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She had no idea what he was up to and was too tired to argue. “ ’K.”

As her eyes slid shut, she heard his footsteps retreat. The next thing she knew, Luc was gently shaking her.

“Alyssa?”

“Hmm.” She’d fallen asleep on the couch while he’d . . . what? Watched?

Then the smell of food hit her, and her stomach rumbled in response. She opened her eyes to find eggs and toast and some fruit in yogurt on a plate beside her.

Before she could ask, he pulled the plate into his lap and sent her a stern glance. “You’re going to eat. Furthermore, you’re not going to go a whole day without eating or sleeping again. Now, open up.”

Luc looked as if he meant business. Secretly, she was touched. Was the man trying to make her fall even more in love with him? Even in Tyler’s most solicitous moments, he would never cook for her. He barely cooked for himself. And yes, this was Luc’s profession, but the fact he’d done it after getting little sleep himself and being on his feet all evening melted her.

“I can feed myself.” She reached for the fork.

“I’m sure you’ve been doing it since roughly your first birthday. But I’m at least partially to blame for your exhaustion and hunger. Let me.”

She didn’t agree with his assessment. She could have had someone at the club fix her a salad or could have found a few minutes to close her eyes, if she’d really wanted. She was a big girl. Yet Luc insisted on shouldering the blame.

Someday, he would make some woman seriously happy, and the fact it wouldn’t be her nearly made her cry.

“Alyssa?”

Too tempted and tired to argue, she opened her mouth. Fluffy eggs with cheese and something spicy hit her tongue. Oh, then onions, tomatoes, and mushrooms so perfectly cooked they melted in her mouth. He followed with a buttery piece of toast, then a few spoonfuls of the yogurt and berry mix. Pure heaven.

“Why?” she asked between bites. “You’re tired, too. Guilt?”

He paused, then lowered the fork and looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry if I upset you and ruined your day. But taking care of you isn’t about guilt.”

Insidious hope seared her. Alyssa opened her mouth to ask questions.

He placed his finger over it. “Shh. Not tonight. We’ll sort it out tomorrow.”

Luc was right. They weren’t going to solve their problems or figure out what was between them while they were both this close to exhaustion. It wasn’t in her nature to put off until tomorrow what should be done today, but she saw his logic. And wanted to live in this fantasy just a moment longer.

Nodding, she opened her mouth again, and he placed the next bite inside.

Once her plate was empty, he brushed her hair behind her shoulder, anchoring it behind her ear. “Still hungry?”

“What about you?”

“I ate before the dinner service. I’m fine.”

Frustrating man wouldn’t let her worry about him, but insisted on taking care of her. It was a guilty pleasure. Like eating ice cream, which she could never afford if she still wanted to fit into her clothes. But once . . . just this once, it was so damn delicious.

“Did you get enough to eat?” he asked.

Alyssa put her hand to her stomach. “Full.”

He smiled tenderly, and her heart flipped. How easy it had been to fall in love with him . . . How foolish.

“Good.” Luc helped her to her feet. When she wobbled, he looked down at her feet and frowned.

“What?” she asked.

Shaking his head, Luc bent to her and removed her shoes.
Ahhh
. . . The relief was nearly orgasmic. She hadn’t realized how much her feet hurt. New shoes were the worst, but she’d gotten so tired later in the evening that the pain in her feet had ceased to register.

“That bad, huh?” Luc swore and lifted her against his chest once more.

“I can walk,” she insisted.

He stared at her, and her gaze was snared by those dark, inscrutable eyes. “Yes, but you don’t have to. Now, set the alarm.”

As they passed the keypad, he stopped and allowed her to input the code. Once it was armed, he ensured the door was locked, then made his way up the stairs.

“I’m too heavy for this,” she insisted.

Luc scoffed. “I once spent a summer hauling hundred-pound bags of grain up and down a loading dock, one bag on each shoulder. Carrying you around is a breeze.”

Sweet liar
. She smiled and closed her eyes, savoring his closeness and caring. God, this felt
so
good. But she had no doubt she’d pay for it tomorrow with every last bit of her heart.

LUC shifted, sinking deeper into a sublimely comfortable bed. Something smelled good, like peaches and cinnamon.
Hmm
. And a warm feminine body rested beside him, lax in a way only complete trust allowed. Experimentally, he moved a hand—and encountered a lush hip under his fingers.

His morning erection jumped from promising to demanding.

He opened his eyes and took in the pale walls, sheer curtains, shadows of late morning. Gorgeous platinum hair and soft, rhythmic breathing.

Alyssa.

Everything inside him tightened with arousal, anxiety, and confusion.

What the hell had happened yesterday? After they’d had mind-blowing sex, he’d crashed, then awakened abruptly once he’d realized Alyssa wasn’t in bed beside him. She’d never picked up his calls to her cell phone, and his anxiety grew. When he’d tracked her down at Bonheur hours later, he’d found her in Tyler’s arms. The switch for his possessive instinct had flipped on in a big way. He’d been nearly berserk with jealousy.

Luc didn’t understand the instinct for several reasons. First, he hadn’t lied when he’d said it seemed unlikely Alyssa had allowed her bouncer to fuck her that afternoon. It had taken Luc a while to reach that conclusion, but he knew it was true. Alyssa was too ambitious to risk Bonheur’s opening for a piece of ass.

That still didn’t ease his aggravation because he doubted their relationship was platonic. Tyler wouldn’t stick around if he wasn’t getting any, so likely, on any other day the bouncer would have had Alyssa naked and spread out for his pleasure.

Tightening his grip on her sleeping form, he tried to push the image away.

What Luc couldn’t figure out was why he cared who Alyssa fucked. Thinking back through all his relationships in the last dozen or so years—most of them ménage—he’d never once felt an urge to grab the girl and keep her all to himself. Now he could hardly tamp down the impulse.

When you’ve got feelings for a woman, jealousy comes with the territory
.

Feelings, Deke had suggested. And Luc had only a few days left to figure them out. Yesterday, she’d pulled away. He’d actually felt her putting distance between them. That reality had infused him with a vague panic he didn’t understand. After this week, he’d likely never see Alyssa again. How could he fit her into his life when she didn’t fit into the future he’d envisioned? Nothing about the way she looked or behaved said “mother material,” especially her relationship with her own mom. And if he pursued Intracytoplasmic sperm injection or they went to a sperm bank, getting pregnant in her profession would be the kiss of death. Yes, she also had Bonheur, and she could be pregnant and run a restaurant . . . but she still spent a lot of time at Sexy Sirens. Besides, one look at her and artificial insemination was the last thing that came to mind. He didn’t see any other option except to fuck her out of his system so that when he returned to East Texas, he could focus on Emily and his dreams of fatherhood.

Problem was, he actually
liked
Alyssa. As a woman. As a person. And whatever they had, it wasn’t just sex.

Worse, last night, he’d gotten this odd pleasure in taking care of her. She worked so damn hard, fulfilling the needs of her businesses and her employees before seeing to her own.

Once he was gone, who would take care of her?

Tyler.

God, even the man’s name burned like acid in his gut. He squeezed his eyes shut. Why the hell should he be so jealous of another man when he was the one lying naked beside her?

Because it’s not going to last
.

Shoving the ugly thought away, he propped himself up and looked at Alyssa’s clock. Ten eighteen. Wow, they’d both been exhausted, sleeping a good nine hours plus.

Suddenly, she rolled over slowly and opened her eyes. Her lashes batted slumberously, her makeup smudged beneath her eyes. Rather than resembling a raccoon, she looked vulnerable.

Once she saw him, Alyssa glanced away, vague panic on her face. “What happened?”

Damn it, she was pulling away again, and all he wanted was that trusting warmth against him again, her arms around him, her lips raised to his.

He stroked her shoulder with a soothing touch. “Nothing. You were hungry and exhausted. Do you remember eating last night?”

Immediately, she flushed and nodded. “You fed me.”

A smile touched his mouth. “Yes. Then I brought you to bed. You fell asleep halfway up the stairs.”

She covered her face with her hands, then peeked one eye out. “Seriously?”

Luc nodded. “Dead asleep. You mumbled something about not wanting to ruin your dress just before you conked out, so I took it off and tucked you in.”

Alyssa wriggled, blinked. “You took
everything
off.”

“I didn’t know what you usually slept in . . . and I like you this way.”

Sighing, she rolled her eyes. “What time—Oh!” Glancing at the clock, she cursed. “We should be at Bonheur around twelve. I think the others will be there by two.”

“Good. Then we have time.”

“For what?” Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Her body was pressed close to his; she couldn’t have any doubts that he wanted her badly. But her expression told him that sex wasn’t first on her list, and he supposed she still had questions about yesterday.

“A proper breakfast, for one thing.” His tone scolded her.

“And?”

“Whatever else happens.”

She sat up in bed and wrapped the covers around her. The sheet hid her lush curves, even as it molded to them. Luc felt nearly dizzy with want.

“In the interest of saving time and bullshit, just answer one question. What is going on between us?”

That was direct
. Luc actually admired her for having the guts to ask what she really wanted to, for not taking the easy way out.

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I like you, I want you, and the thought of you with Tyler rips me to shreds. That’s all I know.”

She paused. “Uncharted territory for you?”

Luc nodded. He realized that, in all his “relationships,” he’d never taken the time to really know a woman unless it suited his purpose. If there was an end to achieve, he figured the woman out enough to manipulate her response in his direction. With Alyssa, he wanted to know her because she fascinated the hell out of him.

“Me, too.” She admitted. “I don’t . . . do relationships.”

He frowned. “You don’t get emotionally involved?”

Alyssa raised her knees to her chest and curled her arms around them. “Trust is hard for me. I don’t usually let men into my personal space.” She tossed him a pointed glare. “This house is supposed to be my Zen retreat, hence the pale walls, the black-and-white nature photos, and water features. I come here to escape, not fuck.”

If he was translating her right, she was claiming that she’d never brought another man here. What about Tyler and his house key? For protective purposes only? The fact she’d broken her rule for Luc twice said something about her feelings. The answering leap in his chest scared the shit out of him.

God, could he really fuck her out of his system in four days, or would he just fall in completely?

“Friends with benefits is as far as I ever go. So to actually give a damn at all is weird for me.”

So she gave a damn about him. It wasn’t huge emotion, but it was a start. Question was . . . where was it leading? He had no clue.

“Any reason you don’t get emotional?” He knew from experience that emotion made the sex richer. It was one reason he always tried to feel something for his partners.

“I don’t need complication, and happily-ever-after is bullshit. Every night, I see lots of married men who would give their right nut to fuck me or one of the other girls, wife be damned.” She sent him a sad smile. “You’re here cheating on a girlfriend. I’m not stupid, Luc. I don’t set myself up for heartache.”

Had that been why she left yesterday morning without a word, because he’d gotten to her emotionally? And why did he like that thought so much?

“Where does that leave us?” he whispered.

“If we were smart, we’d end this now.”

Not until he was good and ready. As miserable as she looked, he didn’t think that was what she wanted, either.

So he leaned closer and brushed his mouth over hers. “I don’t think I can be smart when it comes to you.”