Rescue Me: A Bad Boy Military Romance Read Online Free PDF Page B

the pages. I’m getting lost in the words when I feel someone sit next to me. “Not now, Alexa,” I say absently, flipping the page.
    “It’s a good book,” says a voice several octaves lower than Alexa’s.
    I jump a little in my seat as I realize it’s Luke sitting next to me with a smile on his face. His dimples are giving me a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. “You’ve read it?”
    He laughs. “Course I have. Hasn’t everybody?” He leans closer to me and I realize he’s wearing cologne. I suddenly feel a little shaky. “You were really into it. You missed the lunch lady chasing after Dean for swiping a pudding pack.”
    I look around me at the lunch room. A lot of people have cleared out already. I look up at the clock. “Oh, I lost track of time,” I say, piling food wrappers onto my lunch tray and gathering up my book and bag.
    “It’s adorable,” he says with a twang.
    “What’s adorable?” I stand up and slip my backpack over my shoulder.
    “When you’re concentrating. You twirl your hair and it’s like you don’t even realize you’re doing it.”
    He’s following me, a few close steps behind me. It’s like I can feel the heat radiating off of his body from a few feet away. I dump my trash and turn around, feeling bold. “Are you stalking me or something?”
    Luke laughs and shoves his hands into the pockets of his worn jeans. He’s wearing cowboy boots today. I wish that didn’t have an effect on me, but I’m a Texas girl at heart and it does.
    “Not really. I just came over to give you something,” he says with a smile. He reaches into his duffel bag and pulls out a black, crinkling plastic bag. “Gummy worms. The sour kind. I heard you like them.”
    I take the bag from him and our fingertips brush. I feel that same jolt of electricity from yesterday ride through my fingers. “Who told you that?”
    “Doesn’t matter where I get my intel from. You like them or not?” he asks me with a challenging grin.
    I nod. “Yeah. They’re my favorite.” I’m beginning to blush again so I push past him. Suddenly, I’m acutely aware of how much this room smells like ketchup. I walk into the hallway into the sea of bodies.
    “You like running away from me, don’t you?” Luke asks. He’s caught up with me. Again.
    “I just need to get to class,” I reply.
    He skips a few steps ahead and turns around, walking backwards through the crowd like it’s the easiest thing in the world. But of course, the sea parts for Luke Davis. Why wouldn’t it? “Go out with me,” he says.
    The chatter of people around us as we walk is so cacophonous I can barely make out the words. “Sorry? It sounds like you just asked me out,” I reply, biting my lip and forging onward. He’s still walking in reverse.
    “That’s exactly what I did,” he replies.
    “No,” I say quickly.
    He cocks his head to the side. “No? Okay. I’ll ask louder because you must not have heard me after all. Go out with me,” he says loudly. A few people turn around at their lockers and stare. I hear the whispers start, and soon the hush spreads through the crowd.
    Luke stops walking and I nearly run into him. “I’ll ask again if I need to. I’ll yell it if I have to.”
    “No!” I yell, not meaning to say it so loudly. I lower my voice and duck my head. My face must be the color of an eggplant right now. “I mean, no. Don’t repeat it. Fine, I’ll go out with you.”
    Luke’s face lights up at this. “Seven. Tomorrow. I’ll pick you up.” He turns around and pushes through the still-frozen crowd.
    “But you don’t know where I live!” I yell after him. I don’t think I’ve ever been as loud at school as I am today. Normally I’m the bookworm in the corner trying not to make eye contact with anyone.
    He turns around again and yells back. “Of course I do! You’re Ella Hanover!”
    I catch myself smiling but it’s cut short by a glimpse of Amy Waters sulking by the lockers. I duck my head