Endless Nights by Karen Erickson Page A

with you and knowing that you have all of these…things. Like a past. Like a career that keeps you busy and takes you on the road a lot. Women who fall madly in love with you and they don’t even know you. Women who throw themselves at you. I’ve never had to deal with that sort of thing before.”
    “I know,” he said. “It’s weird, I get it. But I don’t care about any of them. I only care about you.”
    She sagged against the couch. “Really?”
    “Yeah. I care about you a lot. I’d chase after you, wherever you are, just to keep you in my life. You know this, right?”
    “I wasn’t sure what to think,” she confessed. “I figured I blew it after how I acted last week. You should hate me for doubting you.”
    “I don’t hate you, baby. The last thing I could ever do is hate you.”
    “Really?” she repeated. God, had she turned into a parrot?
    “Yes. Really,” he said firmly. “Hey, I gotta go. Can I call you back in a few?”
    “Sure.” She ended the call before he could even say bye, wanting to throw her phone at the wall
    Most important call of her life and he had to go? What the hell? Maybe she should listen to those doubts whispering in her mind. Maybe this relationship was doomed from the start. It began in Vegas of all places. At a party. Where she let him maul her and kiss her and then take her back to his hotel room and have his way with her for the rest of the night. She deserved to be dumped. A couple of bad experiences in college had left her with a terrible taste in her mouth and it looked like she hadn’t learned. Instead of growing up and respecting herself, she did it again—she cheapened herself. Totally and completely cheapened…
    A loud knock sounded on her front door and she startled, leaping to her feet. Who could that be?
    She carefully approached the front door, peeking through the peephole, but she saw nothing. Slowly she opened the door, poking her head out, and saw a giant bouquet of pink roses lying on her doormat, surrounded by waxy white paper. Reaching out, she plucked the roses up and brought them to her nose, inhaling their rich fragrance. There was no card, no note, no nothing, but she had a feeling who they were from.
    “You didn’t let even me say goodbye.”
    Andrea screamed, nearly dropping the flowers when she saw who stood in front of her.
    Luke.
    His girl looked incredibly sad and he didn’t like that. Not one fucking bit. She’d sounded sad too on the phone, and he’d had to end the call because he was sitting in her apartment building parking lot, dying to see her. Hold her. Comfort her.
    She’d told him her address during the first night she was in Seattle and he’d been smart enough to type it into his phone, much to her enjoyment. She informed him jokingly she expected to see multiple flower deliveries in her future and so he decided to make good on her demand.
    Though he believed it was much better for him to make said deliveries in person.
    “What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice a raspy whisper.
    He smiled. “I wanted to see you.”
    “So you thought you’d just…surprise me?”
    “Well, yeah.” He held his hands out, palms up and facing the sky. “Surprise.”
    She clutched the roses in front of her and slowly opened the door wider. “You want to come in?”
    She didn’t have to ask him twice. He strode into her tiny apartment, kicking her door shut and grabbing hold of her so he could brace her against the door, the flowers tumbling to the floor as he slammed his lips on hers in a devouring, passionate kiss.
    “What was that for?” she asked when he finally broke away.
    “I’m trying to prove to you that no one else matters. Only you.” He touched her face, his fingers absorbing the softness of her skin. He breathed deep her sweet scent and closed his eyes, pressing his forehead to hers. “I’m moving too fast. I keep telling you that, but I…I’m falling in love with you, Andrea.”
    He pulled away, needing to