Temptation (Club Destiny)

by Edwards, Nicole

  “Where’d you meet her?”

  What did it matter, she wondered to herself. Apparently there was something personal between Luke and the woman Sierra was now working for, and just like Logan, Luke seemed a bit stunned by the news. “I met her at the conference in Vegas. I told you about her.”

  “I’m pretty sure I would remember if you had.” Luke argued, his eyes darting around the room as though he expected the woman to pop up at any second.

  “Why? How do you know her?” Sierra asked, leaning forward in her chair and placing her elbows on the table. She wanted the story, and she wanted it now. Unease settled like a rock in her belly and though she hadn’t thought it possible, she knew her week was just about to go from bad to worse.

  “It’s nothing.” Luke brushed her off, masking any emotion he had previously shown as he avoided looking at her directly.

  “What do you mean it’s nothing?” Her ability to brush things off had just reached critically low levels. Between Logan’s reaction, Sam’s apparent distaste of the subject, and now Luke’s wandering eyes, she knew there was something personal between Luke and Susan. Luke blowing her off was just the icing on the cake.

  “Just what I said.” Luke stated, and Sierra could see from his expression that the subject was closed as far as he was concerned.

  Well, that was all fine and good. She could play this game too. “Well, that’ll be my cue to call it a night.” Sierra stated, standing abruptly. All heads turned to her, but she didn’t bother making eye contact. Offering a quick glance at Sam, she spoke. “Call me tomorrow? We’ll do lunch if you’re not busy.”

  Sam didn’t say a word, but she nodded her head, her eyes darting back and forth between Sierra and Luke. Without further hesitation, Sierra grabbed her purse and walked away. Maybe she was being petulant, or maybe she just wasn’t willing to play these juvenile games. Either way, she’d reached her limit tonight.

  Sierra would have thought that the pounding bass and the consistent chatter would have drowned out the sound that had her stopping her tracks. The husky, sexy voice that called out to Luke was familiar. The same voice that had spent two days telling Sierra she was none too happy with her designs.

  Susan Toulmin, better known as Susie Mackendrick apparently, seemed to know her way around the club, which told Sierra everything she needed to know. Despite the warning bells sounding off in her brain, she turned toward the voice, just in time to see the beautiful Dallas lawyer wrap her arms around Luke’s expansive chest. That wasn’t a platonic hug… nor was the kiss that followed.

  Oh, God. Sierra forced her feet to move as her stomach lurched, the nausea making her dizzy. She was going to throw up, and it had nothing to do with the alcohol she had consumed. Thankfully her brain functioned enough to convince her feet to move toward the door, but the second she stepped out into the cool night air, the dam broke, and the tears burst free. Choking on a sob, Sierra lowered her head, hoping no one would see the woman who was having an emotional breakdown. She’d only gone two steps out the door before she came face to chest with a hard, unmoving form.

  “I am so sorry.” She sobbed, glancing up into familiar ocean blue eyes.

  Why her? Why today?

  “Sierra?”

  Oh, great. The pity she saw in those exquisite eyes was nearly her undoing. When Cole gripped her arm, pulling her out of the path of the crowd, she wanted to just slink into a corner and die.

  “Honey, what’s wrong?” The tender tone of his voice didn’t help the steady flow of tears, but somehow Sierra managed to pull away from him.

  Everything. “Nothing. I – I need to – to go.” With that Sierra skirted past Cole and down the narrow corridor that would lead her to the underground parking garage. Her feet didn’t seem to move fast enough, but the further she made it away from Luke, the stronger she began to feel.

  Chapter Twenty Five

  ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~

  Luke was caught off guard when Susie walked up to the table, her sultry, southern twang a complete distraction to the fact that Sierra had just up and walked away. He stood, fully intending to go after Sierra, only to find Susie walking right into his arms. He abruptly wrapped his arms around her to keep from losing his balance, but before he could pull away, Susie planted a scorching hot kiss firmly on his lips.

  Based on the death glare his brother shot him, and the look of horror on Sam’s face, Luke knew Sierra had been witness to everything that just happened. And being the dumbass that he was, Luke didn’t chase after her. Instead, time slowed to a crawl as the four of them stared at one another in fascinated shock. Well, everyone except Susie who appeared to be oblivious if her constant rambling was anything to go by.

  Minutes later, Luke found himself sitting at the table with the three of them while Susie continued her incessant talking. “And you wouldn’t believe this interior designer I hired.” Susie stated, capturing the full attention of everyone at the table.

  “Since I met her at the conference in Vegas, I figured for sure I would be getting top notch when I hired her. She’s new to the interior design world and green as hell. Unfortunately, she’s much more inexperienced than I originally gave her credit for. The woman just doesn’t seem to get it. I’m not sure how she intends to make it in that business if she is too stupid to take any sort of direction. I mean seriously, how hard is it to understand when I’m telling her exactly what I want?”

  Sam abruptly stood from the table, pushing her chair back so hard it nearly tumbled over. “It’s time to go.” She told Logan pointedly, not making eye contact with Luke.

  If she expected Luke to say something she had another thing coming. Oh, he knew he should defend Sierra, he knew he should say anything that would make Susie put a lid on it, but he couldn’t seem to come up with the words.

  For the last few days, Luke’s emotions had been all fucked up, and he didn’t know how to even talk to Sierra. As it would appear, the night the three of them spent together had had a shocking effect on Luke. Unable to get his shit together, he’d successfully managed to keep her at arm’s length all week. It appeared the arm had just turned into a football field.

  Luke could only watch as Logan and Sam walked away, his brother’s death stare boring a hole into him and promising retribution later. That was par for the course these days or so it seemed. If his conversation with Cole earlier was anything to go by, Luke had successfully morphed back into the world class asshole.

  “So, it looks like it’s just you and me now, cowboy.” Susie’s seductive whisper slid over him while her slender fingers snaked up his arm.

  He’d always wondered what it meant to have an out of body experience. Now he knew. He glanced down at Susie, feeling like a bystander watching a train crash into another one head on at two hundred miles per hour.

  The woman looked the same as always with her beautiful, golden blond hair, those piercing brown eyes, and those sinfully red lips, but for the life of him, Luke couldn’t understand what he had been drawn to about her. Before he could give it another second’s thought the other object of Susie’s sexual infatuation chose that moment to walk up to the table and based on the look on his face, Cole was none too happy to see Luke.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Cole barked, glaring down at Luke, never even acknowledging Susie.

  “What are you talking about?” Luke pushed to his feet, needing to get some height on Cole in order to deal with the man’s anger. In all the time that he had known him, he had never seen Cole mad enough that his hands were balled into fists at his side. If Luke looked close enough, he’d probably see steam coming out of his ears.

  “Cole, honey, what’s wrong?” Susie interrupted.

  As though seeing her for the first time, Cole glanced over at the woman at the table, but his attention didn’t stray for long before he locked that penetrating stare back on Luke. “Sierra just stormed out of here. In tears. Although she didn’t bother to tell me why, my money’s on you.”

  T
he thought of Sierra crying tore at Luke’s heart. If he was a smart man, which he was, he would high tail it out of the club and find her. Apparently his intellect had taken a back seat to the rage boiling just beneath the surface. “If I remember right, you lost your right to stick your nose into my business.”

  Cole laughed. The man actually laughed, but his eyes showed no reflection of humor. “I don’t give a fuck about you.” Cole’s tone was deceptively calm, standing toe to toe with Luke. “It’s her I care about.”

  “Her? You’re going to stand here and tell me you care about her? You abandoned her, remember? You abandoned both of us.” Wow, where the hell had that come from?

  “Abandoned?” Cole’s body went stone still. “I stayed away from her. Because of you. And then the second you invite me over, I’m there. And you want to tell me I’m the one who abandoned you?”

  Cole jabbed a finger in Luke’s chest, and the sudden, intense reaction to the other man’s anger was shocking. Luke instinctively reared back, his fist clenched, every muscle geared up for a fight. His brain registered what he was doing, but a fraction of a second before impact, someone’s steel hard grip latched onto Luke’s arm and pulled him back, causing him to stumble.

  “Not here, damnit.” Logan’s tense words broke through the red haze that consumed him. Pulling out of Logan’s grip, Luke stepped forward, getting right in Cole’s face again.

  “We’ve got some things to talk about, you and me.” Cole stated matter-of-factly, not giving an inch. “It’s time we took care of that.”

  Luke processed the words, he even understood what Cole was telling him, but all of a sudden nothing seemed to matter except for one thing. Getting to Sierra.

  “Luke? What’s going on?” Susie’s husky voice broke the strained silence that settled between the two men despite the loud music pounding through the sound system.

  Tunnel vision consumed him, and he could only focus on the man standing inches away.

  “Tell her.” Cole stated through clinched teeth.

  “Tell her what?” Luke’s irritation level was reaching the critical point.

  “Start with how you sent Sierra out of here crying.”

  “Sierra?” Susie asked, looking bemused. “Not Sierra Sellers, I hope. Please don’t tell me that you’ve lowered your standards…”

  Luke cut her off before the words could come out. He gripped Susie’s slim arm, jerking her to face him.

  “Don’t.” The word came out more as a snarl, but Luke couldn’t contain his temper. “Don’t say another fucking word about her. You’re damn lucky she’s even given you the time of day. And if I hear one more fucking word out of your mouth, you’ll be out of my club so fast your head will spin.”

  Susie’s eyes widened, locked with his and he swore he saw… Oh, hell, the woman was turned on by all of this? Good Lord. His suspicions were confirmed a second later when her eyes lowered. Her admission of surrender.

  On a normal day that look would have Luke backing her against a wall and taking her hard and fast until she screamed his name.

  Not today.

  Not ever again.

  He was right on one thing… Sierra deserved so much better than him. She deserved everything. And if Luke had a chance in hell of making her understand he was the man who would give her everything, he had to take that opportunity.

  “Luke, I didn’t mean…” Susie began when she realized Luke wasn’t at all interested in her submissive act.

  “That’s enough.” Luke scolded her like a recalcitrant child.

  The woman had the audacity to lean into him, pressing her breasts against his chest, and the look in her eyes was smoldering. She was definitely getting off on this. Taking a step back, Luke took inventory of those around him.

  Great. Just fucking great.

  He’d gotten the attention of damn near everyone in the club, including Lucie and Kane. The two of them were staring at him like another head had just sprouted from his shoulders. They shouldn’t be all that surprised that he would lose his shit like this. It’d been a long time coming.

  “Fuck.” Luke groaned, running his hand through his hair before turning away from both Cole and Susie.

  He needed to get out of there, and he needed to do it now. A glance and a nod in Kane’s direction and the other man knew exactly what Luke expected. Kane was likely getting used to being in charge. Maybe he should consider giving him a raise. At least the club would be handled.

  Before he could get five feet away, Cole was breathing down his neck, gripping his arm and jerking him around to look at him.

  “You and I… we’re going to talk. Tonight. I’ll be at your place in a half hour. Don’t you dare fucking run away.” Cole told him before walking away.

  Luke didn’t have a chance to argue. That was fine with him. There would obviously be time to do that later. He only hoped the fire that ignited his blood had extinguished by then. If not, he couldn’t be responsible for his own actions.

  “Sam is taking Sierra back to your place.” Logan stated when he fell into step with Luke. “She was in no shape to drive, so Sam convinced her to let her take her home. Only Sam had a few ideas of her own, and you can thank her for it later.”

  Luke glared at his brother through the fading red haze. “Logan –”

  Before Luke could get another word out, Logan took a step in his direction. “Save the explanations for Sierra. She doesn’t deserve this shit, man. You’re a ticking time bomb, Luke, and if you don’t get your shit together, you’re not the only one who’s going to get hurt in all of this.” Logan stated, his jaw clinched tight. “If you want to self-implode, you go right ahead, the rest of us can’t seem to get through to you. It’s your fucking life, so do what you will. But, don’t… don’t you dare take Sierra down with you.”

  That was a threat if Luke had ever heard one. The words were loud and crystal clear as they ricocheted through Luke’s confusion riddled brain. His brother was right about one thing… Luke was a ticking time bomb and heaven help anyone who got in his way tonight.

  ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

  Twenty minutes later, breaking at least a handful of traffic laws and possibly the sound barrier on one occasion, Luke was pulling up to his house. Rather than pull into the garage, he haphazardly parked the big truck in the driveway and stormed into the house. Thankfully he’d managed to cool off at least a degree or two during the drive home, but now he wanted nothing more than to see Sierra. To explain.

  Explain what, he didn’t know. He only knew she deserved more than what he showed her tonight. For the last week, ever since that night with Sierra, Luke’s chemical make-up had been altered. She made him feel something… want something… and it scared the living shit out of him. So, instead of manning up, he’d been doing his level best to avoid her. And yes, Cole had nailed it accurately. Luke had run away. Maybe not physically this time, but he’d definitely managed to exile himself from Sierra, and the woman had tried to give him the space he needed. Instead of explaining himself, he’d been the selfish bastard he’d always been, and he’d pushed her away.

  “Sierra.” Luke called out when he walked in the door, but there was no sign that anyone was in the house. His sister-in-law had a key because she and Logan had taken care of Bear while he’d been away, so he’d fully expected to see them both inside.

  Fuck.

  She wasn’t there.

  Bear came ambling out from the bedroom, obviously picking up on Luke’s mood and staying on the sidelines. “Hey, Bear.” Luke greeted the dog, who still didn’t head toward him.

  Maybe Cole could take a pointer from the dog and give Luke some space instead of showing up because one thing Luke knew for sure… he damn sure wasn’t in the mood to argue with Cole. Right, wrong, or indifferent, Luke made his own choices, and now he had to face up to them. But the only person he cared to discuss it with was Sierra.

  Luke stopped in the middle of his living room, staring around like he could conjure Sierra up with just
his thoughts. If that was the case, she would have been in his bed every night for the last week, no matter what he had told her.

  A loud knock on the door jerked Luke’s attention and sent Bear into a barking frenzy. That wasn’t Sierra. He knew by the sound of a large fist pounding on the door. “Sit.” Luke scolded Bear before heading into the foyer.

  Yanking the door open, Luke fully expected to come face to face with Cole, but instead, his brother stood on his front steps looking none too happy to be there. Glancing around, Luke figured he’d find Sam standing behind him, but no, Logan was apparently alone.

  “What?” Luke asked, not feeling up to having company.

  “Why don’t you invite me in, bro.” Logan said as he sidestepped him, not waiting for an invitation.

  What the fuck? Shouldn’t Logan be at home with his wife?

  “What’s the matter? Where’s Sam?” Suddenly worried that something was wrong, Luke shut the door behind him and waited for the bad news.

  “She’s at home. Where I should be.” Logan stated, sounding irritated. Without further explanation, Logan veered toward the kitchen, and Luke fell into step behind him.

  “Then why are you here?”

  “Because my meddling wife said I needed to come talk to you. When I tried to talk her out of it… with my tongue… she cut me off.” Logan glared at him, then turned his attention to the refrigerator. Pulling out two beers, he handed one to Luke before taking a seat at the bar. “Fucking cut me off.”

  Luke wanted to laugh. Remembering the way Sam heated up the room with just her presence made Luke take a seat beside his brother. Adjusting himself, he got comfortable, opening his beer and tossing back half of it before looking at his brother again.

  “What did we need to talk about?”

  “Shit if I know.” Logan smirked. “You got anything stronger than this?” He asked, tossing back the rest of his beer in one gulp.

  Luke knew where this night was going. He’d spent a couple like this recently. Although he’d been alone at the time with a single shot glass and his buddy Jack. Getting up once more, he moved to the cabinet above the refrigerator where he kept the hard liquor and pulled out the bottle of Jack Daniel’s he’d gotten so acquainted with. It was almost half empty – or was that half full? Shit. What did he care?