Read Online Learn to Fly by Heidi Hutchinson - Free Book Online Page B

masculine.
Masculine? Wait a minute, that's not right. But it felt sooo right.
Lenny rolled onto her side and inhaled deeply. Mmmmm,
you smell like snowflakes. She
heard thunder in the distance, a storm must be coming. She felt the
ground rumble beneath her and her eyes flew open when she realized it
wasn't thunder but a very deep, hearty chuckle.
    A man's chuckle.
    Lenny sat up so
quickly her vision darkened. She tried to focus on something,
anything. Mike was gone. The TV was playing but on mute and the
cabin was the golden colors of early evening.
    “ Whoa,
calm down, Len.” Luke's voice was gentle as he placed his warm
hand on the center of her back to steady her. His blonde, messy hair
swung across his forehead, covering his eyes.
    “ I'm
sorry, I didn't know I fell asleep.” Lenny's neck was heating
up and she used one hand to wipe the side of her face. It was as bad
as she feared. Drool.
    “ It's
fine, you were obviously tired. You work your freaking ass off; I
think you've earned yourself a nap.” Luke's fingers had
started to make small circles on her back, soothing her. They worked
their way up to her braid and tugged on the elastic, pulling it free.
    “ I
didn't mean to...um...drool.” Lenny was humiliated. She moved
to try to stand up but Luke put his other hand on her knee, stopping
her. The warmth from his touch seemed to melt her to the seat.
    “ Really,
Lenny,” he said sincerely, making sure to have eye contact,
“You didn't do anything wrong. You need to learn to take a
break sometime.” His fingers were still working into her hair
and untangling the tight twists of her braid.
    Lenny gave him a
tight smile, wishing she could believe what he was saying. But what
if Carl had walked in at that moment? How could she explain why her
head had been in the lap of a rock star? She'd have been fired for
sure. No, she would have to be more careful.
    And she really
needed to stop whatever black magic Luke was doing to her hair.
    “ Besides,
who doesn't like being told they smell like snowflakes?” Luke
was trying not to smile but he was failing.
    Lenny's
eyes widened as she realized she had said that out
loud !
How else could she embarrass herself today?
    “ I
was dreaming,” Lenny muttered, coolly moving Luke's hand off
her knee and tensing to stand up again. Luke's hand in her hair held
her still.
    “ Give
me minute,” his deep voice commanded. His fingers found the
knot in her muscles at the back of her neck and started a gentle, but
firm, massage. Lenny let out a small sigh as he worked the tension
free.
    “ Dreaming
about me or snowflakes?” Luke whispered low in her ear,
causing goosebumps to raise on Lenny's arms.
    “ Neither,”
Lenny muttered and she finally broke out of his spell and got up and
crossed to the other side of the cabin, settling back in her chair.
    “ Can
I have my hair tie back?” She asked, holding out her hand and
disliking the breathless way her words had come out.
    Luke's face was
unreadable as he watched her. “No,” he finally said,
“I've noticed you've been getting headaches and I'm worried
that braid is adding undo pressure.”
    Lenny sat back at
his statement. It made sense. Her headaches usually blossomed right
at the base of her skull where the top of her braid began. But she
had no idea that he had been noticing those things about her. Her
goal had been to be as invisible and as unassuming as possible. The
last thing she wanted was attention.
    “ And
since I can't get you to take any regular kind of break, the least I
can do is require you to let your hair down,” he grinned at
her, “so to speak.”
    Luke's smile caused
warmth to fill her appendages and she bit the inside of her cheek to
keep from smiling back.
    “ Besides,
you wear that damn thing every day; it's time for a change.”
He wrapped the hair tie around his wrist and gave her a serious look.
“And anytime you need me to work on the tension you have
building in your neck, you let me