brows rose. “Is there something else?”
“I’m not one hundred percent satisfied.”
Her smile slipped fractionally. “Excuse me?”
“My customer satisfaction is dependent on…” he paused and glanced at his bulky, utilitarian watch “…five minutes of your time.”
“Um…okay.” She studied him guardedly as she slipped behind her desk and slowly took her seat. Propping her fingertips together, she met and held his gaze. “What do you need five minutes for?”
Rubbing his palms against his jean-clad thighs, Luke thought rapidly. He had one shot and couldn’t blow it. “Well, we can start with Vegas.”
Her head shook slightly, just enough for that distracting curl to fall forward and catch in her lashes. “Not necessary, Luke, really, I—”
He unintentionally silenced her when he reached out and brushed the lock of hair from her face. “Necessary for me,” he countered, letting his hand fall away even though he wanted very much to trace his finger from her high cheekbone down the length of her throat. “My satisfaction level is slipping. Remember, I am the customer.”
“Technically, Carmen and her fiancé are the customers.”
“And Carmen loves me,” he said with a satisfied sigh. “She’d be really upset if I—”
Julia held up her hand. “I get the point. So, do you really want to rehash the whole Vegas mess?”
“I want to apologize. Wanted to for years. I really didn’t know about Esterhaus’s sideline. I never would have done business with him, let alone put you in a position where you could have been hurt.”
She nodded, her expression bland and guarded. “I believe you.”
“Then why’d you disappear?”
She shrugged and looked away. “Seeing those DEA agents rush inside that chapel, well, I guess it just reminded me that we didn’t really know anything about one another.” When she glanced back in his direction, her features seemed more relaxed. “C’mon, Luke, you’ve got to admit that getting married back then would have been a huge disaster.”
“I do admit that,” he agreed easily. “Upon reflection.” He paused when one dark brow arched at his word choice. “What, you don’t think a guy can reflect between beers?” he joked. “Anyway, after some thought, I knew that the DEA crashing our wedding was a blessing. We didn’t know enough about each other to make a marriage last.” But we could have learned, he thought.
“All’s well that ends well.”
“Great fortune cookie sentiment,” he teased, determined to go easy. “I’m just curious as to why you refused to take my calls. I felt like an ass, and wanted to apologize to you in person. I’m sorry it ended the way it did.”
“Esterhaus going to prison?”
“Forget Esterhaus. I’m talking about us. Why didn’t you return my calls, Julia?”
“What was I supposed to say?”
“Oh, ‘I accept your apology, Luke’ would have been a great start. At least then I wouldn’t have felt so guilty about dragging you into that mess.”
“You didn’t need to feel guilty,” she assured him.
“Of course I did. You were a sweet, naive young woman working her tail off at that Vegas restaurant. You deserved better than getting drawn into some big thing with a major drug trafficker.”
“You’re falling on your sword pretty hard, there,” Julia ribbed good-naturedly. “Your version of history makes me sound like I fell from a turnip truck onto the Vegas strip. I was young. I like to think I can be sweet. But I don’t ever remember being naive.”
“You were,” Luke insisted. “You were what? All of twenty-four?”
“You aren’t exactly ready for a retirement home,” she remarked. “It was Vegas, Luke. We had a week of fun and it just got out of hand. No need for long-term therapy as a result.”
“Good, then we can start over.”
He watched as she froze in mid-exhale. To her credit, Julia recovered quickly. “Start what over?”
Luke wagged his finger in the air between them. “Us. You and me. We can date.”
“No, I…I don’t think—”
“You said you didn’t hold me responsible for Esterhaus.”
“I don’t.”
“You seemed like you were having fun when we were together, so what’s the problem?”
She blinked. “We almost got married.” God, how often had she thought of that day? Wondered what it would have been like? If he was half the man she remembered and admired in her dreams.
“Almost being the operative word there. I like you, Julia.”
“You don’t know me.”
He smiled, hoping to put her at ease. “Hence the need for dating. See, we date, get to know one another. See what happens.” Discover if the heat between us will fizzle or sizzle.
“Nothing’s going to happen,” she insisted as she got to her feet. “Your five minutes will be up by the time we stop by Vicki’s desk to make your follow-up appointment.” Grabbing his shirtsleeve, she practically dragged him from the room. “Besides, I can’t date a client.”
“Technically, I’m not the client, remember?” he asked with a satisfied smile. He practically whistled as they walked down the marble steps to the desk, where a pretty redhead adeptly manned multiple telephone lines.
Julia hurriedly penciled him in for the following week, two days shy of the wedding. He liked seeing her flustered. It was the only peek he got into her closely guarded thoughts. “I’ll see you next week.”
“Not good enough,” he responded. Even though he’d kept his voice low, his remark perked the receptionist right up. She practically crawled up on the desk in order to listen in on the conversation.
Julia’s eyes darted around the room. Her jaw clenched behind a stiff smile. “It will have to be good enough, Luke. The matter is closed.” She turned, spine regally straight, and took two steps toward the stairs.
“Julia, I can’t let you walk away.”
She turned, her eyes blazing smoky fire. “Excuse me?”
“You’re blocking me.”
“What?”
He pointed in the direction of the stone courtyard and the driveway beyond. “Your Jeep, right?”
She nodded.
“You’re blocking my SUV.”
She looked pretty pissed as she marched over, grabbed her keys from her soggy purse and went out the door. “I should have known you were the inconsiderate person who parked in front of the garage,” she muttered as she stomped along the stones.
“I didn’t make it rain on you, Julia,” he said as he fell into step beside her. “It isn’t like there’s a No Parking sign, either.”
“It’s a driveway,” she grumbled. “Luke, you need to st— Get down!”
He wasn’t sure what surprised him the most, her strength or what precipitated it.
Julia lunged at him, her shoulder catching him just beneath the rib cage, forcing the breath from his lungs as she toppled him onto the hard ground. His head bounced once against the pavement, sending strobes of bright white specks into his field of vision.
At first he thought the crack he’d heard was the sound of his skull fracturing. Then he pieced the sound