“I guess we’ll hold off on dinners, assuming we’ll go out,” he said to Gray when he came back with an armful of wine and scotch.
Looking in the overflowing cart, he realized they’d picked up enough coffee, milk, eggs, bacon, cold cuts, snacks, chocolate, and booze to make dinner a long lost after-thought most days.
Days.
How the hell long would they be down there?
He and Tristan had to get back to the hotel. So long as their mom’s health stabilized. The CEO and the COO couldn’t be gone for any length of time.
Knowing Lexi was there rapidly eased that worry. She could handle it. She could handle anything.
Especially him. God, had he made a mistake not bringing her there to Miami?
“Yo, can I ask you something?” he said to Gray who scrolled through his phone while they waited on a long-ass line to pay.
“Shoot,” his brother answered, but didn’t bother to look up.
“When I got the call about Mom and Lexi found out I was coming here, she assumed she would come along. She...wanted to come.”
After a moment, Gray looked up. His hazel eyes, a shade between Luke’s blue and Tristan’s amber, squinted at him. “And? Did that surprise you?” When he was about to launch into a dissertation’s worth of commentary on the subject, Gray hissed, “The woman has feelings for you, you asshole. Of course, she wanted to come along. That’s what people who dig each other do. They want to be together. You really are an asshole.”
Luke glanced around and frowned seeing all the shocked faces staring at him. He’d bet Gray’s outburst about his complicated love life was like one of the gossip rags’ headlines jumped off the page and performed right in front of everyone’s eyes.
“Thanks.” Luke shook his head and moved the cart up. Dumping things on the belt, he said, “It’s just that—”
“No, just that. What if. I don’t know, bullshit. Stop, already. I can’t believe you’re letting Tristan win.” Gray helped him empty the shopping cart, the two of them vying for space in front of the belt.
Luke stopped short. “Tristan win? Hey, I’m the CEO and I’ll do whatever the fuck I want.”
“You tell him,” said the tiny woman behind them. With a white beehive hairdo, her face full of red lipstick, fake lashes, and a leopard bodysuit, she should have gotten more attention in that place.
“Hey, gorgeous...” Gray smiled to the woman. “Nice shoes.” Turning back to Luke, he said, “Tristan pulled out all the stops to get Laney. He wanted her so he went and got her.”
No shit. Luke recalled Tristan marching into his office with his plan to win her heart by buying her designs for the hotel renovation.
Not wanting to air any more of his problems, Luke stayed silent until they got back to the house. While unpacking, he found out Tristan had gone back to the hospital. Laney sat at the breakfast bar with her laptop and a cup of tea. When she slid off the seat to help with the bags, Gray said, “Laney, we got it.”
She smiled and went back to her laptop. “Can I get either of you some of this tea? It’s herbal.”
“Smells amazing.” Gray leaned in and breathed. “Is that ginger?”
“Lemon ginger. I steeped a whole pot, it’s on the stove.”
Gray turned to look, but Luke was already pouring him a mugful. “Sit and have some tea, I can do this,” he whispered. “And I’m sorry I cursed at you.”
Laney rolled her eyes. “I still have to get used to all this grandstanding with you guys.”
Gray’s phone buzzed and his eyes shot to Luke. Answering, he said, “Hey, Lexi. Yeah, Mom’s okay. Thanks for asking. Hey, did you get back to New York okay? Good. No, I don’t know when I’ll be back.” The I’ll got to Luke. He snuck a look at his phone and his throat got tight, seeing it devoid of any activity. Other than the hundreds of emails piling up in his inbox. “Yeah, I’m doing good, too. Thank you for asking about me.” Gray gave him an evil smirk. With most of the groceries still left to unpack, his brother grabbed a handful of green grapes, ate one right off the stem, and wandered into the living room. “When I get back, let’s hook up...”
I really am an asshole.
Hours later, a force stirred Luke awake. The rage of emotions from the day had pulled him under and he’d hoped to sleep through the entire night. But no, now it was... He couldn’t see the clock, the time wasn’t showing up, weird, but it was dark outside beyond the dark blue drapes his mom put his bedroom knowing he liked the color.
He got out of bed and wandered downstairs to refill his Yeti of water. Rubbing his chest, he realized he was shirtless. Looking down, his tight black briefs shocked him. As far as he remembered, he’d gone to sleep in a tee-shirt and gym shorts. Even though he shouldn’t be walking around the house like this with Laney around, he shuffled through the kitchen.
All the lights on in the yard caught his attention. Huh? They’d wired up this place like a fortress for their mother and he wasn’t worried someone uninvited had crept onto the back patio. Looking out through the sliding glass doors, a shine of rose quartz stopped him in his tracks.
Lexi.
In the yard.
What the hell?
She was sitting on a lounge chair by the pool reading a book. His book. Except, he didn’t recall packing that Sci-Fi novel.
When did she get here? And why did none of these motherfuckers in the house wake him up?
She wore...the black strapless jersey dress and silver sandals that made her look stunningly beautiful in Chicago when they’d gone to dinner. Every man in the restaurant had looked at her, then him with that familiar, lucky bastard grin.
Stupid bastard was more like it, now.
Why was she wearing that dress again? Here in Miami? In the middle of the night? In his mom’s backyard?
A patch of reddish blond hair appeared several feet behind her coming out of the pool. Gray pushed his wet hair back with his hands, showing off his freaking massive biceps. Having Lexi in Luke’s line of vision hid the lower half of Gray’s body.
Dear God, no.
That trailing conversation... Did it end with Gray sending Dexter and the plane, his jet, to New York to go get Lexi?
Gray’s glistening wet body sauntered up to the lounge chair. Lexi put down her book and smiled at his brother. His book. Where did she get it? He didn’t bring it with him!
Gray ran one hand through Lexi’s hair which was a mess of loose curls down her back. At the office she’d kept it up in a professional ponytail. Not here, because Luke had stupidly told her in the off-hours she wasn’t working. That meant diamond-pink hair all over the damn place and no...bra thanks to Gray’s hands running along her shoulders and tugging the front of her dress down.
What. The. Fuck?
I wanted to do that...
He was staring at Lexi’s firm breasts. In Gray’s hands. She just let him touch her. Luke tried to scream, only, he couldn’t. Lexi sat up on the lounge chair and yep, Gray was naked. His cock sticking out hard and long from his body.
His brother cupped his cock, smiling. Their lips were moving. What the heck were they talking about? The fucking weather? How many stars in the night sky?
Luke lifted his hands to bang on the glass door separating him from the porno about to happen in front of his eyes. Lexi lowered her head to Gray’s cock and...there it went. Into her mouth. All of it. No matter how hard he slammed his fists against the door, they didn’t make contact with the glass.
This was a dream.
I’m dreaming.
That was his telltale queue. Slamming stuff and not making contact. The clock that wasn’t lit up. Being half dressed. That’s how he learned to figure out he was in one of his night terrors. This one sure had teeth and tore him apart. His nightmare showed him what would upset him the most. If he didn’t give Lexi everything, his brother would come along and screw the woman he loved right out from under him.
Lexi!
He smacked himself in the head trying to wake himsel
f up.
Lexi!
Flailing his arms, he pushed on the glass door. Nothing was waking him up.
Lexi, stop, please. I love you!
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Luke
“Luke, wake up, man,” Tristan’s voice boomed.
“Bro, let the dream go,” Gray yelled.
“Get him up,” Tristan grunted. “Laney, honey, run the shower. Cold. We need to wake him up.”
“He’s not awake, yet?” Laney asked, sounding panicked.
Still in a fog, Luke swung and kicked. He put up one heck of a fight as his brothers dragged him into the shower.
“Stop. Get the fuck off me,” Luke’s dry throat yelled. And hearing his voice, he knew he was awake.
“Just breathe,” Tristan said, standing in the shower with him, getting wet, his auburn hair looked dark brown under the shower spray. His sleep pants stuck to his body, his thick thighs bent to keep Luke under the water.
“I’m awake, damn it. Get out of here. Both of you,” Luke yelled and the pounding in his heart had slowed down.
He crumpled against the shower wall, his knees tucked into his chest. The thick sweat material of his dark blue gym shorts was now sopping wet. And his tee-shirt, too.
He was awake.
That was a dream.
Just a dream.
Or was it a premonition telling him he needed to get his ass in gear if he didn’t face all of his fears about Lexi and get the fuck out of his own way?
When the water in the shower ran cold, he gripped the safety grab bar to stand, but Gray stood over him, dripping wet. Remembering the dream, Luke damn near lunged for the guy, but his brother shoved his phone under his nose. On the screen, Lexi with her hair messed up, blinked and yawned.
“Talk to her,” Gray said, holding his phone. “You were yelling her name.”
He remembered yelling more than that.
“Lexi, you there?” Gray turned the phone around.
“I’m here.” Her voice sounded tinny, and far away. If that was his future, too, he fucking hated it.
“He’s a bear right now, but don’t let him scare you,” Gray said.
“I’m not afraid of him. I handled him in Chicago. I’ll try to relax him.”
Luke scoffed remembering how she relaxed him. Christ that was last night. Just a few hours away from her and he was falling apart. He took the phone and just held it for a moment.
“Hey, you.” Lexi’s voice sounded more welcoming than he deserved. “How’s your mom?”
Considering he was sitting on the floor of his shower, soaking wet, and maybe foaming at the mouth, her asking about his mother made him realize he had to marry this woman. “She’s stable. Thanks.”
“Are you still drenched from the shower?” She seemed to be looking around the screen. “Luke, take your clothes off. They’re dripping wet. You’ll be more comfortable.”
“Alexis, please let me hang up. This is not how I want you to see me.” Any other man brought to his knees and manhandled by his younger brothers might have cracked. Not Luke, his embarrassment made him feel harsh as fuck.
“And do you think this was how I wanted you to see me? Broke? Desperate? Thrown out of school?”
Damn, what a pair they made.
The next few responses they had talked over each other. He broke through, “Lexi, I assume you got home okay. I didn’t call... When you called Gray and didn’t want to talk to me...” Pain surged through his chest.
“I told you I was worried about him. You don’t let me worry about you. You’re Mr. Tough Guy.”
“Lexi, do you want to sleep with Gray?” Just tell me already and I’ll get out of your way.
He waited a beat for her answer, dying more and more inside with every second that passed.
Lexi
DID LUKE JUST ASK ME if I wanted to sleep with his brother?
“Why would you ask me that?” She rose up on an elbow, holding the phone so he could see how wide her eyes were with surprise.
“He likes you. I can tell. The two of you seem to have something between you,” Luke said.
“Luke, no. All I ever wanted was to help him. He seems so lost and needed someone other than a judgmental brother.” She took a breath. “And you didn’t give me a chance to help you this morning. You keep saying you need a real assistant. Every time I try to be one...” They ended up naked.
“I’m sorry, I was just nuts back there in Chicago,” Luke huffed. “You’re right. That’s not what friends do.”
“What?”
“I consider you a...friend.”
With everything that happened over the last few weeks, the word friend falling off the lips of a man she wanted to kiss with her dying breath, should have downright shattered her. Given the entirety of their circumstance, the most pressing being his mother in the hospital, Luke got a pass.
“Lexi,” he breathed. “I bared my soul to you last night. I told you what I wanted and what I didn’t want. I can’t square the two. Can you?”
Oh, so it was up to her. She’d have to give everything up, including school. But how long would that keep him interested? He’d get bored with her in a week. “No. Because I worked too hard to get where I was. And my mom has gone without so much to put me through law school.”
“Exactly, where would I fit into your life?”
“Nowhere.” She swallowed, hating that reality. “You’ve been telling me for weeks, we were never going to happen. When was I supposed to change my plans? Last night, when your head was between my legs?”
She felt cornered. When she finished law school and went to work for one of the top firms, she’d be in her office from sun up to sun down, like Luke had warned. She’d have no time for him and he deserved a woman who made him a priority.
If she took some bullshit job, she’d be miserable. Even if that gave her a life, Luke would be sorely disappointed if she wasted her talents.
God, it was hopeless.
“Maybe,” Luke muttered low, answering her question. “You’re done, Lexi. You did it. I’m gonna sign the agreement. I’ll get a check to you next week.”
She started to shake, realizing this was the last time she may ever see Luke again. And it was on a tiny screen and she had pillowcase dents on her face.
“Actually,” she said, tasting vomit in her throat. “I just have a few more points to discuss with Chevalier’s general counsel.”
“Leave me your notes.” When he shook his head, she saw light behind his dark blue drapes. “I’ll work on it when I get back into the office. I know how to do this.”
“God, you want me out of your hotel as soon as possible, huh?” The sobs built in her throat.
“I want you to have your dream.” He sounded sincere, but there was a whisper of resentment in his tone.
Sniffing, she waved her hands and said, “Yeah, yeah.”
“Are you crying?”
“No.” She turned the phone away and shook with sobs.
Great. Crying in front of a man like Luke Hart. She couldn’t imagine anything would turn him off more.
“Lexi, this might sound bizarre. But can we...” His hand covered his mouth for a moment.
Her heart pounded. “Yeah?”
Anything. She’d agree to almost anything at this point. Anything to stop the ache in her heart that grew worse with every second.
“Can we stay in touch?” His eyebrows lifted into his forehead.
“Huh?” Her own tiny face in the corner of her screen forced her to look at every grimace she’d be leaving on Luke’s memory.
“I’m not ready to completely let you go. I won’t... I can’t bear it.” He thought he was having nightmares before this.
“You’ll just have to figure out a way to bear it.” She felt something horrible uncoil in her stomach. “No. I don’t want to be friends with you. I don’t need a pen pal.”
“That’s not what I meant. I like you. I like...us. I like thinking maybe, maybe I can get the
fuck out of my own way.” His voice got all gravelly. “Eventually.”
“And drag me through the mud while you try?” She huffed, “No thanks.”
“So, this is it?”
“For you and me? Yes. I want to finish up the contract while you’re there in Miami. Your mom needs you, I don’t.”
“I need you,” he said just above a whisper like she wasn’t supposed to hear it.
When she looked up to stare at him, the phone had gone dead, and all she saw was the picture on the front page of her phone.
A snapshot of her mom and dad. The symbol of love, she was sure she’d never have.
Luke
LUKE PEELED AWAY THE wet clothes. Thankful for the sunrise. He hoped no one asked him how the call with Lexi went because it sounded like she just told him to fuck off.
He wished he had an answer, a plan. Even one where he and Lexi agreed to just ball each other to death before she went back to school. With no clean break in their future, he was living on the edge every day.
He truly didn’t know what he wanted. Except Lexi. As his. All of her. And that wouldn’t happen. She wasn’t a woman who would just disappear behind a man.
One thing was clear, he was in charge. He was the CEO of The Sterling and he was the oldest Hart brother. The head of the family. And he was done with being told what to do. He answered to no one.
After sliding on a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt, he padded out into the hall and down the stairs. Wondering if his outburst ruined everyone’s chance of going back to sleep was confirmed when he heard Tristan and Laney in the kitchen and the smell of more of that ginger and lemon tea.
Tristan didn’t make eye contact with him, mostly because Laney was talking to him.
“Laney, excuse me,” he said, squeezing Tristan’s shoulder. “I need to talk to you.” Not letting anyone dictate what happened next, he strutted to the sliding glass doors to signal he wanted to talk on the outside deck.
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