The Vine (2 page)

I haven’t officially moved in with Luke yet, but I do stay with him an awful lot, leaving Katy to get up to all sorts of trouble in our little two-bedroom flat, which we have rented together since Mum and Dad’s accident.

My boss and close family friend, George Sinclair, was also my saving grace after the accident. He sorted out all the legal affairs, the insurances, the sale of the house and all of the things that a young girl whose whole life has just fallen apart wouldn’t have a clue about.

I think he was glad to have something to throw himself into, and at the same time, know he was doing something for me, and I will be forever grateful for all of his efforts. At twenty-six, I’m actually a fairly wealthy woman with what I inherited from Mum and Dad. I don’t spend much of it though; I pay rent and bills, but I don’t have a car.

I passed my driving test at nineteen, and I even had a little run-around that Dad bought me, but after the accident, I sold it and haven’t driven since. So there’s a fair bit of money sitting in the bank. I’ve always thought about using it someday in the future, when I need to buy a house, or when I meet the man of my dreams and want a nice wedding or to have children—practical stuff. Maybe then I won’t feel so damn guilty about spending any of it because it would be put to good use, just like Mum and Dad would have wanted. Then I met Luke, who is—I might add—the man of my dreams, my knight in shining armour, and my saviour, and it just so happens that he is so damn loaded that he makes my pittance in the bank look like a child’s piggy bank.

Luke’s family is fairly well off anyway, but he’s made his own money from the law firm he and his brothers own. But contrary to belief, money means nothing to me, because I would give every last penny I own to have my mum and dad back in my life. Material things mean nothing to me, and Luke knows if he lost it all tomorrow I’d still be here.

Thinking about him, I instantly feel a smile tugging on my lips. He is just so incredibly gorgeous. Luke has the most amazing, dark olive skin, and rugged, manly features. He has gorgeous, thick, shiny, almost-black hair, and the biggest pair of baby blues I’ve ever seen—eyes that I have to look way up into, due to him being a good few inches over the six-foot mark. His full lips are perfectly kissable, and his glorious smile is to die for with his lovely white and perfect teeth. When he’s serious or anxious, his amazing chiselled jaw tenses and you can almost see the muscles and tendons working from the outside. He’s very rarely clean-shaven; he uses a trimmer, so he’s always got this neat, sexy stubble, which is normally unheard of in the business world, but no one dictates to Lucas Castle what he can and cannot do.

Besides being
physically
the man of my dreams, he is also kind, generous and always treats me with respect and dignity. Luke is actually very protective of me, but not in an overbearing way. He
calls me his Angel, and this is because of what happened on that fateful day with Mum and Dad, the fact that I wasn’t with them, and so therefore I survived. He thinks fate was intervening that night because the Angels knew that he was out there waiting for me, and even with all the issues and demons that surround me, I quite like thinking it was the reason too. I also like that he’s a little protective of me, as I think it just proves how much he cares.

Luke loves my feet almost as much as I do, and he loves my tattoo because he thinks it’s sexy, but I laugh to myself remembering a conversation we had about my tattoo experience when I mentioned how painful it was.

He’d asked me with such concern, “Did it really hurt that much, Angel?” I explained to him it really was pretty excruciating at times because of it being on my bony foot where the skin is quite thin. As I was speaking to him, I watched his concerned look change. His jaw clenched in anxiety, and at that point, I started to laugh.

“You want to hunt Jett down, don’t you?” I smirked, poking him in the ribs. At this line of questioning from me, I saw his face soften again. “I just don’t like the thought of anyone causing you distress or pain; you’ve been through enough,” he said, pouting like he was totally justified. With that stubborn sulky lip sticking out, I couldn’t help leaning in and kissing him to make it all better, because I am equally conscious of his feelings, and would protect him with all my being.

I still pinch myself, wondering what on earth he sees in me, but he tells me he saw me, wanted me and had to have me, and for him it was love at first sight. I felt the same when he came into Sinclair’s, the accountancy company that I work for as P.A. to George Sinclair, but I think for me it was more like lust at first sight.

The day we first met, I had to go to one of the law firms—which happened to be Castle Law on my way home to drop off some paperwork, and I did just that, leaving the paperwork with the receptionist there. As I turned to leave, I bumped hard straight into a man, almost knocking me off my feet, and I
still remember the moment clearly, as I looked up to apologise profusely. The stranger held my gaze whilst holding my upper arms, steadying me before asking me in a sexy, husky voice if I was okay.

I was instantly mesmerised by the beauty of the man holding me upright. I could feel his strength through his hands on my arms, and although my knees were weak, all I could do was nod as I pulled away, quickly releasing myself, and dodged past him out onto the street, because more than anything at that moment, I needed air…and fast.

That was our first meeting, and unbeknownst to me, it was the day that pretty much changed everything. George had done Luke’s company’s accounts for years, and they knew each other very well professionally and personally. They would have the odd eighteen holes of golf together, and both had a mutual respect for one another. So when Luke started coming in for the account meetings, it was a bit of a surprise because Cole, his brother and business partner, had always been the one who came in for the meetings, and had done so for years—for as long as I had worked there anyway but from that day forward, Luke came to Sinclair’s instead of Cole.

The first time he came into the office, I was shocked. The memory of our accidental meeting was etched into my mind, and I’d never dreamed I would ever see that sexy stranger again.

I knew I was going to have to put up with seeing this Adonis every now and again, so I remained professional. When he visited, I just tried not to stare—not too much anyway. We started off very professional; we were both polite, all manners and coy looks. He was Mr. Castle, and I was Miss Maynard. Then after a few visits, he just started calling me Elizabeth, and he asked me to stop calling him Mr. Castle, and to please call him Lucas. And that’s when the light banter started. Then after a couple of months, the flirting started—on his part mainly, but I did play up to it a little. I couldn’t help it; this man just affects me.

I’d had two previous boyfriends in my teens. Both boys were my age at the time and quite immature; they certainly didn’t treat me very well, but at the time, I thought I was in love. I gave my virginity to the first one after we’d been together a while, but soon after, I found him in an awkward position with another girl at a friend’s house party.

The other guy I met was also a louse, who was out with his mates all the time, and who just called me every now and again for sex. Both relationships were before Mum and Dad’s accident and after that, and until I met Luke, I hadn’t been with any other men, not even for a date. I will never forget Luke asking me to dinner on that fateful Wednesday, because it was the change of our relationship from platonic and friendly, to the next level—dating. For most people, this is nothing, as they have dates all the time. But for me, this was a big deal; trusting and having faith in someone was what I had lost over the previous four years, and I didn’t know if I’d ever get it back.

God knows I’d had enough counselling over the years to help me try and put my trust issues to the side, but I’d held a lot inside from the councillors and therapists, preferring to bottle it all up instead of being subjected to looks of pity about my situation.

On this day—and I still don’t know why—I thought I at least needed to try and make a change to my life, and so far it’s the best decision I have ever made.

That Wednesday, I greeted Lucas in reception as I had done on many occasions when he came into Sinclair for his meetings. I was trying to instigate our usual banter, but for some reason, it just didn’t seem to be sitting well with him. As the lift reached our floor, I was thinking what hard work it was today—usually conversation with Lucas just flowed, as he was so easy to talk to.
Maybe he was in a bad mood or something, or maybe I’ve done something to make him upset with me.
And then I mentally berated myself for turning a situation into being my fault, which is an awful habit that I have.
If Katy were here, she’d kick my arse.
It was really unusual with Lucas, but I was starting to feel quite uncomfortable.

His behaviour at the moment was not like him at all. This was definitely not the man I had seen making some of the senior accountants physically shake with his normal abrupt, no-nonsense manner. Many a time, I’d seen Lucas storm out of a meeting room before stopping abruptly in front of me, and I’d assumed it was because he puts on so much of a front in the boardroom, but now I know it was because when he saw me, I instantly calmed him. I remembered melting inside a little when he let out that snippet of information, but before I knew all that, here he was with this strange, awkward manner, and I couldn’t for the life of me put my finger on why. Then, at last, I could see he was going to say something. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but then promptly closed it, and then he did the same thing again. I didn’t quite understand the whole fish impression thing he had going on, and I didn’t know what to say or do, so I just didn’t say anything.

In this awkward situation, I tried to find solace in his gorgeous eyes, and as I did, realisation hit me like a brick—Lucas was nervous about something. I just stared at him, and as he caught my eye, he just stared right back at me, seconds passing feeling like hours. The next time he went to speak, something did come out, and what he said shocked me more than the silence.

Between the stuttering and mumbling of
ums
and
ahs
, I was able to gather what he was trying to ask me: “Elizabeth, I was just wondering if you would like to come out for dinner with me one evening.”

Oh, my God
, I thought,
I’ve seen it all now. Lucas Castle has been reduced to a stammering wreck.

“Well, Lucas, I—” But before I could finish, he was almost retracting his invitation.

“It’s okay, Elizabeth, I understand. I’m a little older than you, and it might be weird with the whole work thing. It was just an idea.” He was babbling now.

I had to stop him, firstly, because he was so obviously uncomfortable, and secondly, because he was so damn hot, I definitely wanted
to go to dinner with him. “Lucas,” I said, but he carried on bumbling away with clearly unrehearsed dialogue.
Boy, he obviously didn’t get turned down very often. Not that I’m the least bit surprised
, I thought.
I mean, who would turn down this statuesque god in front of me?

“Lucas,” I repeated a bit louder this time, which seemed to work as he immediately closed his mouth. I looked at him seriously, almost prolonging his pain. “I would love to go to dinner with you.” And at that, his smile appeared. Wow, that smile—it got me every time. Although you would have thought I had told him he had won the lottery, and not just that little old me would have dinner with him. I smiled too, and then I got serious again. “There is just one condition.” Lucas raised his eyebrows in question. “You must call me Lizzy, not Elizabeth.” I smiled at him again, and he immediately returned it.

“Okay, great, no problem, Lizzy.” I didn’t like it when people called me Elizabeth. Mum and Dad used to call me Elizabeth—only them, always only them. My wistfulness passed as Lucas spoke again, “Is this Saturday okay? And what time shall I pick you up? Would eight be okay?” He rushed out his words, which surprised me. After all, he was only talking about taking me out to dinner; surely with all the stunners he must have had, I was small fry. Realising I still hadn’t answered while my mind drifted, I quickly nodded excitedly, saying, “Sure that would be great.”

I gave him my address, and at that point, Mr. Sinclair buzzed for me to show Lucas through. “Mr. Castle,” I said professionally, giving him a secret smile, “Mr. Sinclair is ready for you.”

“Thank you, Miss Maynard,” Lucas replied before adjusting his cuffs and heading toward George’s office.

Just as he turned the handle to enter, I saw his business face appear.
From boy to man
, I thought, chuckling to myself at the events that had just miraculously unfolded in my life in the last few minutes.

About an hour later, the door had opened, and as I turned to look, my stomach somersaulted as Lucas walked out. It was ridiculous really, how this man affected me, and if my tummy was like
this by just seeing him, how on earth was I going to eat a dinner in front of him? With that thought in my head, he walked formally straight past me, nodding with a curt “Miss Maynard” as he went.

“Mr. Castle,” I whispered in a confused tone.
What just happened? Had he changed his mind?
I then watched his back as he departed, and the doors closed as the lift plummeted, taking my stomach with it.
What had I done?

As I was sitting there analysing our conversation, the telephone rang. I answered, trying to sound as upbeat as possible, considering the scenario I’d just pictured of dinner with a certain handsome man this weekend had just been shattered into a billion pieces.

“Good afternoon. Mr. Sinclair’s office.”

“Hello, Lizzy; it’s Lucas.”

I was silent; now I was really confused. “What’s going on Lucas?” I asked, trying and failing miserably to hide the hurt in my voice.

“Hell, Lizzy, I’m so sorry.”

Oh, here we go
, I thought,
he has changed his mind. He’s bloody well changed his mind. This is the first date I’ve accepted in over four years and now he’s blowing me off.
Again Lucas’s voice cut through my thoughts. “Lizzy, after my meeting with George, I mentioned to him about me taking you out to dinner. I just thought I would say something to him out of courtesy because of the business aspect, but also because I know how close you are to him. I don’t know why, but it’s like he looks out for you or something, so I sort of felt I should clear it with him. But, Lizzy, he really wasn’t happy with it at all. In fact, he was quite angry, and to be honest, he went so red in the face I thought he was going to have a coronary or something. So I just passed it off as just a thought, and if he wasn’t happy with it then of course I wouldn’t take things any further.”