Perfect Stranger (Novella) by Carly Phillips Read Free Book Online

instead of kissing her senseless like she wanted. Needed. Craved.
    “I only have an hour or so for lunch,” she reminded him.
    He muttered a soft curse and sealed his lips over hers. He swirled his tongue with hers in a way that had her body heating, which was saying something since her jacket already had her roasting. And she kissed him back for all she was worth, wrapping her arms around his neck and getting lost in the moment.
    Until he broke their connection with a harsh groan.
    “What? Why?” she asked, disappointed and bereft.
    “Because you only have an hour or so and you need to eat.” He stepped back, shrugged off his jacket, and began to unpack the bags. “Is there any chance I can convince you to play hooky this afternoon?”
    She looked into his hopeful gaze, and for the first time in her adult life, the thought of doing something other than work was actually tempting. “I wish I could, but I have a meeting with the parents of one of my younger patients.” Disappointment filled her and she wished her afternoon consisted of something cancelable.
    “But you considered it.” He stared at her for a beat, his expression…pleased. Then he turned and began to unpackfood, pulling out plastic-wrapped sandwiches on plastic plates, complete with chips. Real silverware came next, followed by two large thermoses.
    “What’s in those?” she asked.
    “Hot chocolate.”
    “Oh, yum, my favorite!”
    “I know.”
    She wrinkled her nose. “How?”
    “I made friends with Gina Donovan, pumped her for your favorite orders and asked her to pack everything up for me.” He shrugged and began to peel the wrapping off the food.
    She ought to help, but remained frozen in place, stunned by the lengths to which he’d gone to make this picnic, as he’d called it, special. For her.
    No one had ever considered her favorite foods, or gone out of his way to make her feel important. She hadn’t had her mom to do it. She barely remembered her mother, and her father’s mother, who’d moved in to help him out, had about as much of a soft streak as he did. Forget the men in her life; even the ones she’d dated on occasion knew she didn’t have time or wasn’t giving them one hundred percent, and so they didn’t bother with an attempt to win her heart anyway.
    In an insanely short time, Luke Thompson had made her feel cared for and treasured. And she didn’t know what to do with that.
    “Luke?” She softly called his name.
    He turned from his task. “What’s up?”
    She swallowed over the lump in her throat, the words escaping before she could think them through or stop them. “I can’t play hooky this afternoon, but can I have a rain check for tomorrow?”
    *   *   *
    W hen Alexa asked him for a rain check, elation had soared through Luke as strong as after any touchdown he’d scored. He knew how difficult it must have been for herto convince herself that she could take time off from work. That she’d do it to be with him, well, it blew his mind.
    “You’ve got yourself a date,” he’d promised her.
    Afterward, they’d enjoyed their lunch at the cabin, cleaned up, and made out a little bit. He grinned at the memory of them sitting on the old, beat-up couch, kissing and groping. He’d ended up aroused to the point of pain. She’d ended up grumpy and annoyed, but he’d left her hanging, too, reminding her that good things come to those who wait.
    Then he’d driven her back to the hospital, walked her to the big sliding doors at the entrance, kissed her in front of he didn’t care who, and sent her back inside with a goofy grin on her face. Not that he’d told her that. He figured Dr. Alexa Collins wouldn’t appreciate knowing she’d returned to work well kissed.
    Laughing, he’d driven back to Sawyer’s and helped his buddy, who’d rented a Dumpster to get rid of the garbage his father had accumulated. That night, he and Sawyer had shared a couple of beers and watched a movie, and now, the next