Wednesday. Too damn early. Weston's Bakery.
Lorelai jumped out of the Jeep and quickly looked both ways before she hustled across the street to Weston's. Only the faintest lightening of the sky to the east gave a hint that dawn was coming. Birds were beginning to chirp madly in the maple trees lining the street. The air was soft and almost chilly. It was hard to believe that the afternoon temperatures would once again soar into the 80's.
Overnight she'd devoured a Stephanie Plum book. Stephanie loved Boston cream doughnuts. Morelli loved looking down Stephanie's shirt as she ate the doughnuts. The long night of reading and trying to stay awake had ignited a powerful desire to taste the chocolate icing and custard filling in reality. And if Joe Morelli wanted to sneak a peek while she ate, well, that was fine with her. Although in her mind, the Italian Morelli was sporting the clearest, most beautiful blue eyes and a backwards baseball cap.
When Julio had shown up to start his workday in the Dragonfly's kitchen a few minutes ago, she'd cajoled him into listening for the front desk phone just long enough for her to run out to Weston's and satisfy her doughnut craving. He'd promised to call her cell if any sort of emergency developed that needed her immediate attention. She crossed her fingers that she'd be able to down a couple of doughnuts and gulp some coffee before heading back, and that no one would be the wiser about her little sugary errand.
It was safe to say she'd never been in Weston's so early. She was flabbergasted at how many people were milling about. Most seemed to be leaving with multiple boxes piled high in their arms. She soon realized that the customers were other restaurant owners, coming in to get their pastry orders for the day. Weston's had built up quite a reputation in all of the surrounding towns.
Finally it was her turn.
"Lorelai!" Phyllis exclaimed, shocked to see her. "What in the world are you doing here at this hour?"
Lorelai grinned at the gray-haired woman who'd been so kind to her and Rory through the years and was now in charge of the bakery after Fran's death. "Thanks to a Stephanie Plum book, I have a powerful hankering for some Boston cream doughnuts. You know, they should really put a warning on the front of those books. I'm hungry for Tastykakes and fried chicken the whole time I'm reading one of 'em."
She could tell that Phyllis didn't really know what she was talking about, but the baker gamely carried on anyway, used to Lorelai's chatter. "Sorry, but Luke just cleaned us out of those. Do you want anything else? The bear claws are really good today."
"Luke?" She turned and spotted him down at the far end of the counter. He was busy piling up about a half-dozen boxes and didn't see her. "Thanks, Phyllis. I'll see if I can't persuade him to share those with me!" she said, winking as she moved away to confront him.
She was able to get in his path just as he was turning to leave.
"Are you OK?" he shot out as he spied her, before she could say a word.
"I'm fine," she reassured him.
"Then what are you doing here?" he demanded, still worried.
"Where there are doughnuts, there is Lorelai," she intoned dramatically. She gave him her best smile as she pointed to his towering boxes of deep-fried goodness. "You're going to share those, right?"
"With my paying customers at the diner? Absolutely." He started for the door.
"Luke!" She trotted to keep up with him. "I really want a Boston cream doughnut and Phyllis said you took them all."
He jerked his chin towards the door and she opened it for him. "Well, come to the diner and I'll serve you one."
"I can't," she said, starting to be annoyed. "I've got to get back to the Dragonfly. I just ran out long enough for a doughnut break."
"Then I can't help you," he said, striding towards the truck.
She stopped in her tracks, watching as he kept moving away from her purposefully. She couldn't believe he was denying her doughnut fix. After yesterday! After Monday at the Dragonfly! After Saturday night and the pants-less next morning! It was like she had no effect on him at all! How was this possible?
He'd reached the truck and he looked back at her. "A little help?" he asked shortly, dipping his head at the door.
She stalked over and yanked open the door. "You're seriously not going to give me a doughnut?"
He carefully placed the boxes against the back of the passenger seat. He shut the door and turned to look at her, wiping his hands on his jeans. "They've got dozens of doughnuts right inside there for you to choose from."
"But I read Stephanie Plum! I want a Boston cream!" she whined, louder than she'd intended.
His eyebrows quirked upwards. "That's supposed to mean something to me?"
"No," she said peevishly. "Stephanie's the main character in this series of books. She's a bounty hunter, and she eats a lot ― kinda like me ― and in the books she's almost always stopping at a bakery and grabbing a dozen doughnuts. In fact, she used to work in a bakery as a teenager, and that's where Joe ― one of the guys in her life ― had more than doughnuts with her back behind the counter, if you know what I mean. He calls her Cupcake."
Luke snorted.
"It's cute!" she fumed. "Anyway, she and Joe have this on-again, off-again sort of relationship, and there's this other hot guy, Ranger, who wants her …" Lorelai could tell she was losing Luke completely. "Here's the thing. I read the latest book last night, trying to stay awake, and she ate the Boston cream doughnut, sexy Morelli looked down her shirt, and now I want a doughnut! Why is that so hard to accept?"
"He looked down her shirt?" Luke questioned, sounding more interested.
"It's a thing they do!" she snapped. "It's a bit! It's cute!"
"If you say so," he shrugged.
She took a step closer to him and folded her arms across her chest in an 'I mean business' sort of way. "So are you giving me the doughnut or not?"
"I just don't have time!" He gestured at the ever-growing blueness of the sky. "I have no idea in which of those boxes the Boston creams are, and I don't want to stand here in the street and open them all up. If you want a doughnut, come to the diner!"
She blew out a hot breath of irritation, glared at him, and then spun around to start back to where her Jeep was parked. Let him see how receptive she was the next time he showed up to fix her doohickey!
Even as she stomped away, she knew she was lying to herself. She'd melt into his arms the second he came anywhere near her doohickey.
She suddenly heard the heavy footfalls from his boots and his firm hands landed on her shoulders, halting her progress. He turned her around to face him.
"Listen, I'm not trying to make you mad here. I just really need to get back to the diner." He pulled her closer and kissed the center of her forehead. "Just take a minute and follow me over and I'll get you a doughnut, OK?"
"Am I paying for this doughnut?" she grumbled, still put-out. She remembered clearly her insistence on Monday that she pay for her diner food, but for some reason today it seemed important that he give her the food she was craving.
He took a step back to study her, his arms crossing over his chest. His gaze traced over her lips, slid down her neck, and followed the line of her collar down to where the top button was nestled into her cleavage. "I think we could probably barter something," he said very slowly, his eyes finally coming up to meet hers.
Delicious chills of anticipation chased each other up and down her spine as she absorbed the hungry look he was giving out. "Barter?" she asked, her voice coming out all raspy.
Luke seemed to snap out of the spell he'd been under. He cleared his throat and looked over at the truck, his hand going to the back of his head to tug on the bill of his cap. "It was just something you said at the Dragonfly the other day. About bartering. It doesn't matter. Come on." He started towards the pickup again. "Park behind me in the alley."
She stood motionless for a moment or two, watching him move off. Just the few seconds of contact with him had her heart pumping and her body demanding more. In a flash her brain analyzed the pull of duty versus desire.
It was no contest. Desire won.
She dashed to the Jeep, ignoring the scolding chirps of the early morning birds.
Wednesday morning. Still too damn early. Luke's Diner.
By the time she pulled up behind the old green pickup truck, Luke was already using his hip to shut the truck's door, his arms filled with the boxes of doughnuts.
Lorelai hopped out of the Jeep. "Do you need me to get the key?" she asked eagerly as she hurried over to him, her fingers grasping at the air above his shirt.
He smirked at her. "Already open," he revealed.
She gasped in pretend shock as she hurried up the few steps to the back door. "After all the crap you give me about leaving my door unlocked, you do this?" She held the door open for him. "A little hypocritical, wouldn't you say?"
His words carried back to her as he made a beeline to the counter in the diner. "I knew my arms would be full when I got back here. And if any of multitudes of Stars Hollow's criminals are enterprising enough to check the diner's back door during the ten minutes I run to Weston's, I deserve to get robbed."
There was a light on in the kitchen, spilling into the otherwise dark diner. She watched as Luke quickly opened the first three boxes of bakery delights until he located her heart's desire.
"Ah, here we go." He slipped a Boston cream onto a dessert plate. "This is what you wanted, right?"
"Gimme." Lorelai stuck out both arms.
"Not so fast." Luke held the plate out of her reach. "We're bartering, remember?"
In her wildest dreams she never imagined that the serious Luke Danes was hiding such a throw-caution-to-the-wind, playful side. She loved it. It lit her up to know it. It fed right into her own mischievous personality. "What did you have in mind?" she asked, putting her hand on her hip and trying to sound sultry.
Still using one hand to hold up the plate, he took a step closer to her, and his other hand reached out to her face. His index finger stroked over her cheek and followed the line of her neck down to the collar of her white shirt. Her mouth opened involuntarily and her eyes half-closed as he slowly dipped his finger underneath the collar and slid it down to where it buttoned.
The shirt was fastened with ceramic buttons shaped like vegetables. The top one was an eggplant, and Luke's fingers were rubbing over it now.
"I wish you'd eat your vegetables instead of wearing them," he groused
She forced her eyes open and tried to get back into flirt-mode. "I bought it just for you. Thought maybe it'd be a turn-on."
He smiled briefly. It was obvious his mind wasn't on the bantering. "Lorelai, anything you do is a turn-on." His finger moved on to the next button, an ear of corn. "How about I fix you a plate of vegetables to eat before you have the doughnut? I've got a pan full of green beans left over from yesterday's special."
"Yuck. No!" she shuddered. The idea was so revolting she momentarily forgot that finger pressing between her breasts.
"But you want this, right?" he asked, bringing the plate down under her nose, enticingly.
"I want … lots of things," she teased, letting her eyes drift southward on him. "Make me another offer," she urged.
"OK, here's the deal." His voice was low; serious. "You can have the doughnut. But I feed it to you."
A surprised chuckle broke out of her. "What?" That was certainly not anything she'd expected.
He bent his head close to her ear. "I feed it to you. Any way I want." He kissed the spot right behind her ear, where her jaw turned into her neck, and suddenly she could feel her blood pounding under the skin right there.
She stared at him as he pulled back, once again wondering how she'd missed the sexy guy lurking underneath the flannel shirt for all of these years.
"Do we have a deal?" he asked.
"Deal," she agreed, hoping she'd be able to stay coherent during whatever was going to happen next.
He swirled his finger through the chocolate icing. She expected him to lick it off to sort of tease her, but instead he pushed it through her lips and into her waiting mouth. She sucked his finger as he rubbed it against her tongue. Her breathing became languorous as she watched his eyes flicker for a moment and his jaw tense at the sensation.
He took a deep breath and pulled his finger out. He dipped it into the icing again, but this time he rubbed it over her lips, glazing them with the chocolate. Her tongue darted out to lick, but his hand grasped her upper arm, stopping her.
"Nope. This is for me," he told her, and covered her mouth with his. His tongue licked over her lips, cleaning off every taste of the chocolate
"I didn't … I didn't think you liked chocolate," she observed, proud that she was still able to speak. She forced open the eyes that had slid closed in bliss during the kiss. Her tongue probed her upper lip, just to make sure nothing was left there.
"I like the way chocolate tastes on you." His hand brushed over her face again and she closed her eyes, waiting on another kiss. "Come on," he suddenly said, briskly.
Her eyes flew open and she saw that he had moved to her back. His hand was pushing against her, urging her forward. "Where?" she asked, confused.
"Upstairs." He walked towards the curtain, trusting her to follow. "The rest of this you get upstairs."
Her feet stuck to the floor. She felt discombobulated, bewildered, and too disoriented to point out how dirty what he'd just said was. Something very close to panic shot through her when it occurred to her that he'd wanted it to sound dirty.
"Luke …" she began, tentatively. She nervously glanced backwards, towards the street becoming more visible in the first rays of sunlight. Somehow the tables had been turned on her. She was supposed to be the wacky, unconventional one. She was supposed to be the one that turned her back on everything proper. She was the one who was always ready for a good time, no matter how problematic it could turn out to be. Not Luke. Luke was her rock. Luke was her guide for the way things ought to be.
He studied her for a second or two. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but then he took in a big breath of air instead. He moved back to her and put his forehead against hers.
"Lorelai, I just …" She felt his forehead move against hers as he shook his head. "I just want to be with you. For just a little bit. I want you upstairs with me, for just a minute or two. I know there's not much time, but...Please? Will you come upstairs with me?"
He pulled his head back and she could look into his eyes, where she saw the same solid Luke who'd protected her and cared for her for so many years. She saw the handsome face that he'd kept hidden behind the whiskers and the gruff words for just as long. This was still her Luke.
Her Luke accompanied by a side of out-of-this-world sexiness she'd never suspected.
"Let's go!" she grinned, and headed for the curtain. Her world was back in place and nothing short of aliens landing and blasting Connecticut to smithereens could keep her from going upstairs.
She pulled open the door to his apartment and went to sit down at the table.
"Nope," Luke said at once. "Stand over there." He motioned beside his bed.
Again she turned to look at him wide-eyed, feeling that same disorientation as she had downstairs. "Just what do you have in mind?" she asked, apprehension and anticipation sending tingles through her middle. A small, warm ember of desire started to lick its way into her center.
"Well, if I'm feeding this to you, I don't want to chance getting any of it on your clothes," Luke said, shrugging. "You need to take off your blouse." He said it as though it was obvious.
Her breath was coming fast and she could feel small shivers of want quivering across her chest. She started to work on her buttons, but the ceramic edges of the vegetables were rough and kept getting caught in the threads of the buttonhole. Or maybe her fingers weren't working too well. She couldn't tell at the moment.
She tilted her head up and gazed at him challengingly as she slid the white cotton top off. "You know, Morelli only looks down Stephanie's shirt."
"Then he's a damn fool," Luke said, his eyes following her every move. When the blouse hit the floor he came close and lifted the pastry to her lips. She kept her eyes locked on his as she took a big bite.
"Good?" he asked, as she chewed. She nodded and swallowed.
"Want more?" His voice was definitely getting huskier.
"I always want more," she dared him, licking her lips.
"Then lose the pants," he stated. "I'd hate for any of that custard filling to drip down onto your nice pants."
She pushed off her shoes, still feeling saucy. She unbuttoned her pants and pulled down the zipper, basking in the way his eyes were glued to her. It wasn't until her fingers were in her waistband, ready to tug them down her legs, that doubts crawled up her spine.
"Hey. What's wrong?" he asked gently.
Suddenly she couldn't look at him. She felt the tight, nervous smile on her lips as she shrugged, looking off to the side of the room.
A short laugh broke out of him. "You are surely not shy, are you?" He took a step closer to her so that his face was right against her turned away one. "You were certainly not shy in my kitchen yesterday," he reminded her.
She shrugged again. "This just seems more … intense … than yesterday did."
She felt his cheek move and knew he was smiling. "I was there, so believe me when I say that yesterday was just as intense, Lorelai. I think it's always going to be intense between us." He kissed her cheek, then let his mouth trail down her neck, licking and kissing until he reached her bra. "Lose the pants," he whispered, stepping back a small distance so that he could see her.
Her lungs felt like they might explode, but she got her pants off and started to stand up again. But then she realized she had on one of her oldest pair of plain cotton panties and utilitarian bras. Her hands instinctively tried to cover up as much of the underwear that at one time had been white but now looked as dingy beige as possible.
"Now what?" Luke sighed.
She tried to ignore the blush that she felt heating her cheeks. "I wasn't expecting anybody to see these. These aren't exactly my fancy-date undies."
A large grin shot across his face. "You know what? This might come as a shock to you, but guys actually don't care very much about the underwear. It's all about what's going on underneath the underwear that truly holds our attention."
"But still …" She shrugged. "I want you to imagine I always have on the stuff like I did Saturday night."
Luke frowned, then shook his head regretfully. "See? That's what I mean. I don't even remember what you had on Saturday night."
"Luke!" she said heatedly. Her hands fisted and went to her waist as she glared at him. It wasn't until his face lit up with another grin that she realized he was teasing her.
"Here," he said, stepping close enough to offer her another bite as a peace offering. "You earned it." He nuzzled her neck as she chewed, and she found that she was barely able to swallow with the sensations he was causing with his mouth against her skin. "In fact, go ahead and take another bite, just for the sexy underwear."
As she struggled to take another bite out of the rapidly diminishing pastry, Luke's hand went to her back and eased her bra open before she was even aware of what he was doing. He chased the straps down her arms and it fell to the floor between their feet.
"Oops," he said. "How'd that happen? I'd better be careful, or the next thing you know ―"
She gasped and rose to her toes in shock as the half-eaten doughnut was pressed onto her breast, the custard filling painting her nipple. The creamy filling felt cold on her overheated skin and she could feel her nipple furling into a hard point. She gasped again and clutched at his arm as her other nipple was bathed in the custard as well.
"Geez, Lorelai, I'm sorry," he said, his voice deep and husky. "You'd better take the rest of this while I clean you up." He thrust what was left of the doughnut into her hand and then bent his head to her breast.
She didn't want the doughnut. She couldn't care less about the doughnut. But she crammed it into her mouth and chewed frantically, wanting to get rid of it quickly so that the only thing she needed to concentrate on was what he was doing to her.
He didn't suck on her, but instead he licked. His tongue started underneath her breast and licked upward, slowly, finally swirling around her engorged nipple. He did it over and over, circling completely around her areola, and the thought raced through her fevered mind that he was licking her like an ice cream cone. She whimpered and clung to his strong arms as he started on her other breast.
"I think you're all clean now," he muttered, and dropped down to his knees. His hands and mouth slid down her stomach, past her naval and downward to her dingy panties. "Spread your legs a little, Sweetie. I'm still hungry," he whispered, as his fingers tugged the cotton down her thighs.
He licked her until she opened for him, and then he used the suction he'd banked from her breast cleaning. His hands held open her thighs and one thumb worked its way in from behind. It rubbed against her opening, back and forth, back and forth, before finally pushing inside. More whimpers struggled out of her throat as she anchored her hands on his shoulders. Her fingers bunched up his green-and-gray plaid, and the sensation of feeling his soft clothing while she was completely bare made the pleasure from his mouth even more intense.
All at once she was being steered backwards. The bed nudged her legs and her bottom landed on it. He guided her until she was lying down, and then he grasped her heels and raised them to the mattress, opening her legs. He pulled her towards him until she was on the very edge of the bed.
He leaned over her, kissing her lips, opening her mouth with his tongue. She didn't know when he'd gotten himself unzipped, but she could feel him at her entrance now as he pressed against her, granite-hard and desperate. Even so, he didn't try to thrust into her, but as he continued to lean over to kiss her the pressure from their position caused her entrance to finally yield and the tip of him pushed inside. She tightened around him, urging him to drive deeper.
He straightened and stood, pulling her lower body up onto him so that the bed was only under her upper back. Her thighs were against his chest and her legs found a home on either side of his face. He leaned over her, pushing himself deep.
Her fingers bit into the cording around the edge of the mattress as she tried to find some leverage to keep herself pushing up against him while he plunged into her, opening her ever further and claiming her as his.
One hand slipped down from holding her leg steady and snaked through her short, dark curls. His finger found her wet, slippery center and her head made an indentation in the mattress as she writhed under the pleasure he was creating for her. Without warning, ecstasy exploded under his swirling finger and she forgot how to breathe as her body quaked around his.
He kept thrusting into her, and each thrust sent another small tremor of bliss through her. He pushed into her as deeply as he could and stilled. She forced her eyes open in time to see him throw back his head, the muscles in his neck straining as he flooded into her.
"Luke," she whispered, rubbing herself mindlessly against him.
He gulped in air and leaned over her again, straining to reach her mouth for a soulful kiss of satisfaction. Then he partially stood again, his knees shaking against the edge of the mattress as they both tried to catch their breath and come back to reality.
Eventually she came to her senses enough to realize that his arms were under her back, tugging at her. She looped her arms around his neck and then held on tight as he raised her up against him. She fastened her legs around his back, processing how odd that felt, her bare chest rubbing against the cotton and flannel that still covered him. The only place where they had skin-on-skin contact was where they were still joined together. He turned them slowly and sat down heavily on the bed, holding her to him. Lorelai's legs stuck out behind him, across his bed. He buried his head into the space under her chin.
"This is so crazy!" she heard him mutter against her skin. "So damn crazy!" She picked up an undercurrent of dread or possibly despair, and her heart started to race.
"Luke?" She tried to raise his head, but he burrowed into her even deeper. "Luke, what's wrong?"
She felt him take in another huge gulp of air. He still wouldn't look at her, but he started to move his head against her chin. The grip on her back relaxed and he rubbed his hand up and down her spine.
"All of these years, I thought you were crazy," he tried to explain, his voice a gruff whisper. "I'd watch the crazy things you'd do, and listen to the crazy talk spill out of your mouth, and shudder at the crazy stuff you'd eat." He moved his head, his eyes raking over her face before he laid his rough cheek against hers. "And I guess I thought that if we ever got together, that I'd be able to dampen down your crazy. But instead, look at us!" He straightened and pulled back, his hands holding her shoulders as his chin indicated their current joining. "This is nuts, Lorelai! I mean, do you think I've ever done anything like this before?"
"That's not anything I'd particularly care to think about right now," she shot back. With terrifying awareness she saw her vulnerability as she sat on his lap, totally naked. And even scarier, the protective coating she normally kept around her heart had been allowed to be stripped away as well, leaving her completely defenseless.
"Well, I haven't!" he snapped. "I don't know that I've even had fantasies that match the things we've done the last couple of days!" He took a breath and rested his head against her for a moment, and when he spoke again, his voice was quieter. "I just never thought your crazy would infect me."
She nodded, shivering, because she'd turned to ice from the inside out, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly again, trying to warm her.
She struggled to get the words out of her mouth. "Are you saying you want out? Are you saying we shouldn't be together?"
"What?" He gave her that cross, perplexed look he'd always given her when she talked crazy. "No! Absolutely not!" His hand angled her face down to his, and he kissed her with a tenderness that nearly broke her heart. "I'm just trying to explain that I want you with an intensity I've never felt before. I want you, Lorelai. I want you more than anything I've ever imagined." He paused briefly. "And that sort of scares me," he admitted. "But dear God, I want you so much."
"Is that OK?" she whispered, nestled against the side of his head, his ear under her cheek. She thought it was, but she was still so anxious she wasn't sure.
He sighed as his hands smoothed over her skin. "It's OK. It's very OK." He pulled at her shoulders, bringing her back so he could see her face. "I'm just starting to realize why nothing else has ever worked for me. This level of want wasn't there. The crazy wasn't there. I needed your crazy, Lorelai."
"My crazy completes you?" she asked, trying to sound lighthearted, even though her blood was still skittering through her from the panicked moments just before.
He chuckled and she warmed at the feeling of it against her. "Maybe," he agreed, and kissed her again, his lips pulling on hers as he broke away.
He turned sideways and eased her off of him, letting her tumble onto his unmade bed. He pulled the blanket over her and sank down onto his knees next to the bed, smoothing back her hair as he watched her face.
"You can stay here, if you want." He kissed her again and tucked the covers around her. "Just stay here and sleep. I'd love to think of you up here like this, waiting for me."
She swallowed hard against the sweet pile of sap collecting in her throat. "I can't," she said, freeing an arm from the covers to stroke his face. "I've still got about 3 hours left at the Dragonfly before I can call it a night."
He grimaced and shook his head. "Sorry. Totally forgot about that." He stood up, quickly getting his clothes back to where they were supposed to be. "I'm going to have to run downstairs and open. You use whatever you need up here, OK?"
"OK." She watched him head for the door. He grabbed his hat from where it had landed on the floor and turned to catch one last look at her. She blew him a goofy kiss. He grinned and was gone.
She shut her eyes and rubbed her face against his pillow, smelling him. For just a moment she relaxed every one of her muscles, sinking into the comfort of his bed, wishing like crazy she could just stay right where she was and wait for him. But then she sighed and flung back the covers, swinging her legs over the edge.
Desire was done. Duty had to be fulfilled.
With a gusty sigh she headed to the bathroom.
Wednesday morning. Luke's Diner. Not quite as damn early.
Lorelai cautiously pushed back the curtain into the dining area. She hoped this wasn't going to be a repeat of Sunday morning. Thankfully she saw that the few extra-early patrons in Luke's were too busy gobbling down breakfast to take much note of her.
She wondered if she should just nonchalantly make her way to the door without interrupting Luke's concentration. He saw her, though, before she could slip too far away, and motioned for her to come up to the counter.
"Here." He pushed a bag and a to-go cup towards her.
She had no control over the smitten smile she felt on her face. "I didn't order anything."
He was trying not to display just how happy he was, but the upturned corner of his mouth was giving it away. "Thought you probably needed something," he tried to say blandly.
She looked inside the bag and spied two Boston cream doughnuts tucked inside. She gave him a wide, innocent look, and took a small step backwards. With a resigned sigh, she started to unbutton the top eggplant on her shirt.
Luke nearly leapt over the counter to grab her arms. "What are you doing?" he hissed.
She shrugged, still trying to maintain her air of injured innocence. "I have to barter for these somehow, don't I?"
He dipped his head down, looking like he was torn between annoyance and trying not to laugh. "I think your account is overpaid, actually. I think I owe you."
She beamed at him. "Wow, bartering is great! I'm going to have to try it more often!"
"You only barter with me," he warned her sternly. Then he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. "See ya, Lorelai."
"See ya, Luke," she replied, feeling on top of the world. She gave him one more golden smile and headed for the door.
On the way around the building to the Jeep she paused just long enough to take one good gulp of the coffee he'd so thoughtfully sent along with her.
She choked and sputtered when her taste buds encountered tangy orange juice instead of the dark elixir of life she'd expected. Her glowering eyes turned to the window.
He grinned at her smugly. She saw his lips form the word 'healthy' as he pointed at her. Still grinning, he motioned for her to drink up.
And all she could do was to shake her head at him and grin back.
The crazy went both ways, apparently.
A few minutes later she was on her way to the Dragonfly. Maybe they would do a better job of fighting it on Thursday, she thought, hoping no one saw her speeding over the back streets. She licked some custard filling off her upper lip and shivered. Somehow she just didn't think that restraint was going to be in their immediate future.
Tomorrow: Self-Control Thursday!