I Want You Back | Completed |

Hide And Seek

She was hiding. She was acting like the chickens and she was not afraid to admit it. She had woken up this morning to find Luke in bed with her. His body wrapped around her like a vine. He was a shameless bed hog but since he liked her near him, she ended up pulled under or over him sharing in the heat that he seemed to put out like a brazier. But after fourteen months of sleeping alone, she had not been ready to face him in the same bed.

Luke was a force of nature and as he'd shown last night, he was fully capable of storming her battlements to get what he wanted. So she had snuck out of the bed, gingerly lifting his arms and legs. Pausing at each breath. She had tiptoed out of the bedroom like a James Bond character, had the quickest shower on record in the downstairs bathroom before packing a lunch and escaping the house like it was on fire. She had left her sun hat behind but really between sunburn and risking waking him up, it was a no brainer. Sometimes discretion really was the better part of valor.

Janice walked down into town and stopped at a small cafe that was serving breakfast. She had a healthy appetite and missing supper and now breakfast had her stomach protesting noisily. Besides she really needed some comfort food right now.
Pancakes.
With chocolate chips.
No. Blueberry Pancakes.
And coffee. Lots of creamy sweet coffee.
Was it too early for pie?
A long breakfast would provide her with plenty of time to plan out the day. And...if a certain stubborn someone was not in the house when she returned. Well, it would just be the whipped cream on the cherry pie.
Mmmm cherry pie

*******

Luke stretched out in bed, throwing his hand out to reach for something. When he felt nothing, he quickly realized what or rather who he'd been reaching for. Where was she? From the silence in the house, she was not in it and the cold pillow meant she'd been gone for a while.

He let out a feral smile. His itty-bitty girl was hiding. But that was all right. If there's one thing he knew, she'd run to the end of the world but that wouldn't keep him from tracking her down and bringing her back where she belonged. In his life. In his bed. In his arms.

He took a shower to wash away the city funk and called his office to put out emergency fires and clear a few days to spend with Janice. They were long overdue a romantic getaway.

The cars were both in the garage and she'd left the purse that contained her credit cards so that meant she had to be nearby. That gave him enough time to get a cup of cocoa. He sauntered out of the house. Hands thrust in the pockets of his shorts. Sandals slapping on the dewy grass he enjoyed the sun and the salty breeze off the ocean.

She may have run away but he had excellent sources of information. He'd find her. He smirked. Then he'd teach her a lesson against leaving him alone in bed when all he wanted was to wake up to a long lazy morning of indulging himself in her and an even longer day of taking her again and again as she alternately moaned in delirious pleasure and begged for sleep.

******

"Leave me be woman!"
"I would if you keep your dirty fingers away from my cookies!"
"You baked them so I could eat them what's the problem?"
Luke approached the cottage smiling at the confrontation between the man standing outside a window and his wife who was gesticulating wildly enough to be seen from outside the kitchen window. Her admonishes seemed to have no effect on the eighty-year-old man who even now was stretching his hand into the window and when he withdrew it he carried a cookie the size of his hand.
"Good morning Mr. Madison"
The man turned around.
"Luke! When did you get into town?" He smiled as he stretched up to pat the cheek of his neighbor.
"Last night." Luke smiled at the diminutive man with a surge of affection. The Madisons had been his parent's friends and he had escaped to their kitchen more times than he could count. Enough times to know that Mrs. Madison baked the best cookies in the world and despite her small size she wouldn't hesitate to pull your ears if you were being naughty. She ruled over the Madison household with an iron fist. It was hilarious to see her three sons each towering over six feet tall walking docilely behind her carrying her shopping bags. Her love for her family and friends was openly fierce.
"Juniper, Luke's here."
"Luke! My baby boy." He smiled as she exclaimed from within the kitchen. "You have some nerve staying away from us then showing up out of the blue. I have half a mind to put you over my knee, you naughty boy."
Luke listened to the rant as it faded and got louder as she came to the door. He smiled winsomely at her and he bent to hug her.
"Aaaw Aunt June you know I love you."
"I've been immune to that smile since you turned fifteen, you scamp. What brings you here?"
Luke braced himself. "I'm here for Janice." Their faces turned into twin thunderous expressions. "Do you know where she is?"
"What are you doing to that girl, Luke"
"I'm not letting her go."
Juniper snorted. "She shouldn't want to leave in the first place."
"This is between me and her."
She looked into his eyes. He let her see his determination." She's probably gone to the Den for the day." She huffed. "Just for the record, we reserve the right to be her friends after you mess this up."
Luke smiled." I won't. Thanks for the tip. Love you."
Juniper rolled her eyes before snatching the cookie from her husband's hand as he inched it towards his mouth.
"Keep your dirty hands off my cookies."
"Leave me be woman. You baked so I could eat them. What's the problem?"
Luke laughed as he headed out. He was going for her and she was coming back home. For good.