Undone (5 page)

Embry sucked in a breath and watched, frozen, as he stood and headed toward her. She felt everything around her slow down, and all she could see was him.

Morgan was getting agitated and pulled on Embry’s hand. “Embry, what the—” She squeezed Embry tighter when she saw him walking over. “Holy fucking shit! Is that him?”

All Embry could do was nod. She was fixed to the spot, captivated by his stare.

“He’s coming over here!” Morgan whisper-yelled while tugging on Embry’s hand. “And he’s really hot!”

The two girls stood holding hands and watched the gorgeous man approach. His lazy gait gave off an air of total self-assurance.

“Hey,” he said, eyes trained on Embry.

“Hey,” Embry replied breathlessly.

The left side of his mouth quirked up again. “Can I buy you a drink?”

Oh my god! He’s so hot. Okay, words, Embry, find them and use them.
“I’d like that.” Turning to Morgan, Embry said, “I’ll meet you up there, okay, Morgs?”

Morgan stood slack-jawed, looking back and forth between Embry and the hallway hottie. “Uh huh.”

“Okay, I’ll see you in a bit, then.” Embry squeezed Morgan’s hand.

Snapping out of it, Morgan pulled Embry into a hug. “Holy shit! Have fun, be safe. Come find me upstairs.”

Embry watched Morgan head up the stairs and then turned back to the gorgeous man.

“Shall we?” he asked, turning his full smile on her.

Embry’s knees knocked. “Sure.”

A shiver ran through her as he pressed a hand to the small of her back and led her into the lounge. She settled on the stool beside him and tried not to look as nervous as she felt.

“What would you like?”

“Um, what are you drinking?” she asked, eyeing his glass.

“Johnny Walker Blue. Scotch whiskey.”

“Oh.” She wrinkled her nose and waved the bartender over. “Do you have wine? Pinot noir?”

“Sure thing,” said the bartender, heading off to pour her drink.

His arm brushed against hers. “You’re fancy, huh?”

“Oh, you should talk, Mr. Blue Label,” she joked.

“Ah, you got me.” He smiled again, the skin around his eyes crinkling and his dimple deepening. “I’m Luke, by the way.” He held out his hand. “Luke Brody.”

“Bree. Um, Embry Jacobs.” She placed her hand in his.

He bent his head until his soft lips grazed her knuckles, his eyes still trained on hers. “Nice to meet you, Embry.”

She flushed from head to toe. The bartender ended their moment by setting down Embry’s drink. “Thanks,” she said.

“No problem.” The bartender smiled and walked away.

“So …” Embry said, returning her attention to Luke. It came out as a strangled whisper. She sipped her wine and tried again. “So what are you doing down here? Shouldn’t you be up at the social?”

“Ah, no.” Luke rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable. “I’m not a student. I’m an attorney.”

“Oh.”

“I’m working on some research with one of the professors, so I stop by the law school every now and then.”

“That’s cool.” Embry noticed he spoke in a slow, southern drawl. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

He chuckled. “Is it that obvious?”

“Well, yeah,” Embry answered. He looked down.
Oh my gosh, is he blushing?
Embry quickly added, “It’s a good thing, though. I like your accent.”

He smiled, his cobalt eyes lighting up. “I’m from Georgia, actually.”

Embry loved his voice and the way his eyes shined when he smiled. She wanted him to keep talking. “What brought you to New York?”

“Change of pace. An opportunity came up, and I took it. What about you?”

“Well, I’m from here originally. I went to school in Florida and spent the last few years there. My best friend Morgan”—she motioned upstairs—”convinced me to come back home for law school.”

He smiled and touched her hand. “Well, I’m glad she did.”

Embry blushed, not knowing what to say.

“So where in Florida did you go to school?”

“UF,” she said.

Luke’s face dropped. “Really?”

“Yes,” she answered, thrown by his reaction.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

She let out a small laugh. “Am I sure that I went to the University of Florida? Yes, I’m pretty sure.”

Luke nodded, his expression unreadable. “Do you like football?”

“I bleed orange and blue,” Embry answered, smiling.

“That’s too bad,” he said, a playful glint in his eye. He took a sip of his drink and stood as if to leave.

“I—what?”

“I bleed red and black,” he deadpanned.

“Oh my God!” Embry’s eyes widened as the pieces fell into place.

“University of Georgia undergrad,” Luke said. “Go Dawgs!”

Embry’s face fell into her palm, and she shook her head. She peeked up at him through her fingers. “Well, it was nice while it lasted.”

Luke chuckled. “It was, wasn’t it?”

She nodded.

“Maybe we can work something out, because I don’t think I’m ready to give up on you just yet.” He winked, and her insides clenched.

She didn’t know what to say, so she just smiled and took him in. She couldn’t believe she was talking to a gorgeous man who, a few days ago, was just some stranger in a hallway.

“Like what you see, Bree?” His voice was husky, his eyes hooded.

Hypnotized by his gaze, she didn’t even think twice as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded.

Luke flicked his eyes to her mouth, licked his lips, and slowly leaned toward her. Embry’s breath caught, and she held still, waiting to see what he would do.

He lifted his hand and cupped her cheek. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered.

Embry let out a breath and melted into his touch. It felt so natural. He brushed his thumb gently across her cheekbone and smiled.

“Hi, guys!” Morgan said from behind them, interrupting their moment.

Luke dropped his hand and gave Embry a shy smile before pulling away.

“Hi, Morgan,” Embry huffed, staring daggers at her best friend.

Morgan widened her eyes at Embry.

“Morgan, this is Luke. Luke, my best friend Morgan.” Embry said, waving her hand back and forth between them.

Luke offered his hand. “Nice to meet you, Morgan.”

“You too, Luke.” Morgan placed her hand in his for a light shake. “I just stopped in to check on you,” Morgan said to Embry.

“Oh, we’re good,” Embry said.

“Yeah, I can see that.” Morgan chuckled. “I’m just gonna make a pit stop and head back upstairs. I’ll see you up there.”

Morgan walked away, and Embry turned back to Luke. They started talking at the same time.

“I should—”

“I’ll let you—”

They laughed.

“You first,” Luke said.

“I was just going to say I should probably head up there.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to keep you from your first law school social. They can get pretty wild,” he teased.

“Oh, I bet.” Embry laughed. “Well, thanks for the drink …” Embry was distracted by her phone vibrating in her clutch. She pulled it out and found a text from Morgan.

Holy hallway hottie! He is gorgeous! Find me on the dance floor when you come up for air! ;)

Before she knew what he was doing, Luke grabbed Embry’s phone.

“What the—” She watched him play with the keypad for a minute before putting the phone back in her hand.

He brushed her long blond waves over her shoulder and cupped her neck. “Now you have my number. And I have yours.” He leaned in and whispered, “I’ll be seeing you, beautiful.” He brushed his lips against her cheek.

Embry’s knees nearly gave out. She sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. “See you,” she said, as she got up to head out of the lounge. She gave Luke one last look on her way up the stairs and was rewarded with a sexy wink.

Embry and Morgan flung themselves into Embry’s apartment and collapsed onto the couch.

“I am
beat
!” Morgan said a little too loudly.

“You tore up that dance floor!” Embry yelled back, her ears ringing from the loud club music.

“You know I got moves.” Morgan shimmied in place.

Embry kicked off her heels and rubbed her sore feet. She dropped her clutch, and her phone bounced out. She picked it up and saw she had a new text. Opening the message, she smiled at Luke’s name.

Hi beautiful. Hope you had a good time tonight and made it home okay.

She sighed and fell back against the seat, clutching her phone to her chest.

“Hey, why do you look all dreamy and weird all of a sudden?” Morgan questioned.

“I don’t look weird,” Embry said defensively.

“Why are you hugging your phone?”

Embry shook her head and held out her phone. “Luke texted me.”

Morgan read the text and tossed the phone back into Embry’s lap. “I think I love him already. Now spill! I need details!”

Embry hadn’t told Morgan about her drink with Luke yet. When she had joined the party upstairs, Morgan shoved a glass of champagne in her hand and dragged her out onto the dance floor. They met and mingled with some people from their sections and danced the night away. It was a blast.

Embry proceeded to tell Morgan everything about her drink with Luke up until the point that Morgan had interrupted them.

“It looked like you were getting pretty cozy,” Morgan teased.

“Yeah, until someone couldn’t help her nosy tendencies and ruined our moment!”

Morgan held up her hands . “Hey, I was just checking on my best friend.”

“Yeah right. You just wanted a closer look at Luke.”

“Can you blame me?”

“Nope. Right before you walked in, he totally caught me staring shamelessly at him and called me out on it. I couldn’t even speak. His eyes got all smoldery, and he leaned in and told me I was beautiful. But I swear, Morgan, it’s probably a good thing you interrupted when you did or I might have mauled his face.”

“That’s my girl! Whatever’s happening between you two, I like it. So are you gonna text him back?”

“No. I don’t know. Maybe. Probably.”

Morgan raised an eyebrow.

“I want to.” Embry sighed. “It’s just … I’m supposed to be doing this for me, focusing on law school, my future. I don’t want to lose myself in a relationship again. I’m scared of how he makes me feel. I don’t even know him.”

“Look, I know Jack did a number on you, but not every guy is like him. Luke is the first guy you’ve met in five years who has you genuinely interested, so why not give it a chance? See where it goes.”

“Yeah … I guess.” Embry yawned. “Maybe I’ll sleep on it.”

Morgan got up and headed for the guest room. “Yeah, sleep is good. I’m going to pass out. Love you, Bree Bear,” she said, using Embry’s childhood nickname.

Embry smiled. “Love you, M.”

Embry walked into her bathroom to get ready for bed. She washed her face and brushed her teeth. As she stood looking in the mirror, she replayed her time with Luke. She lifted her fingers to her cheek and remembered the soft feel of his lips on her skin.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Embry went into her closet to change. Stripping off the too-sexy dress, she pulled on a pair of boxers and a tank and climbed into bed with her phone. She read Luke’s text a few times and decided not to text him back just yet. She tossed her phone on the nightstand and rolled over.