* * * * *
We went to Lincoln’s Road House for beer and dinner (it would seem Luke had been right, I was hungry).
Lincoln’s was a biker bar on a slip road facing I-25. It had great food, a broken-in feel, hot guys, women wearing chaps and slick bikes of every make, model and color lined up on the side road that flanked the bar.
They had a band so we watched it for awhile.
Then we got in a big fight about who was going to pay because I figured if he paid, it’d be a date and Luke figured he was a man with a significant overabundance of testosterone so he was going to pay no matter what (this wasn’t exactly his argument, more my take on the underlying message).
People started staring.
I shut up.
Luke paid.
Then we went on patrol.
* * * * *
This time at my door after patrol, keys held firmly and at the ready, I shouldered up to the door and let myself in.
Before I could claim the doorway and keep him out, Luke shoved me in with a hand at the small of my back, closed the door behind us and unarmed the alarm.
Then he walked through my living room.
“I’m tired, Luke,” I told his back.
He disappeared into the dark hall.
I sighed, turned on a lamp, shrugged off my blazer, threw it on the chaise and followed him into the kitchen.
The light was on and Boo was telling on me because I’d run out of kitty treats and hadn’t been to the grocery store. Luckily Luke didn’t speak Cat and seemed to have the Super Dude super-power to be totally oblivious to Boo’s meows.
Luke handed me an opened beer when I walked in and then he settled his h*ps against the counter, arms crossed on his chest, lifting his forearm to take a pull off his beer every once in awhile.
We didn’t speak.
For my part, this was mainly because the only thing I could think to talk about was whether Vance was back in town or not. And I wasn’t going to do that.
For Luke’s part, on the whole, he didn’t talk much.
Finally Luke spoke. “Tomorrow, you’re off. Monday, I’m workin’ and you’re ride-along.”
I nodded, drank some of my beer, settled my h*ps against the counter and looked at my boots. I was happy about ride-along. It was something to look forward to in a future that, all of a sudden, seemed kind of bleak. I never thought about my future. I lived life day-to-day. I thought a lot about everyone else’s future, Roam and Sniff, Nick, but not my own.
Luke’s boots came into my line of vision and I looked up. He was close. He set his beer bottle on the counter beside me, pulled mine out of my hand and put it next to his.
Then before I knew what he was about, his fingers curled around my wrists, he lifted my arms, got deep into my space, wrapped my wrists around his neck and his face started coming toward mine.
“What are you…?” I started then stopped.
His hands slid down the undersides of my arms and a thrill shot through me before he (I kid you not) kissed me.
I felt his hands glide down my sides, around my back, low and he pulled me to him.
It was a great kiss. It was a hot kiss. There was a goodly amount of tongue and Luke seriously knew what he was doing.
But it wasn’t a Vance kiss.