Skin Deep

by J. M. Stone

  “No, Brandon, don’t tell him she’s here.”

  I waited to see what else she would say, wishing I could hear Brandon’s side of the conversation.

  “Well, she doesn’t want to talk to him or see him right now. And I don’t blame her! How could he do-” she cut off in mid-sentence.

  “Yeah, right. You aren’t going to tell me-”

  “Oh, really? Well…I don’t know. You know what’s going on, you know him better than me. If you say it wasn’t…”

  She was driving me nuts allowing him to speak over her. I really wanted to hear what she’d been getting ready to say!

  “Okay. I’ll try. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll call you back.”

  “Okay, bye.”

  I hurried toward the bathroom before Allie could turn and see me eavesdropping on her conversation. I heard her call my name and hollered back at her. She stood behind me in the doorway of the bathroom and I looked at her in the mirror.

  “Emma…”

  “What, Allie?”

  “Are you sure that you don’t want to talk to him? Just see what he has to say?” Allie was pleading with me.

  “I’m sure. Why would I want to put myself through that, Allie? Who’s side are you on anyway?” I knew she was on mine but Brandon must have told her something in order for her to be trying so hard to get me to talk to Luke.

  “Yours, Emma! But I think you should talk to him! Give him a chance to explain some things to you, that what you saw wasn’t what you thought it was!” She slapped her hand over her mouth with a gasp and I narrowed my eyes at her in the mirror.

  I turned around to face her, and asked, “Have you been talking to him? I know you talked to Brandon because I heard you. Is he putting you up to this?”

  “No…well, not really. He asked me to talk to you to try to get you to listen to Luke. Emma, he explained everything to me and there’s no way you saw what you thought you saw. If you don’t want to talk to Luke, at least talk to Brandon, okay?”

  I closed my eyes and nodded, opening them and grabbing her arm before she could escape. “Brandon! I’ll talk to Brandon, but not Luke. I mean it, Allie.”

  She nodded and pulled away from me, already digging her phone out of her pocket. About fifteen minutes later, there was a knock on Allie’s front door and Brandon came in when she opened it. He strode immediately to my side talking a mile a minute.

  “Emma, I didn’t bring him here, he followed me. Please don’t be mad at me! I didn’t even know he had run out of the shop into his car until I pulled up here and he pulled up, too. I got him to stop outside and let me come in and talk to you first, but I don’t-”

  “Emma!” Luke interrupted Brandon, yelling my name as he flung open Allie’s door and strode in like he owned the place. “Emma, sugar, please talk to me!”

  He came and knelt in front of where I was sitting on the couch. I sat back away from him and pulled my hand away as he tried to grab it in his.

  “Luke, I don’t have anything to say to you. I saw enough for myself, thank you.” My voice was icy but it was taking everything I had in me not to break down and cry at the sight of him there in front of me. Damn him for being so fucking gorgeous!

  “Emma, it wasn’t what you thought it was. I promise, baby. Jadalee is a girl that Brandon and I have known for a long time. She works for me sometimes when she’s in town, which isn’t that often because she moved down to Miami to open her own shop. She’s back just for a bit while her mom is having surgery.” Luke’s voice was soft, cajoling.

  “That doesn’t excuse the fact, or tell me why, you were standing there with your hands on her, her hands on you, and her lips on yours, Luke! Seriously! How stupid do you think I am? I’ve been through this before with Douche Bag and you knew that! I refuse to let that happen to myself again.”

  “Seriously, it wasn’t what you thought it was, even though I wish it was,” a snarky voice said from the doorway.

  Every eye in the room flew to the front door where the dark haired bitch was standing, leaning nonchalantly against the jamb like she belonged there. I let out a gasp and watched as a million things happened at once.

  Allie’s faced darkened with rage and she took a step toward the front door; Brandon jumped to intercept her. Luke sprang to his feet, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, and I sat there in stunned silence, wondering what the hell I’d done to deserve this.

  Jadalee pulled away from the door frame and wandered over to the couch where she plopped herself down by my side. I glared at her before transferring it to Luke, who had fallen to his knees in front of me again.

  He gently took my hands in his before saying softly, “I know you don’t want to see her, and I really was not intending on her walking in here like she owned the place,” his voice hardened and he glared at Jadalee before continuing, “but I didn’t do anything wrong and she’ll tell you that. Brandon can tell you, too.”

  Jadalee rolled her eyes and said, “He really didn’t do anything. In fact, if you’d stuck around long enough, you would have seen that his hands were pushing me off of him. I had just come in and had given him a hug. Yeah, so I tried to kiss him, but so what? We’ve done way more than that before-” she broke off at Luke’s growl, shooting him a cheeky smile.

  Luke started talking before she could dig herself, and him, deeper. “Yes, before you ask, we had done things in the past, but that’s what it is, Emma. The past. One I told her implicitly would not be happening. Ever. Again. Because I am so completely and totally in love with my girlfriend.”

  I felt the tears brimming in my eyes spill over and beginning running down my cheeks and he reached up to wipe them away. “Emma, I love you. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

  “Well you sure have a funny way of showing it, asshole,” I muttered, pushing his hands away from my face and wiping my eyes with my sleeves.

  “I’m sorry I hurt you, sugar. Forgive me? Please?”

  I closed my eyes against the pleading, yet hopeful look in his, and whispered, “I love you, Luke. But I just need to think for a minute, okay?” I opened my eyes and looked at him, watching as his face brightened for a brief second before it fell.

  He nodded once, sharply, before standing up and, inclining his head to Allie and Brandon, stalked out the front door. I heard his car start and then the squeal of tires as he peeled away from the curb.

  “Well, as entertaining as this has all been, Brandon? Could you give me a ride back to the shop? I seem to have been stranded in enemy territory,” Jadalee drawled, lithely getting to her feet and walking to the door.

  “Jadalee, if you wouldn’t be such a bitch all the time, then maybe you wouldn’t end up in enemy territory so much.” Brandon’s voice cut sharply through the tense silence hanging heavy in the room.

  My eyes widened and then narrowed dangerously at her as she turned to me and began speaking.

  “Just so you know, you’re stupid if you let this come between you two. Nothing happened in the shop, he pushed me away. And in the ten or so years that I’ve known him, he’s never called any girl his girlfriend, nor said I love you to anyone but Brandon. I’d get your head out of your ass if I were you, but keep this in mind. You fuck things up with him? I’ll be standing right behind you waiting to pick up the pieces, enjoying every minute of him being back in my bed, in my body.”

  With that, she turned to leave again but my words stopped her causing her to whirl and step back, every one of them coated in ice and dripping with contempt and truth. “If you think for one second that you will EVER get your slutty, whorish hands on him again, you are sadly mistaken.” I stood, walking slowly toward her, satisfaction coursing through me when she took a nervous step back.

  “I’m not controlling and selfish, so I won’t say that there’s no room in his life for you, because IF you’ve been a FRIEND to him for so long, then it’s not my place to tell you to fuck off. That’s his choice, and frankly, I’d be concerned right now if I were you. But
what I will tell you is this: I’m drawing the line, here and now. You so much as drop an eyelash over it and You. Will. Regret. It. Luke’s mine.” I smiled sweetly at her and raised my hand, wiggling my fingers at her and finishing with, “Buh-bye, now! Have a nice day!” before I turned my back on her and walked into the kitchen.

  I heard Brandon murmuring something to Allie and then the soft click of the door as it closed behind them. I stood where I was, breathing deeply and trying to calm my shaking nerves. I jumped when Allie grabbed me from behind, jumping up and down and shrieking in my ear.

  “OH MY GOD, Emma! You are friggin’ awesome! She’s a bitch but you just out-bitched her! I mean, capital B-I-T-C-H and don’t you forget it! I’ve never seen you like that before…well, okay, maybe once or twice when some idiot got on your nerves, but not like that! God, I love you…can I have your baby?”

  I laughed and wrapped my arms around her, hugging her close for a second. “Allie, I love you, too, and yes, you can have my baby. Save me the pain, anyway. Thank you, by the way.”

  She pulled back from me, asking, “For what?”

  “For just being you and being my bestest friend in the whole wide world,” I told her, grinning.

  I had Allie drop me back off to my car in the parking lot of her shop, promising that I would call her later, once I’d talked to Luke. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and powered it on, ruefully noting that I had ten voice mails, twenty-seven missed calls, and two dozen or so text messages. Most of them were from Luke, but a couple were my sisters, my mom, my brother, and even Brandon.

  Ignoring all the messages, I called Brandon, who picked up immediately. Wasting no time on pleasantries, I asked, “Where is he?”

  “Home,” was all he said before I hung up on him.

  I headed home.

  Chapter 18

  I pulled into the drive and parked, but didn’t get out right away. Leaning my forehead against the steering wheel, I braced myself before I blew out a breath and headed inside.

  I opened the door and went in, looking for Luke. I caught a glimpse of his dark hair out the kitchen window on the deck, so I quietly slipped out the door behind him. My heart clutched when I saw him, sitting there dejectedly with his head in his hands, elbows braced on his knees. I walked around the front of him, sinking to my knees and gently raising his face to mine.

  “Luke.”

  He closed his eyes and mine started to fill with tears at the raw pain etched across his face. “Baby, I trust you and I believe that nothing happened with Saw. I know I told you I needed time to think, but I know there’s nothing to think about. I love you, Luke. I’m sorry.”

  His eyes opened, revealing the intense, gorgeous smoky blue-grey depths that I’d fallen for, and he smiled briefly before asking, “Saw?”

  I nodded, unable to contain my smile when I said, “You know, Skank-Ass-Whore. Saw. That’s my nickname for-”

  “I get it, Emma.” He gave me another small smile before his face fell again and he reached up, skimming his thumb down my cheek. “I’m so sorry, sugar. I really was pushing her away. She just caught me off guard after I gave her a hug, and then she just reached up and planted a kiss on me…I was excited to see her. I hadn’t seen her in about a year, and I wanted to tell her about you, but…”

  “Shhh, its okay, Luke. Like I said, I trust you. And, um…don’t be mad, but I kinda told her that she’d regret it if she ever touched you again, and also kinda sorta hinted that you’d be mad at her and tell her to fuck off.” I winced as soon as the words left my mouth, rushing to continue. “But I didn’t mean that you can’t be friends with her or whatever, I mean, you totally can be friends with whoever you want to be friends with, but I can’t help it if she touches you again and I have to jump on her back and thump her forehead into the concrete about a half million times before she gets the message, but you know what I mean, right? I’m not-”

  “Emma?” Luke said, his voice low and soft.

  “Hmm?” I asked, half afraid of what he was going to say.

  “Shut up.”

  “Okay.” That’s what I said, but it’s not what I did. “I’m not trying to take away your friendship with her, Luke. She’s been in your life a lot longer than I have. As long as she respects the boundaries, then everything should be fine. I…um…also told her you were mine.”

  I looked into his eyes, smiling tentatively at him while he blinked down at me.

  “I am?” he asked, the beginnings of a smile playing around the edges of his lips.

  I nodded slowly at him while he brought his hands up to cup my face. “Emma, I think you’re too good for me,” he said roughly, continuing over my protest, “but I’m going to try to live up to you. I’m so sorry, baby. I think I went a little crazy when I heard you make that little choking sound and then you ran away from me…you wouldn’t answer your phone, wouldn’t talk to me, and all I kept thinking was that I’d fucked up one of the only good things I’ve ever had in my life. God, I’m so sorry…”

  I brought my hands up to touch his face, pulling it close to mine and laying my lips softly on his. He groaned deep in his throat before crushing me to him, sweeping his tongue between my lips and devouring me like he was starving for my taste. He gathered me up in his arms, pulling me off my knees and into his lap without breaking the kiss, his hands roaming every inch of my back, thighs, and ass, setting me on fire just as much as letting me feel his reassurance that he was there with me, for me.

  I pushed against his chest with my hands, breaking the kiss to catch my breath for a moment. He caught my eyes and I melted when he whispered, “I love you, Emma.” I leaned my forehead against his, completely in awe with the fact that he’d finally said it, that this was real.

  “I love you, too,” I whispered back, kissing him again. I shook my head at him and gave him a small smile. “I can’t believe you waited until we were fighting to tell me you love me.”

  He shrugged his shoulders sheepishly, saying softly, “ I was waiting for you to realize it on your own. I shouldn’t have, though. I should have just told you.” He closed his eyes and sighed, holding me even closer to him.

  We didn’t sit there in silence for too long before Luke pulled me into the house and started stripping my clothes off of me before we’d barely cleared the door. In fact, we didn’t make it out of the kitchen before he lifted me up, sat me on the counter, and was buried balls deep in my dripping wetness. I wrapped my legs around his thighs, holding on for dear life as he pounded into me, over and over before we both exploded, the waves of release crashing over us, wrenching us under and drowning us in earth-shattering pleasure.

  We stood there wrapped in each other, trying to catch our breath when the front door opened, admitting Brandon and Jackson who froze in their tracks, their eyes wide with shock.

  Of course, that didn’t last long. “Jesus H., man! I eat on that counter!” Brandon wailed, but there was no mistaking the look of relief in his eyes that belied the pained expression on his face.

  Jackson just winked, a secretive smile playing about his lips before he grabbed Brandon and walked backwards out the door. “We’re gonna give you a minute to get your clothes. Just holler when its clear.” He shut the door softly behind them.

  Luke and I looked at each other and busted out laughing before he kissed me gently and pulled out of me, helping me down off the counter so we could grab our clothes. Once we were dressed again, he strode to the door, opening it wide and laughing when Brandon stumbled, almost falling, from leaning on the door trying to eavesdrop.

  We spent the rest of the evening hanging out with Brandon, Jackson, and Allie, who showed up about twenty minutes after the guys did. I called my mom and my sisters to see what they had wanted, and was surprised when they said that Luke had been by all three of their houses to see if I was there. What shocked me even more was the fact that Luke had never been to Jenna’s house, so how the hell had he known where to go? I called Calland, as well. Luke hadn’t gotten
to him; he was just wanting to know if he could borrow my house for a party. Shaking my head I told him no, and told him not to even bother calling Leah because I would be letting her know that I said no, too, to which he replied by calling me a selfish bitch and hanging up on me.

  Luke wasn’t far from my side for the rest of the weekend, and I wasn’t complaining. I was almost sorry that I had to go back to work and wouldn’t be able to see him until that evening. Christmas was right around the corner and I was hoping that the time would go by quickly because Floyd always gave me the week off between Christmas and New Years. I know, kick ass boss!

  I was finishing setting up a conference with a client when my other line rang. I answered the phone, pleasantly surprised to hear Luke’s warm voice come through the line.

  “Hey, baby. Just wanted to call and tell you that I love you. Busy?”

  I sighed. “Yeah, a little busy, but I’m always glad to hear your voice. I love you, too, by the way.” My other line rang and I quickly got off the phone with Luke before answering.

  After giving my usual greeting, I listened to the silence stretching out on the line. “Hello? Anyone there? Floyd Grim’s office…can I help you?” I shrugged my shoulders, but before I could replace the phone on the cradle, a low, gravelly laugh came through. From reflex, I jerked it back up to my ear, again saying hello.

  “You know, Emma, I had high hopes for you.”

  Oh, God, it was Creepy. I reached up and clicked on the recorder that Floyd had gotten me; this was the first time I’d had to use it. I remained silent, not wanting to say anything, and really not wanting to stay on the phone with him, but I was hoping he would keep talking and give me some kind of clue as to who he was or why he kept calling me.

  The voice chuckled before continuing. “Turns out I was wrong. You’re just like all the others. All the other whores and tramps who say one thing and then do the other. Did you enjoy fucking him this weekend? Huh? Did ya?”