Fallen

by Natasha Grace

  Luke grinned at the same time someone called their number. “I don’t think we have to worry about that happening unless you’ve finally decided to take me out of my misery and marry me.”

  She laughed as she followed him towards the counter. She never knew he could be such a joker.

  Once they’d gotten their food and drinks, they went outside and found an empty bench at a park nearby. As if a little extra distance between them would help with the attraction she was battling, she set the bag down between them. He followed suit and placed their bottles of water down as well. She guessed that even though they were both willing to eat the restaurant’s food, they hadn’t wanted to test the cleanliness of the fountain machine.

  The familiar smell of the sandwiches beckoned her as she opened the bag. She was finally going to find out whether or not she’d hyped up the sandwich in her head. She opened the sandwiches then carefully cut them each in half, trying not to let too much sauce ooze out. She wrapped one in a napkin then handed it to Luke. “Good luck.”

  It was a good thing he wasn’t wearing one of his suits or she’d feel awful if anything got stained. She wrapped another napkin around the remaining half, then took a bite, and moaned. She’d forgotten how good their barbecue sauce was. The sandwich might not be organic, free range, or even whole–wheat, but, oh, how she’d missed it. She took another bite, then another.

  After a while, she realized that she hadn’t heard anything from Luke. She wiped her mouth and turned to find him looking at her with the oddest expression. Her throat tightened. She doubted the glamorous women he dated brought him to rundown bars and ate messy sandwiches. And though she knew that she was overthinking things, she couldn’t help but feel self–conscious. She was about to ask him why he wasn’t eating when he moved to brush his thumb against her mouth. Her heartbeat quickened, and she intercepted him to wipe her mouth with a napkin.

  “You’re not eating,” she murmured.

  He looked like he was about to say something before he shook his head. “I was just thinking about something.”

  He lifted his sandwich and some sauce dropped onto his khakis. Her cheeks flushed as she set her sandwich down. “I’m sorry. I should’ve wrapped these better.” She opened her bag and got a baby wipe before moving closer towards him. Pulling the fabric of his pants, she wiped the sauce off. Then she folded the wipe and dabbed the spot, hoping to remove the stain.

  After a few dabs, he made a sound and took a hold of her hand, sending electric shivers up her arm. “I’ll do it. Thank you.”

  Her cheeks flushed as she suddenly realized how close she’d been to his penis. “Of course,” she said as she quickly released the wipe.

  As he worked the stain, she took a drink from her water bottle and tried her best not to look at him. With the way her mind seemed to be working lately, she was sure she was going to look at something she had no business looking at.

  “There,” he said a moment later.

  She glanced down and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the stain was almost gone. “At least it looks better,” she said. “Hopefully, Maria won’t kill me when she sees it.” His housekeeper and cook kept a tight ship.

  He scoffed. “Maria adores you. If anything, she’d probably blame me.” He wrapped another napkin around the sandwich and as he brought it to his mouth, she couldn’t help but notice how big his hands were.

  She forced herself to look away and felt her throat go dry as she watched the muscles in his neck work. How could she find him eating sexy? Forcing her attention back to her own sandwich, she inwardly cursed herself. She’d invited him to lunch to try to salvage what she’d hoped was the beginning of a new friendship, but instead of doing that, she was ogling him as if he were her dessert. Insane. She was definitely insane.

  * * *

  “Thanks for lunch,” Sam said as they got out of the elevator in her apartment building a few hours later. Luke looked up from her perfectly shaped ass to spy her getting her key from her bag and breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness she hadn’t caught him looking at her. He really shouldn’t have even been looking at her ass, but holy, did her jeans fit her well.

  “It was nothing,” he murmured as he burrowed his hands into his pockets.

  Sam laughed as she opened her door. “Your nothing was the most fun I’ve had in ages.”

  He smiled and tried not to let that get into his head. She was probably bored from staying home most of the time. “I had fun, too.” After they’d eaten, they’d taken a walk around the university and something about it had just felt right. He hadn’t wanted the day to end. “Let me know if you ever need anything at the office to help with your investing.”

  She’d mentioned she’d started trading and had credited it to him. He couldn’t help but be happy that not only was she doing something she loved, but that she’d thought highly enough of him to listen to his idea. Though it was wasn’t anywhere near as much as he’d been thinking about her, it was something.

  “Thanks. I appreciate it.” She tapped her keys against her hand. “So…maybe we’ll do this again sometime?” Her smile made his chest do all kinds of crazy things and he suddenly realized that they were alone. His gaze dropped to her lips and he had to tamp down the urge to take her in his arms and kiss her. All he had to do was take a step forward and he’d get to taste those sweet lips he’d been looking at all day.

  “I’ll text you.” He took a step back, putting some distance between her and his wild urges. He would undoubtedly do something extremely stupid if he stayed with her a second longer. She was just too tempting for his own good. He’d thought he could keep his feelings at bay, but all through lunch, he’d found himself watching for signs that she’d wanted to be more than friends. Unfortunately, there’d been none. And though he’d been expecting that, the disappointment still hurt.

  “Sure.”

  His chest ached at the realization that he was going to have to limit the time he spent with her. He couldn’t accept any more lunch invitations from her and he most definitely shouldn’t text her. He’d never get over her if he did.

  “I should get going,” he said as he tilted his head down the hallway. “I still have some work to catch up on. It was good seeing you again.”

  “Yeah. You, too.”

  He smiled grimly and left.

  * * *

  Hey, do you want to go out on Saturday?

  Luke’s chest tightened as he looked at Sam’s text. It had been almost two weeks since they’d gone out to lunch together and while he loved the fact that she’d enjoyed it so much that she wanted to do it again, he couldn’t put himself through it all again. He’d always find himself wanting more than she could give him and that wouldn’t be fair to either of them.

  And yet, he was hesitant to refuse.

  A year ago, he would’ve jumped at the opportunity to spend more time with her. It hadn’t mattered that she was married and all that he could hope for was friendship. He would’ve taken anything he could get. But with Jason no longer between them, being friends no longer cut it. He wanted everything.

  And since she couldn’t give him what he wanted, he had to stop fooling himself. He had to cut her loose. He’d never get over her if he didn’t.

  Disappointment settled low in his belly, but he knew it was the right thing to do. He’d never gotten over her when she’d been married to Jason and now that she was single, it was going to be downright impossible.

  I’m sorry, Sam. I’m busy.

  No matter how much it hurt, he wouldn’t push his feelings on her. What would be the point? She already knew how he felt and she wasn’t interested.

  When it became clear that he wasn’t going to expand, she replied a minute later.

  That’s okay. Hope you have a good weekend!

  Yeah, right. As if he could have a good weekend without her. He’d doubled his workload to help keep his mind off her, but it hadn’t worked. He still thought of her constantly.

  He se
t his phone down and ran a hand over his face as he looked at it. He hated knowing that he might’ve hurt her with his rejection, but distancing himself was his only hope to get over her.

  Chapter Twelve

  Luke was walking towards his office a month later when Hank joined him.

  “Peter’s working at Blue Asset Management,” his COO said as he handed him a printout.

  “Good for him,” Luke answered instinctively without stopping. Peter hadn’t been happy when Luke had chosen George to lead Jason’s fund over him, but George had truly been the better choice. Not only was he the stronger analyst, but he was also a better team player. He wasn’t afraid to share what he knew, and he was always willing to listen when someone disagreed with him. Peter, on the other hand, was a one–man island. He always kept things to himself and never bothered to give anyone with an opposing view the time of day—especially if they were junior staff.

  “Not good,” Hank said as he nodded at the paper he’d given him. “Read the article.”

  Sighing, Luke glanced at the article. Top Harkin Executive Joins Blue Asset Management

  Shit.

  He tried to think about some of the clients Peter had handled and cursed again when he realized how big some of those accounts were. This was not what he needed right now.

  “At least we know we saved ourselves from making a huge mistake by promoting George,” he said, trying to lighten the situation. “Peter didn’t even have the balls to start his own fund.”

  Hank didn’t smile. “Continue reading,” he said grimly.

  Luke did and felt a sense of foreboding when he saw Sam’s name. The article insinuated that Sam had left because she hadn’t agreed with the direction he was steering the company. Along with Peter leaving, the paper was making it seem as if people were jumping ship.

  Fuck.

  He should’ve known it was too early to buy her out.

  He looked at Hank. “What’s your plan?”

  “Oh, now you want to listen to me.”

  Luke sighed. Hank was still on his case for not agreeing to meet with the clients sooner even though he’d taken great pains to remedy that. “Am I going to hear about this forever?”

  Hank grinned. “Pretty much. You’re almost never wrong. I might as well enjoy this while I can.”

  Luke shook his head. “You do have a plan, don’t you?” His COO always had a plan.

  “I do, but you’re not going to like it,” Hank warned as they stepped into an empty hallway. “It would be best if you and Sam attended some kind of gala or ball together, so that everyone can see that there’s no bad blood between you.”

  Luke’s heart leapt at the chance of seeing Sam again. He hadn’t called or texted her since the last time she’d invited him to lunch, but she’d been on his mind constantly. He kept wondering where she was, what she was doing, who she was with…

  “You know how the press is,” Hank continued. “If they don’t see certain people together in a while, they hint at frictions or feuds.” Luke didn’t bother to mention that they had gone out together in public. The press just hadn’t seen them. “Look, I know how much you hate these things, but it’s a lot better than Sam just issuing some kind of a statement.”

  Luke nodded. “I’ll see what I can do. The Children’s Society gala is coming up soon. I’ll ask her if she has a date yet.”

  “Really? That’s it?” Hank asked incredulously. “You’re not going to tell me that galas are a waste of time? That you’d rather swim with sharks than be interviewed by a bunch of good–for–nothing reporters?”

  Luke’s lips twitched. Though he did hate these kinds of things, he’d endure a lot more just to have an excuse to see Sam again. He hadn’t seen her in weeks, and frankly, he missed her so much that it hurt.

  “No. I’m not going to argue with you,” Luke murmured. “It’s a good plan. Besides, I now know what happens when I don’t listen to you. How’re Barbara and the kids doing, by the way?”

  Hank froze, and Luke knew that he’d caught the man off guard. Ever since he’d realized that the employees weren’t comfortable with him, Luke had been making an effort to talk with them more. But he guessed his efforts weren’t enough if people were still surprised when he asked about them and their families.

  “They’re fine,” Hank said after a moment. “Barbara and I were worried about how Nathan would take another kid in the family, but he’s already acting like a big brother. Yesterday, he told me that I had to change his baby brother’s diaper, because it was smelly.”

  Luke laughed. He remembered when he’d had to change his sister’s diapers and was grateful that Anna had grown up quickly. “How old is Nathan?”

  “He’ll be three next month,” Hank said, surprising him. That meant Nathan had been born after Hank had started working at the company and yet, Luke hadn’t known about the child until recently.

  Though Sam had said that Hank wasn’t one of those people who mentioned his kid in every conversation, having a kid seemed like something that should’ve come up at least once over the seven years that they’d worked together, and he couldn’t help but wonder what else he didn’t know.

  Hank shook his head. “Sometimes it’s hard to believe how fast time flies.”

  “He’ll be breaking hearts in no time.”

  “I don’t even want to think about first grade.”

  Though Luke knew nothing about children, it was nice to see a parent enjoy being a parent.

  He nodded at Hank. “Thanks for letting me know about the article. I’ll go ahead and call Sam.”

  Excitement pulsed through him as he walked away and reached for his cell phone. It’d been weeks since he’d heard Sam’s voice, and he was starved. Like a junkie, he was hooked on her, and he suddenly realized that it had been futile to stay away from her. He’d just ended up missing her more.

  The phone rang in his ear and he smiled. In a little more than a week, he’d have Sam in his arms once again.

  * * *

  “You should’ve let me get this one, Sam. You’re already treating me to a dinner and a show.”

  Her sister’s words needled at Sam. The fact that Cindy thought going to a show together was a treat was proof of just how much Sam had allowed them to grow apart over these past few years. What’s worse was that her mom had specifically asked her to keep an eye on Cindy when she’d first moved into the city. And instead of doing that, Sam had practically left her sister to her own devices. Even though Cindy had a good head on her shoulders, Sam should’ve still made the effort to take her sister out once in a while. But she’d been so caught up in Jason’s world that she’d dropped the ball on being a big sister. Big time.

  “It’s nothing,” Sam murmured as she signed her name on the pad.

  “But I want to pay sometimes. You’re always doing and buying things for me.”

  Sam laughed as she got their lattes and scanned the crowded café for an empty table.

  “Now you know that’s not true,” she said and breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted an empty table near the back.

  “It is,” her sister argued as she trailed after her. “You paid for my graduate school.”

  “Only what was left after the scholarships,” Sam said as she carefully placed the two lattes on the table and sat while Cindy set down the pastries.

  “You got me my dream espresso maker and even sent me and Hailey on a luxury cruise.”

  “That was for your graduation—that I missed by the way.” She’d accompanied Jason to a power breakfast that had taken longer than expected. Knowing just how tight the scheduling had been, she really shouldn’t have gone to the breakfast, but Jason had assured her that she wouldn’t miss the graduation.

  Cindy waved her off. “What could you do? You were busy. Besides, you made it to the celebration dinner and that’s the important thing.”

  Her sister’s words only deepened her guilt. Sam had been such a nonexistent sister that by the time graduation had come, Cindy
had pretty much known not to expect anything from her. Because how on earth could a dinner be the important part of a graduation?

  Sam remembered the way they used to talk for hours when she’d moved out for college. They’d been so close then and now, she was lucky if they talked once a week.

  Sam leaned towards her sister. “The thing is I know that I’ve been a pretty shitty sister these past few years and I want to make up for it.”

  Now that she could look at her life with a clear view, she realized how much she’d let her relationship with Jason cloud over her responsibility to her friends and family—how much she’d let herself get caught up in his world and she wasn’t proud of it.

  Cindy shook her head. “You’re being too hard on yourself. You were always there when it mattered.”

  Sam wasn’t quite sure of that, but she was going to be a better sister from now on—she wouldn’t just be a sister when it was appropriate for her.

  “Wait. Is this what tonight is all about? Making things up to me?”

  “I also wanted to watch the musical,” Sam lied, and Cindy laughed.

  “I should’ve known something was up when you invited me. I know how much you hate musicals, but I couldn’t stop myself. I’ve been wanting to see this for ages and the tickets are so expensive.”

  Sam guessed that that was another good thing that came out of her marriage. She got to buy expensive Broadway tickets to bribe her sister into spending time with her. Sam took a sip of her latte and sighed. This was really good. “What’s the name of this café again?”

  “Deux Pains,” Cindy answered. “Why?”

  Sam shook her head as she got her phone and quickly made a note in it. “I was just wondering if it’s a public company or not.” She shrugged as she put her phone in her bag. “It’s not just the location that has this place so crowded,” she said as she scanned the tables, taking in the eclectic crowd. The café catered to everyone from students to businessmen. “The coffee—and I assume the food as well—is really good.” It was companies like this that had the potential to grow.