Read Online To Protect & Serve by Staci Stallings - Free Book Online

let me help you.” Luke’s tone dropped as he reached for his napkin.
    “I’ve got it!” Lisa slid backward as anger slashed through the words. “I’m fine. I’ll just be in the ladies’ room.”
    “Lis, are you sure?” Haley asked her sister’s retreating back.
    In the bathroom, Lisa turned the water on full blast, before dabbing and then scrubbing at the gravy. “Great.” With no small amount of work, the stain finally looked like it was at least part of the whole general color scheme of the skirt. The only problem was, the water spot didn’t. Trying not to think about the logistics of her undertaking, she wiped the side of the sink off, sat down carefully and hit the button on the hand dryer. Yeah, this was exactly where she wanted to spend her evening. If Luke so much as looked at her wrong, he was in for a rude awakening.
    It took more time than she wanted, but her skirt finally dried about the time her hatred for all things male reached a boiling point. With a look in the mirror to straighten and perfect, she put her head high, and walked back out to rejoin the festivities. However, she had barely sat down when Luke laid a casual arm across the back of her chair and leaned over to her ear.
    “It’s almost time for the toast. You want to go first, or should I?” he asked in a whisper that sent puffs of air skittering across her neck.
    “Umm, you can go first,” she said, fighting to smile.
    “Good.” His proximity hadn’t shifted. “I like to go first.”
    Her smile faded as he stood, and she choked back a scream. In seconds the crowded hall was laughing at something he had said, and Lisa willed herself to just get through this. When he sat back down, Luke laid that same hand on her, only this time it missed her knee and landed several inches higher. “Your turn.”
    Putting her head high, she pushed his hand away, pushed away from the table, and stood. She picked up her glass and turned to the happy couple, vowing that if Luke so much as brushed across her backside as she did, she would douse him with the sparkling liquid in her glass.
    “Haley,” Lisa said, and her sister’s gaze made all the bad things slide from her mind, “I wish you luck, and I wish you love. I want you to know I’m here for you always.”
    A chorus of “Ahh” sounded through the hall.
    “And Cory, if you hurt her, I’ll kill you,” she said, and although there was a measure of levity in her voice, she knew there was just enough seriousness to get her point across. She raised her glass. “To Haley and Cory.”
    “Haley and Cory!” Rang out around her.
     
     
    For a full two hours Lisa had managed to stay out of Luke’s vicinity; however, when the third dance of the evening arrived, she knew she had run out of time to run.
    “You know.” Luke pulled her closer even as she strained to push him away. “They say that there are two couples that make it home together on a wedding night—the bride and groom, and the two that stand up for them.”
    “Oh, really?” Lisa could smell the alcohol on his breath as her brain threatened mutiny if she didn’t figure out a way to get away from him soon. “Too bad that’s not going to be happening tonight.”
    “Why not?” His hand tightened around hers as his arm did the same. “I’m free. You’re free. We can be free together.”
    “Because I think you’re a jerk,” Lisa said as Haley and Cory danced by all smiles.
    “Don’t get any ideas, Lisa,” Haley teased.
    “Don’t worry!” Lisa called after them, but they were gone.
    “You smell so good.” Luke leaned into her until the only space that could be counted as hers was that underneath her ribcage. “What’s that perfume anyway?”
    “Desire,” Lisa said, and then immediately wished she had thought to lie.
    “Hmm, fitting. Don’t you think?”
    She wrenched her arm between them for breathing room if nothing else. “I wouldn’t know.” The music picked that moment to end, and for a half