Luke (A Redemption Romance #1) (11 page)

Both men’s gazes swung to look at Sadie, who’d picked her head up off her bed to look at me when I’d said her name. Her tongue lolled out one side of her mouth and her entire body was relaxed. Obviously, Sadie was no real threat.

Luke looked back at me and muttered, “Sorry baby,” then kissed the tip of my nose. I wasn’t sure if he was being sincere or just giving me a perfunctory kiss to ease my feminist sensibilities. I raised my eyebrow in question of his motives and he laughed.

“I can see that my services are no longer required. Want me to take Sadie out before I go?” Reed’s strong voice caught our attention.

“That’d be great, thanks Reed!” I responded.

“Hey, why doesn’t he get your pissed look?” Luke asked in a bemused tone.

“Because, I like to give you grief.” I’d made my point and wanted to move on. I didn’t like to wallow, rehashing the same points over and over again if I could help it. Once I heard Sadie and Reed go out back, I asked, “So, why are you really here?”

“I wanted to check on you, you seemed a little distracted this morning, I was afraid that you’d get away from me and start to put walls up, or start to regret last night - and this morning.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck, thankful no customers had come in yet. “I could never regret last night. I am just worried about the consequences if you must know.”

“Consequences? You mean you’re worried that you might be pregnant?”

“Jesus Christ, Luke! Don’t you know how to wrap that thing up?” Reed’s now worried voice came from the back. Apparently, I needed a chime on that door too. I wasn’t used to having private conversations in my store where people could walk in undetected.

“Fuck off Reed!” Luke bellowed back at his friend, though there wasn’t any heat in it.

“I’m out, talk to you later Aurora.”

“Thanks for the coffee Reed, hey, I meant to ask, did you see Gillian this morning?”

Reed’s face heated, he turned away without answering and flipped me off over his shoulder. Luke and I both started laughing and didn’t’ stop until long after the back door slammed.

“I think I need to put an automatic lock on that door. I usually keep it locked up, but I must have forgotten this morning.”

“I’m glad it was open, I needed to hear what you said. But you need to talk to me.”

“I didn’t say anything to Reed, I didn’t want to betray your confidence.”

“I know, I heard that and I appreciate it. But it was good for me to hear what Reed was asking, too. I could see the worry on your face Rory, you didn’t want to answer him because you didn’t know what to say, right?”

I nodded in agreement. “I didn’t - I don’t - I mean, it’s so early on, I just didn’t want to say the wrong thing.”

Luke turned, took my face in both hands and looked directly into my eyes. “Rory, I want-”

The back door opened again, but this time Amber shouted out. “Hey Aurora, I’m here.”

Luke muttered “fucking shit” under his breath, leaned in to kiss my lips chastely and said “we’ll talk about this tonight, okay? I should get off around ten, assuming nothing jumps off. Get Rusty for me after work, my mom will feed him before you get there, and I’ll meet you at your house when I get off.”

“Okay, yeah, I guess. We can just see each other tomorrow or something, you don’t have to -”

“Rory! Damn it! I want to see you tonight, do you want to see me?”

“Of course, it’s just-”

“No, that’s all I want to know, unless you have a reason that you don’t want to see me, or you have something going on, then I’ll be at your house when I get off. I still have your key. If you’re already in bed when I get there, I will just let myself in. Do you mind getting Rusty? I can go by and get him, I just thought I’d save time if he was already at your house.”

“That’s fine babe, I don’t mind at all, but I need a key.”

Luke smiled and nodded. He fished the key out of his pocket, handed it to me then gave me the code for his alarm;

“032187, got it?”

“Luke, that’s my birthday!”

I looked up to Luke’s face just in time to watch a slow blush creep up over his cheekbones. He didn’t reply, just said; “okay, baby, I need to head out. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Be safe, babe.”

As his body disappeared beyond the doorway to the back, I heard him call back; “always! Love you baby.”

Stunned into a shocked silence, I stood here wondering if I’d just heard what I thought I’d heard. Did he just say ‘love you’? Holy shit, that was insane. Of course, I loved him, I’d loved him like family, as a friend for years, but love? Real love? Was that what he meant? Or did he just say it off the cuff, a throw away statement? That thought stayed in my head for the rest of the day.

“Wake up baby.” I heard Luke’s sleep roughened voice in my ear, but rolled and buried my head underneath the pillow. Undeterred, he moved the blankets down from my shoulders. He started to play with the hem of my nightshirt and I knew what would come next.

“Luke, go away, this is the first day I’ve had to sleep in all week.” My words were muffled by the pillow, which still covered my head. I was pretty sure I could get back to sleep, if he’d just leave me alone for a minute; I was so tired. This past week, Luke had stayed at my house every night, some nights getting here before eleven, a couple nights not getting in until close to two or even three in the morning.

No matter what time he got in though, he always woke with me in the morning. He really liked to have playtime in the shower with me, and so far that was about the only time we had together. Morning sex had become a regular part of my day. When he got in early enough, and I was still awake at night, we’d have sex then too, but that had only happened a couple of times.

It was becoming clear that if I wanted to spend more time with him, I should shift my work schedule. I knew that Amber was perfectly happy to open for me in the mornings, and I could take closing. I could probably even take another day off during the week when Luke was off. I hadn’t mentioned any of these possibilities to him yet, it still seemed much too soon. I didn’t want him to think that I was trying to dominate his time. I knew that some guys hated that kind of thing.

One guy I’d dated, broke up with me because I’d made extra time to spend with him, and he thought I wanted too much. Another guy broke up with me because I didn’t. Men were a strange lot, and I had no idea which way Luke would go. I figured that if we were still together in another month or so, I would talk to him about making more time; but maybe just a day or two a week at first.

There also hasn’t been any more mention of the ‘L’ word, I’d let that go as just a thing to say instead of a confession of true love. Besides, the last guy who professed his love for me, was cheating on me at the same time, so I was a little wary of throwing that word around too soon.

“Baby, get up, it’s almost noon.”

I immediately rolled over and sat up in the bed, the pillow falling from my face into my lap. When I moved, Luke’s hand fell away from my ass, and now he was lying on his side in the bed, head propped up on his hand. His smile was immediate, when he saw my surprise at the time. I’d actually slept in; probably because Luke had gotten up early with the dogs, so Sadie hadn’t woken me up. Her cold, wet nose woke me up often.

“How long have you been awake?” I asked.

“I got up early and let the dogs out, then came back to bed. I’ve been awake for about an hour.”

Our day progressed from there. I wanted to go back to Nolan’s, and sort some more of his stuff. Luke needed to work out. He agreed to meet me later, then we could go to dinner. I also needed to check in with Reed, to be sure he’d gotten in touch with Jake.

I’d seen Reed again on Thursday, he brought me coffee; but he hadn’t gotten a hold of Jake yet. I was starting to worry about him. I knew that Jake was sometimes out of touch for a few weeks. As an undercover DEA agent, his job could be intense. I had a feeling though, that his absence from our lives had more to do with Nolan’s death than his job.

I worked steadily on Nolan’s house, I was able to get his clothes boxed up for donation, which would be picked up later this week. It was an emotionally taxing job, but I knew that I’d feel better once it was done. Sadie was with me today, she spent the majority of her day sniffing around the house. My heart ached when I realized, she was looking for Nolan. She loved my big brother; he had always played with her, and gave her way too many treats. He even called her, his first niece.

The one good thing about the day, I didn’t cry once. I was able to keep my emotions in check. I found some old pictures, boxed those up, and put them in my car. Anything personal I wanted to take home. I checked in with the neighbor as well, and had found a yard service to take care of the lawn maintenance. All in all, it was productive.

Returning to my house, I expected to find Luke already there. Instead the house was empty. Forty-five minutes after I’d gotten home, Luke texted me, telling me he’d been called in. He apologized for canceling our plans, but didn’t say anything else. I hoped everything was all right. I flipped on the TV and found the evening news playing. There was no mention of the Dallas PD involved in anything; I figured that was a good sign.

The next week flew by. I met various local charities at Nolan’s house, so they could pick up some of his things. I worked every day, getting ready for a great designer’s new line. I had dinner with Amber, lunch with Reed, and checked in with Hope. Hope seemed to be struggling. Her grief and guilt were eating at her; I could see it on her pretty face. It looked like she wasn’t sleeping well. I encouraged her to seek help, and welcomed her to talk to me, anytime.

Luke and I talked at some point every day. He still stayed at my house most nights. A couple of nights, though; he’d worked so late that he’d opted to stay in the quiet room at the precinct, since he had to be back at work in just a few hours. Rusty had stayed with me. It was strange, almost like it had been before. I was glad I had decided to wait before making any drastic changes to my schedule.

He was still affectionate. He still made love to me every morning he was at my house. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was wrong. The only difference was, that this time, I wouldn’t push him away. I’d be here, until he didn’t want me to be. I didn’t think his actions had anything to do with me. Neither of us was used to being in a relationship like this.

My next full day off was Sunday, and Luke was working overtime. I convinced Amber, and Hope to go out with me Saturday night. We hadn’t had a girls’ night out in months. Amber was able to convince Gillian to join us as well; we all met at my house and piled in a taxi, headed into downtown Dallas. There were some great clubs downtown, even a couple of new ones we wanted to check out.

After several hours of dancing, and drinking, I was ready to call it a night. The girls were done too, everyone but Hope. She’d thrown herself into drinking tonight. She was currently dancing with some guy who wasn’t even that cute. The dude was all over her. Amber was able to coax her away from the guy, long enough for me to pull out my phone. I needed to call a cab.

When I looked at my phone screen, I saw that I had four missed calls and seven texts. I quickly scrolled through and saw that both the calls and texts were from Luke and Reed. Knowing Luke was at work, I called Reed back, worried that something was wrong.

“Hey, Reed? Sorry, I can’t hear you very well. Hold on, let me step into the hallway.”

“Aurora! Where the FUCK are you?”

“I’m at the Blues Club, why? Is something wrong?”

“Yeah, something is wrong. Why haven’t you answered your phone?”

“Reed, is someone hurt? What’s going on? The girls and I were just about to call a cab. Should I go to my house?”

“NO! Fuck, Aurora, are you drunk?”

“Reed! What the hell is going on? Why do I have so many calls and texts from you and from Luke?”

“We didn’t know where you were, there was a fire, Luke thought you might be in the house, but there was no sign, FUCK! Why didn’t you tell anyone where you were going?”

“A fire! Where?”

“At Nolan’s. The Blues Club is in Dallas, right?”

“Yeah, what happened in Nolan’s house?” I was terrified. Not knowing what had happened, obviously it must have been bad, but I was relieved that I’d gotten the heirlooms and family pictures out already. I’d hate to lose those last things from my mom.

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Stay inside until I get there.”

“Reed!” I shouted, but he had already disconnected.

I made my way back to the girls; who looked at me with concern. I explained what little I knew and told them that Reed was coming to pick us up.

Almost an hour later, Reed had dropped the girls off at my house so they could get their cars. Amber was taking Hope, since she was drunk and couldn’t drive herself. Reed and I pulled up in front of Nolan’s house. It looked okay from the front, I couldn’t see any damage, just fire trucks all over, and cars from the McKinney police department.

“Come on.” Reed’s terse command irritated me, it wasn’t my fault that there was a fire.

I climbed out of the black Chevy Tahoe and stepped onto the sidewalk. I was still dressed for the club and felt stupid now. I hadn’t wanted to take the time to change at my house, but I wish I’d at least grabbed some yoga pants and a hoodie. I looked like an idiot in a teal blue satin club dress and silver strappy five inch heels.

I hadn’t walked five feet from Reed’s SUV before Luke was in front of me. I could see the rage on his face.

“WHERE-IN-THE-EVER-LOVING-FUCK-HAVE-YOU-BEEN?” He bellowed so loud, several officers who were milling around stopped their conversation and turned to stare at us. Luke was still in uniform; I assumed he was supposed to be at work, and here he was again, dealing with my problems.

I was freaked about the house, irritated by his yelling and embarrassed by both his behavior - like I was a sixteen year old late for her curfew - and because I was dressed like this. Instead of answering, I made eye contact with Luke for just a minute, long enough for him to see me roll my eyes, then stepped around him. I wanted to speak to someone who would actually tell me what was going on, what had happened?

I’d asked Reed and Luke both, neither of them told me anything, just yelled at me about being out. I could see that there was no active fire, but I could smell the remnants of smoke in the air.

As I moved to walk away from Luke, he reached out and grabbed my upper arm to stop me. Thanks to countless self-defense classes, I twisted my arm just right to remove his grasp, and stepped back. Like a flash, Reed was right there, coming between us and facing off with Luke. I heard the men yell at each other, but I opted to ignore them. I made it to the officer I’d met the night of Nolan’s suicide; Dan, I think.

“Good evening, Ms. Williams.”

“Good evening, Dan, right?”

“Yes, thanks for remembering.”

“Would you please tell me what happened here?”

I felt Luke step up behind me, but when he moved to put his hand on my hip, I moved out of his reach. The way he’d spoken to me and the way he’d grabbed my arm was not acceptable. I was pissed at him, and at Reed. I heard Luke mutter obscenities under his breath, but he didn’t reach for me again.

Dan explained that the fire was contained in the back of the house. The damage wasn’t extensive, but the kitchen seemed to be the central point of the fire. He told me that the fire captain on duty would come and speak with me shortly to explain things further. There was still furniture in the house, but only the items I hadn’t arranged for pick up yet. Thankfully, there wasn’t anything important left.

Reed stepped up and stood to one side of me; Luke was still behind me, but angled forward to the other side. I was surrounded by the two men I was most irritated with. I kept my shoulders back and chin held high. I was determined to be strong throughout this ordeal. I could do this on my own.

Once I was done speaking with the police officer, he motioned me forward to speak with the fire captain, who had just emerged from the back yard. Fire Captain, Benjamin Massie, introduced himself. He seemed to notice the tension between Reed, Luke, and me; because he looked up at the two men, nodded in greeting, then motioned me to walk with him to the back of the house. The two nuisances followed, but Captain Massie bent his head and spoke quietly. I appreciated that he was showing me respect, by speaking to me directly and allowing me to share information if I chose to.

Standing outside at three o’clock in the morning; I felt the chill in the air and began to shiver. Now, faced with the back of Nolan’s house, I wasn’t sure if my trembles were from the cold or from the sight of the kitchen. The wall around the back window was broken and the walls were blackened. I could see inside; thanks to the emergency lights the fire department had set up. The kitchen was almost entirely gutted.

“Are you cold, Ms. Williams?” The fire captain noticed that I was shaking, he was a kind man, maybe in his early to mid-thirties.

“Yes, a little. I was out and didn’t change before coming here.”

“Let me see if we have something.” He turned and walked away before I had a chance to object.

Luke took this opportunity to move in next to me. He stood very close but didn’t touch me. Trying not to be an immature bitch, I didn’t walk away from him as I was tempted to do. If I gave myself a moment to think about it, I was uncomfortable with the way he grabbed me earlier. It didn’t hurt, but it was more aggressive than I was comfortable with.

“What did he say?” Luke asked, clearly pushing past what happened earlier.

“Not much, thankfully almost all the damage was in the kitchen. One of the neighbors heard the smoke alarm and called it in, so that is a good thing, it could have been much worse.”

“I’ll call one of the companies to come out tomorrow and –“

I turned to face him, cutting off his words. “Luke, thank you, but I can handle it. It will all need to be done through the insurance company. I can take care of this.”