By late afternoon, Kennedy was settled on a chaise lounge on the patio by the pool, sipping a fabulous chardonnay, which she’d bet cost a fortune, with Luke, Bentley, and Candy. They’d be leaving soon, and it was time to find out if she stood a chance as Bentley’s financial manager.
“It’s been an amazing weekend,” Luke said, taking her hand and entwining their fingers together. “Kennedy and I want to thank you both for being such generous hosts.”
“Yes,” Kennedy chimed in.
Bentley beamed. “Glad you enjoyed yourselves. Nothing like a weekend at the cottage.”
“It was wonderful,” Kennedy said. “And that party! Best I’ve ever been to. I especially liked hearing Griffin Huntley live.”
“He’s good and so cute, isn’t he?” Candy asked Kennedy.
“Hey!” Bentley protested.
“Not as cute as you,” Candy cooed. They rubbed noses in their cutesy way.
Luke crooked his finger at her and did a little head shake like he wanted to rub noses. She shook him off. He pointed a warning finger at her with a mock stern expression that made her grin despite her nerves over Bentley’s final decision.
“Honey, we should invite them to the harvest ball!” Candy exclaimed.
Luke glanced at her questioningly. She hadn’t intended on prolonging their fake engagement beyond this weekend. The guilt was killing her.
“It’s a charity ball,” Bentley said, “to benefit the Long Island Sound.” He gestured to the water of the Sound reaching out to the horizon. “A cause near and dear to me, obviously. Would you like to go?”
Luke looked to Kennedy. She sat in silent horror.
Bentley turned to Candy. “It’s in what? Two weeks?”
“Three Saturdays away,” Candy said. She turned to them. “It’s fun. Black tie, dancing. You like dancing, right? I saw you two on the dance floor.”
“Sure do,” Luke replied jovially.
“Then it’s settled,” Bentley said. “Back to the grindstone tomorrow. I’ve got a board meeting.”
“Speaking of which, have you given any thought to future wealth management?” Kennedy asked.
Bentley’s mouth curled into a look of distaste. “Wealth?”
Dammit. She’d forgotten the number one rule of rich people. Never talk about how rich they were.
Luke spoke up. “You definitely want to choose someone who will make sure your legacy multiplies. You’ll be set for years to come and for future generations.” He took in Candy with this last remark.
Candy and Bentley exchanged a look.
“We’re expecting!” Candy exclaimed.
“Congratulations,” Luke said smoothly. “Even more important to have things set up. I’m sure you’ll want a trust and a diversified portfolio moving forward.”
“If you drop some of the dead weight like that hockey team,” Kennedy started.
“I like my hockey team!” Bentley protested. Shit. She couldn’t seem to connect right with him.
“There are several areas of your portfolio we could look at together,” Luke said, taking in Kennedy with his remark and shocking the hell out of her. Like they were an actual team instead of rivals. “Our job is to make it as easy as possible for you.”
Bentley smiled. “I like easy.”
“Don’t we all?” Luke said with a laugh. “What do you say, ready to move forward with a financial manager?”
Bentley’s brow furrowed. “What do you think, Can?”
Candy considered thoughtfully. And Kennedy realized her mistake. She should’ve been running her ideas past Candy this whole time, not Bentley. The beautiful bubbly woman was the decision maker here.
“Let’s see their proposals,” Candy said. “Mail them to Anita. That’s his assistant. Then we’ll look them over and make a decision.” She smiled brightly. “The nice thing is, no hard feelings because if we choose Luke, Kennedy still benefits as his wife. And if we choose Kennedy, same thing.”
Luke was silent. He must be so upset. He wanted this client as badly as she did. She, on the other hand, was secretly elated to still be in the running.
Candy turned to Kennedy. “Call me, and we’ll go shopping for dresses for the ball. Unless you already have one?”
“I do need one,” she replied honestly. “That’d be great.”
The rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully as they chatted and enjoyed the last bit of the weekend, finishing with a delicious dinner of paella out on the veranda. After they said their goodbyes, Kennedy drove home with Luke, both of them silent. She because she realized she had to extend the charade of a fake engagement at least one more time. He, most likely, because he was pissed that he didn’t get the client he assumed would easily go to him.
She finally broke the silence as they neared her apartment building. “I guess you’re pissed.”
“I’m fine.”
“I know things didn’t go down like you wanted.”
He snorted. “Don’t you see? Bentley’s just stringing us along. He doesn’t want either of us.”
“I don’t believe that. I think he’s just not the kind to jump into doing anything that might require work or research. He just wants to have a good time.”
“Whatever,” he muttered.
“Now you sound like Alex.” Except he wasn’t a sullen teenager, he was a pissed-off full-of-himself man.
He met her eyes, his gaze trailing to her mouth before he returned to looking at the road. “You can’t afford to go shopping for a gown.”
“I’ll put it on a credit card and pay the minimum every month.”
He frowned. “That’s stupid.”
“I know credit card debt isn’t smart, but it’ll pay off with the connections I’ll make. It’s part of the game.”
He scowled.
She let out a breath of frustration. “I really don’t get why you’re so pissed off. This weekend couldn’t have gone any better. Bentley and Candy love us. We have even more opportunities to find new clients.”
At his silence, she went on. “I’m having a talk with my boss tomorrow, and I’m going to leverage what I’ve got for more access, more opportunity, and a corporate credit card to make it all happen.”
He shook his head. “Damn, Kennedy, even I wasn’t that ballsy starting out.”
“It’s more competitive now. Less money to go around. More players on the field.”
He gave her a slow, sexy smile. “You’re making me hot.”
She bit back a smile. “Seriously.”
He snagged her wrist and stroked the underside. “Come back to my place. Please.”
She pulled her wrist from his grip. “I need to go home. It’s a school night and I need to make sure lunches and backpacks are packed. All homework completed. My life is not meant for fun for long.”
“You sound like their mom.”
“My mom has her hands full with my dad and her bookkeeping business. Things fall through the cracks. Besides, I know my family wants to see me tomorrow. It’s my birthday. They probably bought me a birthday breakfast cupcake already.”
“A cupcake, huh?”
“Yeah.”
When they got to her apartment complex, Luke pulled into a dark corner of the lot behind the building. She got a very uneasy feeling that Luke was going to make a move, and she would cave as she always did when he got her going with his demanding kisses and firm hands.
“What’re you doing?” she squeaked.
He didn’t reply until he’d turned off the car. Then he thrust his fingers in her hair, cupping her head and pulling her close. “I want to give you a birthday gift. I’ll make it so good for you.”
Her breath caught. “In your Porsche?”
“On my Porsche. Right on the hood.” He kissed her, a coaxing kiss, before taking things deeper, hotter, a carnal invitation.
She shoved at his chest, her heart beating way too fast. “You’re acting crazy. Go home and prepare your proposal.”
His teeth flashed in a wolfish smile. “It’s already prepared.”
“So’s mine.” She didn’t want him to think she was a rookie. She’d prepared hers the minute she’d gotten the go on the golf invitation.
“So what’s the problem?”
She blew out a breath. “I guess my life is the problem. It’s back to reality.”
He was silent.
“I’ll see you at the charity ball.” She undid her seatbelt.
He let out a curse, grabbed her seatbelt, redid it with a firm click, and drove her back to her apartment.
She let herself out. “Bye. Thanks for…everything.”
He scowled. “Thanks for—you know what? I’m done pretending with you. When I see you at that charity ball, it won’t be as your fake fiancé.”
She’d work around that. He was just pissed that Bentley hadn’t picked him right away like he thought he would. “See you then!”
She’d barely reached the sidewalk when he peeled out of the lot with a squeal of tires. So much for driving like an old man.
She congratulated herself on resisting temptation, on enjoying what little life allotted her for fun, and headed inside to turn family chaos into order once more.
~ ~ ~
Luke took a long pull on his beer and stared at a crack in the back patio at his parents’ ranch house in a full-on sulk. He glanced up at the dark red roses blooming along an archway leading out to the wide expanse of grass and thought again of the dark red dress he’d bought for Kennedy. How beautiful she’d looked. How happy she’d been that night. He kicked a rock. Everyone was inside getting Sunday dinner ready and talking over each other like usual. He needed some alone time to stop pretending everything was okay. It wasn’t just that Bentley hadn’t responded to his second request to please choose Kennedy (so Luke could stop worrying about her). It was that Kennedy met his invitation to hookup at his place this weekend with a polite refusal and a reminder that she’d see him at the charity ball.
They were very compatible in bed, and he didn’t see why they couldn’t sleep together some more, seeing as how they were pseudo-engaged and going to a formal ball together like a real fucking couple. It had been a week since that weekend of insanely good sex with her, and he wanted more. Not just wanted, more like craved it. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. She should want to hook up with him. He’d told her they weren’t done and thought she was on board. The charity ball was two weeks away at this point, and he didn’t think he’d make it that long.
“What crawled up your butt and died?”
He didn’t need to look up to know which of his five brothers that voice belonged to. The brother that always had a sixth sense about him because they’d been close for so many years.
His stepbrother Nico joined him, beer in hand. They were about the same size, but where he was light—dirty blond hair and fair skinned—Nico was dark—dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and olive skin like his Italian dad.
“Nothing.” Luke took another long pull on his beer.
“Woman problems?” Nico asked with a smirk. Luke didn’t even sock him one because he’d razzed Nico enough when he’d been dealing with his hard-to-get Lily through one helluva long road trip that ended with Nico devastated and in love. Now the happy pair were three weeks away from getting married. He knew Nico was letting him off easy with just a smirk.
He met his brother’s dark brown eyes. “Okay, what would you do if—”
“Nail her.” Nico grinned.
“Ha. Yeah.” He shook his head. “Okay. I’ve got this weird situation where we’re going for the same client, pretending to be engaged.”
“And you got caught?”
“No. So we spend the whole weekend at the client’s estate, things go well, you know…”
One corner of Nico’s mouth lifted. He lifted the beer bottle to his lips and spoke around it. “Yeah, I know.” He drank.
“Now she’s like, see you in two weeks at the charity ball.”
“She’s not into you.”
“Dammit.”
Nico slapped a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “Sorry. If she was, she wouldn’t think a two-week separation was nothing.”
Luke stared at the label on his beer. “But we were good together,” he said quietly.
“Maybe she faked it.”
Luke’s head snapped up. “No! No way.”
Nico lifted one shoulder up and down. “Just saying. It happens.”
“Not to me.”
“Well…”
“Well what?” Luke snapped.
“It has to happen to someone.”
“I know what I’m doing!”
Nico chuckled and raised a palm. “Hey, no one’s questioning your manhood. Maybe you just didn’t float her boat.”
“Oh, I floated it all right.” He remembered everything. Every last scream and shudder and orgasmic cry wrenched from her throat. That was not fake. He’d heard her fake it when they were joking around in bed before the first time they hooked up.
Nico raised a brow. “You know what worked for getting Lily where I wanted her?”
“Begging.” His brother had been a wreck. Nearly collapsed at their older brother Vince’s bachelor party in his gloom and doom that he’d lost his true love. Now that he had her, he was a smirky know-it-all.
“Ha-ha. No, I was very firm with her.” He raised his beer bottle. “Told her how it was going to be.”
“You did not. She’s got you wrapped around her little finger.”
Nico sliced a hand through the air. “I told her stop stalling and get with the program. And she did.”
Lily came out then, her red hair swinging with her sassy walk. “Did I, Nic? Did I finally get with the program?”
A flush crept up Nico’s neck. “Lily! How long you been standing there?”
She wrapped an arm around his waist, and he tucked her against his side. “Long enough.” She turned to Luke. “Don’t listen to him. Just be yourself. If it’s meant to be, it will be.”
Nico nuzzled into Lily’s neck, and she tilted her head to give him more skin. Luke let out a breath of disgust. These two were constantly all over each other. Sure, their wedding was three weeks away, and they were all happy for them, but did they have to see it all the time?
He walked back into the house. Not that Nico or Lily noticed. He glanced back over his shoulder. They were kissing passionately. He left, giving them privacy.
Luke was quiet during a family dinner of lasagna, salad, and garlic bread. Nobody noticed. He was often preoccupied during Sunday dinner with checking his cell so he could return messages or urgent texts from clients, but this time he was just sitting there among a whole lotta love and happiness, feeling like the ugly duckling. There were his stepdad and mom in a googly second-honeymoon phase ever since his stepdad had been given a clean bill of health after a cancer scare. His older brother Gabe and his bubbly wife, Zoe, in love with their baby, Miles, and each other. His oldest stepbrother, another dark-haired Italian, Vince, and his wife, Sophia, worked and lived together, the respect and open affection between them a tangible thing. And now Nico and Lily, always beaming at each other, seeming to be in on some secret joke that none of them were let in on.
His gaze caught on his younger brother Jared laughing and teasing their youngest stepbrother Angel. Jared resembled Luke both in looks and in his happy, carefree bachelor status. Well, Luke was still a bachelor, just not happy. Angel, with his dark brown rumpled hair and angelic dimples, was, for reasons none of them could understand after so many years, seemingly contentedly devoted in a platonic way to a woman friend. Luke secretly thought Angel was pulling a fast one and sleeping with her on the sly.
He picked at his food, thinking of Kennedy and how she didn’t get enough to eat on account of her brothers. He could at least fix that. They wouldn’t take charity, but maybe he could just pop in with food on a regular basis. Or was that too weird?
“Luke’s got PMS,” Jared pronounced. He grinned, laugh lines forming around his green eyes. “My professional diagnosis is pretty moody syndrome.” He was an orthopedic surgeon and liked to throw around his doctor status.
“What’s up, son?” his stepdad asked.
“Nothing,” Luke said. “Just thinking.”
“Big mistake,” Vince boomed. “Don’t think, just do.”
“Don’t think, just do,” Jared mimicked in a Yoda voice.
Vince jabbed a finger at Jared from across the table. “You’re lucky I can’t reach you.”
“He’s got woman troubles,” Nico put in helpfully, grinning like a loon. Luke knew very well this was payback for the hard time he’d given Nico over Lily yanking his chain.
Vince slapped a hand on the table. “You came to the right place. Me, Gabe, Nico, we know how to handle our women.”
“Oh, really?” Sophia asked. “Handle your woman?”
Vince got quiet. Then he seemed to remember himself and pinned her with a hot look. “Yeah.”
Sophia licked her lips, then tore her gaze away. She looked to Zoe, with her bright brown eyes, who was grinning, and over to Lily with a nod. Luke got a chill at the sisterly bonding. Any more females at this table and they’d all be in deep trouble.
“Luke,” Sophia said, “take advantage of the wisdom from the women in this family. We wouldn’t steer you wrong, and believe me, we understand the female psyche a lot better than your brothers.” She gave Vince a significant look.
This was likely true.
Vince shrugged, conceding the point.
“So…” Zoe prompted.
Luke shook her off. “Nothing. No problem.”
“She’s not that into him,” Nico offered.
“Ooh, sorry, Luke,” Sophia said with a wince. “There’s not much you can do in that case.”
“But that doesn’t mean you won’t find someone wonderful that is into you,” Lily offered. Nico took her hand and kissed the back of her knuckles.
“Absolutely!” Zoe exclaimed. “And P.S. any woman would be lucky to have you. If she’s not into you, don’t give up. Someone special is out there for you.”
Now he felt worse off than when he started. His sister-in-laws were giving him the pity talk. He turned to his youngest brother, Angel. He was a school social worker and sort of specialized in feelings.
Angel lifted one shoulder. “That pretty much sums it up.”
“Did you get the signal?” Vince asked, referring to the woman’s signal that she’d like you to touch her. It was a leaning toward you, touching her own body, looking up under her lashes. Vince had told them all about it when he’d discovered it in high school.
“What signal?” their mom asked.
Luke shook his head, hoping he’d drop it.
“If you didn’t get the signal, what’d you make a move for?” Vince barked. “I told ya, get the signal and then break the touch barrier.”
“I broke the touch barrier!” Luke exclaimed. His cheeks burned as his brothers had a good laugh at his expense. His sister-in-laws looked at him with some concern.
Vince shook his head. “If you broke the touch barrier, and—” he jabbed a warning finger “—you’d better had waited for the signal, and she don’t want nothing to do with you, move on.”
Luke stared at his plate forlornly. Everyone was quiet for once, probably feeling sorry for him. The one time he cared about someone she wasn’t into him.
“Would you like to invite her to Sunday dinner?” his mom asked.
His brothers snickered. That was his mom’s code for bring the woman home so I can do some matchmaking. She’d embarrassed the hell out of Vince, telling Sophia all about his virtues.
“No,” he said firmly.
“Couldn’t hurt,” his stepdad said, gesturing to his married or soon-to-be-married sons, who’d brought their loves home for his mother’s notorious Italian wedding soup and Italian wedding cookies—a ridiculous superstition that his family believed. If the woman ate the wedding food, supposedly a marriage would be in their future. Please. It was pure coincidence that Sophia had eaten the soup and cookies and later married Vince. Lily didn’t even eat a wedding cookie until Nico was about to propose.
“Is there any leftover lasagna?” he asked his mom.
“I have half a tray in the kitchen,” she said. “Do you want seconds?” She looked to his plate. “You didn’t even finish what’s on your plate.”
“Not for me. I just know a family that might appreciate it. They’re having a hard time financially.”
“Oh, if I’d known, I would’ve made an extra tray.”
His stepdad wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I think we’ve got stuffed shells in the freezer. They still there, Allie?”
“Yes. I’ll take them out to start defrosting. Just twenty minutes at three fifty, and they’re just as good.”
“Thanks, Mom.” His appetite returned and he dug into his lasagna.
She stopped on the way to the kitchen and kissed his cheek. “Always happy to help.”
~ ~ ~
He should’ve just asked Kennedy out on a date, Luke reasoned as he left his parents’ house. He’d played this all wrong, basically propositioning her, and what woman wanted that? She had to know he cared about her. That it wasn’t just the amazing sex. He left Eastman and headed straight to Clover Park to the apartment complex where Kennedy lived. He took the stuffed shells with him along with half a loaf of garlic bread left over from dinner.
Kennedy answered the door, and he was momentarily speechless. She looked beautiful in a simple T-shirt and jeans, her blond hair loose around her shoulders.
“Luke, what are you doing here?”
The door opened wide, and he got a peek at her family sitting in a neat but small apartment.
“Hey, Luke!” her younger brother Alex called.
“Hey, Alex,” he returned.
“Who’s that?” her dad called from where he sat in a beige recliner. He looked like Alex probably would in his later years with dark brown hair shot with gray and dark brown eyes. The small TV tray next to him held prescription bottles, water, and the remote.
“I brought you some stuffed shells,” Luke told Kennedy.
She pulled him inside. There were hooks by the door with a row of jackets and backpacks lined up underneath. He’d bet Kennedy was the one who made sure everything was all set for school tomorrow.
She took the food from him. “Thank you.” She gave him a quizzical look.
He went and introduced himself to her dad, who wouldn’t shake his offered hand. “Can’t move much due to my back,” her dad said.
Her mom came in, a petite woman with light brown hair and hazel eyes. She greeted him warmly with a quiet voice and a weak grip when they shook hands. He saw immediately where Kennedy got her delicate features. But her mom was all whispery softness, whereas Kennedy was all feisty strength despite her size. Her other siblings wandered in to check him out. He met her younger brother Quinn and her youngest sister, Jamie, who kept staring at him starry-eyed. She was at that peak teen-crush age. Her brothers and sister were dark haired and dark eyed like her dad. Even her mom had hazel eyes not blue. For a minute he wondered if Kennedy was adopted, but her delicate features did resemble her mom.
“Can we talk?” he asked Kennedy.
She nodded once. “Sure.” She looked to her family. “I’ll be right back.”
She stepped outside with him, and they sat on the bottom step of the stairs leading to the second floor of the apartment building. Now that he was here, he didn’t know what to say. She seemed just fine without him. She didn’t even seem excited to see him, only surprised. Maybe Nico was right, and she just wasn’t into him. Dammit.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Great. My boss liked my initiative and now I’m an associate. Well, I’m still his assistant for now, but as soon as I bring in a big client, I’ll be doing more.”
He snapped his fingers. “Just like that.”
“Well…if I land Bentley or one of his friends.”
“A contingent promotion.”
“That’s what I’d always expected. It’s good.”
He stared straight ahead. “I thought we were on the same page. I said we weren’t done. You said don’t break my heart. That means we’re supposed to keep seeing each other.”
“On a date?” Her voice hit a high note.
He turned to find her somewhere between surprise and disbelief. “Yeah.”
“Why?”
Not the response he’d been hoping for. He grabbed her hand and took a deep breath. “Because I’m into you,” he admitted.
She eyed him suspiciously. “But you kept inviting me to hook up. On top of your car. At your apartment.”
“So? I like hooking up.”
She stared at their hands clasped together and said in a quiet voice, “Why did you bring my family food?”
“It was just an excuse to see you.” And to make sure you were fed.
Her eyes narrowed. “Why exactly are you into me?”
He let out a breath of frustration. “Can’t we just go on a date? Why do I have to have a bunch of reasons for it?”
She huffed. “I’ll see you at the ball.”
He grabbed her head and kissed her long enough to remind her what they had together. He pulled back. She looked satisfyingly dazed. “That’s why.”
“Luke…I agree we have chemistry—”
“It’s more than that and you know it. Otherwise you wouldn’t be scared I’d break your heart.”
“I’m not scared!”
“Liar. Saturday night. I’m taking you to dinner and a Broadway show. Our first official date.” He stood and glowered down at her. “Okay?” he barked.
She stood and smiled. “Okay.”
He nearly sagged with relief. “Great. I’ll pick you up at six. No, five. Four.” He pointed at her. “Be ready by four.”
She beamed. “How about three?”
“Even better.” He headed to his car, stopped and turned back to find her just standing there watching him go. He stalked back to her, kissed her hard, and let her go before he begged her to come back to his place and hook up again. He had to do it right this time.
So he left with only one more backward glance.
She was still standing there. She lifted a hand and waved.
He waved back. “Go back inside before I take you home with me!” he hollered.
She just stood there grinning. Woman drove him crazy.
He finally left, smiling like a fool.
~ ~ ~
Kennedy went with Luke to dinner in the city followed by a Broadway show, Chicago, for their first date. Both were fun. Luke was charming and easy to talk to. By the time it was over, it was late.
“You want to come back to my place for a drink?” he asked as they walked hand in hand down the sidewalk.
She eyed him. “Is that code for fucking?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
He laughed. “You’re easy.” She smacked his arm. “Ow.” He rubbed his arm. “Watch that right hook, Ward.”
She followed him into a beautiful two-bedroom apartment with high ceilings and hardwood floors. Modern white sofas and a few lounging chairs, along with glass-topped end tables and a coffee table, were arranged around a modern geometric area rug. Vintage advertising posters hung framed on the walls. He always dressed nice and had an appreciation for the finer things.
They didn’t fuck at all this time. They made love. Which was all Luke’s doing. She kept trying to amp him up with a bite on the neck or nails down his back, but he’d pin her wrists over her head and return to a tender, slow lovemaking that just about did her in.
The next morning Luke was more aggressive, giving her the ride she craved, and she collapsed happily on top of him when he was done making her crazed. She traced his chest with one fingertip. “I think I like you too much,” she admitted.
“I hate when that happens,” he replied, stroking a warm hand down her back.
“It’s just…I told myself not to fall for a man that will just take over and take care of everything. Never put everything in a man’s hands.”
“Hey.” He tipped her chin up and met her eyes. “I never asked you to.”
“I know. It’s just my dad, well, he was that for us. Larger than life, directing everything, taking care of everything, and the minute something happened to him, everything went to shit.”
“So you’re afraid I’ll take care of you?”
“I’m afraid it will be too easy to let you.”
He kissed her hair. “I would. That’s who I am. I take care of those I love.”
She startled. “What?”
“Nothing. That just slipped out.”
“Luke—”
“Calm down. I didn’t mean it.”
She got off him and shoved a hand in her hair. “I’m terrified, but I think I’m falling for you too.”
He gave her a slow smile and pulled her back on top of him. “We really screwed up this fake engagement thing, didn’t we?” He scoffed. “Falling in love. Now we’ll have to get married.”
She stiffened. “I can’t.”
“Joking. We barely know each other. I mean we just met three excruciatingly long weeks ago. Right?” He closed his eyes. “Forget I said anything.”
“It’s not you. Well, it is you, but it’s me too.”
“Yeah, I get it.”
“You do?”
“You’re afraid.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.” He slid her to the mattress, rolled out of bed, and pulled some jogging pants on. “You’re too young for me anyway.”
She covered herself with the sheet. “I’m not that young. I’m twenty-four.” She didn’t know why she was arguing with him. He was letting her off the hook.
He stared at her, his eyes cool and distant. “You’re still figuring out who you are, what you want from your life. I don’t want you moving from your parents’ house to my place. You need to be on your own for a while.” He shoved a hand in his hair. “Stop me if I’m wrong.”
“No, you’re right. I do need to try living independently. So where does that leave us?”
“Fake engagement fuck buddies?”
She stood, hurt and vulnerable and full of regrets. “I can’t do this.” She grabbed her clothes off the floor. “I’m going home.”
“You’re just going to walk out after I said stuff?” he barked. “Deep shit from the heart!”
“Yes!” she cried.
He snagged her clothes right out of her hands, tossing them to the side, and pulled her flush against him. “Don’t go.” His arms wrapped tight around her. “Please.”
She took a deep breath. “Don’t call me your fuck buddy ever again.”
He kissed her and pulled back to look in her eyes. “I won’t. I promise. I’m new at this love stuff.”
Her lower lip trembled. “So am I.”
“Hey, we’ll figure it out.” He scooped her up and carried her back to bed. “Okay?”
“Okay,” she said softly.
Later, after a long morning makeup sex session and breakfast, Luke drove her back home. They kept smiling at each other, and she felt a little giddy. He’d invited her to his family’s Sunday dinner tonight. Only when they pulled up to her apartment building, her good mood vanished.
A police cruiser was parked in front of her apartment.