~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Cole rapped his knuckles against the door, waiting patiently for Lucie to answer. His patience was running thin, so he wasn’t sure how he managed. He’d received a call from Sierra earlier, asking him to stop by. Her message had been cryptic and she sounded worried which made Cole worry. Two attempts to call her back had failed, so he opted to go over to Lucie’s before he went to Sierra’s.
“Thanks for coming.” Lucie said when she opened the door. She had changed out of her work uniform into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She looked tired. Her eyes were puffy like she had been crying.
“Sure.” He replied, walking in and shutting the door behind him. “Is Haley here?”
“No. She’s at my mom’s. I didn’t want to take a chance that she would overhear our conversation, so I asked my mom to keep her for the night.”
Cole knew where this conversation was going to go, especially if Lucie made a point to keep Haley away.
“Can I get you something to drink?” She asked politely, but without heart.
“I’m good.” He took a seat on the sofa, waiting for her to join him. When she didn’t, he waited. He didn’t have to wait long though.
“I have to tell him.”
That was a good start. At least Cole thought it was. “What made you decide that?”
“Haley deserves to know who her father is.”
Cole didn’t know if she was telling him the reason, or trying to convince herself that this was the right thing to do.
“You know how I feel about this.” They’d talked about it numerous times and Lucie never agreed with him, but he hadn’t held back how he felt. Having grown up without a father, not knowing who the man was, Cole had firsthand knowledge of what that felt like. Although his situation was different. Cole’s father knew about him, he just chose not to be a part of his life. Haley’s father didn’t even know.
“When are you going to tell him?” Cole asked, hoping to get her to open up a little.
“I don’t know.”
“Lucie. Sit down.” Cole told her, letting her hear the insistence in his words. She had asked him to come over, and he would never turn his back on a friend, but he needed to check on Sierra, which meant Lucie had to get on with it. “Talk to me.”
Her feet moved albeit reluctantly, and she made her way to the couch, sitting down beside him and putting her head in her hands as she spoke. “Haley deserves to know him. And he deserves to know her. It’s not her fault that he doesn’t remember what happened.”
“It’s not your fault either, honey.” Cole assured her.
“I know it’s not. But I could have brought it up to him. I could have told him what happened. I mean we had sex. And it was amazing.” She sighed. “How can he not remember?”
Cole didn’t have an answer for that. He’d never had an answer for that.
“This is going to turn his world upside down.” Lucie continued. “He seems happy. Truly happy right now. How can I just unleash this on him? He’s going to hate me. And probably fire me.”
“He’s not going to fire you.” That he was sure of. “Look, honey.” Cole took her hand and turned her to face him. “This isn’t going to be easy, but it’s the right thing to do. Haley needs to know her father. He needs to know about her. Hell, we don’t even know how he’ll react until you tell him.”
Lucie nodded her head.
“I think you should call him. Tonight.”
That had Lucie’s head jerking back in surprise. “Tonight?”
“Yes. Call him. Ask him to come over so you can talk to him. He’s a reasonable man.” Granted, he might not be reasonable once he realizes he slept with one of his bartenders, getting her pregnant and having absolutely no recollection of the night in question. But, that didn’t change the fact that the man was a father.
Cole couldn’t sit any longer. He hated to leave Lucie, hated that she would have to go through this alone, but he needed to get to Sierra. “I hate to run, but I’ve got somewhere I need to be. Call me tomorrow and let me know how things went tonight.” He told her as he walked toward the door. “You can do this, Luce. Just remember, it’s best for all three of you.”
Cole left Lucie nodding her head, whether she was placating him or agreeing with him, he didn’t know. As much as he wanted to see the man’s reaction when she sprang the news on him, Cole couldn’t stick around.
He quickened his pace on his way to his truck, pulling out his cell phone. He fumbled through the numbers, but managed to dial Sierra’s phone, listening to it ring as he started up his truck. When Luke answered, Cole glanced down at the screen, wondering if he’d misdialed.
“Where are you?” Luke asked.
“On my way to Sierra’s.” He told him as he put the truck in Drive and tore out of the parking lot.
“That wasn’t the question.”
Well, fuck. Luke knew exactly where Cole was because he heard him tell Lucie he would see her tonight. Apparently Luke wasn’t happy with the idea. Was he jealous? The thought made Cole smile. Luke McCoy. Jealous. Ha. “I’m leaving Lucie’s.”
“What the fuck are you doing with her?” Luke’s voice lowered, and Cole realized he was trying to hide his conversation from Sierra. Not that there was any reason to. He was sure once he told Sierra exactly what was going on with Lucie, she’d understand. Not that he could. At least until Lucie shared her news. Cole damn sure wasn’t going to be the one to spread that little rumor. He’d never be forgiven. Not to mention, too many people could get hurt.
“She just needed someone to talk to.” Cole assured him as he pulled onto the highway. Traffic was light, so Cole floored it, gaining speed and getting closer to his destination. “I’ll be there in ten. We’ll talk then.” With that Cole disconnected the call.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Luke wanted to throw the phone, and he might have if it had been his own. Instead he dropped Sierra’s cell phone on the coffee table, staring at it in disbelief. Thankfully Sierra had gone to take a shower because Luke would have hated for her to talk to Cole. Knowing that he was coming straight from Lucie’s to see Sierra actually made Luke’s stomach hurt. Dropping his head into his hands, he closed his eyes.
What the hell had happened? Just yesterday the three of them had been happy. Or so Luke thought. They’d spent nearly every night for the past week together, at one of their houses. And in the matter of just a few hours, each one of them had done something to change the entire dynamic of their relationship. Luke had asked Sierra to marry him. Sierra had said yes. And Cole had been doing God knows what at Lucie’s during that time.
Should he have consulted Cole before he proposed to Sierra? Probably. Was the man going to be pissed? More than likely. Did Luke actually give a shit? The answer should be a resounding no, but it wasn’t. Luke did care. He cared about Cole. Hell, he loved the man.
Yes. Love.
Not a feeling he thought he would ever feel for another man. At least not that way. But he did. Since the day he met Cole all those years ago when he waltzed into the club, fully intending to make it his own, Luke had been fascinated by Cole. Then over the years they’d become friends, sharing women.
Then that one October night… Logan’s bright idea to shock some sense into Sam had turned out to be Luke’s nightmare. He had been so taken with Cole that night, the intensity of being close to him, having Cole touch him, put his mouth on him, surrendering to him in every way. It had been too much. So much that Luke had lost all common sense and had fucked Cole three ways to Sunday. Rightfully so, that had been the most erotic night of Luke’s life. Which was saying something because Luke had done some crazy things before then.
And somehow being with Cole had changed him. The two of them, when they took Sierra for the first time - that had altered him as well. And now, here he was, engaged to the one and only woman he had ever loved, and feeling as though he had just betrayed Cole. Hell, he had betrayed Cole.
Even with all of that, Luke still wanted the man. Desperately. Th
ey had yet to be together, just the two of them. Except for that morning in the shower in Vegas. That was the closest the two of them had ever been. Yet Luke wanted more. He wanted Cole to give himself completely. And Luke wanted to give back.
And maybe that’s what bothered him the most about Cole being with Lucie. He said they were just friends, and he had no reason to believe otherwise. Was it his way of pushing Cole away? Still?
Pushing to his feet, Luke looked around. Sierra was still in the shower. Knowing he couldn’t leave, nor did he want to, Luke resigned himself to figuring out the next step. It was time the three of them hashed this out. Cole would probably be pissed, but that couldn’t be helped. Come hell or high water, they were going to make this permanent. Tonight.
Twenty minutes later, when Cole walked through the front door, Luke was sitting on the couch, and Sierra was in the kitchen. Making tea.
Seriously. Tea.
Luke had turned down her offer. He’d prefer a shot of whiskey, but since she didn’t have it, he opted for nothing.
Keeping his eyes on Cole as he shut the door behind him, Luke felt his muscles tense, gearing up for a fight. He’d told himself they wouldn’t do this. They could talk this out like rational adults and figure out what they were going to do next. Sierra didn’t think it would be that simple. Or so she said while they waited for Cole to show up.
Luke had been surprised when she didn’t take the ring off of her finger. That little gesture lifted four tons of bricks from Luke’s chest. She wasn’t going to hide it. That said more than words ever could, although they both knew it could very well be the final shove in pushing Cole away. At the moment, thinking about where the man had just come from, Luke didn’t know if that was necessarily a bad thing.
“Where have you been?” Sierra asked when she walked in the room carrying a coffee mug.
Cole glanced at Luke, then back to Sierra. “I had to go talk to a friend. Sorry I missed your call earlier. Is everything ok?”
“No.” She said honestly.
“What’s the matter?” Once again Cole was looking back and forth between the two of them, but Luke didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say.
“I had a run in with Susan Toulmin – sorry, you know her as Susie Mackendrick. The woman had the audacity to blackmail me. She told me I had to quit, or she was going to sue me for misrepresentation.” Sierra rambled quickly. “But the thing is, she wasn’t worried about my professional abilities. She was pissed off that I’m in a relationship with the two of you.”
Sierra sat her mug on the table before sitting in the chair opposite of Luke. He wanted her to come over beside him, but he didn’t move from where he was. He was waiting for Cole to elaborate on just what the hell he had been doing at Lucie’s.
“Is your friend alright?” Sierra asked.
“She will be.” Cole said before taking a seat on the couch beside Luke. It was the only other place to sit after all.
“She? Do I know her?”
Luke didn’t have to say a word; apparently Sierra’s curiosity was going to get him the answers he wanted.
“Lucie Werner. She’s a bartender at Club Destiny.”
“Oh. The one who was caught stealing?”
“Yes.”
Chapter Thirty Two
~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~
For a moment the room was silent, no one was looking in any one direction and the tension was slowly increasing. This was the awkwardness that Luke tried to avoid. It was so much easier to sleep with a woman, or participate in a hot, steamy ménage, and disappear in the middle of the night. Instead, they had to work out their differences, after figuring out what they even were. When it finally got too uncomfortable for Luke, he turned his attention to Cole.
“Why were you at Lucie’s?”
“I told you. She needed to talk.” Cole said, his tone reflecting his sudden irritation.
“About what?”
“If that was your business, she would have called you.”
Luke had to hold back his anger. His first instinct was to walk out the front door and not look back. He’d gotten so used to avoiding confrontation that it was second nature just to walk away. He couldn’t this time. He had something to prove. And not so much to Sierra and Cole, but to himself. This was what he wanted. These two people. Relationships weren’t always wine and roses and Luke had to figure out a way to cope with it.
He couldn’t sit still though, so he stood and paced toward the front door. Before he reached it, Cole’s voice resounded from the other side of the room. “Don’t you dare walk away.”
That brought Luke up short. He wasn’t planning to walk away, but obviously that was Cole’s first assumption. Apparently Luke had burned the man one too many times. And if that thought didn’t just piss him the fuck off.
“Or what?” Luke retorted, turning toward the man. “What the fuck do you care?”
Great. Now he was going to taunt him. So much for acting like a rational adult.
“See. That’s what you’ve never seemed to understand, Luke.” Cole’s voice was calm, and he remained sitting which only pissed Luke off more. “I do care. I’ve always cared. It’s you who doesn’t seem to give a shit about anyone but yourself.”
“Is that right?” Luke asked, taking a step closer to Cole.
Obviously feeling the need to get on a level playing field, Cole stood; his large body now only inches away.
“I’ve never heard you say it.” Cole stated, his dark blue eyes glimmering with anger.
“Say what?”
“How you feel. You’ve insisted that I say it, but you’ve never been man enough to tell me how you feel.”
Luke took another step closer, bringing them almost nose to nose. “You don’t need me to say it.”
Cole’s eyes were suddenly somber. “That’s where you’re wrong.”
And if that wasn’t a punch to the gut. Luke faltered for a moment, his eyes glancing down at Cole’s mouth, then back up to his eyes. He’d never told Cole how he felt, but he had expected him to figure it out.
“Tell me, Luke.” Cole said, moving closer, their chests touching, and a fire sparked in Luke’s gut. Damn this man could make him feel things he’d never imagined he’d feel. “Tell me how you feel.”
Luke reached up and slid his hand into Cole’s hair, pulling firmly, his mouth hovering a breath away.
“Tell me.”
Luke wanted to say the words that would assure Cole this was more than just chemistry between them, more than just explosive sex, more than just… “I love you.” Holy fuck! The words slipped out and the heat he saw in Cole’s eyes fanned the flame that had sparked seconds before. Before Luke could move, Cole crushed his mouth down on his and Luke was lost for a moment.
Cole gripped his hair, pulling him closer as their mouths ate at one another, Cole’s firm, warm lips gliding against his until Luke was damn close to ripping his clothes from his body.
“Easy.” Cole’s voice broke through the maelstrom of emotion churning inside of him, his lips pulling back, gently brushing against Luke’s. Damn it felt good. Too good.
And then Sierra was behind him, her slender arms wrapping around his waist, her lips pressing against his back, sending a chill down his spine. He wouldn’t survive this. He needed the heat, the flames, not this sweet seduction. Luke didn’t do sweet. His need was too strong.
Cole’s fingers went to the waistband of Luke’s jeans and his stomach muscles tightened. Those rough fingers scraped his lower stomach as they eased open the button, then slid down the zipper with practiced movements. When Cole trailed his mouth down Luke’s neck, across his pectoral muscle, and then further down the center of his stomach, lowering himself to his knees in the process, Luke thought he would explode. Sierra was behind him, but she wasn’t doing anything more than kissing his back, sending tingling sensations over his skin.
Somehow Luke ended up on the couch, sitting with Sierra behind him. He didn’t want to crush her, so
he tried to move forward, only to have her pull him back against her. His jeans were around his ankles, and Cole was kneeling between his legs, his big fist wrapped firmly around his iron hard cock. Luke wanted rough. He wanted hard and fast, but he knew by the look in Cole’s eyes that he wasn’t going to get it. Not tonight.
Sierra wrapped her arms around Luke, using her hand to tilt his head as she placed heated kisses along his neck, his shoulder. Torn between Sierra’s bewitching kisses and the feel of Cole’s mouth as he took Luke’s cock in deep, he was pretty damn sure his head would explode. Cole expertly sucked him, using his tongue to torture his shaft, then lapping at the engorged head, before sucking harder.
“Fuck.” Luke growled, wanting to move, but trapped by Cole’s firm grip on his thighs and Sierra’s arms holding him back against her.
“Let him love you.” Sierra whispered in his ear, and Luke’s cock jumped.
Cole’s eyes darted up to his as he continued to take him deeper, feeling the back of his throat as it hit the swollen head of his dick. There was heat. There was intensity. But it was unlike anything Luke had ever known.
When Cole moved down, sucking Luke’s balls into his mouth, laving them one at a time, before sucking them inside the hot, moist cavern of his mouth again, Luke groaned. He was going to come. He needed to come.
“I want to watch you make love to him.” Sierra’s words had the impact of a two by four, and suddenly Luke wanted the same thing. He wanted to bury himself to the hilt inside of Cole, holding on for dear life. He wanted to love him.
“Naked. Now.” Luke said, managing to gain back some of his equilibrium, although Cole still had Luke’s cock buried deep in his mouth, sucking vigorously while Sierra nipped at his neck.
“Now.” Luke growled, pulling out of Cole’s mouth and pushing his jeans from his ankles, needing to be able to move.
When he would have stood, Sierra held him back once more, and Luke turned his head. “I need to fuck him.”
“Stay right where you are.” She told him, holding him although he could have easily pulled away if he wanted to.
Temptation (Club Destiny) Page 33