It Was Only a Kiss - By Joss Wood Page 0,53

kicked. By me.’ Luke lifted his hand to cradle Jess’s head against his chest. ‘I am taking Jess home. She’s had more than enough. She’ll see you in the morning—if she’s feeling up to it.’

Luke guided Jess out of the room and a silent Sherwood family watched them leave.

Nick broke the shocked silence that followed. ‘Well, well, well. Jess has finally found a man who has a bigger set than she does. Good for her and it’s about time. Pass that wine, Grandma, you’re hogging it.’

* * *

For the second night in a row Jess slept in Luke’s bed—in the proper sense of the word. There had been no euphemisms involved because shortly after carrying her up the stairs he’d handed her some painkillers and bustled her into bed. Her head had barely hit the pillow and she was asleep.

Sexy she was not.

Jess rolled over as she smelt coffee and swallowed saliva as Luke walked into the room, dressed in nothing more than a low-slung towel over his slim hips. Lord, he had a beautiful body...

He smiled down at her as he put the cup of coffee on the bedside table. Jess sat up and squinted at the clock. It was just past nine—an unusual time for Luke to be showering.

‘When I came back from the lands your brothers were about to go for a run and invited me to join them,’ Luke explained, sitting on the bed next to her. ‘Obviously it was a test. Competitive bunch, aren’t they?’

Jess groaned. ‘Sorry. Did they go all he-man on you?’

‘Well, they did try to outpace me.’ Luke smiled into his coffee cup. ‘I managed to keep up.’

Jess took her cup and winced when her injuries brushed the bedclothes. ‘If you beat Patrick I’ll kiss you senseless.’

‘I beat Patrick. I ran twenty-three-ten.’

Jess’s jaw dropped open. ‘You beat them all?’

Luke looked like the cat who ate the cream. ‘I whipped them all.’

‘Woo-hoo!’ Jess shouted with glee. ‘You are the man!’

Jess settled back on the pillows and after a minute or so smiled at Luke. ‘You know that you’re going to have to marry me now, don’t you?’

Luke spluttered tiny drops of coffee over his white towel. ‘What?’

Jess patted his knee. ‘By standing up for me last night, you—in my mother’s eyes at least—practically declared your intentions. As I speak, she’s probably planning our wedding.’

‘God, families are complicated,’ Luke complained. ‘And yours is, I suspect, more complicated than most.’

‘I’m the youngest child—a daughter with four older protective brothers.’

‘Who threatened to cut off my balls if I hurt you,’ Luke told her.

‘Oh, grief, they didn’t?’ Jess blew air into her cheeks. ‘Of course they did... Sorry. Did they thump their chests as well?’

Luke grinned. ‘Yep. Then they spent the rest of the run deciding what to do about your ex. Concrete shoes were mentioned.’

‘Their anger will blow off and then they’ll just ignore him. I hope.’ Jess sipped her coffee. ‘I’m sorry. I know that they are impossible and in-your-face. I’ll understand if you want to keep your distance from them...’

Luke placed his hand on the other side of her stretched out legs and leaned on it. ‘I haven’t had much to do with large families, Jess—hell, with any families. I don’t know how to act, what to do... Last night I was nervous as anything.’

‘Seriously? You didn’t look it.’

‘Practice. My legs were bouncing under the table.’

Jess heard the insecurity in his voice and felt her heart jump into her throat. ‘You just need to be who you are, do what you do. Don’t worry about my mother and her machinations. If your little speech last night didn’t get through to her, she knows that I can’t and won’t be forced into anything. So, what do you think about the fact that my dad knew your mom?’

Jess felt his mood shift from relaxed to wary.

‘I guess the art world in the seventies was smaller than I supposed.’

‘Are you going to try to track down your aunt?’

Luke lifted his head to look at her. ‘Why should I?’

Why should he? Jess frowned. ‘Luke, she could tell you about your mother.’

Luke’s face hardened. ‘I know all I need to about Katelyn. She was a really good artist who decided she didn’t want me any more. Then she died.’

The lack of emotion in his voice whipped at Jess’s soul. It spoke of hurt and betrayal buried deep. ‘Your aunt could explain—’

‘I’m thirty-six years old. She must’ve known about me. She’s had thirty-plus years to find me and explain,’ Luke