Tempting the Artist (26 page)

He stuck the cigarette in his mouth,
letting it dangle from his lips. The only thing that kept him from
lighting up was his promise to Christina. He wouldn’t go back on
his word.

Releasing a low groan, he
sat up straight and tossed the cigarette on the table. This is
ridiculous.
I need to get out of
here
.

Luke slipped on his sneakers and
grabbed the keys from the kitchen counter. He had no idea where he
was going, but he would drive until he got there. When he went back
to the coffee table, he lifted the remote to turn off the
television, but froze. A photo of Gary and the outside of Atwater,
Rouse & Stevenson displayed across the screen.

“
This just in. Attorney
Gary Rouse of the law firm Atwater, Rouse & Stevenson has just
been arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit money-laundering,
conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and tax evasion,”
the news reporter said.
“You might remember twenty years ago, three other attorneys
at this same law firm were arrested on similar charges and one of
those individuals committed suicide while on bail. According to our
sources, the firm is being investigated, but so far only Attorney
Rouse has been arrested. He will …”

Luke pumped his fist in the air as
satisfaction stormed through his veins. He only wished he could
have been there to watch the cops drag Gary’s sorry ass off to
jail.

“
The District Attorney’s
office received anonymous information this morning…”

A soft knock sounded on Luke’s door,
and he reluctantly pulled his attention from the television,
wanting to hear what else the news reporter had to say.

He dropped the remote on the sofa and
hurried across the room. When he swung the door open, his heart
stuttered. Excitement washed over him, and he gripped the doorframe
at the sight of Christina standing on the other side of the
threshold looking sexy as hell.

Her wild hair was piled on top of her
head, and though she didn’t need makeup, he liked how exotic her
eyes looked with the dark eyeliner. And those lips. He couldn’t
wait to smear the lipstick covering her tempting lips. His gaze
traveled lower to the outfit, which was so unlike her, but Luke had
to admit he liked what he saw. The fuchsia, button down blouse,
brought out the colors in her cheeks, and surprisingly she had on a
bra. He knew this because a hint of pink lace peeked out from the
top of her blouse where she had left the top four buttons undone.
His body stirred as his eyes went lower to the skintight black
jeans and the fuck-me pumps.

Luke had never been so happy to see
someone in his life. He closed the distance between them. Instead
of wasting time talking, he cupped her face between his hands and
lowered his mouth to hers. At that moment, the frustration from
earlier crawled to the back of his mind. He didn’t care that they
still had things to work out. All he wanted was to feel her body
against his and taste her sweet lips.

Her arms looped around his neck, and
he lowered his hands to her butt that fit perfectly in his grip.
Pulling her close, he took what he wanted, not caring that they
were standing in the hallway. All he cared about was that his woman
was there with him, where she belonged.

If Luke hadn’t heard the ding of the
elevator, he would have kept kissing Christina. Reluctantly he
lifted his mouth from hers and stared into her eyes. He hadn’t
kissed her in seven days, not since their lives had stalled the day
he returned from his New York trip.

“
I’m sorry,” she whispered
before he could form any intelligent words. “I’m so
sorry.”

He gave a slight nod, unable to tear
his gaze from hers. He reached for her hand and backed them into
his condo, shutting the door with his free hand.

“
Please say something,”
Christina said, anxiousness in her voice.

“
Since I can’t say those
four words we vowed never to say again, I’m not sure what to
say.”

Her beautiful mouth curved into a
smile, her eyes gleaming with love. “I’m glad you didn’t say the
words, but I know we have to talk.”

He led her to the sofa. “Ahh, Lucas, I
thought you quit.” She scoffed at the pack of cigarettes he had
tossed on the sofa table.

“
I did.”

“
Then what is this all
about?” She waved the pack in the air. “If you quit, you shouldn’t
need these.”

Luke released a breath and dropped
down on the sofa. “I did quit and I almost needed those because I
didn’t have you.” She cringed at the bite in his words, but she
needed to hear them. She needed to remember why they were tiptoeing
around a conversation that they should have had days
ago.

“
I’m sorry.” She placed the
cigarettes back on the table and sat on the sofa. “I have no right
to come in here and tell you what you should or shouldn’t
do.”

“
Actually, you do have the
right. You have every right to question me about anything in my
life.” He turned to her. “Just because you’ve been keeping your
distance these last couple of days doesn’t mean that I stopped
loving you. I love you so damn much. I couldn’t stop even if I
wanted to.”

“
Lucas. I love you too, but
I don’t know how you can ever forgive me for thinking the worst of
you. I will never be able to apologize enough for my behavior, for
all that I said and most importantly, for doubting your love. I’m
so sorry.”

He placed a lingering kiss against her
temple, thankful to have her close. “I’m sorry too, but if we’re
going to have a future together, there’s some things we need to get
straight.”

“
I know,” she said
softly.

“
This disappearing for
almost two days can’t happen again. If we have a problem, we’re
going to talk about it like adults until we work it out.” Luke knew
that he could have gone to her just as easily, but he thought it
best that she came to him when she was ready to talk, as well as
listen.

“
Yeah … you’re right. I
guess I was caught off guard that morning. When I walked into that
conference room, you were the last person I expected to
see.”

Luke sat back and pulled her against
his body. “I know. I’m sure the situation appeared
incriminating.”

“
But you tried to explain.
I hate that I didn’t give you a chance. I immediately thought the
worst instead of giving you an opportunity to tell me what was
going on.”

“
Baby, that’s why we have
to make sure we keep the lines of communication open.” He ran his
hand up and down her arm. “Maybe I shouldn’t have assumed you knew
this, but I will always be honest with you. You’re the most
important person in my life. Don’t ever doubt my love for you or
the lengths I will go to make you happy. But with that, I need to
know that you’ll be honest with me. Whatever it is, good or bad, I
have to know that you’ll be straight with me.”

She lifted her head from
his shoulder but kept her arms around his waist. “Always. No more
secrets. No more of me jumping to conclusions. I will always talk
to you
and
listen.
I love you so much, and I have so missed you. Do you realize we
haven’t been together in almost eight days?”

He brushed a gentle kiss across her
lips. “Trust me, I know. Going forward, I don’t plan to spend any
days away from you.”

“
I’m glad to hear that. I
feel the same way.” Christina placed her hand on top of his, which
was sitting on her thigh. “I heard you quit your job.”

Luke nodded. “It was time.”

Silence fell between them until
Christina said, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“
No.” She probably expected
a different response, but he honestly didn’t want to talk about
that day. At the time, it seemed he couldn’t get out of that
building fast enough. Now in light of the recent news, he left
right on time. Luke knew as a recent former attorney with the firm,
he would be questioned during the investigation, but he’d be
ready.

When Christina didn’t say anything
else, Luke glanced down at her. The corners of her lips lifted and
a sexy smile spread across her mouth.

“
I’m okay with us not
talking about it. I can think of something else I’d rather
do.”

“
Really?”

“
Mmm hmm.” Her hand started
at his stomach and inched up his chest, stopping at one of his
nipples. Heat spread through his T-shirt as if she had made contact
directly to his skin. “Do you happen to have any R. Kelly tunes
hanging around?”

She tweaked the other nipple, and he
practically leaped off the sofa.

“
Later for R. Kelly.” Luke
lifted her in one smooth swoop and carried her toward his bedroom.
“Tonight, we’ll make our own music.”

“
Wait!” Luke stopped in his
tracks and glanced down at her. Wait – the same word she’d spoken
their last night in New York. He hoped there weren’t any more
secrets that she was planning to share. “Did you send my uncle
pictures of Leroy paying off some city inspectors?”

Luke hesitated. “What
pictures?”

He stood in the middle of the hallway
still holding Christina in his arms as she searched his eyes. He
wasn’t sure if she was trying to determine whether or not he knew
more than what he was saying or if she was trying to think of
another question.

Instead of saying anything, she placed
one of her hands behind his head and gently pulled him toward her.
Heat coursed through his body, and he lost himself in the sweetness
of her lips. Luke knew they still had some growing to do as a
couple, but he loved her more than words could ever express. She
meant everything to him. From this moment forward, he planned to do
whatever it took to keep her in his life. Forever.

Three weeks
later

Christina dug through the Coach Hobo
bag for her wallet as the taxi driver pulled into the parking lot
of Teddy’s Bar and Grill. She couldn’t wait to see her cousins.
With most of them having significant others now, they didn’t hang
out as much.

“
Thanks.” She handed the
driver a few bills before exiting the car.

A warm tingling sensation heated
Christina’s body in thinking about her significant other. Prior to
their vacation, she and Luke had moved in together. Since they
spent so much time at each other’s place, they agreed living
together was the most logical thing to do at this point in their
relationship. She chuckled to herself when Luke had told her that
the first order of business was to get that death trap she called
an elevator converted to a real elevator.

Between moving Luke in and their
recent vacation, Christina felt on top of the world. St. Lucia was
beautiful with the bluest water and white sand beaches as far as
the eye could see. Sunshine had been in abundance and the perfect
temperature had Christina wanting to stay there forever. The only
real surprise of the trip came the first day they arrived. They
were touring the resort and wandered into the pool area. To their
amazement, women roamed around with their breasts hanging free and
their other goodies on display. Even some men bared all, flexing
what their mommas gave them, and no one seemed to care. Neither she
nor Luke knew clothing was optional when booking the vacation and
Christina could honestly say that the trip as a whole was an
experience she wouldn’t soon forget.

Christina hurried into the bar. As
usual, she was late.

“
Well it’s about time,”
Martina said and bit into a big juicy burger, grease running down
the side of her chin. “We were starting to think that maybe you
weren’t back in town yet.”

Christina couldn’t stop staring at her
cousin’s double-decker sandwich. She had been dreaming about
burgers for months, trying not to succumb to the temptation, but
dreaming nonetheless.

“
I see you were able to get
some sun. Your skin is absolutely glowing. When did you get back?”
Peyton asked.

“
Thanks. We arrived last
night.” Christina still couldn’t seem to take her gaze off the
two-handed burger Martina set back on the plate. Usually, she could
ignore most of the foods her cousins ate that didn’t fall in line
with her vegetarian food regimen. But tonight was proving to be a
bit harder than usual. “Where’s Jada and Toni?”

“
Jada and Zack are in
Boston and Toni is at home with little Craig. She called and
canceled saying Craig Jr. has a bad cold.”

“
Aww, I’m sorry to hear
that. Hopefully, he’ll feel better soon.”

Martina took another bite of her
hamburger. Her eyes slid closed and with the sensual moans she made
with every chew, one would think she was in the throes of passion.
It was then Christina knew her cousin was intentionally trying to
torture her.

Martina opened her eyes, and her gaze
met Christina’s. “Good grief. Just order a damn burger already and
quit staring at mine.”

“
Why, so you can talk about
me? I don’t think so.” Christina finally looked away and grabbed a
menu from the edge of the table.

“
I’m going to talk about
you anyway.” Martina bit into her burger again, still acting as if
it were the best meal she had ever eaten.