by Lee Wardlow
“It did,” he replied quietly. “Are you coming Skylar?”
“I just have one more question?” Skylar asked. She rose from her chair. “About how long until Ava’s changes are made?”
“About sixty-to ninety days usually Sky. Why?”
“I was hoping the changes would be done before school started. You know how the school will be, she’ll have to use her official name. I wanted it to be Ava Shaw when she started. It will be tough enough getting everyone to change her name at the beginning.”
Jason glanced at the calendar. Then he looked at her. “We’re cutting it close at sixty days. I’ll see what I can do to get that accomplished.”
“Thanks Jason.”
He walked with them to the entrance of his office space and held the door open. He had known both of them having done business with their fathers for a very long time. “I’ll be in touch next week,” he told them.
Skylar walked across the street ahead of Luka. She hadn’t realized that MMA fighting could be so lucrative. “Are you going to talk to me?” Luka asked. She shook her head no. “Why not?” He asked.
Because she couldn’t put into words how she felt right now. She glanced over her shoulder at him. His stride was long having no difficulty keeping up with hers if anything he was struggling to keep from passing her by. He opened her door for her. Skylar slipped onto the seat and put her hand onto the door to prevent Luka from closing it immediately. her eyes met his.
“You found what you were looking for,” she declared.
He clenched his jaw tight. His gaze never left her face. “No,” he said with an adamant tone. “I was still missing something.”
He shoved her hand down and shut the door. Then he walked behind the truck. He got inside and slammed the door behind him. Luka started it up and put his arm behind her seat and turned, his eyes caught hers for a moment.
“Are you going to continue to look at me like that?” He asked.
“Like what?” She snapped.
“Like you don’t know me anymore,” he told her.
“I’m not sure that I do,” she said.
He sighed then he backed out of the spot and put the truck in drive and headed back to the ranch. They were both quiet. He wasn’t paying attention. Then he saw the blue and red lights in his rear view mirror. He looked down. He was only going three miles over the speed limit. He pulled over to the side of the road.
“What the fuck,” he said. Skylar looked behind them through the rear window.
Dan Hawkins climbed out of the police cruiser. He tipped his ball cap to the back of his head revealing his shaved head and walked to Luka’s window. Luka glared at him through the glass.
“Luka put your window down,” Skylar had to tell him. He pressed his finger to the window and they watched it slide down inside the door.
“Luka, how are you man?” His brown eyes twinkled with mischief at Luka. Luka was not amused himself.
“You aren’t going to ask me for my license and registration Dan?” Luka couldn’t hide the displeasure in his own voice.
Dan chuckled. “No man, I’m not. You have pissed off Tag, our mayor. Now Isaac and I, we don’t give a shit what he says. He was an asshole in high school and he still is. He thinks he can throw his weight around because he’s a Richardson and the Mayor. You know that and so do we.
“Three miles over we aren’t going to give you a ticket. Hell we’d have to ticket the whole damn town to be fair. But the Sheriff he’s in Tag’s back pocket. His son, Bobby he hates your guts because you dated Skylar when he wanted to so you need to be careful man or you are going to be racking up some points because the others they might just ticket you.
“I just wanted to let you know. The Sheriff sent out a radio message right after you drove out of town telling us to ticket you if you went one mile over the limit. Look for a headlight out. Taillight out. Anything to irritate you.”
“This is fucking ridiculous.”
“Yes, it is,” Dan agreed.
“It that all?” Luka asked.
“It is,” Dan replied.
“Can I go?”
“Sure Luka,” he replied. “Good to see you man.”
“Wish I could say the same thing Dan.”
Luka whipped the truck around in the street and headed back into town leaving Dan at the side of the road shaking his head at him. He was doing exactly what Tag wanted him to do. Lose control and do something stupid. “Luka, what are you doing?” He glanced over at Skylar but he didn’t respond. “Luka, you can’t do this.”
“The hell I can’t. I’m not Jacob Shaw’s little punk ass son anymore Skylar. I’m not taking Tag’s shit.”
He parked in the square and was out of the truck leaving the door open before Skylar even got out of the truck. She had to run to keep up with his long stride. That wasn’t an easy thing for her to do considering she was wearing high heeled sandals.
Luka was inside the mayor’s office before she was at the door. He shoved open Tag’s door before Donna Sue could stop him. Skylar stopped at Donna’s desk, gasping for air. Running in high heels was a bitch.
Finally, she went after Luka. He was leaning over Tag’s desk who was leaning back in his chair smirking at him. He wanted Luka to lose his patience. Tag wanted Luka to do something stupid like hit him then he would file assault charges against him and have him thrown in jail.
“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are but you do not want to mess with me Tag. I have more than you know. I am not one to be messed with. I will bury your sorry ass so deep they won’t be able to find your asshole.”
“Oh really?” Tag responded with a bored tone of voice. “No longer looking for table scraps? Willing to take my sloppy seconds?” He glanced around Luka at Skylar.
Skylar took a step back, a gasp escaped through her lips. She could see the tension of Luka’s body in his back muscles. He stepped back. He glanced over his shoulder at Skylar. “You always were a pussy. Afraid of getting your hands dirty. That’s why we never made state, you couldn’t handle the ball. I can handle the ball just fine Tag.”
He stepped back even further and glanced down at Skylar. She felt like she had been pissed on. Like Luka had just marked his territory. “You don’t even need to worry about Skylar,” he informed the Mayor. “She’s not your sloppy seconds. She was always mine to begin with. Why do you think she could never love you, asshole because she never stopped loving me?”
Skylar could feel her face flaming with embarrassment. She turned on her heel and slipped out from under Luka’s big arm and headed to the door.
“See you later Donna. Have a nice day,” she told her at the door.” Tag’s assistant had heard everything. Soon a lot of people in town would know about this argument.
Outside she slipped off her shoes and began walking, past Luka’s truck straight out of the town square. She heard Luka calling her name but she chose to ignore him. Skylar was too pissed off. Was he thinking that she would be happy with him claiming her in front of Tag like she was a purebred up for auction? Hell no. She was not happy at all.
Chapter 11
Pulling up beside her on the two-lane road he could tell that she was pissed at him and he knew why. He knew Skylar. She needed to understand that he wasn’t going to stand by and let Tag talk about her that way without putting the asshole in his place.
“Get in,” he told her. “We’ll talk.”
She threw her shoes through the open window. One of them hit him in the shoulder. He was lucky it hadn’t hit him in the head.
“Skylar, be reasonable and get in the damn truck.” She flipped him the middle finger. “Do I have to put you in the truck?” He asked.
She stopped walking and glared at him. “Try it,” she dared him.
Both of his eyebrows raised over his eyes. She had challenged him. Granted he hadn’t fought with her in ten years but he was an MMA fighter. He had faced some fierce competitors; a whole lot bigger and a whole lot meaner than Skyle
r Bradford. He was a champion, goddammit.
He was inching forward watching her. He knew she was pissed but he couldn’t back down. Not from a challenge, not from Skylar. They were both too stubborn for their own good. Always had been.
He put the truck in park and got out. Skylar glanced over her shoulder and saw him approaching her. She hesitated for a second then she took off running. He sighed. He wasn’t dressed for a chase this morning. Then he took off after her.
His legs were much longer than her short ones so he caught her easily enough. Before she knew what had happened she was hanging over his shoulder but she was fighting him hard. He pinned her legs to his body but her arms were still free to do damage to him.
“Luka, you put me down.” Skylar was hitting his back with her tiny little fists and they were giving him a world of hurt.
“Stop it. You’re getting in the truck.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Now what makes you think you can get away from me?” He laughed at her infuriating her that much more.
She pinched his butt hard. Her little fingers were her deadly weapons. They always had been. Those and her knees. “Goddammit woman, I could have dropped you,” he told her.
“Put me down,” she barked at him. She pinched his ass again. He growled at her and slapped her ass.
“I said stop it.” She squealed and covered her bottom to keep him from slapping her again.
“Don’t do that again,” she snarled at Luka.
“Stop pinching me then dammit. He put her in the truck but kept hold of her arm so she couldn’t get out the other side.
“Now be good woman and sit there.” He climbed in beside her and started driving towards the ranch. “Would you have preferred I just let him insult you?” She glared at him refusing to answer.
Luka turned the truck down the lane and parked in the circular drive. Skylar hopped out taking her purse but forgetting her shoes. Luka grabbed them for her. She headed straight for the house. He saw Brett, Ramona and Ava in the goat pen standing at the wire fence, watching them so he headed that way.
“What did you do?” Ramona asked looking at her sister’s retreating back then at Luka.
He chuckled, a humorless sound. “Tag and I had words in town. She’s not happy about it.”
Ramona nodded her head. “Everything taken care of?” She asked.
“With Tag or our wills?”
“Both?” She asked.
“Our wills will be done next week. Tag will never be taken care of. You know him,” he declared.
She nodded agreeing with him. Ramona had never liked Tag or what Skylar was doing with him. She hadn’t understood it.
Luka reached over the fence surrounding the goat pen. He caressed his daughter’s face. Ava smiled up at him. “I love you Daddy.”
Those words made everything all better. He didn’t know how he had lived without hearing them the first ten years of her life. “I love you too Ava.”
“You should probably go inside and talk to her,” Brett suggested.
“I got pinched twice suggesting we talk. I think I’ll change clothes and let her cool down for a bit.”
Ava frowned at her father. He patted her cheek. “Don’t worry sweetheart. It’s not the first time that I’ve riled your Momma to the point that she’s pinched me or kicked me in places I don’t need to discuss with my young daughter.”
She wasn’t relieved by that statement. “Momma has never hurt anyone.”
He chuckled at his daughter. “You’ve never seen us together sweetheart. I just seem to have that effect on her.”
In her room, Skylar had changed and washed her feet. They were dusty from walking on the road out of town. She laid on the bed for a bit to cool her temper that only seemed to flare at Luka Shaw. Usually, she was mild mannered but when pushed she had a temper from the fires of hell. Right now, she just wanted to explode on Luka.
Picking up her iPad she wanted to see what the fuss was about where Luka Shaw was concerned. She remembered Ava’s coach’s reaction to him yesterday. Ava’s fear at seeing him fight.
She googled Luka Shaw. There were some events when she saw him in black tie. She ran her finger over his image. He looked so handsome in formal wear. A few pictures where several lanky, beautiful women were on his arm. So different than her. They both waved for the cameras. She felt tears well in her eyes. She closed those pictures quickly because they hurt her heart.
Then she went to some videos of his cage matches. She watched him beat another human being until they were both bloody. She was biting on her thumbnail. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. She watched a second one.
A foot to his face and his head snapped back. He staggered. The sound of pain coming from his mouth. Then a retaliation strike, against his opponent. She cringed. Then another and another. With his feet and his hands. He was powerful and controlled with every movement of his body directed at his opponent.
She didn’t hear him come in. She didn’t see him sit on her bed. She was staring at her screen watching him fight another man, worrying that he would die even though she knew that he hadn’t. It was like watching someone else fight this battle just as Ava suggested. So much blood.
Luka took the iPad from her hands. “What are you doing?” His voice was soft and filled with worry. He had changed too. He now wore jeans and a soft, cotton shirt that clung to his muscles.
Skylar pulled herself up against the headboard. After stopping the video feed, he laid the iPad on the nightstand. She wiped her tears from her face.
“Did you have a serious girlfriend in the last ten years?” She asked.
“No,” he replied. “Why do you ask?”
“No?”
“Sky, no one could replace you. I’ve told you that.”
“Who are the women I saw at the events?” He appeared puzzled. “I saw them. Tall, beautiful women. They looked like models. Who are they?” She couldn’t keep the hurt out of her voice.
“No one. Not girlfriends for sure. I never dated. I had events I had to attend sometimes. They were acquaintances who agreed to go with me.”
“You never slept with them?”
“Skylar don’t do this,” he said shaking his head.
She shook her head. “You’re right. I have slept with other men. Of course, you have slept with other women.”
He visibly cringed. She saw it and she almost smiled at the pain that it caused him. “It bothers you,” she said.
He chuckled a sad sound escaping him and she heard that sadness. “Yes it does,” he admitted.
“Did you think that I wouldn’t have sex with anyone in ten years?”
“I liked to pretend that you were being celibate,” he mumbled.
Skylar rolled her eyes at him. “Well I wasn’t. I didn’t sleep around. I had a small child to take care of and three sisters to get through high school. A ranch to run but I did date and I did have sex. Get used to it.”
“Thanks for that revelation,” he grumbled. “I didn’t date. I didn’t make a commitment to anyone that I slept with. I told the women I was with up front that my heart was already taken.”
She stared at him. “And they still slept with you?” She stated with disgust.
He nodded. “They were idiots,” Skylar declared.
He laughed. “Why were you watching my fights?” He asked.
“Trying to discover this man that I’m living with,” Skylar said. She touched him. “He’s made of flesh and bone that is somewhat familiar to me even though he’s grown up without me,” She cocked her head to the side taking him in. Sky ran her hand down his large bicep. “He is so different as well. I recognize his eyes although his body has changed from the lanky boy who left me.”
He chuckled.
She stared at Luka. Then she picked up his hand. “His hands are the same. Rough and broad. I remember them and what they could do to me. How they could make me feel.”
She laid his hand back on the bed. Then she gazed at his
face. “There are lines around your eyes that are new.” She traced the faint lines with her fingers and his eyes closed at her touch. Her focus traveled down to his lips. Her finger traced his full lower lip. “Those lips are just the same too.”
He pulled her to him so that she was sitting across his body, straddling him. His hands rested at her hips. “I’m the same man I was.”
She dropped her head a little. Thinking. “But you’re not,” she told him.
“Because I have a big bank account.”
“That and you are famous. You’ve attended black tie events. Walked red carpets with models. Luka, that isn’t me,” she told him.
She rested her hands on his shoulders. “I’m still me, Luka. Small town girl. Horse trainer. Nothing more.”
His gaze was intense as they locked on hers. “Mother of my child,” he whispered huskily. His deep voice caressing her like a soft wind through her hair and making her shiver. “Mother of my future children,” he informed her. She swallowed hard. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that statement.
“The love of my life. I meant what I said when I told you that my heart was still here.” He was adamant about that.
Skylar laced her arms around his neck. She tangled her fingers in the strands of his dark hair. The silkiness reminding her of how he felt covering her body with his then and now. His breath was hot in the curve of her neck. “Skylar, don’t you know?” She shook her head no.
“I love you,” he whispered. “I have always loved you.” He could feel her holding her breath. She held it for a few seconds more. “Breathe Skylar,” he told her. He realized then that she was crying. He pushed her back so that he could see her face. Luka cupped her cheeks in his big palms. “What?”
She closed her eyes. “Luka,” her chest rose and fell as she if she struggled to breathe. “I…I can’t put into the words the pain that I felt when your mom told me that you were gone.”
His hands slid across her back drawing her tighter in his embrace.
“When I heard the amount of money that you had made fighting all I could think was…well he accomplished what he set out to do and I couldn’t help but feel resentful of you, Luka because I wasn’t enough to keep you here.”