by Jami Wagner
But, if I don’t give him what he wants, how much danger is she still in?
“Luke,” Conner hollers at me as I head inside.
There is no way I’m sharing any of this with anyone.
“He was just some drunk who got out of control.”
“I didn’t see you serve him.”
“He was drunk when he showed up. I refused to serve him and tried to get him to leave.”
Conner takes in my appearance. I keep walking; I don’t need him getting a good look and starting back up with questions. I can’t have him worrying to the point he says something to Alexis, who tells Sky. I should probably make sure Beth knows it was nothing too. Just another random drunk at the bar.
“Man makes a real mean drunk. I think you made the right choice. The whole jumping over the bar thing though? You could have walked around. I mean it was cool as shit, but wow.”
He laughs, and I force myself to join him.
“Go clean yourself up. Can’t make money with a bloody face.”
He pats my shoulder as he passes me. He’s ready to get back to work, but all I can think about is everything that just happened. Do I call the cops? Do I ask Sky about it? Tell my mom and sisters to never leave their house again?
I don’t want to make the wrong choice, but how am I going to know what’s the right decision for a situation like this?
I don’t think there is one.
Skylar
I’m turning into such a sap. I know this because I’m sitting on the couch down in the store, waiting for Luke to get off work. He said he was going to come by tonight. and being upstairs was driving me crazy. I’ve already cleaned everything I can, and there isn’t much for me to down here either. I just want to keep busy. Clearly, I still get nervous when I’m going to see Luke. Not in a nervous scared way but in a nervous excited I-can’t-wait-to-kiss-him way. Luke’s shadow passes by the front window, and I jump up, making my way to greet him at the door.
I’m positive that if there were people across the street, they could hear the gasp I just let out.
“What happened to your eye?”
I reach up to touch it, but he flinches away.
“There was a misunderstanding with a box on the top shelf in storage room,” he answers quickly. Almost too quickly. My head tilts as I look him in the eyes. Come to think of it, his tone just now reminds me of the day Sara was giving me a job at the bar. That day, he was doing something kind for his mother. Who would it be for today?
“The box just fell?”
“I’m fine, really.”
“Did it bounce from your eye to your jaw? Is that how you got that bruise, too?” I ask, turning his face to get a better look.
He sighs and leans against the wall. His eyes take on a glossy appearance as they look into mine.
“Luke, what’s wrong?”
“I …” He focuses on the shelf behind me. “I …”
“Luke,” I step back. His shaky voice is making my heart race. “What is it? You’re starting to scare me.”
Another sigh and then his hands tug on his hair as he groans loudly and grabs my hand.
“Some guy got too drunk tonight and things got physical.”
“I’ll say.” Finally, the truth. “Why wouldn’t you just tell me that?”
“I don’t want you to worry about going to work or anything.”
“I think dealing with drunk people is sort of a given when you work in a bar, Luke.” I roll my eyes at him and head for the apartment.
“You are too good to me, you know that?”
I stop.
“I have my days, but then again, so do you,” I say, taking a step toward him since he’s only made it as far at the front counter.
“I just want you to know how much you mean to me. I should show it more.”
“Luke.” I wrap my arms around him and squeeze. That must have been some bar fight. Luke leans down to kiss me, and when his tongue passes my lips, he grips the back of my legs and lifts me to the counter.
I lock my ankles behind his back and tighten my grip, pressing myself against his groin. I pull my lips away from him to kiss his cheek, his jawline. He returns the same motions, moving down between my breasts. With my arms around his waist, I tug and he flinches.
“Where all did he hit you?”
“It’s fine,” he says and then kisses me again, trying to distract me from more questions. It works, too.
A moan escapes me as Luke grinds his hips into mine. Then he takes a step back and switches his view to the front window. Stepping away from me, he quickly closes the blinds.
I can’t help but smile. “Good idea. Wouldn’t want to make anyone jealous.”
He laughs at my remark, right before capturing my lips in a kiss once again. He takes a nip at my bottom lip, hooking his fingers over my shorts to pull them down. He pauses. “Why aren’t you wearing any panties?”
I give him a wicked grin.
He crashes his lips back to mine and jerks me against his groin. Desperate fingers grip the bottom of my shirt, pulling it over my head and tossing it to the floor. We should probably move this upstairs, but this is one of the best parts of Luke. He’s impulsive, and I crave it.
“What kind of buckle is this?” I break our kiss to look down at his belt buckle, only that isn’t what is on display at this moment. Instead of answering me, he unclips the belt and whips it off. After that, I don’t lose any time pulling his jeans down.
“Let’s try a new position,” I say when he’s pulled the condom from his jean pocket. He rips it open, covering himself.
“I have a feeling you have an idea already,” he says.
Slowly, I nudge him back with my foot and slide off the counter. I turn and bend, my backside bare in front of him.
I breathe in deeply as he takes a step forward. My hair flips down my back as I peek over my shoulder. His eyes are raking over my body.
“Is this okay?”
He runs a hand down my back until his palm reaches the spot where I crave his touch most. He leans over me, his cheek against mine.
“Everything with you is more than okay, Sky.”
My head drops to the counter as he positions himself behind me. With an easy thrust of his hips, he enters me slowly. My breathing picks up, as does his with each motion. The moment I press to the tips of my toes, he sinks deeper, losing all control. He grips my hips and pulls me back against him with each thrust. It sounds wrong, the noises our bodies make when they slap against each other, but the whimpers coming from him and from me—that’s how I know everything about this is right.
“Luke,” I practically purr.
He pulls out fast, flipping me over, propping me back on the counter, and entering me before I can protest.
“Oh!” I pant as he slams into me.
“Sky.” He picks up the pace. I cover his lips with my own, clashing our tongues as I reach around to grip his ass. My orgasm rips through my body.
“Luke!”
His primal grunt when my head drops back is a sure sign what’s happening to me is happening to him, too.
Smiling at each other like fools, we put our clothes back in place.
“Come on,” he says, lacing our fingers together. “Let’s get to bed.” He leads me up the stairs with purpose, but I don’t miss the fact he looks back, past me, twice. My gut tells me something more happened tonight and he doesn’t want to share. I won’t force him to tell me everything, but he should want to, right?
Chapter Twenty
Skylar
Luke opened the store for the first time in months today, and we are working the first shift together. He was able to get his close friends, Conner, Logan, and Ethan in here over the course of a few days, and they moved all the shelves. They ended up rearranging an entire row to line the back wall to make more room. I like it. It makes the space look larger, and even though Luke won’t admit it, I know he likes the layout better now, too.
I close the door behind
me, a chill running over my body from the snowy breeze that showed up early this morning. Luke should be here soon with lunch. Shoveling a small walking path for him is the least I can do since he went out in this freezing weather. I plug in the Christmas lights we hung around the front windows and tug my crimson sweater tighter around my body as I walk to the back of the store to find a small heater I can plug in under the front counter. Heat sounds like a fantastic idea while I check in new inventory.
The bell rings over the door just as I am about to open up a new box of books. I let the cardboard lid flop close and peek around the end of the row. I have a smile on, ready to greet another customer, when my eyes register the man standing the doorway.
This is not happening. This can’t be happening. I’m imagining this again.
My hands are shaking and my heart is racing. Where is my new phone? It was an early Christmas gift from everyone at the bar. I didn’t have much choice other than to accept it, but I’m glad I have it at this moment. I want to call or text Luke and tell him he needs to get back here, now.
“Skylar, we need to talk.” Mack strides down the aisle. His dark hair is buzzed short like normal, and his blue eyes are still bright. His smile is one I’ve seen a million times, and I swallow back the tears. My ex-fiancé arriving out of the blue isn’t a good sign. Of everyone I ever thought would look for me, Mack didn’t come to mind even once. Nothing I did was ever good enough for him. What reason could he possibly have to be here now? To tell me I’m disappointing him or making him look like a fool again?
I cross my arms and look away. I can’t look at him.
“Mack, I don’t know why you’re here, but—”
“But you missed me as much as I missed you?” He cuts me off in a sweet tone that I’ve never, ever heard from him before. He takes another step forward and I take another back.
“I don’t have anything to say to you, and I think you should leave.” I step around him, heading for the front counter where I remember leaving my phone. He follows. The moment I grab my cell, he places his hand over mine, stalling me from reaching out to Luke.
“Don’t call him, Skylar. He isn’t the guy you think he is. I’m the one you need, and looking at this place”—he glances around—“you do need me.”
Don’t call him, Skylar. He isn’t the guy you think he is.
How does he know about Luke? Unless …
“You’ve been watching me!” I shout. His head jerks back, probably not expecting such a vocal reaction. He’s used to a girl who did everything she was told. I’m not that girl anymore. I’m a woman who knows what she wants and who is motivated to get it. A woman who defends herself. Who requires respect from everyone she meets no matter their financial status. I’m not a puppet for anyone, not anymore.
“Skylar, ladies don’t have outburst like—”
“Do not come in here and wave your hand at me as if I need to stop talking, Mack.” I yank my hand out from under his and step around the counter. “I knew I saw your car the other night. How long have you been following me?”
He sighs. His brows dip together as he flicks his gray suit jacket back to rest his hands on his sides. His head drops for a brief moment before he looks at me. “Only since your boyfriend called me and your father threatening your life unless we paid a rather large sum.”
I swallow and my hand lands on my chest as I take a deep breath. Luke needs money, but he would never do something that extreme. Would he?
“You can’t blame yourself, Skylar. I sent Clayton, my most trusted right-hand man, down here, and from what he’s told me, it looks like you’ve been fooled thoroughly.”
“I don’t believe you,” I say, fighting back my urge to cry. My phone is still in my hand; I type out a quick text telling Luke there is an emergency at the store, so he needs to get here quickly.
“He may not have been planning to ever hurt you, but he definitely is using you for money. Skylar, this is why people like him and people like us don’t mix. His kind of people don’t know how to earn and create success. They are desperate and will do anything they can to have money handed to them. Luke is no different.”
Mack takes a step toward me. I shake my head, and he stops.
Luke wouldn’t. He said it wasn’t like that.
The first tear falls over my cheek.
“Come home with me. Let me take care of you the way we planned before you left.”
Even if Luke confirms everything Mack just said, there is no way I’ll ever go back with him. He is part of the life and lies I ran from in the first place. I wipe the tear away, and when I have Mack’s attention, I say, “I’m sorry if I hurt you when I left, but nothing has changed. I don’t want that life. I want my own life where I’m in charge.”
I see the tick in his jaw as he grinds his teeth. “You don’t know what you want.”
He must be hard of hearing.
“I just told you—”
“You’re confused. I just gave you upsetting information, so you’re thinking rashly and saying things you don’t really mean.”
“I’m not a child, Mack.”
“No, you’re—”
“Sky!” Luke rushes through the door so quickly it bounces off the wall behind, rattling the window. His shoulders drop when he sees me, then he engulfs me in a hug. His shirt is damp. He must have run here. “I thought something happened to you.” He steps back, his eyes surveying every inch of me.
“What did you—” He cuts himself off when he notices Mack. I’m expecting him to be confused, but he isn’t; the look in his eyes tells me he recognizes my ex-fiancé.
Oh my god. Mack was right.
It does surprise me though when Luke nudges me behind him as he stands between me and Mack.
“Leave,” Luke says in a voice more intimidating than my own father’s used to be.
“I don’t think so. Not without Skylar,” Mack replies, his chest puffing out as he stands tall. Luke is a good foot and half taller than Mack. Both are in great shape, but I know without a doubt that Luke would win if anyone were to start throwing punches.
“Actually, you’re going to walk through that door right now before I drag you through after I’ve knocked you out. And before I have you thrown in jail for stalking Skylar and threating her life,” Luke threatens.
“What?” My eyes flash between Luke and Mack.
“He came to the BA to—”
“To tell him that I refuse to let him use my fiancé against me,” Mack whines, completely out of character and cutting Luke off before he can finish.
“What, no!” Luke hollers.
“You really called Mack asking for money or you’d hurt me?”
“That’s absurd, Sky. Is that what he told you?” Worried eyes filled with hope land on mine.
“Well, you did need money for this place,” I answer. What if he was willing to go a step too far to get what he wanted?
“Nothing is more important than you. I swear it on my life, on my mother’s life, and everyone else we know. I never called him or anyone for money. I told you that you could trust me, and I meant every word.”
Maybe he—
“Don’t let him lie to you, Skylar. Fooling others is clearly something he’s good at.” Mack cuts in, stepping closer to Luke.
“I’m not lying, Sky. You have to believe me. I would give up everything I have to be with you.” Luke’s hand finds mine as his voice grows soft. He rubs his thumb over mine. My eyes lock with his as he says, “I—”
“Oh, what a crock of—”
Mack doesn’t get to finish his sentence before Luke right hooks him across the face. I press my lips together, hiding my smile. I have no idea what’s really going on, but I don’t feel bad for Mack.
“Mack, you need to go,” I say, heading for the door and holding it open for him.
“You can’t be serious.” He spits out as he wipes a small bit of blood from his mouth. He moves toward me.
“Touch her, and I’ll smash more
than just your face.” Luke warns.
Mack stops just in the doorway. A darkness sets in his eyes that sends a shiver from head to toe.
“I won’t leave without you. You’ll figure it out, Skylar. I know you will. You’ll make the right choice,” he says before storming out.
He keeps his focus on me as he walks by the window. I know that look. I used to see it every day when he was close to closing a deal at the office. It means he won’t give up till he has what he wants.
Luke
My fingers clench the hair on my head as I whip around to face her.
“I don’t know what’s happening, but I never called him for money. He came into the BA and told me that I need to stay away from you. Said if I broke your heart, he would write me a check. If I didn’t do it, he’d find another way to take you back with him.”
“Were you going to?”
“No, I didn’t even consider it.”
“So you honestly never once thought you could use me for money?”
“Not before. Not now. Not ever, Sky.”
This wouldn’t be happening if I had just told her.
“All you talk about is how you can make things better for your mom and your sisters. I know you think that if you had more money, it would all be easier. I just don’t know how far you’re willing to go to make that happen.”
“Sky, we can’t keep fighting about this. You either believe me or you don’t.”
“I’ve been used my whole life, Luke; I don’t want that to be the case with you, too.”
“It’s not. I swear it, please don’t believe him. I would trade this place for you with no second thoughts or regrets.”
“So it’s probably safe to say that drunk guy at the bar the other night was actually Mack.”
I nod.
“You should have just told me.”
“Like you told me you used to be engaged.”
Weary eyes watch me, studying me until her shoulders drop with the breath she lets go.