Luke was both witty and knowledgeable, and had a quick mind, when he wasn’t transfixed by the pendant between her breasts. But she liked that about him, too.
“I can’t fucking believe this…” Luke said at one point – his cell was buzzing. Then, to Tasha: “Excuse me, I’m very sorry.”
He answered the call and stepped away from the table, leaning on the glass balustrade, looking down. Tasha couldn’t hear the words he was saying, but judging by the tone, Luke was explaining himself. He cursed a bit, that was clearly audible, and by the end of the conversation he was furious. Once the call was over, he spent a minute longer getting himself together before returning to his date.
“The clients?”
He didn’t speak, just shook his head in desperate confirmation. Tasha decided not to pursue the subject, instead, she poured them both more wine, and they drank, and then talked about everything but work.
Chapter 5
“I’ll have to meet them later tonight,” Luke said as the date was coming to its end. They hadn’t run out of wine, but their capacity of drinking it was running low, and there was no space for dessert.
“With the clients?” Tasha looked at her watch. “It’s almost midnight.”
“Yeah. These guys work irregular hours.”
Something shady was going on there; there was no way around it. Tasha felt it, and Luke felt that she did. Still, it seemed for the time being both of them decided to play around it. “I’d say so,” she said, “Are you sure there’s nothing I can do to help? I know people.”
“You and I both, but I’m afraid those people we know will be of no help here.”
Luke paid with a credit card, and they took the same elevator down to the ground floor, where the hostess wished them a good night. Since he was in no condition to get behind the wheel, Luke had ordered a car, and it was waiting for them when they came out.
“I guess this means we’re not going to either of our places?” Tasha asked in the backseat. They were both beyond tipsy, and Luke had his arm around her, and she had her hand on his thigh,
“Not together, unfortunately, but I’ll drop you off.”
“At your place?”
“At yours.”
She kissed him. Talking was tedious at that point; nothing good would come out of it, only sadness and disappointment. Luke must’ve been thinking the same thing, because he held her face and wouldn’t let go, his tongue playing in her mouth.
The car stopped at Tasha brownstone. She didn’t want to go, but knew she had to. Business was business, and she remembered then that the people Luke was dealing with could be more serious than your garden-variety suits.
“I’ll tell you what,” Luke said, seeing her upset. “I’ll pick you up in the morning and we can go to Central Park for a walk. Or for a run. Do you run?”
“I do, but not tomorrow.”
“A walk it is then. At around noon, how about that.”
“I’d be delighted.”
She kissed him hard. She could go for a walk in the Park right then, she would ask Luke if they weren’t locked into that kiss. Finally, she let go, took her handbag, and stepped out. The car took off fast and rushed down the street, leaving Tasha at the steps of her home.
*****
Was it a good idea or was she getting herself into trouble? Didn’t seem so in the beginning, but after last night she started having doubts. Now that she was sober and brewing strong morning coffee, she asked herself this and other questions. Perhaps, there was more to Luke’s secrecy than just modesty and concerns of privacy. What sort of investors insisted on meeting after midnight on a Saturday? That couldn’t have been good.
She ate a light breakfast and got dressed, ready before Luke even called. She made more coffee at half past eleven and watched some weekend TV, which was equal parts entertaining and shallow, in other words – perfect.
Luke texted her at noon to the minute, and Tasha came down. He was in the same coupe from last night, only now the soft top was folded. He opened the door for her.
“How’d it go?” she asked after a kiss.
“Talked myself out of it. They gave me a postponement,” Luke spoke less reluctantly now, not as if he was sharing a secret, but as if looking for advice.
“Postponement on what exactly?”
“Investment.”
“Not what I meant,” Tasha said, and felt she was overstepping. Still, she said, “Are you certain you aren’t in trouble?”
“Please, stop asking me that, Tash. Everything’s alright.”
“If you say so.” She put her hand on his and squeezed it.
They left the car at the curb along Central Park and went for a walk holding hands. It was a sunny day, if a bit chilly, and all around perfect for a date. Luke bought a cone of peanuts, and they went deep inside the park, where paths were narrow and people scarce, and there they fed the squirrels, taking pictures. The animals there were fat and friendly, eating the nuts right out of Tasha’s hand, holding on to her fingers.
They kissed at the Reservoir, mindless of the joggers and ducks, thoroughly enjoying every moment of it. They headed back after that, taking a different route, passing by the Metropolitan, and the Boathouse, ending up at the Zoo. As they walked through it, Tasha said: “That guy’s been tracing our steps for at least twenty minutes now.”
“You noticed, too? Son of a bitch.”
The guy in question was a man in his late twenties, wearing a white shirt and suit pants, his hair pitch-black and brushed back. He had no bag or jacket of any kind, only a cell phone that he kept in his hand at all times.
“Are we being followed by your… clients?” Tasha asked. It was a rhetorical question. Without a doubt Luke had mixed in with some bad people. “Do I need to worry?”
“Absolutely not.”
He was a reserved man, but there was resolve in his voice when he said it. And she trusted him. Whatever was going on, she was sure Luke had it under control. And it’s not like he was a mobster or anything. A few Scorsese films came to mind, but Luke wouldn’t be a character in any of them. She knew it in her heart he was an honest man, and she would stand by him.
Luke led her out of the park, and up 5th Avenue to his car. They waited for a moment, looking around, but the man was gone. Were they just seeing things? Tasha would’ve thought so, but Luke saw the man too. Had seen, in any case.
He drove off, meaning to take Tasha back home. It was almost 4PM.
“Drop me off at Caffe Bene, okay?” she said when they were nearing.
He did, stopping right at the entrance, hitting emergency blinkers.
“Look. Don’t worry about anything. I’ll take care of it.” There was that resolve again that made her shiver.
“I know you will.” She kissed him on the lips, hard, one hand on his bristly cheek, and got out of the car.
Kelly would be late, of course, so Tasha got herself a salad with some ice tea – the day was getting hot – and waited at a table by the window. She sat there looking at the people passing by behind the glass, and tried to contemplate how funny and weird life could be. How in just a few days it could turn inside out, turn from its measured course into chaos that involved sailing trips and being followed in the park. And the weirdest thing about the situation was that Tasha enjoyed it immensely! The sense of adventure was overwhelming; it made her feel like a Bond girl, which made him Luke Bond!
Tasha chuckled. It was childish, really, but for the first time in years she wasn’t worrying about work all the time, and simply enjoyed life. Funny how she hadn’t noticed it before: she was enjoying life goddammit!
It was the first thing she told Kelly, when her friend arrived, tired and in need of hydration. She grabbed Tasha’s ice tea and gulped half of it before replying.
“Not everyone’s as lucky as you are, sister.” She didn’t look awful, which was one of Kel’s many traits. Tired, yes, but nobody would’ve guessed she’d been out partying all night. “Nah, I had a good time,
too. I met this guy, Tash. He’s Italian… or French, it’s one of the two. He’s cute.”
“How drunk were you?”
“Considerably. All better now, but I still think he’s cute. What about you? How’s the mystery man?”
Tasha related her Saturday back to Kelly, starting with the sailing trip (sparing no detail in that part of the story, either) and ending with the dinner. She left out the suspicious calls and the man who followed them, lest Kelly’s imagination ran away with it.
“Tash, I don’t know what to say!” She hugged her tight. “Except… can I be the bridesmaid?”
“Hold on now, it’s only been one, maybe one and a half date!”
“Doesn’t sound like you’re taking things slow though, that’s for sure!”
“You know. Such are the times!”
And Tasha was set on proving it. She made a promise to herself – next time she went out with Luke, the date would end up at either one of their places! She wanted that man, and could sense he wanted her back, but was too stressed to go through with it. Well, too bad. When Tasha Hendricks decided on something, there was no hesitation.
*****
The work week went as usual. On Monday, as had been promised, Tasha received all the reports on the microprocessors research, and on Tuesday she was able to wrap up that deal. The rest of that week was as close as Tasha ever got to a vacation – the few days were hardly busy, spent mostly emailing and calling ongoing and potential clients. Luke finally called her on Friday evening, just as she was exiting the office.
“Are you busy on the weekend, Tash?” he was in a good mood, the city loud in the background. That immediately lifted her mood, as well.
She said, “I can be. No work to be done ‘till next week.”
“Should I call the office?”
“Nope, I’ll take care of that. Just closed a huge deal this week, they’d give me a month off if I asked. What about you?”
“Closed my deal, too. For the time being, at least.”
“Great to hear, Luke! Does this mean we won’t be interrupted this time?”
“Not for a moment,” he replied playfully. “How would you like to spend the weekend away from Manhattan? The heat’s killing me!”
“Tell me about it! How far away are we talking?”
“The Hamptons. Nobody to bother us there.”
“Get out! Count me in!”
Tasha had been to the Hamptons once, at her boss’s birthday party, which was joyless standing around the pool with drinks. There were a lot of people that day, and Tasha knew none of them well enough to really party with. It’s not that the company wasn’t big on team building, because it was, but the staff was, she thought, too professional to go out to drink together, much less to party at someone’s birthday. It didn’t help that the man’s wife had organized the party, and he wasn’t keen on it.
Either way, going to the country with Luke couldn’t be anything like that, and Tasha would make sure there was something for them to do.
*****
Luke picked her up early Saturday morning, and this time he was behind the wheel of a bright-colored supercar. Tasha stepped out of the building, the same beach bag over her shoulder, and saw Luke in a screaming red Ferrari, parked right in front of her door. The hard top was folded, and Tasha could see him looking at her with a smile on his face. He clapped on the passenger seat lightly, inviting her in – an offer she couldn’t refuse. She dropped the bag in to the almost non-existent back seat and sat next to Luke, kissing him even before the passenger door shut.
“I decided on something more fun for the weekend,” he said, meaning the car. “It’s a rather long ride, too.”
“I know. And I expect a lot of fun…”
She kissed him again as they started off the curb, towards Queens Midtown Tunnel. They drove for over an hour, keeping just above the speed limit. The car was powerful and audibly dissatisfied with the lack of speed, but Luke was a cautious driver, never speeding unnecessarily or making any unsafe maneuvers. Once again Tasha was taken with how reserved he was, how collected. He stopped on the way to get some food for the weekend, which consisted of mostly meat and fruit, and they were on their way.
Luke slowed down a lot once they reached Water Mill, and almost to a crawl when they turned onto Halsey Lane. The houses were scattered but not hidden behind trees, so every one of them was clearly visible. They were beautiful homes, nice and clean, as if not real among all the greenery and bright sunlight. Each house had a road leading up to it, and there were expensive cars parked in the driveways. They joined Crescent Avenue and drove past a creek and more luxury estate, until they reached one at the very edge of Mecox Bay.
The manor looked about the same as all the rest, and Tasha guessed the houses in the area had standard designs, varying only in size and planning, plus the surrounding land. Luke stepped out for a moment to open the gate, then jumped back into the car and drove all the way to the garage door.
“Spectacular!”
Inside, the house was as reserved as Luke himself - very little contemporary design of questionable practicality. Instead, the place felt rather small despite it's actual size, but cozy and welcoming.
“It’s too big for me alone, I know,” he said, leading her deep into the house. “I bought it a few years ago, when I was dating this one girl… Never mind that.”
“Didn’t end well?”
“More like it just ended. For no apparent reason, either. Maybe the money scared her off?” he joked. Of course, finding a girl scared by a billion dollars was like finding said billion dollars on the bottom of an ocean.
“I wouldn’t wanna be that girl…”
Luke put the shopping bags on the kitchen floor. He said, “You aren’t. Red or white?”
He was holding two bottles in his hands.
“Red, and hurry up.”
She gave him a seductive smile and dropped her beach bag to the floor. He stood there watching as she left the kitchen, walking slowly up the stairs. She trusted her instincts and found the master bedroom, which was straight down the second floor hallway. As she turned the knob she heard a bottle pop downstairs. She could no longer wait. It took all her self-control not to have dropped Luke’s pants right there in the kitchen and let him take her on the cold table made of a solid slab of marble. She imagined giving it to him on that floor, and that made her tense.
Tasha stopped at the bed, listening. Luke opened a cupboard and took out two glasses, set them on the counter. He started pouring, but by the sound of it he only poured a little before drinking it. She wondered. Then she heard his steps on the tile, and then on the wooden steps. He was coming up fast, and she heard no sound of the glasses clinking together. She turned around. Luke was there in the doorway, holding the bottle of red by the neck; there were no glasses. He didn’t bother to shut the door.
He approached her and stopped, his lips just shy of hers. She shivered. The tension between them was palpable. Luke set the bottle down on the nightstand. His breath was warm on her face.
The next moment one of his hands was on her neck, and he pressed his lips tight to hers in a hot, passionate kiss. Tasha put one hand on his crotch, massaging it, getting him hard, which didn’t take long at all. They were both dressed this time, which added to their excitement – they went slow.
Luke turned Tasha around, kissing the back of her neck. His stubble tickled, making her shiver, and with each kiss her body tensed. She felt his penis, hard against her ass and shifting, ready for action. She grabbed it and stroked slowly, as Luke unzipped her dress. He did so slowly, kissing her back, going lower and lower until he stumbled upon the bra clasp. He stopped and undid it carefully, and then continued with the zipper. He went down on his knees, kissing the small of her back, and Tasha had to put her hand on the bed – her knees felt weak. Luke got up then, and pulled the dress down her shoulders in one sudden movement. Tasha shook it off, and then the bra fell down on the bed. From behind, Luke cupped her br
easts, pinching the nipples, kissing her even harder on the neck. She trembled.
Again he was kissing her back, again going down on his knees, his strong hands on her sides, then down on her hips. Then his fingers hooked onto her panties and lowered them slowly. She felt his lips in the cleft of her butt cheeks, his tongue sliding between them. Her panties slid to the floor, and Luke spread her legs a little. Tasha leaned on the bed now, barely in control of herself. She felt his tongue inside her, hard and forceful. One of his hands was squeezing her thigh, while the other was on her belly, the thumb playing with her clit. Her legs shook, knees threatening to fail her, but Luke wouldn’t stop.
Nor did she want him to.
She clenched the blanket in her fists, holding back a moan. He was gentle, but persistent, using his tongue on her clit now, his hands on her breasts. She couldn’t keep it any longer. At last, her knees gave, and Tasha fell to her knees, turning to face Luke. She kissed him on the lips, and then pushed him up to his feet.
She could see his penis bulging through the front of his pants. She undid the buttons one by one, teasing him, pressing her face to the package. His smell turned her on ever more. His pants fell down, but Tasha didn’t pull down his boxers. Instead, she reached up one leg, feeling his balls, kissing his thigh and going up until she reached the shaft. She took it into her mouth, sucking slowly, going back and forth a few times. She pulled the underwear down then, and grabbed Luke by his butt cheeks, taking his penis deep into her mouth now, her fingernails digging into his skin. Her tongue played around the head, as one of her hands massaged the balls.
Luke was grunting, unbuttoning his shirt. One of his hands went down onto Tasha’s head, his fingers through her hair. His hips moved back and forth now, she felt his penis tense in her mouth. She took it out, giving it a few more strokes before Luke picked her up and laid her on her back. He went down on her once more, sucking on her clit, two of his fingers going inside her. She wriggled, her back arching, legs closing, Luke forcing them apart. She pulled at his hair, moaning, shuddering.
Her Russian Millionaire (BWWM Romance Book 1) Page 18