It wasn’t simply a matter of her hair, which now hung loose in silver-gold strands that fell to her waist. Or the way she walked—with greater confidence, hips swaying seductively. The subtle alterations in her appearance bespoke a fundamental difference, but they alone did not earn Luke’s full attention. No—there was a definite, deliberate allure there now that hadn’t been present before.
Luke straightened from his easygoing slouch against a lamppost opposite the lodge and watched her. She didn’t see him yet, but her eyes were scanning the area in expectation. She already knew he would be there. She’d become very efficient at spotting him, he had to give her that—even if it didn’t keep him away. With all the persistence of a predator, he tracked her and kept her in sight. Her resistance to him had increasingly become a very powerful motivation for his desire. That she was worth the effort he never doubted for an instant.
He admired her long-legged stride and uptilted chin as she crossed the street and felt his muscles tense in anticipation of pursuit. Soon, now, she’d see him and hurry off in the opposite direction.
For the second time she caught him completely off guard. He had only a moment to adjust to the unaccustomed sensation as she closed the space between them and stopped, regarding him with a familiar, direct stare.
“Good morning, Luke,” she said.
Luke felt rather like a wolverine whose choice of breakfast had suddenly turned and wished it good hunting. He caught himself quickly.
“Good morning, Joey.” He took a moment to look her over, from sun-topped head to boot-shod feet. Yes, there was definitely something different. “I’m glad to see we’re on a first-name basis now.”
Her curved lips, so often set in a severe frown of concentration, relaxed into a remarkably pleasant smile. “I suppose we’ve—known—each other long enough to justify the informality.” Her gold-flecked eyes met his steadily.
“I’m delighted to hear it,” Luke murmured. She was wearing the same loose-fitting shirt and jeans, but he could not miss the fact that she had left a number of buttons undone that revealed a pleasing amount of cleavage. And she stood with her arms relaxed at her sides, not folded like a barricade across her chest or bent with clenched fists, as if she expected to repel attack.
Though her gaze was still cool and direct, and her chin was lifted in that proud way she had, the smile could not be mistaken. It almost came as something of a shock when Luke realized she was not only being civil—she was actually encouraging him.
This revelation kept him silent for a moment, as he considered various possibilities in rapid succession. Either she had finally broken down before his persistence and many charms—though something about his acquaintance with her urged a cynical inner laugh at the assumption—or she wanted something.
Though he had known that might be a very real possibility, the idea chafed unexpectedly. He concentrated on keeping a frown of annoyance from his face.
Joey broke the silence. “Well, the fact is, I may be here a while longer, and there’s no reason not to be friendly.” For a moment Luke had the bizarre notion that she’d actually batted her eyes at him. As if she read his thoughts, she gave a rueful shrug. “I’ve had a lot on my mind, and I probably haven’t been as neighborly as I should have. Some of the people here”—her almost-coy glance included him—”have been very helpful, and I don’t want to seem ungrateful.”
Feeling unaccustomedly off balance, Luke cleared his throat. “Not at all, Joey.” He pushed away distracting speculation about her motives. With a deceptive shift he moved closer to her, she didn’t step back, though a flicker in her eyes told him she was aware of him—very much aware of him. Physical reaction quickly overcame the last of his skepticism. Her warm scent rose up in waves to engulf and mesmerize him.
“Good,” she whispered.
He watched her eyes move away from his, stray to his shoulders, his chest and back up to scan his face; for the barest instant her smile lapsed as her teeth caught at her lower lip. Luke hardly noticed it, all his attention was for the heat of her body, the smell of her, the rich sensuality she no longer struggled to hide. Whatever her motivations, he felt it clearly—she wanted him. The knowledge washed over him with the heady arousal of victory.