Fitting The Pieces (The Riverdale Series Book 3) (17 page)

           
“Me? Yeah, I’m good.” She said and watched him turn and
walk inside. She followed him, closing the door behind her. Her eyes found his
ass as he bent down and placed Benny into the crate in the living room. She
turned around on her heel and stared at the wall, deciding that was the safest
place to keep her eyes.

           
“Ok, you be a good boy Benny.” Luke told the puppy and
rose to his full height. He turned around to grab his coat when he noticed Cara
staring at the wall as if she had put herself in a time out. He shrugged his coat
on and placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped and turned around, her eyes
immediately finding his. “You sure you’re alright? You’re very jumpy.”

           
“I had too much caffeine. Remind me not to order coffee
after dinner.” She offered him a smile, hoping he bought her pathetic excuse.

           
Luke studied her for a moment, noticing her hair was
extra wavy tonight. Cara didn’t wear much makeup, but tonight she did. Tonight
when he looked into her hazel eyes they were sultry and told a story. He wasn’t
sure what the story was but he’d be willing to spend forever trying to figure
it out. Her lips were pouty and slick with a nude colored gloss and it took him
a moment to drag his eyes away from those lips.

           
“You look beautiful.” He said huskily.

           
Not pretty, like she was shooting for. He thought she
looked beautiful. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been called
beautiful, but she knew it was Jake who had been the one to call her that. Now
his brother. “Thank you.” She said her voice a whisper.

           
Luke leaned forward and her breath hitched, and much like
he did the night they fell asleep tangled in one another he spoke directly into
her ear. “Relax, Cara.” He said in his gruff voice.

           
Did he really expect her to relax when he talked all sexy
in her ear? She pressed her hand against his chest, big mistake, because her
hand suddenly wanted to explore every ridge in his chest. She stepped backward
and looked into his eyes. They were smiling. His eyes were smiling at her.

           
“I’m starving.” She said quickly.

           
He laughed slightly. “Then I better feed you.” He reached
around her and pulled open the door. He took her hand. “Come on.” He tugged her
against him and walked out the door.

*
* * * *

           
Cara’s nerves had calmed down on the way to the
restaurant and she was even beginning to enjoy herself. Luke had taken her to
Bob’s Crab Shack which was in the town neighboring Riverdale. They were seated
at a wooden table with a red and white checkered table cloth draped over it.
Cara’s sleeves were rolled up to her elbows and she wore a lobster bib. Luke
watched her from across the table, taking a swig of his beer to cover the smile
he wore. She looked adorable, her face full of determination as she used all
her might to crack the shell of an Alaskan King crab leg.

 
She reached across the table and grabbed the
little wooden hammer looking thing that Luke wasn’t using, since, he was
apparently the master at cracking shellfish and didn’t need it. Hers had
already gone flying out of her hand at her first attempt at a crab leg. Luckily
the waiter thought it was comical.

She
pulled her arm back and slammed the crab leg with her little hammer, finally
cracking the shell. She grinned proudly and lifted her gaze up to Luke’s. “I
totally nailed that sucker.” She grabbed the little fork and dug the meat out
of the shell.

“He
never had a chance.” Luke said while smiling. She dipped her fork into the
melted butter before lifting it to her lips. Her mouth wrapped around the fork
and her tongue snaked out to run across her lips, catching any excess butter
that may have slid off the crab meat.

“Christ.”
He muttered before taking a gulp of his beer, draining the contents of the
bottle in one swig.

“You
okay?” She asked as she perused the bucket of chilled crab for her next victim.

“Fine.”
He cleared his throat and repositioned himself as he sat. “Any luck with
finding an apartment?” Hoping the change in conversation would take his mind
off of her mouth.

She
frowned as she hammered another crab leg. “No. So I’ve decided to take my
sorrows out on this bad boy.” She said pointing to the leg in her dish. “I
think I’m going to ask Rudy if I can take the apartment upstairs from the bar.”

Luke
raised an eyebrow as he picked out the meat of the lobster he was working on.
“Have you seen Rudy since you’ve been home?”

“No.
I’m avoiding him, which is completely wrong of me.” She glanced up at Luke.
“He’s been really good to me and I don’t know how to tell him that I’m not
going to be working there anymore. And then follow that by asking him to let me
and Benny rent his apartment.

“He’ll
understand Cara and if worse comes to worse and you can’t find an apartment,
you can stay with me.” He said nonchalantly.

“I
cannot do that.” She said firmly and lifted her gaze. “For so many reasons.”

“Name
one.” He challenged.

“Okay.”
She put her fork down and looked directly into his eyes. “I need to learn to
stand on my own two feet.”

“I’m
not trying to enable you Cara. I’m happy you’re taking control of your life,
happier than you’ll ever know.” He held her gaze. “I just don’t want you to be
uncomfortable where you live because you felt like you ran out of options.” He
leaned against the back of his chair and paused, biting the inside of his
cheek. “Just putting it out there, that, I was an option.” He said softly and
wondered if the underlying meaning of his words would go unnoticed to her.

“You’re
so much more than an option, Luke.” She said softly, not quite certain of what
she even meant by her words, but she knew they were true. She watched as
something flashed in his eyes and for some unknown reason she couldn’t tear her
eyes from his. Whatever was going on inside of him was mesmerizing to watch
unfold through the irises of his eyes.

Luke
sucked in a breath, finally getting his bearings. “You about finished?” He
said, nodding towards her plate.

“Did
I say something wrong?” She asked, confused by the sudden rush to leave.

“No.”
He swiped his hand down his face, mentally kicking himself. “I’m sorry.” He
signaled for the waiter to bring him another beer.

“We
can leave if you want.” She offered, wiping her hands with a wet-nap.

“Cara,
eat your dinner.” He said firmly, feeling like a jackass. She had him so wound
up and she had no clue.

“Something
I said struck a nerve.” She pushed her plate away. “I’m not hungry Luke, but I
want to know what I said that got you so antsy.”

“I’m
not antsy.” He bit back and then sighed. “I’m just tired.” He lied not able to
bring himself to ask her what she meant by him being more than an option to
her, too afraid to know the answer.

“I’m
nervous.” She blurted out.

He
lifted his head quickly. “Ignore me. I didn’t mean to make you nervous, for
fuck’s sake.” He shook his head. “I’m such a jackass…”

“I’m
nervous being here with you.” She cut him off. “Not because of anything you
said or did, but just because you’re you and I’m noticing you, Luke. You matter
to me and that’s it. That’s all I got. It’s not much and it doesn’t make much
sense to me yet but…”

“I’ll
take it.” He said gruffly and reached across the table, taking her hand in his.

She
smiled slightly and squeezed his hand. “I’m ready to leave if you are.”

He
nodded slightly and let go of her hand. He reached into his pocket as he stood up
and threw some bills onto the table, more than enough to cover their meal.

“Oh,
I almost forgot!” She said as she untied her lobster bib and laughed at herself
before she shrugged on her leather jacket. Luke smiled at her.

“You
sure you don’t want to keep it?”

“It
doesn’t really go with my outfit.” She teased as he placed his hand on the
small of her back and ushered her out of the crab shack. The blistery cold
brushed over them once they stepped outside.

“Wait
in the lobby, I’ll go get the truck.” He said, knowing very well that she was
freezing in that leather jacket. She didn’t argue which only proved his point.
He hurried to get the truck that was parked on the far end of the lot, jogging
briskly. He climbed into the truck and started it up. When he made his way to
the front of the crab shack he spotted Cara outside. Her arms were wrapped
around herself as she stared at the man talking to her. He look closely at him,
trying to place him but couldn’t. He shifted the truck into park and got out of
the car. He reached Cara, and placed his arm around her shoulder’s tugging her
into the crook of his arm.

“Everything
okay here?” He said with his eyes firmly planted on the man standing before
them.

“It’s
all good, man.” He nodded towards Cara. “You have my number, sweetness. Don’t
hesitate to call.”

Luke
felt Cara go still in his arms and shifted his eyes to her as the guy stepped
inside the crab shack.

“Cara?”
She didn’t answer so he dropped his arm from her shoulders and stepped around
her bending his knees to become eye level with her. “Are you alright?” His
blood began to boil. “Who was that guy?”

She
swallowed and her eyes met his. “My dealer.” She whispered.

His
face grew stone cold. “Get in the car.” He said automatically, rising to his
full height and turning towards the entrance of the restaurant.

“Luke.”
She said, finding her voice.

“Get
in the car.” He repeated walking towards the Crab Shack. Rage building up
inside his gut, his fist clenched at his sides.

Cara
snapped out of her trance and watched Luke take long strides to the restaurant,
pulling open the door. She found her footing and started after him. She didn’t
know what was going through his head. She hadn’t ever had to deal with Luke
angry and she was sure he was angry. It was etched all over his face the minute
she told him who Spike was. She ran into the restaurant to face unchartered
territory, scanning the restaurant spotting Luke instantly.

Luke
grabbed Spike at his shoulder, spinning him around roughly to face him.

“Yo,
what the fuck?” Spike said as he met Luke’s infuriated gaze, trying to shrug
him off, but Luke gripped his shirt with his fists.

           
“Luke!!” Cara screeched, hurrying to where they were,
only reaching Luke after he slammed Spike’s back onto a table, sending the
silverware flying.

           
“You stay the fuck away from Cara you understand me?” He
spoke through clenched teeth.

           
Spike tried to lift himself off the table, but Luke’s
hold was too severe and he only slammed him back against the wood when he
attempted to lift off.

           
“She’s a fucking junkie, or did you forget that when you
decided to tap your brother’s shit.” Spike shouted as he foamed at the mouth.

           
Everything went red and Luke’s fist connected with
Spike’s jaw. The room was silent except for the sound of Spike’s jaw cracking. Luke
released his hold on Spike, his body falling onto the table like a sack of
potatoes.

           
“You ever talk about her like that again, I’ll break
every bone in your body.” Luke said evenly. He took a step backward, lifting
his head for the first time realizing he was surrounded by people. He reached
into his pocket and pulled out some bills, turning to the waitress that stood
off to the side. Her eyes were wide and when he stepped to her, she shrunk
back. He folded the money and lifted it for her to see. He saw the fear in her
face and he felt ashamed of his actions. He placed the money on top of the tray
that she held with shaky hands.

           
“Tell your boss, I apologize. That should cover any
damages.” He said and then turned around and his eyes met Cara’s. She stood
completely still her eyes full of tears. Some managed to escape and run down
her cheeks. Luke didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say, he had lost
it, and she had just bared witness to him completely unraveled. Spike moaned in
pain and Luke closed his eyes briefly, sick to his stomach, over his actions.
He closed the distance between them and bent down to look into her eyes.

           
“I’m sorry.” He whispered.

           
“I want to go home.” She said as she wiped her cheeks
with the backs of her hands.

           
He swallowed the lump in his throat and forced a nod. She
turned around and walked out of the restaurant, Luke on her heels, with his
head hung low. Once they were outside and alone, she turned around abruptly to
him.

           
“Christ, Luke, what the hell was that?!” She asked,
poking her finger into his chest.