Do Date Your Handsome Rival (Jewel Family Romance Book 3) Read online

  He gave her a knowing smile and leaned in. “So am I powerful and tantalizing, or is the cologne?”

  Mar felt faint and hot all over. His incredible smell increased his appeal, but he was powerful and tantalizing all on his own. “I … um …” This was unfamiliar territory. She was never at a loss for words, and she never felt out of control. She wanted to throw caution and decorum to the wind, bury her face in Luke’s neck, and see if he felt as good as he smelled. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to see you.” His voice was deep and awe-inspiring.

  Why would he come to see her? And after three months of not so much as texting her. Not that she’d given him her number or asked him to text, but they’d had an amazing connection the evening of Cosette and Isaac’s wedding, and then she’d never heard from him again. It wasn’t as if it would be hard for him to get her number.

  “Surprise!”

  Mar looked past Luke on the step and saw Cosette and Isaac walking up the short sidewalk to her house. She edged around Luke, trying but failing not to notice that his body did feel as good as he smelled when she brushed by it. It was solid and warm, as if he could protect and inspire her. Gah! She pushed all those thoughts away and hurried to her lifelong friend.

  “Cosette!” She hugged her tight and laughed. “You came to see me!”

  “I’ve been missing you, so … surprise. Are you surprised? Are you happy about it? Is everything okay?” Cosette asked, staring intently at her. Cosette had picked up on Mar’s confusion about Luke but wrongly assumed it was because of the surprise. Her friend sometimes second-guessed herself in social situations, and Mar used to constantly help her navigate them and reassure her that she was doing great.

  Mar released her friend and glanced back at Luke. He was giving her an appraising look as if he knew exactly how he affected her. “It’s fabulous. I’m surprised and very happy.” Mar gave Isaac a quick hug and then stepped back. “So … what’s the plan?”

  Cosette grinned up at her husband. “We give these brothers a tour of our beautiful city.”

  Mar liked the sound of that. “How long do we have?”

  “We have to fly back Sunday afternoon,” Isaac said.

  “But it’s already Friday evening,” Mar protested. “And I know you’ll insist on church and Sunday brunch, so we really only have tomorrow. I have to make sure the tour is complete.” But it had little to do with the tour. She wanted more time with Luke. A lot more.

  Luke smiled. “We’ll be happy with anything. We’re low-maintenance brothers.”

  Mar put her hands on her hips and tossed her hair. “Oh, please,” she said. They’d been raised with more money than she’d ever see in thirty lifetimes. Then it hit her why he wasn’t too worried about taking in all of her city’s fabulous sites. “Wait. You’ve been here before?”

  Luke nodded.

  “Okay.” Disappointing, but she could still make it an impressive weekend. If only she could impress Luke enough that he’d want to see her again before three more months had passed. “That actually makes it easier. I’ll show you the insider’s tour, and you’ll be super impressed.”

  Isaac and Cosette shared a look as Luke grinned and said, “I already am.”

  Mar smiled and rubbed her small palms together. He was impressed? Hmm. Impressed enough to kiss her before he flew back out of her life? Time would tell. This was going to be fun.

  Chapter Four

  As they finished up dinner Saturday night at Chang’s, an exclusive Chinese restaurant, Mar thought over her tour guide responsibilities of last night and today and decided that she’d done pretty great. Last night she’d gotten them into a night tour of Alcatraz. It was always a little eerie but intriguing to walk through the prison at night and hear the stories from the prisoners, guards, and even a woman who’d lived on the island as a child. Luke had stayed close by Mar’s side and been as impressive and charming as she remembered.

  They’d woken early this morning to hike up Coit Tower and watch the sun rise through a layer of fog, and then she had bikes lined up to ride. They pedaled hard the twenty miles out to Muir Woods in perfect sixty-degree temperatures with the sun burning away the fog. She proudly showed them age-old massive redwood trees, and they hiked to the picturesque Cascade Falls.

  They rode back to have lunch at an open-air café in the quaint bayside town of Sausalito before riding back across the famous Golden Gate Bridge. Next, Mar let them ride a little slower to take in the beauties of the expansive and lushly green Golden Gate Park and the Presidio. They biked past some other famous spots like the Painted Ladies, Pier 39, the Palace of Fine Arts, the Legion of Honor, and Lombard Street.

  Isaac and Cosette had been as cute and fun as any newlywed couple had a right to be, and Luke had been—she had to hold back a sigh—amazing. He was obviously a gentleman, but he’d also been funny and intelligent. She liked him, and she really hoped he liked her back.

  As they finished up dinner and walked out into a chilly, foggy night, Mar hurried to put her jacket back on and noticed Isaac wrapping Cosette up tight in his arm. If only she had a big, strong, handsome man to wrap his arm around her. She glanced askance at Luke, thinking he’d fit that bill, and caught him looking at her. Smiling awkwardly at being caught, she hoped her desire to have his arm around her wasn’t written all over her face.

  “We’re going to catch an Uber back to the hotel,” Isaac said. “Mar forcing us to ride the Tour de France today wore me out.” He gave her a conspiratorial wink, and her face flushed at the implication of why they wanted to go to the hotel so early. Very little would wear out a fit guy like Isaac; he just wanted to be alone with Cosette.

  Cosette laughed and leaned into her husband. “You’re such a wuss sometimes, love.”

  Luke and Mar both chortled at sweet Cosette calling her tough husband a wuss.

  Isaac didn’t appear offended at all. On the contrary, he leaned close and tenderly kissed her forehead, then whispered something against her head that had her turning red and giggling.

  Mar looked away. She was thrilled for their happiness, but she didn’t want to gawk at it.

  “I’ll walk Mar home,” Luke spoke up.

  The newlyweds glanced up with surprise in their eyes as Mar flushed with pleasure. He wanted to be alone with her. He wanted to walk her home. Virtual fist pump.

  “O-kay,” Isaac drawled out. “We’ll see you tomorrow at church.”

  “Perfect.” Luke turned to Mar and offered his arm.

  Mar slid her hand through the crook of his arm. Her hand wrapped around his bicep, and her mouth went dry. Did most businessmen have muscles that firm? None that she’d met before.

  She and Luke walked away, and she didn’t want to just go home and have him drop her off. What tourist attraction was close that would extend their time together?

  “You know what I didn’t show you today?” she asked, scrambling for something.

  Luke smiled down at her. “I can’t imagine we missed anything on that bike tour.”

  “There are so many beauties to my city that I couldn’t possibly show them all in one day.” The only thing she hated about her city was how dirty it was becoming. It wasn’t uncommon to step over not only garbage and needles, but urine and feces. Disgusting.

  “Okay. What did we miss today my beautiful tour guide?” He smiled down at her so brightly that she lost her train of thought.

  “Sorry.” She blinked and refocused. “What was the question?”

  Luke chuckled. “We missed some fabulous sites today, and you were going to rectify that mistake.”

  “Oh. Yeah, right.” The hadn’t seen all of Golden Gate Park or the Presidio, but they were too far away. Her mind still scrambled, but as she looked around, she realized how close they were to … “Yerba Buena Gardens. I can’t believe I overlooked that gem in my tour-guiding duties. This way.” She tugged him down the block. It was like a sign from above. The gardens were right here, and as they got closer, she
saw that they were blessedly un-crowded, as there wasn’t an event or concert tonight. She loved the concerts here, but tonight, she wanted some alone time with this intriguing man.

  They walked into the park and toward the wall of water. It smelled fresh and clean with the grass and flowers both being well-maintained.

  “Why is it if there’s a water fountain people want to throw coins in?” Luke asked in a musing tone.

  “Well, duh, to have their wish come true.”

  Luke smiled down at her and asked, “Do you have a wish you want to come true?”

  Mar could think of lots of wishes right now. Some of them involved more time alone with this handsome man, and maybe some kissing. Most of them centered on her lifelong desire to not be alone. She pushed the latter away. She wasn’t alone right now. Far from it. Thank you, Lord, for Luke, she prayed.

  Squeezing his arm with her hand, she pulled away and faced him. “Sure do. Do you mind spotting me a coin I can throw in? No room for extras in this dress.” She gestured at herself.

  He gave her a smoldering look, complete with a slight pump of his eyebrows and an alluring half-smile on his lips. Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out a quarter, placed the coin in her palm, and then gently wrapped his hand around hers. “Make it a good wish,” he said in a deep tone that reverberated through her.

  She tried to act unaffected. “Of course it’ll be a good wish. I’m Marietta Valez.” She gave him a confident wink, as if her name meant anything. It didn’t. She came from nobody, and her name had no special significance. But it was hers, and danged if she wasn’t going to make something of herself. She already had with her and Cosette’s success.

  Luke smiled.

  She flipped her hair and walked closer to the fountain, incorporating all the sass she’d mastered over the years. Leaning forward, she kissed the coin and muttered a wish under her breath: “Please let Luke kiss me and want to be with me longer.” Then she tossed it in.

  Turning back, she saw Luke watching her. She liked him watching her. She wasn’t a silly, young girl who fancied that a man like Luke Jewel was in love with her. Yet as he walked toward her with a meaningful look in those amazing blue eyes, she knew that if he wanted a kiss, there would be no complaints from her end. Maybe that was why men loved her and left her, if she didn’t ditch them first. She had no clue how to play hard to get. A psychologist would probably diagnose her with some kind of abandonment syndrome. Her parents had dumped her like yesterday’s garbage, not caring if she lived and died. She’d only felt love for a brief time as a child, before her adopted mother was killed and that family blown apart. Of course they would say she was searching for love any way she could get it. Whatever. She didn’t plan on falling in love with Luke; that would hurt too much when he left her. She only wanted a simple, flirtatious, and fun kiss. There was nothing wrong with a kiss.

  He stopped right in front of her, and she tilted her head back to smile up at him. With her five-inch heels and his six-foot frame, not a few inches over six feet like his brothers, it wouldn’t be too far of a stretch to kiss him.

  Luke didn’t touch her, but he bent down closer and his warm breath brushed her forehead. “What did you wish for?” he asked.

  Mar boldly ran her hands up his arms and to his shoulders. She lifted her eyebrows and said, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  Luke grinned, and he must’ve taken her touch as a signal, as he wrapped his hands around her hips and tugged her closer. She went willingly, inhaling the delicious scent of his cologne, loving that he wore one of her and Cosette’s signature lines. It mixed wonderfully with his chemistry.

  She licked her lips. Luke’s eyes dipped to her mouth, then slowly trailed up to meet her gaze. Her breath caught.

  “I think you’ll tell me,” he murmured.

  Mar laughed. “I’m not going to tell you, but …” She looked him over, deciding this was definitely happening. “If you guess, I might let you make my wish come true.”

  He chuckled low and deep. His eyes were lit up with mischief and yet burning with desire. “Might?”

  “Might.” She tilted her head and smirked at him.

  “How many guesses do I get?” he asked.

  “One.”

  “One!” he protested. “That’s not right. Three, at least.”

  “No confidence in your guessing ability?”

  “I’m thinking about you. I want to make sure your wish comes true.”

  Mar thought it already was. Now that she was bantering with him and enjoying the firm touch of his palms burning through her thin dress, she felt less alone at this moment than she had in months. Since Cosette had left her. If only she could develop something long-term with Luke. She and Cosette could be sisters-in-law, see each other all the time. She shut that thought down, hard. Luke didn’t seem to be headed for matrimonial bliss, and she wondered if she was too messed up from her past to ever be part of a long-term relationship.

  “That’s mighty sweet of you,” she said with a fake drawl in her voice.

  He laughed.

  She pushed away the longings and worries and concentrated on this moment. He was looking at her with those too-blue eyes as if she were the only woman he wanted to look at like that. She doubted that was true, but she’d deal with that pain tomorrow. “Three chances.”

  He grinned and bowed his head slightly. “Thank you. Hmm. First guess.” He slowly ran his hands from her hips to her lower back, pulling her in closer to him. Mar’s breath whooshed out, and she felt hot all over. His voice came out low and husky. “You wished for a million dollars.”

  She laughed in surprise. “Nope. Not even close.” Maybe he had no clue what her wish was about, but the look in his eyes and the way he held her so firmly against him said different. “Try again.”

  His eyes dipped to her lips again, and he slowly, tantalizingly rubbed his hands up and down her back. “So it’s not about money with you. Hmm.” His gaze was so hot on her that she felt flushed despite the chilly, humid air of a San Francisco summer night. “You wished …” He drew it out, and she could feel her heart thundering in anticipation. “For world peace.”

  Mar’s eyes widened. She felt a dart of guilt. “No.”

  Luke smiled, and she was ninety percent sure he was teasing her. “So not a philanthropist. I know you and Cosette donate a portion of your proceeds to humanitarian missions, so I expected more from you, but that’s okay.”

  Mar knew he was teasing her now. She almost playfully slugged him, but this moment still felt too intense. If he didn’t guess right this time … no kiss tonight. Bitter disappointment coated her throat. If he missed this time, she’d be alone sooner than she hoped. “Last chance, buddy. You get it wrong and you’re out.”

  He nodded, twisting his mouth as if in deep contemplation. “The pressure of this is killing me.”

  She smiled. “I’m sure. Since you don’t acquire or create multimillion-dollar businesses every other day.”

  He shrugged, and she loved the feel of his muscular shoulders under her fingertips. “Yeah, but that’s just about money and experimenting with all the ideas in my head. This is …” His voice deepened. “So much more important to me.”

  Mar’s stomach filled with unfamiliar heat. She’d kissed different men, sometimes enjoyed it, sometimes not. She couldn’t recall being this invested and hot all over from something as simple as being held close to a tough guy’s body while he teased with her. She didn’t believe for one minute that a kiss from her was more important than acquiring another business. Luke was too powerful, too driven, and too smart to allow himself to become attached to any woman quickly. Just because she’d been thinking about him for the past three months didn’t mean he’d returned the favor. Sometimes she hated her practical side.

  “Don’t mess up, then,” she whispered, praying he wouldn’t.

  Luke nodded, acting very serious and thoughtful. “My third and final guess is that … you wished to be kissed—”

&nb
sp; She pulled in a quick breath of air and felt even more heat fill her body.

  “—thoroughly and beautifully—” His voice was so beautiful, she wanted to just tug his head down and kiss him then and there. “—by a man who knows exactly what you want.” He pulled her tighter against him, and his blue eyes sparkled. “If only I knew who that man might be.”

  Mar let out a shaky laugh. She was literally panting for air, and his embrace was even better than she’d hoped. She couldn’t feel the cold air around them. A crowd could be watching and she wouldn’t care. Yet he hadn’t completed the wish. Was that on purpose? To tease her further, or because he didn’t want to kiss her? Maybe her desire was written all over her face and he didn’t want to hurt her. Maybe he only kissed women who knew it was only for fun.

  She studied him and decided she was worrying for nothing. The look in his eyes made her bolder than she maybe should’ve been. The look in his eyes said he was every bit as invested in her, and in this moment, as she was.

  She ran her hands up his shoulders and around his neck, tugging him even closer. Their breath mingled, and she fought hard to control her breathing and not simply press her lips to his like she was aching to do.

  “Would you like me to tell you who that man is?” she asked, breathless despite her best efforts.

  “Yes, please,” he murmured.

  She swallowed, took a quick breath, and blurted it before she chickened out: “You.”

  She thought Luke might tease, or give her a sexy look, or grin. He didn’t. His eyes got very serious, and he nodded. “That’s what I was hoping for.”

  Then he kissed her, and Mar’s world upended. Luke kissed her as thoroughly and beautifully as he’d said she wanted to be kissed, and he was definitely the man who knew exactly what she wanted. The kiss was intense yet pure and filled with a longing and promise she’d never experienced with any man. Luke’s kiss lit her up and made her feel like she was walking on clouds. He held nothing back, and the kiss felt like the most beautiful pledge. Luke would be there for her, to hold her, to cherish her, and to love her.