Take Me 01 - Love Me

outfit.”
    Her nipples beaded at his slow perusal of her outfit. But the truth was she was freaked out enough by what had happened between them then night before that she had to force a playful response.
    “You should see what I have on under your shirt.”
    She moved to him and he ran his hands down her back, past the belt, then over the curve of her ass.
    “You don't have anything on under it,” he growled into her ear. He nipped at her neck. “We need to get you some clothes today.”
    “I thought you liked me just like this?”
    “I do. But no one else gets to see what's mine.” He pulled back, held her gaze. “You're all mine, Janica.”
    After last night, after the way he'd told her he was almost there, was this his way of asking her to be his girlfriend?
    Torn between outright asking him and the promise she'd made to drop everything but having a good time for the next few days, she was trying to figure out what to say when the front door flung open.
    Lily stood there, red-faced and panting as if she'd just run up the long staircase to the cabin. At first, relief was clear on her face. But it was quickly superseded by a strange combination of happiness and shock and dismay.
    Luke's arms were instantly frozen around Janica, his muscles turning to ice against hers. His expression quickly followed suit.
    Sixty seconds earlier, he'd been so open, so warm. Now he looked – and felt - as closed off as she'd ever seen him.
    She wanted to rewind to yesterday so that she could call Lily and tell her she was all right. So that Lily wouldn't have to come here.
    And accidentally ruin everything.
    “Thank God you're here, Janica,” Lily said, holding one hand over her heart, still standing in the doorway. “I've called you a hundred times. And when I went by your studio, your employees said they didn't know where you were. They said you've been calling to check in with them, not the other way around.”
    Janica hated feeling like a recalcitrant child. She hated that her sister had been worrying about her. But most of all she hated that she hadn't proactively dealt with the situation.
    “I'm fine, Lils,” she said, but even to her own ears, her voice sounded funny. Like she couldn't take in enough oxygen.
    Luke's arms dropped from her waist and although she hadn't noticed him taking any steps away from her, suddenly there was distance between them.
    A huge gap that hadn't been there five minutes ago
    Suddenly she remember how it had been for them five years ago. They'd met several times to talk about Lily and Travis's budding relationship, they'd even flown to Italy together, just in time for the surprise wedding. She'd thought then that they were starting to build a connection, but as soon as they got back to San Francisco, back to the “real” world, Luke had changed back into the busy surgeon who couldn't be bothered with his wild sister-in-law. Even at family events his smile had gone from warm to cold, to treating her like she wasn't the least bit special.
    Oh god. Even after everything they'd shared together - not just the lovemaking, but the little pieces of her heart that she'd so willingly given to him – he was going to do it again.
    Looking at him, frozen and stiff as he continued to back away from her in the kitchen, Janica had never been more sure of anything in her life.
    Her chest squeezed. She knew she needed to deal with Lily, but she couldn't pull her eyes from Luke.
    And even though she knew better, she silently begged him, Please look at me like you did before, like you did last night when you were loving me. When I was loving you. Please look at me like you actually want me to be yours.
    Her silent pleas went unheard.
    “Janica and I were just-” He cut himself off, that muscle in his jaw jumping. “We were just talking.” He wouldn't meet Janica's eyes as he moved even further away. “I'll let you two catch up,” Luke said, and then he was heading past Lily out the front door of the cabin as fast as his feet would take him.
    And all Janica could do was watch him go.
    Before she even realized Lily was there beside her, her sister's arms were around her.
    Stupid tears threatened. Lily shouldn't even count as the “real” world. And yet, the second she'd walked in the door, Luke had separated himself from Janica as if she were carrying a contagious—and deadly—disease.
    “It wasn't real,” she said aloud. “Not for him.”
    Lily pulled back and brushed the hair out of her