Family Man

in her breath. She snapped on the wall switch and stood glowering furiously at Luke.
    He did not notice her expression. He was sprawled in the chair near the window, gazing out over the city. His booted heels were propped on the sill. Ice clinked in the glass in his hand. One glance at the small refrigerator in the corner showed that he had been into the room's small liquor supply.
    “My God, you nearly scared me to death.” Katy realized her pulse was racing and her insides felt tight. Her whole body had gone into the fight-or-flight mode even though her brain had already recorded the fact that there was no immediate threat of attack. “What are you doing here?”
    Luke did not turn around. “Did you accept the date with Stanfield to make me jealous?”
    Katy was flabbergasted. “Good grief, no. Of course not. Are you crazy? Why would I want to make you jealous?”
    “How should I know? All I know is that it's a tactic women use.”
    “Some women, maybe. Not all women.” Katy pulled her scattered senses together. Finding Luke here in her room was like falling down the rabbit hole. Nothing seemed quite real.
    “It worked,” Luke said quietly. “I was jealous.” He took a swallow from the whiskey in his glass. “Christ, that's one emotion I really hate. Spent most of my marriage being jealous.”
    “Luke—”
    “When Ariel walked into a room every man looked at her and wanted her. Instantly. She knew it. She loved to see my reaction. Said it made for good sex later.”
    Katy perched cautiously on the edge of the bed. Her fingers were trembling. Luke had still not turned around, so she could not see his face. But she heard the razor's edge of the old, buried anguish in his voice. She had a sudden desire to comfort him but did not know how.
    “I'm sorry, Luke.”
    “No reason to be.” Ice clinked again in his glass. “She was a beautiful woman. She couldn't help it.”
    “No, of course not.” But Ariel should not have enjoyed Luke's jealousy, Katy thought. She should not have used it to provoke him to passion. The man had enough passion in him as it was. So much passion.
    “She always made up for it later. In bed.”
    Katy clenched her hands together in her lap. “I see. It didn't bother you, then? You didn't really mind feeling jealous because you knew she would make up for it in bed?”
    “I hated it.” The words were a soft, savage snarl. “The only thing that made it bearable was that I knew she loved me. She was only playing games. But I got to hate the games. She never seemed to understand that.”
    Katy searched for something to say. “Luke, I didn't set out to make you jealous tonight. You and I do not have a relationship, so there is no reason for either of us to feel jealousy or any other strong emotion toward each other.”
    “Is that right?”
    “For the record,” Katy continued determinedly, “I would just like to say that I would never try to make someone I cared for jealous. It would be the last thing I would do. It seems cruel.”
    “Not very exciting?”
    “No. Just cruel.”
    “I agree with you,” Luke said. “It is cruel.” He swallowed the remainder of his whiskey. “For the record, I hereby state that I would never deliberately set out to make someone I cared for jealous.”
    She believed him. Katy smiled tremulously. “Well, I suppose that takes care of that.”
    “We don't have a relationship, but we have just sworn not to try to make each other jealous. Nothing like getting the fine print out of the way first, I guess.” Luke set his glass down on the table.
    He unstacked his booted feet from the windowsill and got up out of the chair. He turned to face Katy for the first time. His hooded gaze held hers with mesmerizing intensity.
    “Luke?” Katy stilled, aware of him at every level on which it was possible for a woman to be aware of a man. She rose slowly from the edge of the bed as he came toward her.
    “I know I'm not your type.” He came to a halt directly in front of her. “You've made it clear I'm not the man of your dreams. But I want you very much. If you come to me, even for a little while, I swear I won't play games with you. Whatever we have between us will be completely honest. Is that enough for you?”
    Katy realized she was holding her breath. A sweet, hot flame was scorching through her. The feeling was unlike anything she had ever experienced. She was breathless and anxious and exhilarated at the same time.
    She was not a creature of