Naughty at 30 (Love Without Batteries #2) Read online

  When I caught sight of Nadine waiting tables, I knew my day was going to improve. The hole-in-the-wall diner was my favorite place to eat. I’d been going there since I was a kid, and it was where I usually met Ty. It was also where they served my favorite Philly cheese steak and onion rings. I wasn’t hungry enough for my usual, but I was certain a milkshake would make up for my horrible day.

  “Hi, Nadine,” I called out, and she wasn’t the only one who turned my way. My brother was already there, and he wasn’t alone. Sitting beside him was Brook. That came as no surprise since they were dating. What I hadn’t expected was Luke. As I approached the table, Luke didn’t look away from me. His intense blue gaze bore into me, and a million butterflies started going crazy in my belly.

  Luke didn’t exactly look angry, but he definitely seemed unhappy with me. I wasn’t sure why he was upset. I’d left without any uncomfortable morning after talk, and he hadn’t needed to drive me home. Delaney had been awake and willing to come pick me up so I could do my early morning walk of shame—which no one other than Delaney had witnessed. What good was a walk of shame if no one realized I’d had an incredible night of sex?

  Pasting a bright smile on my face, I approached my bratty little brother who had failed to mention the fact that Luke and Brook would also be joining us. Tyler had no reason to think it would be weird for us to meet up with an old friend. I figured Luke must have agreed to join us because he didn’t want to make Tyler suspicious.

  “Hi!” I chirped in a much too squeaky voice, meaning I was nervous and probably going to say something really embarrassing. I began mentally reminding myself of the importance of keeping my mouth shut.

  “Hey, Chelsea!” Brook greeted me from the inside of the booth. She looked edgy, which I took to mean she knew some of what had happened with Luke. Delaney wasn’t good at keeping secrets, so I hadn’t bothered asking her to not tell Brook. I figured I’d be getting a text from Brook later, demanding details without giving explicit details. I could respect that since I’d felt the same about her over-sharing when it came to my brother. Although, it was always possible Delaney might have let more slip.

  Luke stood and motioned for me to slide into the inside of the booth.

  “I’ll sit on the outside,” I told him.

  “Won’t work,” Luke argued. “I’m left-handed, and if you sit on the outside, I’ll be bumping you with my elbow the entire time. You’ve gotta sit on the inside.”

  While I still wanted to argue since it was much easier to run to the ladies room if Luke made me uncomfortable, it seemed ridiculous to argue. Luke wasn’t asking for anything unreasonable. The only unreasonable thing he was doing was looking this good. I slid into the booth, and Luke sat beside me, much closer than he needed to. His thigh brushed against mine, and I scooted as far in as I could, but that didn’t seem to help.

  “Why are you rubbing against me, Lucas?” I asked quietly. Of course, with my brother and best friend sitting right across from us, they heard.

  “I don’t recall you having any issues with me rubbing against you last night,” he remarked. “And I don’t think you want to push your luck by calling me Lucas at the moment.”

  Oh. My. God. I could not believe he’d just said that. Even more surprising was how much I liked having him talk a little dirty to me in a public place. I’d assumed the previous night had been a fluke—a one-time deal like our night of mind-blowing sex.

  “You should let that one rub against you,” Nadine suggested from my side.

  Nadine had originally been the owner of the diner until she’d left it to her son and retired. At least, I’d heard she’d retired. It was rare for me to come in and not find Nadine working, so I had a hard time believing she’d retired. Nadine also knew my parents, so this conversation might be relayed to them. That could only result in my mom getting it into her head that I was dating Luke.

  “When Luke said he’d rubbed against me, he made it sound really bad, but it’s not what you’re thinking,” I told Nadine before glancing at my brother and Brook to make sure they also heard this explanation. It was going to be a great explanation, just as soon as I figured out what it was.

  “Don’t ruin the fantasy by telling me nothing happened with this attractive young man,” Nadine insisted. “Even your porn-addict brother found someone. You need to stop working so hard to be alone. I’ll come back to get your order in a few minutes. I can see you have some things to discuss with the handsome blond. Take my advice and let him rub against you, sweetie.”

  Luke winked at Nadine, and she fanned herself as she walked off.

  “We’re gonna head out, now,” Ty told me, and my mouth dropped open.

  I looked around the table. “You all set me up?” Then I noticed Luke playing with his fork with his right hand, which is when I remembered Luke wasn’t left-handed. “Left-handed my ass,” I muttered. “Everyone is lying to me today.”

  I watched helplessly as Brook and Tyler said their goodbyes and walked away, leaving me alone with Luke, trapped on the inside of the booth with no way to escape unless I wanted to crawl under the table, which I didn’t—want to escape or crawl under the table. The whole situation was more than a little hot, even if I was annoyed about being manipulated.

  “Why’d you sneak out while I was asleep?” Luke asked.

  “I just thought it would be less awkward,” I admitted.

  “Awkward?” Luke asked. “What would have been awkward about me waking you up by going down on you until you screamed and then fucking you until we were both completely sated? I might have even given you that spanking you’re dying to get.”

  When I went to speak, all that came out was a little squeak. Squeaking seemed to be a big part of communicating when I was with Luke. “Why do I always sound like a sex-crazed chipmunk around you?” I muttered, startling a quick bark of laughter out of Luke.

  “Why don’t you kids just wave me down when you’re ready to order?” Nadine suggested, before turning to shout. “Don’t seat anyone too close to these two, especially kids.”

  “It’s Sunday night, Mom,” Nadine’s son shouted back from the register. “The church down the street has their youth program letting out soon, so this place will be filled with teens in an hour.”

  Nadine turned back to us. “Talk her out of her panties quickly,” she told Luke.

  “Speaking of my panties,” I began when Nadine was further away. “Did you hide my panties last night?”

  “Why would I hide your panties?” Luke asked with a smirk.

  “Because you have a history of stealing my panties,” I reminded him.

  “When I was a kid, yes, I stole your panties,” he agreed. “I don’t think that’s any reason to assume I’d steal them now. A little scrap of fabric like that could easily get lost. Who knows where they ended up at?”

  I eyed him skeptically, not completely sure he was lying to me but strongly suspecting Luke knew where my panties were.

  “Stop trying to change the subject,” he told me. “You say you left so things wouldn’t be awkward in the morning, which implies you think you were just some casual fuck for me. Is that how you saw what happened between us? Am I just some guy who helped end your long celibacy stretch?”

  Of all the things I’d expected from leaving Luke without saying goodbye, this wasn’t one of them. Luke sounded hurt, and I hated that. Even if we hadn’t gotten along well when we were younger—no surprise with a six year age gap—I’d always cared about Luke. While he’d talked about wanting to date me the night before, I’d figured he’d be fine with the one night. I’d even assumed he’d be relieved I wasn’t taking him up on his offer for more.

  “I’m sorry,” I said softly. “When I left, I figured it was what you’d want, and I was afraid I’d say something stupid in the morning. I’d never had a one night stand before last night.”

  “You still haven’t had a one night stand,” Luke practically growled. “I made it clear from the beginning that wasn�
��t what I was looking for.”

  “Where do you see this going?” I asked.

  “As I’ve already said, I want to date you, Chels,” he replied. “Yesterday, things got really out of hand, and I’m glad they did, but we probably should have talked more after everything. I should have made sure we were on the same page.”

  “I’m not really sure how I feel about dating you,” I admitted. “This is insane. You’re my bratty younger brother’s equally bratty friend. Actually, you were even more bratty growing up.”

  “You didn’t seem to mind last night,” he reminded me. “I’m talking about before we went back to my place. We had fun. You enjoyed spending time with me.”

  While he was talking, Luke’s hand was massaging my thigh, and I was ready to moan and beg him to move his hand higher. “It’s really hard to have a conversation with you while you’re doing that,” I complained.

  Luke chuckled. “I figured it’s best to remind you of all the reasons you should date me, and the fact that I make your panties wet is a good reason.”

  I laughed at his crude, yet accurate statement. “You also steal my panties. I’m sure that’s a strike against you.”

  My phone buzzed on the table where I’d set it, and Luke looked over to see the home screen announcing a message from Delaney. “You should see what she wants,” he told me.

  If it were anyone else, I’d argue that they could wait, but Delaney wasn’t patient when it came to getting a response to her texts. She’d wait a few minutes and then text me again. One time, I’d left my phone at home when I went to the grocery store and came home to find eleven messages from her.

  DELANEY: Did Luke try to call you today?

  ME: No. He didn’t try calling me today.

  DELANEY: He will. I think you’re wrong about it being just a quick fuck with him. He didn’t even get a chance to spank you yet. You need to let him spank you.

  I looked over at Luke, wondering why he’d gone this route instead of calling me. “Why didn’t you just call me?”

  He shrugged. “I wanted to talk to you in person about this, not over the phone. It seemed too impersonal.”

  “And you had to involve my brother?” I asked.

  Luke let out a sigh. “With all you went through with Jason, I didn’t want to just show up, demanding to talk to you. Actually, that was my original plan, but after trying to get Ty to tell me where you’d be, I realized I might scare you off if I just showed up at your job or house like Jason would have.”

  I was taken aback by his explanation, which was really sweet in many ways. “Thank you for thinking about that.” My phone was buzzing again, meaning Delaney had thought of something else, or she’d gotten tired of waiting for my reply.

  DELANEY: You have to let him spank you at least one time so I can ask you about it.

  ME: Your obsession with spanking is getting a little disturbing.

  DELANEY: I could probably move past it if I could interview you after Luke spanks you.

  ME: What makes you think I’m going to let Luke spank me?

  Delaney was in rare form, which probably meant she was still trying to write a spanking story. I’d suggested she get her own ass spanked for research purposes, and while she liked the idea, she was still making more excuses to avoid dating than I was.

  DELANEY: You owe me a favor for driving you home.

  I snorted and looked over to see Luke regarding me with obvious amusement. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

  “Delaney is just being Delaney,” I explained, not sure there was any other way to respond.

  Luke gave me a knowing smile. “After driving her home that one time, I think I can understand.”

  “She didn’t ask you anything too embarrassing, did she?”

  Luke shook his head. “Other than asking me if Ty has a big dick, she was fairly well behaved. She did put her number in my phone so I could contact her if I wanted to talk about Ty’s dick.”

  “I do not want to hear or think about that,” I muttered.

  DELANEY: Do you think he’ll have you lie across his lap? Maybe he’ll have you bend over a chair or the bed. If he asks you how you want it, tell him to pull you across his lap and then pull your skirt up. That would be really hot.

  ME: I don’t usually wear a skirt.

  DELANEY: You could make an exception. Can you imagine how hot it would be to squirm around on his lap while he lifts your skirt to spank you?

  ME: I’m with Luke now, so I need to go.

  My cheeks flushed, and Luke chuckled again. “What’s she saying that has you so embarrassed?”

  “Delaney is a little obsessed with spanking lately, and after we teased her, she’s even worse. She’s been asking me about you spanking me tonight and making suggestions on how you should do it,” I admitted.

  “What’s she have in mind?” he asked. “I’m definitely open to suggestions.”

  “I would think you’d have plenty of ideas of your own,” I told him.

  Before Luke could answer, his phone buzzed.

  “Delaney doesn’t have your number, does she?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “She sent herself a message from my phone the night I drove her home, but I figured she’d delete it when she sobered up.” He looked at his phone and grinned. “It’s from Delaney.” After reading her text, he sent a quick response before sliding his phone across for me to read.

  DELANEY: You really should spank Chelsea for sneaking out. Then you should make her tell me all about it.

  LUKE: Spanking isn’t a punishment. It’s a reward. Chelsea can’t have a spanking unless she’s a good girl.

  “You keep saying that, but I’m not really sure how that could be the case,” I told him.

  “Are you afraid of me spanking you? If I said, don’t do that or I’ll spank you, would you avoid doing it, or would you do it just to get me to spank your cute little ass?”

  I grinned at Luke, not sure why this subject would make me feel more relaxed.

  Nadine set down a plate of cheesy fries and a chocolate milkshake with two straws. “I decided not to wait on you two to be ready to order,” she told us.

  The restaurant was filling up with teens, just as predicted by Nadine’s son, so I figured this wasn’t the time to talk more about sex, which was probably good since I needed to think about what Luke had said about dating, not the sex.

  “What’s your schedule like for the week?” he asked me.

  “I have a few shoots and some photos to edit,” I replied. “Ty’s not great with photo editing, so I still handle most of that.” My brother had recently started working with me, which was great because it not only allowed me to take on more clients, it also gave me more free time.

  “I was thinking about evening and weekend time. I’m usually ready to leave school around four. We could meet for dinner,” he suggested.

  “You really want to date me?” I asked.

  “You need to stop asking me that question if you ever hope to earn yourself a good spanking,” Luke warned playfully. “Delaney might spank you herself if that happens.”

  “I’ll bet you’d like that,” I teased back.

  “Very much so,” he admitted. “If she ever decides to try that, please call me so I can watch.”

  “Why do we always end up flirting like this?” I asked, not sure how every conversation I had with Luke ended up being about sex. “Actually, don’t answer. That was a stupid question.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Luke

  I was pretty damn proud of how my evening with Chelsea had gone, especially after a day of worrying about her turning me down. I’d come to the diner half-expecting Chelsea to have walls in place to keep me from getting close. I was worried she’d be standoffish. Instead, she’d fallen back into the fun teasing we’d had before, and even better, she’d agreed to go out with me.

  Now that I’d managed to get Chelsea to agree to go out with me, I just had to wait until Thursday, which sucked big time, especi
ally when I was painfully hard just from thinking about her. I like sex—a lot. I’ve also had my share of kinky sex. Still, it had never been like this. I wanted Chelsea in my bed, under me, riding me, and I was dying to bury my face between her legs again. Sadly, that wasn’t going to happen nearly as soon as I’d like it to. I’d been tempted to ask her if she wanted to come over to my place after leaving the diner, but it had seemed like a bad idea.

  We were dating. I’d fucked up by taking her home that first night. Now, I was determined to convince her this was about more than sex. Excalibur was not on board with that plan, and I figured I’d need to work off some tension in the shower if I had any hopes of sleeping.

  My phone buzzed with an incoming text, and I grinned when I saw it was from Chelsea, hoping she was feeling the same intense need. I still had no intention of doing anything about it tonight, but I preferred thinking she wanted me at least half as much as I wanted her.

  CHELS: I can’t sleep. It’s all your fault.

  ME: Is that so?

  CHELS: Yes. I keep thinking about you and how crazy I was for agreeing to this whole dating thing. This is pure insanity.

  I grinned, knowing this wasn’t really about Chelsea agreeing to go out with me. If it were, she’d have started off by telling me she’d been thinking about how we should just be friends, not complaining about me preventing her from getting any sleep.

  ME: You think it’s crazy to date me?

  CHELS: If it means going without sex, then yes, I think it’s crazy. Delaney has already scolded me for missing out on the biggest benefit of having a hot boy toy.