Chapter Three

Luke Rhodes glanced up as the door of Curves opened. It was less than an hour before he was heading home, and he really wanted to get into the kitchen and clean up a bit. The night had been fucking brutal, even by Dangerous Curves standards, with three separate fights between three separate groups of assholes.

Luke’s boss Jax Hamill had just left, his hand wrapped in a towel full of ice, his knuckles bruised and bleeding, and Luke sported a split lip and a nice bruise of his own on his cheek. When he saw John Griffin’s hulking frame taking up the whole doorway, though, he grinned.

“Hey, man,” Luke drawled. “About time you got here to see me.”

“Yeah, I know. Sorry.” Griff paused as he took in Luke’s face. “Rough night at Curves?”

“Uh-huh.” Luke did a double-take when he saw the gorgeous woman standing behind Griff. “I see you brought company.”

“Sure did.” Griff gestured at the woman. “This is Selena Perez.”

“Oh, right.” Luke tilted his head at her to get a better look at those long legs. “Griff’s partner in overnight bodyguard duty.”

She nodded tersely, didn’t make eye contact.

Luke paused, took in her ‘fuck off and die’ vibe, decided to totally ignore it. A woman this fucking stunning probably got lots of jerks hitting on her, and no doubt she threw up the bitch act to put them off. But Luke wasn’t put off so easy. He also wasn’t a jerk.

“So, you guys here for breakfast?” Luke asked.

“Yep.” Griff came over and sat at the bar, Selena trailing behind him. “And to tell you that I got the Broncos tickets for this Saturday, if you ain’t working.”

Luke’s blue eyes lit up right away. “Naw, man. I’m off that night.”

“OK, good.” Griff reached into his leather jacket, pulled out a ticket and handed it over. “Here’s yours.”

“Thanks,” Luke said, sticking the ticket in the back pocket of his jeans. “How much do I owe you?”

“Nothing.”

“That’s not fine by me. How about your breakfast is on me?” Luke smiled at Selena, who was sitting at the counter and looking at the door like she was thinking about escape. “Yours and Selena’s?”

She started when he said her name, swung her incredible dark eyes back to Luke. “No, that’s OK. There’s no need for that.”

“Sure there is.” He grinned at her, and she stared back, stony-faced. “You’ve been out all night, right? So you can use a hot meal and a cup of coffee, I bet.”

Despite herself, Selena found herself softening a bit. For some reason, she also noticed the way that his black hair curled over the nape of his neck. “Yeah, actually,” she said hesitantly. “A coffee would be great. Thanks.”

“And some chilaquiles?” Griff said hopefully. “They’re on the menu today?”

“Always, man. If you’re in the mood for Mexican food, I can make you chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, chorizo with potatoes and egg, or a plain-old-fashioned breakfast burrito. You choose.”

“Ummm.” Griff thought about it. “Have I had the chorizo yet?”

“Nope.” Luke poured a cup of coffee and grabbed a second cup. “Not yet.”

“So I’m going for that.”

“OK.” Luke shifted his gaze to Selena’s face, took in her amazing lips. “And you?”

“Uh.” She hesitated. “Maybe the huevos rancheros?”

“Good choice.” Luke set Selena’s coffee in front of her, extended his arms on the counter, braced his right hand on the scratched-up wood. The stance made his chest and shoulders look absolutely huge, and pulled his rippling upper arm muscles tight against his black t-shirt. “Here you go. Drink up.”

She nodded absently and dropped her eyes to Luke’s forearms. Hmmmm. They were nice, actually, strong and defined. Selena had a thing for that part of a man’s body, and her eyes moved down farther. She stared when she reached Luke’s left hand… or to be more accurate, where Luke’s left hand should have been.

“Your hand!” she blurted out before she could stop herself; right away, she wanted to ram both feet in her big, dumb mouth. Fuck, she was out of it. No way she’d ever call attention to something like that if she were in her right mind. “Oh, God, Luke. I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have…”

“Hey, it’s OK.” Luke shrugged, a careless, gorgeous gesture. “I know it’s not there.”

Selena flushed and, oddly, felt tears threatening. “Luke…”

“Nah, babe.” Luke’s voice was surprisingly gentle, a direct contrast to his steely eyes and body. “Don’t, alright?”

“But it was just so damn rude of me,” she whispered, too mortified to even object to this stranger calling her ‘babe’. “After more than five years overseas, I know better. I’m so, so sorry.”

“Apology accepted.” Luke slid Griff’s coffee over to him. “Now, you guys drink that and if you want more, help yourselves, yeah? I’m going to get your food going.”

Griff nodded. “Thanks, man.”

They watched Luke go into the kitchen, heard pans clattering and Luke whistling. They looked at each other.

“You good?” Griff asked softly.

“Yeah.” Selena had herself together again, mostly, and she took a shaky sip of coffee. “I just – I just spoke without thinking.”