Red Carpet Kiss - Melissa Brown Page 0,23

hair as his breath evened. Normally Elle would be mortified their “date” had been nothing but a roll in her sheets, but her mind was so blissfully numb, she just didn’t care.

“Wow,” Luke exhaled, “didn’t expect that.”

“Yeah, well . . . it’s been a long four days.”

“Indeed.” His fingers left her hair and drifted to trace the line of her silhouette, moving in soothing motions along her ignited skin. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving.”

“Should we get dressed? Go out?”

Elle pondered the question, then realized she’d much rather enjoy dinner with Luke inside the sexy confines of her bedroom. “Takeout?”

Luke grinned before nuzzling into her neck. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

“There’s a great Chinese place a few miles away that delivers.”

“Perfect. I’ll eat anything, so—”

“I’ll surprise you.”

Reluctantly, Elle pulled away from Luke to stand, retrieving her bathrobe from the hook of her bathroom door. The fluffy cotton enveloped her in comfort as her body still hummed from their encounter. She loved how easy everything was thus far. This easy-going, highly sexual, and ridiculously gorgeous Adonis was lying in her bed, seemingly just as crazy about her as she was about him. Never had a relationship (or something resembling one) been so easy, so effortless. She’d had passion before, but this time it was combined with comfort, rather than constant chaos and miscommunication.

She strolled down the winding staircase to reach her kitchen. Flipping through the menus, she found the one for China Palace and quickly dialed the number on the front flap. After ordering half the dishes on the menu, unsure of what she was in the mood for, she heard footsteps. Warm lips met the skin of her ear and soft hands weaved through her hair, pushing it to the side to give his mouth better access to her skin. Elle turned to face Luke.

“It’ll be here in thirty minutes.”

“That’s just about enough time . . .” Luke’s words trailed off as he resumed the seduction of her neck. Elle giggled before allowing herself to be swept up, once again, in the man named Luke Kingston.

Elle and Troy Saladino had had a tumultuous friendship filled with sexual tension that reached an all-time high on a camping trip during the fall of their sophomore year in college.

Elle sat at a picnic table with her friend, Staci, watching the six guys construct the various tents. Troy’s muscles flexed beneath his polo shirt while he attempted to snap two of the metal pieces together. As it was her tent, Elle rolled her eyes, knowing Troy was doing it completely wrong.

“Um, Troy, I think you—” she began, her tone snide. She always enjoyed giving him a hard time.

“Keep it to yourself, Rigby. It’s under control,” he answered, not even giving her a second glance. When she and Troy became friends, they realized they had both been raised on the Beatles. Each Sunday morning, their families listened to 105.9 WCKG’s Breakfast with the Beatles. Elle’s father would make pancakes and bacon and the radio would stay on the entire program. Troy’s parents had done the same. When she revealed she was named after the song “Eleanor Rigby,” Troy’s nickname for her was born. Secretly, she loved it and hoped he’d never call her by her actual name.

“I’m serious, you may want to look at the instructions.”

Troy grabbed a sleeping bag and tossed it her way. “If I wanted your opinion—”

“You’d give it to me,” Elle interrupted, finishing his statement with a quick roll of her eyes. “Whatever.”

“Ugh,” Staci lamented, throwing her hair behind her shoulder. “Why don’t you two just do it already?”

Elle’s heart rate sped out of control. She swatted Staci across the arm and avoided eye contact with Troy, but she felt his soulful brown eyes on her. They’d never discussed the sexual tension looming between them. They’d never dissected their banter to find its source. In fact, despite their constant flirtation, Elle had no idea if Troy thought about her in that way. Did he fantasize about her the way she did about him?

He was recently single. He’d broken up with Amanda Bauer—again—a girl who lived in Eleanor’s dorm, just two weeks prior. Aside from her obvious good looks, long blonde hair, beaming green eyes, and alabaster skin, Amanda was the most boring human being Elle had met in her nineteen years. She was one of those girls who waited to hear your preferences before answering a question.

For example, Elle had joined Troy and Amanda for a quick lunch between classes.

“So, Amanda, what’s your