slides, her purse, and her phone into her hands; all items that had fortunately been next to the front door. "We can deal with that once we know how things turn out. Now let"s go!"

He shoved her out the door and reality set in.

Fire trucks lined the street and were parked haphazardly. Firefighters with hoses and ladders raced along in front of her. A fire hose was set up between her building and the one next to her. It sprayed water into the abyss and she wondered what that was accomplishing.

"Sir, we need you to move along." A gentleman with a white helmet ushered them along.

"We are. Thank you."

Now she understood why Luke had been so urgent to get her out. Somehow, despite everything happening outside her place, she had been completely oblivious to the sirens and noise.

"How did I miss this going on?"

"Orgasms," Luke deadpanned. "That"s how. Now let"s go."

Monica decided it was best to follow him. It was her fault they took so long to begin with, and she could see he was on edge.

His truck and the rental car he had delivered earlier that day were blocked in by the many fire trucks lining the streets. As he dragged her past it, she was tempted to ask where they were going, but two blocks down she got her answer. Waiting for them at the corner was Caden.

"Thanks for picking us up." Luke opened the back door and waited for her to slide in before he moved around to hop into the passenger"s seat.

"No problem. I started pulling security footage for the area. I"ll look at it once I drop you off at your place."

"Wait." She took a beat. "You don"t think it was an accident?"

Luke hadn"t mentioned that once while he was ushering her out.

"I don"t think anything yet, but it doesn"t hurt to look. I"m not a fan of coincidences and yesterday your car was vandalized. Today you"re being forced out of your house due to a fire."

Monica tried to wrap her head around what Luke was saying. "Wouldn"t the person go after me directly? Wouldn"t they try to burn my place down?"

"Not necessarily," Caden answered. "You reported the vandalism to the police. If your house burned today, they would know someone was after you directly. Hitting the neighbor"s house forces you out, but keeps the suspicion off you being the target."

Sadly, that made sense.

"You think this was Fletcher."

That man was really starting to piss her off and that was saying something. She had wanted to scratch his eyes out the first time she met him. Now she was thinking a good kick to the nuts was more appropriate.

"I don"t think you"ve pissed anyone else off lately," Luke said.

Luke was right. She hadn"t. Except Carmichael, but he wouldn"t stoop that low. His way of getting revenge would be to cut her out as a partner.

"No, I haven"t and I hate to change the subject and sound dramatic, but I have work in the morning and nothing to wear."

Being late two days in a row wasn"t an option. It didn"t matter how much sleep she lost, she would get to work on time tomorrow.

"We can check the status of your place in the morning. If we can"t get in, we will find you something to wear."

"Okay." She wasn"t about to argue and tell him how hard that would be. Most places she shopped at didn"t open that early in the morning. She just had to hope the firefighters would save her house and her wardrobe.

The firefighters did not,in fact, save her stuff, and so much for not being late two days in a row.