A/N: First of all, thank you to everyone who responded to my query about Packaged Goods. I just wanted to be sure that the interest was still out there. I really appreciate your candor and encouragement. Secondly, real life has been a bit hectic this weekend, so this was the only update that I managed. I hope that the fact that this is the longest Slip to date will help to hold you until I can get to Packaged Goods this week.
This is for a very special friend who whispered the idea into my ear, and then let me run with it. Get comfortable, it's a marathon. Love and hugs to you all!
A Touch of Cinnamon
Sookie smiled with anticipation as Luke placed their burgers in front of them. "Thank you."
"Thank you," Lorelai murmured distractedly. She looked up as Luke moved away and said to Sookie, "Life is a funny funny thing, huh?"
Sookie chortled and said, "Yeah I love that Jim Carrey."
"What?"
"Jim Carrey. He's just - he's just funny," Sookie replied with a helpless giggle.
'He is funny but I didn't mean funny, funny. I'm being philosophical," Lorelai explained.
"Oh. Very serious face. Jean-Paul Sartre," Sookie replied with a comically stern frown.
"I can't talk to you with that face," Lorelai said, exasperated.
"How do you guys get any work done?" Luke asked as he passed by, not bothering to pause for an answer.
"Who said we did?" Lorelai retorted.
"My mistake," Luke called back from the kitchen.
"Hey Luke? I hate to bug you again, but…"
"Yeah, I know, I'll get to them in the next day or two," Luke promised as he hurried past them once again on his way to the storeroom.
Sookie smirked and then rolled her eyes. "You don't even have to finish sentences. Now, that's funny." She turned back to Lorelai and asked, "So, why is life such a funny thing?"
"I met this amazing guy," Lorelai confided.
"Goody!"
"Yeah there's goody stuff about it but there's baddy stuff too. He's a teacher at Chilton. Max. You met him at the bake sale."
"Oh! He looked good."
"Yeah. Right. He's so sexy and smart and funny and he likes coffee," Lorelai said excitedly.
"God, he sounds perfect for you." Sookie frowned at her plate and then peered at Lorelai's as she asked, "Did you get onions?"
"No."
"Hey Luke! You forgot the onions," Sookie called to him.
"I'm just so mixed up though. You know this is a real crossroads kind of situation. It's like 'to perm or not to perm.' I'm really confused," she said plaintively.
"For Heaven's sake," Sookie muttered under her breath as she pushed off of her stool. She ducked behind the counter and began gathering a few odds and ends to garnish their plates as well as the plates sitting in front of the other customers. "Go ahead, I'm still listening. You were about to perm your hair," she prodded.
"I just want to do the right thing."
"I'm not sure I see what the problem is," Sookie commented, still bustling around behind the counter.
"Oh, there are many problems. First, I do not like to involve Rory in my personal life. I don't want her to have to deal with that. You know, I might bring some guy home and he might not be the guy but then she gets all attached to him and then all of a sudden I decide that I don't like the way he eats or he hums incessantly or…"
"Or the way he smacks his lips or how his hair isn't really his," Sookie chimed in.
"Yeah. And then I break up with him and then Rory is the one who gets hurt," Lorelai said dejectedly.
"I totally understand."
"This guy is her teacher. I mean, there's no way to keep him out of her life. She sees him every day," Lorelai said, getting agitated. "And no matter how attracted I am to him, something keeps telling me 'No, no, no', you know?"
Sookie finished doctoring the customer on the next stool's open face turkey and then turned back to Lorelai. "You do know that Rory's not a baby anymore," she said gently.
"I know, that's what he said. Maybe I'm being too serious, right? Maybe I should loosen the rules a bit. I make the rules, right? But Rory. I mean, this affects her, really affects her. But, you're right, he's right, she isn't a baby anymore." Lorelai gnawed her lower lip for a moment. "Plus, be great to get...you know," she added as she raised her eyebrows suggestively as she took a sip of her Coke.
"What?" Sookie asked, leaning onto the counter.
"You know," Lorelai said slowly, trying to convey her meaning with her eyes.
Sookie shook her head slightly and gave her a befuddled smile. "No, I don't."
Lorelai sighed with impatience. "You know! He knows," she said in an exasperated tone, gesturing to the man with the open-faced turkey sandwich.
Sookie turned to look at him and asked, "You know?"
"Yeah I know," he answered.
"Sookie!" Luke shouted when he spotted her behind his counter.
Sookie quickly straightened up and said, "Hey. I was just looking for your paprika."
"What have I said about the counter?" he demanded as he hurried over to her.
"I know."
Luke took her by the shoulders and guided her back to the other side of the counter. "How the counter is a sacred space. My sacred space," he emphasized. "You don't do yoga on the Dalai Lama's mat and you don't come behind my counter, period."
"I was trying to help," Sookie cried as he led her back to her seat.
Luke turned and glared at Lorelai. "You bring her again and I want her on a leash. I mean it."
They watched with interest as he grabbed a rag and stomped away. Sookie smiled as she picked up her burger and said, "He does make a damn find burger, though."
"He does at that," Lorelai agreed, pulling her gaze from Luke's retreating back. "All right. I'm just going to keep it simple. I'll tell Rory. If there's even an ounce of weirdenss about it I'll cancel," she said decidedly.
"You haven't told Rory yet?" Sookie asked, wide-eyed.
"No."
"Oops."
"No, not oops," Lorelai said indignantly. "The timing hasn't been right. This is a very delicate, fragile situation. It's like one of your soufflés. If you don't do it right it's a disaster."
"And you have to order it 45 minutes in advance," Sookie added.
"Huh?"
"My soufflé."
"Right, I wasn't but speaking directly about your soufflé. I was speaking metaphorically."
"Oh so you don't like my soufflés?" Sookie demanded.
"How do we work together?" Lorelai asked.
"Sex!" Sookie cried, garnering the attention of everyone in the diner. "You want sex!" she said excitedly.
"Sook!" Lorelai hissed, grasping Sookie's arm tightly.
"Oops. Sorry," Sookie said as she glanced around sheepishly. "You want sex," she whispered to Lorelai.
"Well, that would be nice," Lorelai grumbled as she focused intently on her burger.
"Well, then, you should go out with him."
"It's not just about that. I mean, yeah, it would be nice," Lorelai said in a low voice as she glanced around to see if anyone was still listening. "But, I don't know. It's more than that. There was this thing, when I met Max for coffee… He was telling me this totally cock and bull story about his uncle, and he touched my arm. Just touched my arm, and I, I was just blown away," she confessed.
"Wow. That much chemistry?"
"No, well yeah, but not that. I mean, he's attractive and all, but I just realized how long it had been since anyone had touched me, just touched me," Lorelai tried to explain.
"Touched you? I touch you all the time," Sookie pointed out with a puzzled frown.
Lorelai rolled her eyes. "And I appreciate it."
"Rory touches you too."
"I mean someone who isn't you or Rory, okay? Someone who isn't female."
"Ahh."
"I keep thinking about that touch, and I wonder if I'm really all that attracted to Max, of if maybe I just need someone to, you know, want to touch me," Lorelai said quietly.
"Well, I'd imagine that there would be a few who would volunteer for the job," Sookie said dryly.
"Yeah, well, I don't want just anyone, and I don't want just sex," Lorelai said firmly. "I want more than that. Although, at this point I'd probably settle for just the sex," she said with a wry smile.
"I know what you mean," Sookie assured her.
"But this thing with Max, that makes it all more complicated. What if it turns into more than touching and sex?"
"Isn't that what you want?"
"With Rory's teacher? I don't know. It just opens up this whole new can of worms. Why can't I just meet a guy that I can just be with; no weird complications, no traumatizing my kid?"
"Sweetie, I think all guys come with complications. You just have to figure out which complications you and Rory are willing to live with."
"Maybe so," Lorelai murmured. "Anyway, maybe I'm reading way too much into this. Maybe I'll go out with Max and figure out in the first five minutes that I wouldn't want him to touch me with a ten foot pole," she said hopefully.
Sookie blinked and shook her head. "Wow. I've seen you make up your mind about a guy pretty fast, but I think that has to be a record. Poor guy didn't even have a chance," she said sadly.
"He has a chance!" Lorelai argued.
Sookie snorted and said, "Not much of one."
"Well, there's not much chance that Rory's going to be all that thrilled about me dating her teacher," Lorelai said pointedly. "Hell, she won't even let me date Lu…"
She was cut off by a loud clattering sound. They turned to find Luke reaching for the salt and paper shakers he had knocked off of the table directly behind them. "Sorry," he muttered to no one in particular.
"What were you saying?" Sookie prompted as they turned back to their plates.
"Huh?"
"She won't let you date…" Sookie led, her eyebrows shooting up speculatively as the bells above the door rang out.
"Mom, you better come," Rory said breathlessly as she reached for Lorelai's arm.
Lorelai glanced down at her daughter's fingers wrapped tightly around her elbow and asked, "Honey, what's wrong?"
"It's Cinnamon," Rory said somberly.
"I'd better…" Lorelai said as she tossed her napkin onto the counter and reached for her purse.
"You go. I'll take care of this and start thawing a casserole," Sookie said as she waved her away.
"Thanks, Sook," Lorelai called over her shoulder as Rory pulled her from the diner.
Sookie watched them leave, and then her eyes strayed to Luke as he took up his customary spot behind the cash register. "You get all that?" she asked him in a low voice.
"Huh?"
"If you're gonna move, you'd better move quick," Sookie advised.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Luke grumbled.
"And while you're moving quick, why don't you hustle back there and get me a touch of onion for this burger?" she suggested pointedly.
"Coming right up," Luke answered as he turned on his heel and headed for the refuge of his kitchen.
****
Lorelai gathered another round of empty glasses and carried them into Babette's kitchen. She lowered herself to the stool with a heavy sigh, and then let her mind drift along with the music as she methodically washed glass after glass. Her mouth turned down at the edges as she recalled Babette saying that she had never thought that any man would want her. Regardless of the powers Babette thought her ass possessed, Lorelai knew the feeling all too well.
She had also felt Max's gaze practically mapping that ass as she walked back to the wake. It was a feeling that she was way too familiar with. And in light of the brief conversation she had with Rory on the front porch, she had to admit that his chances of ever laying a hand on her ass were getting slimmer and slimmer.
No one was more aware of what a mess her romantic life had been than Lorelai herself. She made sure of that. Sure, Sookie knew a few juicy tidbits. Babette may know whatever information she could glean from her front window. But even Rory, with her ringside seat, didn't have the full scoop. Not that there was too much to tell. Lorelai was well aware of the fact that a woman her age should probably have more to tell. At least, when it came to romance.
The sex part was easy. Or, easier, she amended. It's not hard to get a guy to sleep with you. It's infinitely easier than getting them to call you again once they find out that you have a kid. Lorelai held a cup under the running water, carefully rinsing the suds from it, inside and out.
It had almost been simpler when Rory was little. Not little, little. No, those days had been too hectic, too worrisome, and too overwhelming to even be bothered with something as inconsequential as sex. She hadn't even kissed another boy from the time that she left her parents' house until Rory was almost four. Frankly, she hadn't wanted to. Not that she was hung up on Christopher. It was actually quite the opposite. Lorelai knew from experience that nothing could serve as a better form of birth control than having a kid at sixteen and then trying to build a life of your own for you and your kid. The fact that she shared a squeaky old double bed with her kid every night didn't even factor into the equation. That is, until she met Matt Curtis.
Matt was one of the valets at the Independence Inn the summer after her nineteenth birthday. He was tall and handsome, with a slightly goofy smile, and the oversized hands and feet of a puppy. Matt was going into his junior year at U Conn, and working at the inn for the summer to earn money to supplement his bank account. And that summer, he and Lorelai and Rory were almost inseparable. They were friends; taking Rory on picnics with food they managed to beg from the kitchen staff, watching her pick dandelions down by the pond, and sitting outside the potting shed on warm summer nights talking for hours about anything and nothing while Rory slept soundly inside.
It had taken Matt over a month to kiss her. That had left them only three and a half weeks to cram all of the kissing they could into the remainder of his summer break. And they did their best to make up for lost time. While Rory lay curled up on the squishy mattress inside, covered only with a cool cotton sheet, Lorelai lay prone on the soft grass behind the potting shed, gasping as Matt kissed her breasts under a blanket of stars. Night after night, he kissed her until her head spun. Night after night, his large hands roamed her body, touching her, stroking her, and setting her on fire in a way she had never experienced before. Night after night, he whispered into her ear, begging her to touch him, groaning her name in a voice drenched in need, and guiding her hands over his body.
Matt was more experienced than Christopher had been. His fingers didn't fumble with her clothing quite as much. His hands felt more sure as he caressed her skin in the pale moonlight. His lips, teeth and tongue moved over every inch of her as she lay panting and exposed, bathing in the waves of newly awakened sensation. And one night, two days before he was to leave, he dared to produce a foil wrapped condom from his pocket and looked down at her hopefully. That night, and the night after, they lay wrapped in a blanket on the lawn behind the potting shed, doing their best to make sure that Matt got his money's worth out of that box of twelve. And when he left, he brushed a kiss to her lips and promised to call her as soon as he could. That was the last she'd heard from him.
Sadly, it wasn't the last she heard of him. Every day, Rory asked when 'Map' was coming over. And for weeks after, she couldn't understand why they couldn't invite 'Map' to come with them to toss bread to the ducks, or why 'Map' never read her bedtime stories anymore.
Lesson learned, Lorelai reminded herself sternly as she rinsed the last glass and set it on the rack to drain. As she reached for a towel to dry her hands, Lorelai acknowledged that it was probably one of the biggest lessons of her life. Never one to disprove the theory of 'twice shy', Lorelai once again swore off men. She held her breath each time Rory asked about Matt, only to exhale little by little as the weeks passed and the questions came fewer and farther between. She focused all of her energy on raising her daughter. When Rory started school, she dove into the PTA headfirst, only to come up gasping for air as the other moms latched onto the fresh blood with a choke hold. She gave up on her school involvement entirely when one of the dads blatantly propositioned her during the first grade open house.
As Rory got older, Lorelai learned to juggle things a little more handily. She surrounded herself with women, building a strong network of friends that she could depend on. At work, she did things better and faster than anyone else, inching her way up to Head of Housekeeping and then Assistant Manager all before Rory turned ten.
As for men, she met a few here and there. She even accepted a few dates when she could finagle a babysitter for Rory. And in that arena, she learned even more quickly. It didn't take long for her to discover that twenty-something guys were scared shitless of the thought of being saddled with a single mom and her pre-teen daughter. It didn't take her long to learn that if she needed a little of what Rick Springfield called 'The Human Touch' she had better get it while the getting was good.
Lorelai quickly became aware of the fact that second dates were far more rare than first, and third dates ranked somewhere around hen's teeth in their scarcity. She knew that no matter what Cosmo or Glamour or any of the other women's magazines said, she didn't have the luxury of holding out for the third date. Inevitably, she'd dump her purse and a collection of plastic barrettes, crayons, Happy Meal toys, and a bottle of Children's Tylenol would spill the beans for her. Or, something would come up, forcing her to fess up as to why she had to cancel at the last minute, and then the date would mysteriously never be rescheduled. She learned by the ripe old age of twenty-seven that if a single mom had an itch that needed scratching, she needed to get that guy rubbing away as quickly as possible.
Lorelai dropped the towel onto the counter, and then began to wipe it down; her eyes following the methodical in circles she made as she smeared away the droplets of water. Guys. It always came down to guys, she thought with a frown. Rory's willingness to forego Chilton just a few weeks earlier sprang to mind. The way that Sookie's natural clumsiness amplified whenever Jackson, the inn's produce supplier, walked through the door frightened her. Max's ability to dole out punishment for tardiness in one breath and an invitation to dinner in the next both baffled and intrigued her.
"Here are a few more," Luke said, startling her from her thoughts.
Lorelai jumped and whirled to face him, clutching the towel tightly in her fist. "I was just wiping down the counters," she blurted.
Luke nodded and carried the glasses clutched between his fingers to the counter. "Babette probably won't mind if you don't get to these," he said gruffly.
"Oh, no, I'll get them," Lorelai said as she tossed the towel over her shoulder and moved to resume her place on the wooden stool. "Careful," she cautioned as Luke stepped back and hit his head on the light fixture. "I did that earlier," she told him with a wry smile.
"I feel like one of those guys from Gulliver's Travels. The tall ones," Luke grumbled as he pressed his hand to his head.
"Brobdingnagians," Lorelai answered absently. "They were supposed to symbolize self-examination."
"What?"
Lorelai glanced up and then smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. Rory did a paper on them last year."
"Ah."
"Because they were so big, Gulliver could examine them up close. Every pore, every follicle is open to scrutiny," she explained. "You have to see the small things in life because suddenly they're so big."
"I see," Luke said as he leaned back against the countertop.
"I got to hear about Gulliver for weeks."
"Lucky girl."
"I am," she said, looking up at him with an open smile.
"Yes, you are," Luke answered gravely. "I'll, uh, get those gutters cleaned out for you."
"Thanks." Lorelai's relieved smile was genuine as she turned to look at him. "The last time it rained, the waterfall over our steps is like Niagara. I actually considered nailing myself into a barrel and rolling off of the roof. I figure I'll stay drier that way then trying to run through it."
"Or, you could use an umbrella."
"If I had one," she said with a cheeky grin.
"How do you function from one day to the next?" he teased, his hand brushing hers as he reached for the glass she had just washed and rinsed it.
Lorelai's smile faltered as she turned back to the sink. "Hey, thanks for bringing the food."
Luke shrugged and said, "I was gonna anyway. Already had the meatloaf in the oven."
"I figured," she said with a nod. "Still, it was nice of you."
Luke blew out a breath and dried his hand on his flannel as he said, "Well, that's what you do, right? It's a wake. For a cat," he added with a small laugh of disbelief.
"Yeah, but she was their cat," Lorelai said soberly as she dared to look at him once more.
"Yeah, she was," he acknowledged quietly.
When Lorelai turned back to the sink, a few strands of hair clung to the shiny gloss she had slicked over her lips. Without giving himself a moment to think about it, Luke reached out and gently brushed them away with the tip of his finger.
Lorelai's head jerked up as his fingertip grazed her cheek, and he pulled his hand away. "It was, uh, stuck," he said as he ducked his head, his cheeks coloring as he shoved his hand safely into his pocket.
"Thanks," she replied, her own cheeks coloring as the word came out in a whisper.
"I'm gonna go," he announced abruptly as he pushed away from the counter.
"Oh." Lorelai reached for the towel and dried her hands again as she stood up. "Yeah, well, thanks again for the food."
"Sure. Anytime," he said with a nod, his feet riveted to the spot.
Lorelai smiled. "Night, Luke," she said softly.
"See ya," he managed to grunt, and then touched her back lightly as he scooted past her to get to the back door.
Lorelai whirled and stared at the door as the café curtains swung back into place, and then squeezed her eyes shut as she shook her head. "Come on, seriously? That was too lame, even if you are hard up," she admonished herself under her breath. And as she turned back to the stool in front of the sink, she patently ignored the warm tingle of sensation tickling the skin between her shoulder blades.
****
An hour later, Lorelai lounged against the frame of Rory's door as she said, "So we never did quite settle the whole dating-your-teacher issue. I won't go out with him if you don't want me to."
"You can go out with whoever you want," Rory answered as she brushed past her to get to the refrigerator.
"It's whoever we want," Lorelai corrected her adamantly.
"Well I'm certainly not going to go out with him 'cause that would be really weird."
"But I mean it. I won't see him if you don't want me to," Lorelai persisted.
"Huh."
"You know, if there's anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, big or small, then he's out of there."
"Good to know."
"Because you know it's not like I'm desperate. I mean, there are plenty of other guys out there," she said, trying to sound more confident than she felt.
"Sure are."
"And it's not like I have to ask your permission. I mean, this is a courtesy," Lorelai told her, growing impatient with Rory short answers.
"Okay," Rory replied as she closed her bedroom door firmly between them.
"But I have to tell you, I think you're getting really demanding. First you tell me that I can't date Luke, and now it's Max."
"Luke?" Rory asked. "Who's talking about dating Luke?" she demanded as she yanked the door open.
"You were. Well, not you dating him, you said that I couldn't date him. Now, I understand that you do get a say in this, but I do too," she argued futilely. "I mean, sooner or later, Mommy's going to meet a guy and you're going to have to know him whether it's before me or after me."
"I understand," Rory answered with a brusque nod and closed the door before Lorelai could stop her.
Lorelai grunted in frustration. "And, it's not like this place is crawling with guys," Lorelai called as she leaned her forehead against the door. "I mean, yeah, there will be other guys, but sometimes those kinds of guys are few and far between, and you've scratched two of the good one right off the top of the list."
Lorelai frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest and waited, but there was no reply from the other side of the door. "Okay, so, I'm going to be up for a while, if you want to get back to me on this."
"I know where you are," Rory called back, her voice muffled by the door.
Lorelai heaved a sigh and turned toward the stairs, her shoulders slumping at the thought of another night all alone in that big bed, without even the prospect for anything more.
"Mom?" Rory said as she opened her door.
"Yeah?"
"I think I'd rather you dated Luke."
A surprised laugh bubbled from Lorelai's throat. "Thanks, kid, but Luke is not the guy who asked me out."
"But he likes you," Rory argued. "And you like him."
"I just said I thought he was cute."
"Ah, you didn't! You asked if I thought he was cute, but now you admit it, you think Luke is cute," she crowed.
"I'm not talking about Luke, I'm talking about Max," Lorelai said, her frustration rising.
"But you brought Luke up, and I'm telling you that I think that you should date Luke instead of Mr. Medina."
"Because Luke doesn't have the power to flunk you?"
"Luke would never flunk me," she said dismissively.
"True, but you were all worried that you'd starve. So, what you're saying is that you'd rather starve than flunk English."
"Luke would never let me starve either. Don't worry, if things go wrong, I'll order everything to go and split it with you."
"This is getting ridiculous," Lorelai muttered as she turned toward the stairs once more.
"Mom, I really don't want you to date Mr. Medina," Rory blurted. When Lorelai turned to look at her, she grimaced. "I know it's selfish, but I don't. I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay," Lorelai murmured.
"It's just that Chilton is hard, not just the work, but just being there, and I can't think of any way that this won't make it harder," Rory said imploringly. "If you really want to, if he means that much to you, then I'll understand. But you asked how I felt, and that's how I feel. I feel selfish," she finished quietly.
"It's not selfish," Lorelai said gently. "I totally understand."
"But I want you to date someone great. I want you to have that," Rory assured her.
"I know you do. There will be other guys, Rory," Lorelai said as she reached down and smoothed her daughter's silky hair. "There are plenty of other guys."
"Thank you," Rory whispered sincerely.
"We're in this together," Lorelai reminded her. "You and me."
****
Lorelai climbed into bed that night replaying her conversation with Rory over and over again in her head. She totally got where Rory was coming from as far as Max was concerned. Hearing Rory say it out loud simply confirmed her fears. Rory was having a hard enough time finding her niche at Chilton without having her mother throw a wrench into things. She knew that. But Luke. Luke? Why couldn't Rory see that Luke was far more dangerous than Max could ever be?
Luke was her friend. Her first guy friend since Matt Curtis weaseled his way into their lives, and then slunk away never to be heard from again. She still hoped that he was fat and balding and suffered from ingrown toenails. She really hoped that Rory didn't remember Matt, and that summer her mother had been such a fool. She'd been so careful since then. She'd made sure that no matter how many guys flitted in and out of her life, Rory's life had never felt so much as a flutter. But Luke. Luke wouldn't be a flutter. He'd be a windstorm, a hurricane, a catastrophe waiting to happen.
She'd been so careful when they first got to know him. She'd kept Rory front and center, like a kind of talisman to keep the grumbly diner owner from wanting to get too friendly. But he did get friendly, in his own Luke-like kind of way. He was friendly to Rory. Genuinely interested in her and what she had to say. Usually more interested in Rory than he was in her mother. Well, that wasn't exactly true. Lorelai had to admit that she'd caught him looking.
But the looks that she got from Luke were different from the looks that other guys gave her. He didn't waste his time talking to her breasts. Instead, he looked her straight in the eye, and usually told her that she was crazy. If he'd ever memorized the contours of her ass the way that Max had, well, she wasn't aware of it; and Lorelai Gilmore was nothing if not aware of her charms. No, Luke's looks were different. There was the worried frown when she mentioned her furnace making the funny clunking sound. There was the exasperated eye roll when she batted her eyelashes and begged for another cup of coffee. There was that shyly proud smile when she told him that Rory had made it into Chilton. All in all, even counting all of those tiny moments when their eyes met for a moment too long, there was absolutely nothing in any of those looks that told her that he was out to get into her pants.
And that was more than she could say for herself. But Lorelai didn't count the looks that she gave him. She was only doing what every other female resident of Stars Hollow over the age of eighteen and in possession of a pulse did. Ogling the local diner owner was the townswomen's favorite pastime; and Lorelai was not embarrassed to admit, if only to herself, that she had raised it to an art form. Many, many cold winter nights were warmed by the thought of peeling away that flannel exterior to see what lie beneath. Many times she had lain in her bed picturing those broad shoulders above her, and imagining that his long fingers were stroking her skin. She told herself that it was because there were not an abundance of candidates available to fill the leading role in those breathless, lonely fantasies. But she also knew that when it came to a tossup between imagining Luke's body pressing into hers, and say, George Clooney's, Luke was usually the one whose face she pictured as she was crossing the finish line.
But Luke was Luke. Luke was supposed to be safe. For her and for Rory. And even though they weren't really what she would consider close friends, he was a good friend. A friend that she wanted to keep. Even if it did mean foregoing the possibilities that played out in her mind. Logically, she knew that if something were to happen between them, the odds of Luke taking off and never coming back were slim. Intellectually, she knew that he wasn't some twenty year old boy looking for a good time before returning to the world of frat parties and homecoming dances. But she liked having him as a friend. And if keeping him as a friend meant that she only saw him naked when she was alone, in the privacy of her own bedroom; that was a price she was willing to pay.
No, Luke was not an option for her, no matter how much she would have opted to be co-opted by him. And, apparently Max was not an option for Rory. The fact of the matter was that Rory was her world, her everything, and if Rory said 'no', then 'no' would have to be her answer too. But that didn't mean that Max Medina couldn't have a guest starring role on her own personal Late, Late Show.
Lorelai slipped her hand under her pajama top and cupped her breast, fingering her nipple lightly as she pictured herself plunging her hands into Max's thick, dark hair. A whimpered moan escaped her lips as she pinched her nipple, imagining that lush, glossy hair slipping through her fingers as he kissed his way down her body, and drew that distended nipple into his mouth. Her other hand burrowed into her pajama pants, slipping into her panties and she began to stroke her clit in light, teasing circles. She closed her eyes, and gave herself over to the tiny sparks of sensation as she imagined him pressing his open mouth to the curve of her stomach, steadily working his way lower. Her breath hitched as she slipped one finger into herself and pictured Luke looking up at her from between her bare thighs.
"Good?" he asked in a low, gravelly voice as his finger pressed into her once more.
Lorelai's head jerked up and she quickly disentangled her hands from her clothing as she blinked rapidly to clear her mind. "So good," she panted, her heart hammering with frustration.
Agitated by Luke's invasion of her Max fantasy, Lorelai decided to punish them both. She tossed back the covers and rolled out of bed. Then she crossed to the bedroom window, grunting as she slid it open, letting the cool, crisp autumn air flood the room. She sank to a squat, leaning heavily on the window sill as she gulped in the fresh air. A minute later, she shivered and stood up. Satisfied that whatever ardor she may have felt had been sufficiently cooled, she darted for the bed and pulled the covers up over her head. "What the hell does a girl have to do to get laid, anyway? It probably shouldn't be this hard," she said as she plumped her pillow with her balled fist. "Ha! Hard," she snorted, and then buried her face in the pillow.
****
"Chocolate chip pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs over easy and a beta blocker," Luke muttered as he slid two large plates onto the counter in front of her.
"You forgot my toast," Lorelai called after him as he circle the counter, coffee pot in hand.
"I had hoped you'd forget it too," he answered as he started a round of refills.
"Hit me with that on your way back to the kitchen," she instructed, pointing her fork at him with a stubborn scowl.
Luke made his way back toward her and placed his hand lightly on her back as he leaned over her shoulder to refill her mug. "Can we make it wheat toast, at least?"
"No. You can make it white toast," she answered with a nervous laugh, resisting the urge to turn her head toward him.
"Worth a shot."
"And don't skimp on the butter," she retorted, watching as he made his way back to the kitchen, depositing the pot on the burner as he passed by in one smooth move. Lorelai stared at the ebony liquid sloshing in the glass carafe, trying to regain what little composure she had lost the moment he touched her.
When he reappeared a few minutes later with her toast, she looked up and smiled her triumph. "I can believe you're going to eat all that," he complained.
"I need the toast for the eggs. The bacon is salty enough to counteract the sweetness of the pancakes and the sausage just tastes damn good when you swirl it in maple syrup," she said as she swirled a hunk of sausage in the pool of syrup on her pancake plate.
Luke shuddered visibly as she popped the tidbit into her mouth and chewed enthusiastically, and then fell back into the safety of his kitchen to regroup.
****
"Hit me, and hit me hard," Lorelai called out over the chime of the bells as she breezed through the door that afternoon.
"Just what every guy dreams of hearing," Luke replied as he reached for a mug and the coffee pot.
"I need it on the run, please."
"The law after you again?"
"Yes, and you are aiding and abetting."
"I've always wanted to be an accessory."
Lorelai smirked as she reached for the to-go cup. "Fine, tomorrow I'll wrap you around my neck and wear you like a scarf."
"I'll be sure to wear my fringes," he said dryly.
"You are my personal savior," she said as she pulled a dollar from her purse and slapped it onto the counter.
As she pulled her hand away, Luke caught it in his. Lorelai looked up in surprise, a tiny line of consternation creasing her brow. "Tomorrow okay?" he asked.
"Okay?" she asked blankly.
"I should be able to get them cleaned out in the morning," he told her, still gripping her fingers lightly.
"Cleaned out? Oh! The gutters!"
"Yeah."
"Oh, yeah tomorrow would be great," she said quickly, marveling at how easily her skin absorbed the heat of his hand.
Luke gave her hand a gentle squeeze and then released it. "I'll be by in the morning."
"Great. Great," she repeated as she backed toward the door. "See ya," she managed to mumble, and then hurried away.
****
Lorelai tossed her purse onto a table and slumped into a chair, her coat hanging open and exposing her royal blue dress.
"You okay?" Luke asked as he approached, mugs and coffee pot in hand.
Rory looked up and flashed a relieved smile. "She needs pie, stat," she said with a shrug.
"What kind?" Luke asked as he poured.
"Doesn't matter," Rory assured him.
Luke glanced worriedly down at Lorelai as she stared at the napkin holder in what appeared to be a nearly catatonic state. He placed his hand gently on her shoulder and asked, "What happened?"
Lorelai jumped, sitting straight up in her chair as if she had been scalded. Rory blurted a nervous laugh and said, "It's Friday night. We had dinner with my grandparents."
"Ah. I'll go a la mode," Luke said as he let his fingers trail from her shoulder.
"He keeps touching me," Lorelai whispered as he walked away.
"Touching you?" Rory asked with a bewildered frown.
"Yes! Touching me!"
"What do you mean?"
"Just now. He touched me just now," Lorelai hissed.
"He patted your shoulder," Rory said with a laugh.
"Forget it," Lorelai muttered as she crossed her arms protectively over her chest.
"What's the big deal?"
"The big deal is that Luke and I, we don't touch," she said in an exasperated tone.
"O-kay." Rory leaned forward and folded her hands on the tabletop.
Lorelai shook her head and hooked her finger through the handle on her mug. "Speaking of things we don't touch, I called Max today," she said in a low voice.
"Yeah? How'd that go?" Rory asked cautiously.
"Oh, well, he was, um, persistent."
"And you were?" Rory prodded.
"Resistant."
"O-kay."
Lorelai smiled sadly and said, "I told him it just wasn't going to happen."
Rory sighed. "I'm sorry, Mom. Maybe you should…"
Lorelai shook her head again and said, "No, you're right, it's too complicated. Things shouldn't start out this complicated, they should get complicated."
"Right," Rory said with a sad smile.
"So that's that. No Max," Lorelai said, looking up abruptly as Luke reappeared with two plates of pie smothered in ice cream.
"Cherry, a la mode," he said as he slid the plates onto the table
"You are the best," Lorelai said as she stared down at her pie covetously.
He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze and said, "And don't you forget it."
Lorelai looked up at him and murmured, "We won't." She plastered a smile onto her face and said, "I'm needlepointing a pillow for you."
Luke turned away, hiding his relieved smile until he reached the safety of his kitchen.
****
The wine was smooth and rich, with some kind of woodsy flavor, and Lorelai was inordinately proud of herself for holding back the smirk that threatened when he utter the words 'after notes'. She was simply grateful the he hadn't spit it out after taking a sip from the glass that their waiter had offered to him to taste. No, the wine was good, going down as freely as it was poured.
The candlelight flickered, casting a warm glow over his skin, and sparking tiny flames that danced in his brown eyes.
"So, what does Rory think about this? You and me," Max asked, leaning forward with a confident smile.
"Actually, she doesn't want me to date you," Lorelai admitted.
"But you're here."
"I'm here," she said, meeting his gaze boldly.
"Rory doesn't approve and you came anyway?" he asked with a smug smile.
"She said she'd understand if I still wanted to."
"And you do?"
"I want…" Lorelai trailed off, breaking away from the warmth of his gaze and staring intently at her wine glass. She traced the rim of the glass with the pad of her index finger and said, "I can't date you, but I need you to do something for me."
Max's eyebrows shot up. "Do something for you?"
Lorelai lifted her eyes to meet his again and stared at him steadily. "Yes."
"What?"
"Touch me," she whispered.
Luke carefully lifted the extension ladder from the bed of his truck, hoisting it up high so that metal wouldn't scrape against metal any more that absolutely necessary. He eyed the house warily as he carried the ladder across the lawn. He knew they'd still be fast asleep, but her gutters were clogged and the forecast was calling for heavy rain.
As quietly as he could, he propped the ladder against the roof and stepped back, his hands planted on his hips as he debated whether he should knock or not. Giving the grey early morning sky another glance, he turned to peer at the length of gutter that ran across the front of Lorelai's house. With a slight nod, he decided that he could at least take care of the one in front, eliminating the need for Lorelai to nail herself into a barrel to get out of the house.
They lay wrapped up in each other, a tangle of limbs and acres of skin glowing in flickering firelight. She lifted one leg, letting it glide over the rough hair on his and she urged him closer as his hands claimed every millimeter of skin he could reach. He cupped her breasts, squeezing them gently, tormenting her nipple with his calloused thumb as she writhed beneath him.
"Oh God, I want you," she whispered into his ear, closing her eyes as she pressed her palms to the curve of his ass and then raked her nails up his spine.
She watched from above as he parted her, his ass round and smooth as he lifted up, the muscles beneath his pale skin flexing as he pushed into her.
"So good, so good," she whispered, covering that ass with her hands as he filled her.
Luke's boots were heavy as he stepped onto the roof and then froze. He glanced down at them and then lowered himself onto his butt to unlace them. Setting them aside, he decided just to tap on Lorelai's bedroom window just to let her know that he was there and getting to work on her gutters.
"What does Rory think about this, you and me?" he asked breathlessly as he slid into her, his body slick with her desire.
"She told me that she doesn't want me to date you," she answered in a whisper.
"Then we shouldn't do this," Luke said gruffly as he pulled away.
"No! She changed her mind," Lorelai cried, sitting straight up and grasping for him as he slipped just out of her reach.
"Nooo," Lorelai groaned as she sat up in bed, her heart hammering.
Falling back onto her pillows, she reached for the lamp, bathing the room in rich gold that warmed the cold, grey morning. She tossed the covers back, the residual heat of her dream still heating her skin. Lorelai eyed the clock and groaned when she noted that it was far too early to be awake on a Saturday morning. Knowing that she'd never get back to sleep in the state that she was in, she pushed her t-shirt up over her stomach, exposing her breasts to the cool air that filled the room, and then covering them with her hands, just as Luke had. She pinched her nipple, imagining his lips closing over the tight, beaded tip, and moaned aloud.
Luke's head swiveled and he froze as he saw the light come on in her room. "Crap," he muttered, knowing that he'd get an earful for waking her up that early. He pushed up and padded across the roof in his sock feet, checking the steel grey sky once more as he prepared his defense.
As he crouched down by her open window, he heard her moan, and ducked his head to ask if she was okay. The words died on his lips as he peered into the softly lit room and saw Lorelai sprawled on the bed caressing her breasts. His hand tightened on the window frame and his breath caught, hopelessly tangled up in the knot in his throat.
"Oh yes, touch me," she moaned.
Luke watched as she slid one hand down the side of her neck, over the bunched up t-shirt she wore, passing lightly over her taut pink nipple, and then down the soft curve of her stomach. He blinked rapidly, knowing that he should turn away, but utterly powerless to do so as her fingers dipped under the elastic of her pajama pants. He watched as her hand moved beneath the thin fabric patterned with stars and moons, his mouth falling open as her lips parted and her breath hitched in her throat. Luke wet his parched lips with the tip of his tongue and then bit back a groan as he saw her begin stroke herself, and wished that he could yank those pants down, needing to see her, aching to be the one touching her.
Lorelai moaned again as her fingers moved faster beneath the pale blue cotton. Luke stared, fascinated by the way her hand closed over her breast, squeezing it tighter with each stroke of her fingers. Her chest rose and fell as her breathing became fast and shallow, and he forced himself to swallow past the lump in his throat. Lorelai whimpered and he bit his lip hard to ward off the strangled groan that threatened from deep in his chest. She pressed her head back into the pillow as her hand moved faster and faster, pushing herself over the edge.
"Oh, Luke," she groaned as she climaxed.
His hand fell from the window frame, and he caught himself just in time as he fell back onto his ass, panting as if he had just run a mile. He shook his head slightly, wondering if he had actually heard her, or if the sound of his name on her lips was only wishful thinking on his part. Luke glanced down at the aching bulge in his jeans and then squeezed his eyes shut, wondering if it made any difference or not if it was, after what he had just seen.
"Dammit, Luke," he heard her mutter. Petrified that he'd been caught peeping, his mind raced with possible excuses as he leaned forward and cautiously to peered into her window again. He saw her curled onto her side facing away from the window as she burrowed into her pillow, her t-shirt pulled down a bit, but still gathered just under her breasts. He stared at the smooth expanse of skin at the curve of her waist and wished with every fiber of his being that he could sink his teeth into the sweet dip.
Lorelai reached up and pushed her hair back from her face, pressing her cheek into the pillow as her breathing started to slow. Luke fell back, turning to press himself up against the side of the house as he tried to get a handle on his own oxygen intake.
Finally, he began to scoot back down the slope of her roof to the edge where he had left his boots, knowing that he had to get away from there. He yanked the boots on, and quickly tied the laces before pushing to his feet with a groan and stepping down onto the ladder. His jerky movements made the ladder shift and screech against the metal gutter and he winced. Gripping it tightly he balanced himself and took a deep calming breath before forcing himself to take it down another rung.
He had just reached the bottom and was pulling the ladder away from the house when the front door opened.
"Luke?"
"Oh. Hey," he croaked. His hands tightened around the sides of the ladder as he spotted Lorelai in the doorway in her pale yellow t-shirt and moon and stars pajama pants.
"What are you doing?"
"The, uh, gutters," he said as he nodded to the ladder in his hands.
"It's barely even seven," she complained.
Luke looked up at the sky and then back toward her, focusing his gaze somewhere around her bare feet as he said, "Supposed to be heavy rain today and I didn't know when I'd be able to get to them…"
"Oh."
"You said you didn't have an umbrella," he muttered, looking back up at the gutters as he pretended to position the ladder in the right spot.
Lorelai smiled tiredly and said, "Actually, I do, but they are really clogged. I think they've surpassed Niagara and are moving toward Angel Falls."
"I'll do ya, um, them," he said. Luke sucked in a breath as he silently cursed himself and then babbled, "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up."
"I was awake," Lorelai answered as she stepped out onto the porch, wrapping her arms tightly over her chest to ward off the chilly morning air.
Luke nodded as he stared at the top of the ladder, knowing that he couldn't possibly look at her. "Shouldn't take too long. I'll get this front one now. I may not get to the rest today."
"I really appreciate it," Lorelai said sincerely as she watched him start to climb the ladder.
Luke nodded again, and then scrambled up the last few rungs.
Lorelai heard the heavy footfalls of his boots on the shingles, and then turned to go back into the house. She stopped on the threshold, pressing her hand to her stomach as she felt that familiar itch, down deep inside. She scratched her stomach absently, and then, acting on impulse, Lorelai decided it was about time for her to get what she wants. She bit her lip hard as she turned and hurried across the porch and down the steps.
"Luke?" she called up to the roof.
"Yeah?" he answered, peering over the edge as he knelt on his hands and knees.
"I was thinking, if you're free, I'd take you to dinner tonight. You know, as a thank you," she stammered. She ducked her head as she waited for his answer, and winced as she realized that she was standing in her front yard in her pajamas asking a guy out.
"Dinner?" Luke asked blankly.
Lorelai nodded and then ran her hands over her sleep tousled hair self-consciously as she took a deep breath and plastered on a bright smile. "If you want to," she said with a shrug. "Nothing fancy," she added as she mentally calculated the contents of her bank account. "Casual. Just dinner," she rambled as she gently raked her nails over the goosebumps on her arms.
"Okay, yeah, sure," Luke answered slowly.
Lorelai's smile warmed as she inched toward the steps. "Okay, well, okay thanks. I'll see you later then," she said, giving him an awkward wave and then dashed up onto the porch and into the house, letting the front door slam behind her.
"Holy crap," Luke whispered as he leaned down and pressed his forehead to the rough shingles at the edge of her roof. "Ah geez," he groaned, wondering how he'd ever be able to sit across from her and not see her as he had just a short time before.
****
Lorelai was surprised at how easy it was, sitting across from Luke in the new Mexican restaurant that had just opened in Woodbury. She was stunned by how different he was once he was away from the diner. Luke talked. Over enchiladas and ice cold Coronas, he told stories about growing up in Stars Hollow, he spilled the juicy details of their friends and neighbors peculiarities and peccadilloes. She liked being with him. She liked the way he talked with his hands, his long fingers gesturing expressively as he told her about his paper route, his dad's hardware store, and spilled the beans on who tipped well and who didn't. She liked the way his hair curled softly behind his ears as he leaned forward, listening attentively as she told tales of Rory's younger years, and the sometimes disastrous results of her attempts at being what she thought was a good mom. She really liked the way he glanced away shyly when their eyes met and held over their long forgotten plates.
She wanted more of this. These stories he was telling, the easy banter that they fell into without thinking, the guy that sat across from her. She wanted to know why he set aside the wedge of lemon that was served with his beer. She wanted to see him smile more often. But most of all, she wanted him to want her the way that she wanted him. And judging by the attentive way he tried to anticipate her every need throughout the meal, and the way that he doggedly kept the conversation flowing, even though she knew damn well that it didn't come naturally to him; she thought that maybe, just maybe, he did.
Luke knew he was acting like an idiot, rambling on and on about anything and everything. He couldn't help it. He could barely look at her without seeing her bathed in golden lamplight. He could barely keep his eyes off of her as her smile dimmed the glow of the festive colored lights strung along the restaurant's ceiling. She was incredible. Vibrant and vivid, her smile warm and inviting, her eyes bright, drawing him in each time he dared to look directly at her. He knew he was making a fool of himself.
He didn't really know if this was a date, but he was going to make damn sure that if on the off chance that it could be one, he didn't want her to be disappointed. But he told himself sternly that it was only dinner. An hour or two in her company. An hour or two that he desperately wanted, even if he couldn't have anything else. He knew that she'd be mortified if she knew what he'd seen through her open window. So here he was, sucking it up and blocking out the memory of her smooth creamy skin. Here he was, making a fool of himself as canned mariachi music played through the sound system because he was afraid that it was the only chance he would get.
"So, are you ready?" Lorelai asked, reaching for her wallet as he drained the last of his beer.
"I've got it," Luke said as he snatched the folder holding their guest check from the table.
"Luke, I asked you to dinner," Lorelai argued. "A thank you, remember?"
Luke shook his head and thumbed through his wallet as he said, "Nah, that's not, I've got it."
Lorelai blew out an exasperated breath and said, "That's not the point."
"Lorelai, it was no big deal. Took me, what? Forty-five minutes?"
"Still not the point."
Luke shoved some bills into the folder without really looking and practically shoved it at their waiter as he passed by. "I don't have a kid in private school," he said gruffly.
Lorelai huffed and shook her head as she rolled her eyes as he stood up and then moved to help her with her chair. "This isn't over. I'll think of some way to thank you," she threatened.
"You just did. Multiple times," Luke said as he pressed his hand to the small of her back and gestured toward the door.
Lorelai grinned as she grabbed her purse from the back of her chair and stuffed her wallet back into it. "So dirty," she said, tossing a sassy smile over her shoulder as she started for the door.
Her smile faded as his hand fell away, and she slowed her steps in an effort to keep him close. "Do you want to drive?" she asked as she dangled the keys to the Jeep in front of him.
"Do you want me to?"
Lorelai smiled and said, "You didn't seem too comfortable with being in the passenger seat."
Luke's smile was a tad sheepish as they paused in the restaurant's vestibule. "Nah, it's your car. I'll pull it around, though, if you don't want to get wet," he said as he nodded to the rain pouring down outside the window.
"That would be great," Lorelai said as she handed him the keys. "I don't want to melt, I am made of spun sugar."
"That's not surprising," he muttered as he took the keys and then pushed through the door.
Lorelai watched as he ran to the Jeep and climbed in. He circled the lot and then pulled right up to the restaurant's entrance, putting the car in park with the driver's side toward the door. He climbed out, ducking his head against the driving rain as Lorelai exited the restaurant and made a dash for the door he held open for her. A minute later, Luke slammed the passenger door and then gave his head a little shake to shed the water from his hair.
"A little wet, Sparky?" she teased.
"Sorry," he muttered, smoothing his hair back into place. "Awful night."
"Not all awful," she said in an injured tone as they pulled away.
"No, I meant the weather," Luke said quickly.
"I know," she replied, favoring him with a teasing smile.
When they turned onto the highway, Luke laced his fingers together to keep from clinging to the door. He cleared his throat and then asked, "So, Rory is settling in okay? At school?"
Lorelai shrugged, keeping her eyes on the rain slicked road. "It's hard. Really different from Stars Hollow High," she said, glancing over at him with a wan smile.
"I bet."
"Very competitive, very cliquish."
"Did you go to a school like that?"
"Oh yeah," Lorelai said with a laugh. "I mean, you can't beat schools like Chilton for the academics, and for Rory, it's the best thing we can do to get her into Harvard."
"Yeah."
"But socially, she's kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place."
"I can see that," Luke said as he rubbed his chin worriedly.
"She'll make some friends eventually," Lorelai said as she glanced over at him. "And, she always has Lane."
"Yeah, but still, that's rough at that age," Luke said as he turned toward her. "I mean, high school sucks anyway. I couldn't wait to get out."
Lorelai smiled and said, "You should have gotten pregnant, that's one way to escape."
"Yeah, but you're smart, and your parents had money, you could have gone on to some Ivy League school."
"That was the plan."
Luke studied her profile carefully for a moment. "But you don't regret it," he stated simply.
Lorelai shook her head and said quietly, "No. How could I regret Rory?"
"Exactly," he agreed.
They fell silent for a moment and the sound of the rain rushing under the wheel wells filled the car. "Plans change. Dreams change," Lorelai murmured.
"And now you want to own your own inn," Luke said with a nod.
Lorelai looked over at him in shock. "How do you know that?"
Luke smiled. "You come to my diner every day. You talk. A lot," he added in a low, deep voice.
She laughed. "Yes, I do."
"I think it's great," Luke told her sincerely.
"You do?"
"Sure. There's nothing better than owning your own place."
"You get to make the rules."
"Yep."
"If you want to shut it down and jet off to Italy for a month, you can," she said with a nod.
Luke chuckled. "Yeah, well, maybe."
"In theory."
"In theory," he agreed as he returned her smile.
They flew past the Stars Hollow sign, and Lorelai slowed as they entered town. "I had a really good time tonight," she said as she turned to look at him.
"Me too. Except for the talking. I talked a lot," he said with a self-deprecating smile.
"That's why it was fun."
"I never talk that much."
Lorelai turned to navigate around the square as she asked, "Were you nervous?"
"Well, I guess, a little. It's weird, you know, hanging out outside of the diner," he admitted as his thumb practically rubbed a hole in the palm of his other hand.
"Yeah, I was a little too," Lorelai said reassuringly. She turned down the alley behind the diner and asked, "Is this okay?"
"Sure," Luke answered as she pulled to a stop behind his truck.
Lorelai put the Jeep in park and turned to look at him. "But I did have a good time," she said again.
"Yeah," Luke answered with a nod as he reached for the door handle.
"Hey," Lorelai said, touching his arm to get his attention. When Luke turned to face her, she leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips. "Thanks for dinner," she whispered as she pulled back slightly.
"You're welcome," he answered automatically.
"It was fun," she said as she leaned in again, her breath tickling his lips.
"Yeah," Luke breathed as he couldn't help but close his eyes and kiss her again. "We should, uh, do it again," he said gruffly.
"I'd like that," Lorelai whispered as she raised her hands to his head, sliding her fingers into his hair as she pressed her lips to his once more.
The rain beat a steady tattoo on the canvas roof of the Jeep as she pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. Luke responded immediately, touching the tip of his tongue to her lips, and groaning into her mouth as she parted them. His tongue circled hers as he reached for her, pulling her as far as her seatbelt would allow, and then pressing across the seats when it wasn't nearly close enough.
Lorelai could feel the steady thrum of his heart as the rain spattered across the windshield, his velvety tongue gliding over hers as his hand pressed into her back, the heat of his palm radiating through her jacket, her top, her skin. Her hands slid down the sides of his neck and burrowed under the collar of his black cloth coat, her fingers playing along the neckline of his sweater.
"Invite me in," she whispered in a soft, husky voice as he began to kiss his way along her jaw.
"I saw you," he confessed in a rush, his breath hot against her ear.
"Hmm?" Lorelai hummed as he nipped at her earlobe.
"I'm sorry. I got there early. I didn't want to wake you," he blurted as he pulled back to look at her, but found himself unable to meet her eyes.
"What?"
"I was trying to be quiet, but then your light came on, and I went to the window to tell you that I was there," he said as he fell back into his seat, rubbing his forehead with his fingers.
"This morning?" Lorelai asked. When he hung his head and nodded, her eyes widened slightly and then narrowed. "You saw me this morning," she gasped. Luke nodded again, and she squeezed her eyes shut as she asked, "What did you see?"
His voice was hoarse as he stared down at his hands and said, "I saw."
"Oh my god," Lorelai breathed as she rocked back into her seat, pressing her hand to her flaming cheeks.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Luke said in a rush.
"Oh my god," she said more emphatically.
"I know I shouldn't have, but you, and the lamp and you looked so…" he trailed off as he raked his hand over his face.
"So? So what?" she asked in a tight angry voice.
"Beautiful," Luke whispered as he exhaled. He turned toward the window, watching as the rain cascaded over the heavy plastic. "I'm sorry."
"Oh my god," Lorelai exhaled with a low, hollow laugh.
"And I like you. I really like you," Luke said gruffly as he wrung his hands. "I know I shouldn't have come tonight, but I couldn't not. I like you," he said helplessly, just getting warmed up. "And I did have a good time tonight, and I want to do it again, but I know that now… I just, I blew it," he said as he reached for the door handle and pushed it open with his foot. He paused for a moment, standing in the pouring rain as he pressed his lips together. Luke leaned into the door as he looked at her bowed head. "I'm sorry, Lorelai," he said softly. "You don't know how sorry I am."
Lorelai sat up as he closed the door firmly and walked around the back of the Jeep, pulling his keys from his pocket as the rain soaked his clothes. She watched as he bent his head under the glow of the security light and searched for the right key, and then reached to open her door. Lorelai jumped down from the seat, oblivious to the pummeling downpour and called out to him, "So, now you know."
Luke's head jerked up as she pushed the door shut and started toward him. He stared straight into her eyes as she closed the distance between them and kept them locked on hers as she grasped his head between her palms. "Now you know," she repeated as she pressed her lips to his once more, kissing him hungrily.
Luke dropped his keys and wound his arms around her tightly, hauling her up against him and then pressing her back against the rough brick wall as their tongues tangled. Lorelai pushed on his shoulders, pressing her head back against the wall as she gasped for air. Her hands pushed frantically at his sodden coat as she tipped her face up, letting the cold rain cool her flushed skin. Luke's lips and tongue were hot, branding her as he greedily lapped the cool water coursing down the creamy skin of her neck.
"It was you. I was thinking about you. Touching me," she confessed as she arched into him.
"I want to. I want to touch you," he growled against her ear.
"Invite me in," she panted as she pushed him away. Her bright blue eyes bore into his as they stared at one another in the pale blue circle of light.
"I want more than that," he said bluntly, raising voice to be sure she heard him over the driving rain.
"Invite me in," she persisted.
Luke nodded and bent to pick up his keys. He jingled them lightly as he sought out the correct one and asked, "Do you want to come in?"
"Yes, please," Lorelai answered with a small smug smile.
Luke unlocked the back door and then held it open for her, pushing his wet hair back with his hand as he followed her inside. "We don't, uh, we don't have to…" he began in a low voice.
"You're soaked to the skin," Lorelai said as she looked down at the water dripping off of his jacket.
"Well, you aren't much better," he retorted as he reached out to gently pull her damp hair away from her cheek.
Lorelai closed her eyes as he smoothed his hand over her damp hair. "It'll go bonkers," she murmured.
"Hmm?"
"My hair. It'll be a total clown wig in a few minutes," she said as she opened her eyes and smiled shyly.
Luke tugged lightly at one of the curls springing up and said, "I like it."
"I like you too," Lorelai said as she stepped into him and pressed her lips to his once more.
Luke threaded his fingers into her hair, grasping the nape of her neck as she propelled him back against the wall. Lorelai giggled as he let out an 'Oof' and then she whispered, "It was your turn, be glad it's not raining in here."
"I meant it," he said as he stared down at her intently, holding her close to him. "We don't, I mean I want, I want to see you again," he told her.
"And I want to see much more of you," Lorelai answered as she pulled away. "Luke, you don't have to say that, okay? I totally understand."
"What?"
"You don't have to…"
"I want to. That's what I was telling you. What that hell is that supposed to mean, I don't have to?" he asked with a perplexed frown as she smoothed her hands over his chest.
"I just meant that I'd understand if you don't want to get involved," she said with a shrug.
"Aren't I involved?"
Lorelai looked up at his sharp tone of voice. "I just meant that you shouldn't feel obligated."
Luke shook his head and said, "Of course I should."
A small pleased smile curved her lips as she asked, "You really want to?"
"What are we talking about?" he asked with a befuddled laugh.
"You don't have to date me," Lorelai said plainly.
"You think I don't want to? I just said I did!"
Lorelai blinked up at him as she lowered her hands and tugging lightly on the front of his damp sweater. "You really want to?"
"A movie? Dinner again?" he asked.
Lorelai's smile bloomed. "You asked, I'll pay."
Luke shook his head and glanced down as her fingers slipped under the hem of his sweater. "I'll pay," he grunted.
"Caveman," she accused with a teasing grin as she pressed her hand to his bare stomach, rubbing her palm against the soft hair.
"Yep."
"Gonna club me over the head and drag me up to your cave?" she teased.
"I want to," he said, his voice rough and raspy.
Lorelai lowered her hands and took his hand in hers, her fingers closing around his tightly as she started for the steps. "Up here, right?" she asked.
"Yeah." Luke followed behind her, mesmerized by the sway of her hips as she moved steadily upwards. "You looked so, uh, beautiful," he said softly, a faint tinge of pink coloring his cheeks as she glanced over her shoulder. "Sorry," he apologized faintly.
Lorelai stepped aside, tucking her hands behind her as she leaned back against the wall and waited for him to unlock the door. "This was your dad's office?"
"Yeah." Luke opened the door and then motioned for her to step inside. "I, uh, I wasn't expecting company," he said as flipped the light switch, turning on the lamp by the door before stripping off his wet coat and hanging it on a hook. "Here," he said as he reached for the collar of her jacket and held it as she extricated her arms.
"Mega Man?" she asked with a smirk as he draped her coat over the back of a chair.
Luke rolled his eyes. "Protein shakes. It's good for you," he grumbled, knowing he'd look up to find that delighted smile. He wasn't wrong.
"Now I know all of your secrets," she teased as she slid her hands up over his shoulders.
"You do?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow at her as he laced his fingers together in the small of her back.
Lorelai nodded and then kissed him softly. "You hoarded rubber bands from your paper route because you wanted to make the world's largest rubber band ball and be in the Guinness Book of World Records." When he snorted, her smile widened. She kissed him again, her lips lingering on his as she pulled away. "You hated counting nuts and bolts in your dad's store, but you did it because you loved your dad," she said softly, trailing the side of her finger along his firm jaw.
"You may have that one right," he said gruffly.
"You know who tips well, and you give them better service," she accused as she pressed her lips to the pulse jumping just beneath his ear.
"That's not true, you're a crappy tipper," he rasped.
"What do you put in your coffee?" she asked in a low, enticing voice as she kissed his neck.
"A little cinnamon," he whispered.
Lorelai laughed as she nuzzled his ear, and then whispered, "See? Now I know them all. You are a mega man and a peeping Tom."
"Lorelai," he groaned.
"Peeping Luke," she corrected softly, and then caught his earlobe with her teeth. Lorelai sucked on it gently and then pulled back, her eyes lingering on his parted lips before she met his gaze. "You didn't look away?" she asked softly.
"I couldn't," he said in a whisper. Luke cleared his throat and then said, "I should have, but I didn't."
Lorelai nodded slowly and then stepped back, her fingertips trailing over his shoulders and chest as she lowered her hands. She looked him straight in the eye and said, "Show me."
"What?" he asked breathlessly.
"Show me how you would have done it." Lorelai closed her eyes, swaying against him, somehow knowing that he'd hold her.
Luke tightened his grip on her waist as he lifted one hand to her cheek. He stroked her skin gently with his thumb, and then let his hand smooth down her neck to her collarbone and then brush lightly over her breast before coming to rest in the curve of her waist. He watched as her eyelashes fluttered and then captured her lips with his.
His fingers curled possessively into her waist as she parted her lips, taking him in as he angled his head and kissed her deeply. Lorelai moaned softly, setting his body aflame. Luke gathered the hem of her top in his fingers, pulling it up over her stomach to reveal the soft skin that had tormented him all day. He caressed her stomach, both hands gliding over her skin as he pushed her shirt up higher, lifting his mouth from hers only long enough to pull it up over her head.
As he lowered his lips again, Lorelai whispered, "Wait." Luke pulled back, his brow furrowing as he blinked at her. Lorelai gave him a reassuring smile and then pulled his sweater up over his stomach.
"Oh," he muttered as he helped her pull it off.
"Wet jeans," Lorelai said with a shy smile as her hands came to rest on his belt buckle.
"Wet everything," Luke answered, looking down as she began to open the belt.
"You aren't kidding," Lorelai murmured, her smile growing as he chuckled. "Help me out," she cajoled as she opened his jeans and tried to push the heavy, wet denim from his hips.
Luke quickly peeled the clinging jeans down over his thighs as Lorelai opened her own and then began to shimmy out of them. When he had stripped off everything but his boxer briefs, Luke straightened up to see Lorelai unhooking her bra. "Whoa, hey," he said as he caught the straps and drew them down her arms.
"Sorry, anxious," she said with a shy smile. Luke returned as she let the bra fall to the floor, and then pulled her close, shielding her breasts with his chest as a low chuckle rumbled up from his chest. "Nothing you haven't seen before?" she asked in a softly teasing voice.
"Shh," he murmured against her ear as he started walking backwards towards his bed. When his legs bumped the mattress, he loosened his hold on her and leaned down to turn on the lamp beside his bed.
Lorelai sank down onto the mattress and then laid back, her hair damp and curling wildly as it lay spread over his pillow. She saw him suck in a sharp breath as he looked down at her bathed in the lamplight. "Like this?" she asked softly as she trailed her fingertips lightly between her breasts.
"Yes," Luke answered as he pressed one knee into the mattress and then braced himself on his hands, unable to look away.
"You. I want you to touch me," Lorelai whispered.
Luke lowered himself onto his side, stretching out beside her as she reached up and gently caressed his bicep. Cupping her face in his hand, Luke tipped her lips up to meet his and kissed her. His lips brushed against hers slowly, increasing the pressure with maddening deliberation as his fingertips skimmed over her skin. He pulled back, looking down as his hand strayed down her neck and his fingers spread wide over the slim column of her throat. He dipped his head and pressed his lips to the hollow at the base of it, and then watched with avid interest as he stroked the pale, freckled skin of her chest. Finally, he cupped her breast, weighing it gently in his palm as his hot breath tickled her lips.
"Beautiful?" Lorelai whispered as he teased the beaded tip of her nipple with his thumb.
"Incredible," he answered as he moved down to claim her with his mouth.
Lorelai arched up off of the mattress, her fingers tangling in his wet hair and squeezing tiny drops of moisture from it. She shivered, her nipples tightening further as Luke released her breast to soothe away the cold wet drops with the heat of his tongue.
He looked up at her, his eyes dazed with desire as he echoed her earlier words, "Oh my god."
"Touch me," Lorelai said, her voice drenched in need.
Suddenly, his hands were everywhere; caressing her arms, her shoulders, her breasts, her stomach. He kneaded her thighs impatiently as he suckled her other breast, teasing her nipple with his tongue and then drawing it deep into his mouth.
Lorelai bucked against him, gripping his shoulders, her nails digging into his flesh as he kissed his way down her stomach. He parted her legs with his hands as he slid lower, pressing his open mouth to her satiny panties and letting his breath warm her. She moaned loudly and he looked up, trying to force himself to play it cool.
"Good?"
"So good," she panted as she ran her hands through his damp hair. His wet curls tickled her thigh as he pressed his mouth to the tender skin just below the leg of her panties and sucked gently. His teeth scraped against her skin, nipping at the edge of the elastic. "Luke," she gasped as he pressed his open mouth to her panties, his tongue stroking her through the thin fabric. Lorelai grappled with the elastic at her hips, pushing them down as he pressed his tongue against them, holding them in place. "Please," she whispered desperately.
He brushed her hands aside and roughly pulled the scrap of fabric down. "Sorry," he rasped as he rocked back onto his heels to remove them.
"Not sorry," Lorelai answered. She looked down at him boldly as she cupped both of her breasts. "I'm not sorry you saw me. I'm not sorry I want you," she told him.
Luke gave up all pretense of acting cool and smooth as he practically dove for her. His fingers dug into her supple thighs as he pressed his lips to her sex, groaning as she opened for him. He raked his tongue demandingly through her folds, grinding his hips into the bed as he tasted her. "Jesus, Lorelai," he croaked as he pressed her legs further apart and began to lick her hungrily.
"Oh!" she gasped as he circled her clit with his tongue and then dragged it the length of her again.
Luke drew her clit into his mouth and sucked gently as his fingers teased her. He pressed one finger into her, groaning against her clit as her hot, tight walls closed around it. His pressed his mouth to her thigh, fighting for control. "I want you, I want you," he said in a gravelly voice.
Lorelai pressed her lips together as she ground mindlessly against his hand. Then, she tugged on his arm and whispered, "Come here."
Luke rose up onto his knees and stared down at her, still stroking her as he swallowed hard. He glanced down at his hand as he tried to force the words from his parched mouth. "Are you sure?" he asked hoarsely.
"I'm sure. I'm sure," she murmured as she pushed against his fingers. "Please don't stop."
Luke fumbled slightly as he tried to push his briefs down with one hand. Lorelai rose up slightly and tugged on them, trying to help. With a muffled grunt, he pulled his fingers from her heat, closing his eyes as she whimpered her disappointment, and then pushed them down. His erection sprung up against his stomach as he kicked his legs free of the material and then fell forward, bracing himself on his hands above her.
Lorelai looked up at him as she wrapped her fingers around his stiff shaft, stroking him gently as she guided him to her. Her hands slid over his narrow hips, cupping the taut mounds of his ass as he pressed forward, his lips parting as she did, and his eyes closing as she closed around him.
"Been a while," he croaked as he held himself still, buried deep inside of her.
"Me too," Lorelai admitted as she forced her muscles to relax, feeling her body stretch to accommodate him.
"You feel so good," he whispered helplessly as he began to move slowly.
"So good," Lorelai moaned as she squeezed his ass, urging him deeper still.
"I may, I'm not, it's been a while," he stammered.
"Why did we wait so long?" she asked softly as she rose up to meet him.
He moved faster as her muscles clenched around him, pull him back to her with each thrust of his hips. Lorelai pulled him down, moaning as his weight pressed her into the mattress. She kissed him heatedly, her lips clinging to his as their breaths mingled.
"Lorelai," he whispered against her lips.
"I'm so close," she answered breathlessly.
Luke groaned and then thrust harder, driving her up with hard, sure strokes, the base of his cock teasing her clit with each stroke.
"Oh god, Luke, I'm so close," she panted as he buried his face in her damp hair.
He inhaled the scent of her shampoo, trying to hang on, thinking of anything other than the feel of her body coiling tightly around him. He felt her tense as she pushed against him, and his control snapped. He pushed into her, burying himself as far as he could as she pulsed around him, squeezing his climax from him.
"Oh Luke," she whispered as she writhed against him, riding out the shockwaves of pleasure that coursed through their bodies.
He murmured her name as he kissed her neck, damp strands of her hair clinging to her skin and his lips as they moved over her mindlessly. Their breathing slowed and he felt her muscles grow lax beneath him. "Beautiful," he whispered, suddenly too shy to lift his head.
Lorelai smiled up at the ceiling as her hands skimmed over his smooth back. "You think?"
Her fingers tangled in the curls at the nape of his neck, as he kissed the slowing pulse, and nuzzled her ear. "Incredible," he murmured in a slightly stronger voice.
"Now I know another secret about you," she said smugly.
Luke smiled as he lifted his head and looked down at her soberly. "I lied about the cinnamon," he said as he pushed up onto his elbows, relieving her of some of his weight, but refusing to relinquish his position.
Lorelai's eyes widened. "You did?"
"I had to. If I tell you, you may not come back," he said defensively as he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her tenderly.
"You don't think I will? You promised me a movie."
"Or dinner," he reminded her.
"A movie," she replied with a nod.
"You really want to date me?" he asked cocking his head.
Lorelai laughed. "A little late to ask that now. You really want to date me?" she countered.
"Yes. But you, you could have any guy," he told her, staring deep into her eyes.
"I don't want just any guy, I want you," she answered truthfully.
Luke's smile was slow, but his eyes crinkled at the corners. "Nutmeg. I add a pinch of nutmeg to the grounds."