Man Candy

by Tia Siren

  The smell of chocolate milkshakes and cheeseburgers filled Luke’s lungs as he guided Paige inside. He nodded his hellos to the few employees who had worked there since his mother had owned it.

  “Just the usual?” one of the waitresses asked kindly. “Cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate shake?”

  Luke nodded as he held up two fingers. “Make it double. She has to try my mom’s cheeseburgers and fries.”

  Paige looked mildly impressed as she gazed about the diner curiously. “I have to admit,” she said, looking back at him, “I didn’t think you’d be the type of guy to order a cheeseburger. You look like you count calories.”

  “Fuck no,” he said. “The only way I ever bulked up was eating meat and working on that oil rig for years.”

  “Makes sense.” Paige took a sip of water when the waitress returned with their drinks. “So, your mom owned this place?”

  “Up until she passed away,” Luke said, smoothing his hands over the tabletop. “She was a fantastic cook, but she loved dinner food in particular. My father encouraged it because it gave us something to do while we were in New York for business.”

  “It’s just so…” She trailed off while searching for the right word.

  “Random?” he supplied, and chuckled when Paige nodded. “It is, but it made sense to my mom at the time.”

  “Why don’t you own this?” she asked curiously. “If it was your mom’s—”

  “My father sold it,” Luke said, sharper than he meant. Anger bubbled in his chest still despite how many years it had been. “I was too young to run it when my mom died, so he sold it because he had no idea how to run it.”

  “Oh.”

  They fell into silence while Luke squashed the anger in him. This wasn’t the time to hash out the screwed-up things his father had done over the years.

  “Your childhood wasn’t the best,” Paige said quietly then. “Shannon told me about your dad. I don’t blame you for being so angry.”

  “I’m not anymore,” Luke said, even though it was a lie. “I channeled all of that into everything I do for this business.”

  As she ran a hand through the curly waves of her hair, Paige used her straw to stir her water around. “My parents aren’t perfect examples either. They didn’t even want me to come to New York in the first place.”

  “They’re strict Christians, right?” When she looked at him in surprise, Luke added with a smile, “Shannon told me about your family.”

  “Shannon is the middle woman here,” Paige said. He picked up the anger in her voice. She obviously still hadn’t forgiven them for how they had gone about trying to woo her into his arms. “To answer your question, yes. They got to church all the time. They don’t believe in sex before marriage. They didn’t agree with me coming here because they are afraid that I’ll go back on my vows.”

  “Vows?” he repeated, scoffing. “No offense, Paige, but this is the twenty-first century. People have sex before marriage all the time.”

  “And you’re a prime example of that,” she said cynically. “It’s a long story how I got to those vows. I’d rather not tell you about it.”

  “I don’t care to know anyway. I’m just saying that you’re an adult. You aren’t controlled by your parents here in the city.”

  “It’s different for you though. I have to rely on my parents to help me get through college. Their opinion does matter to me to an extent.”

  “So, you’re saying they’d disown you for having sex with me before our wedding?” Luke asked.

  That pretty red color returned to Paige’s cheeks.

  “First off,” she said, “it’s not a real wedding, right?”

  “It might have to be depending on what my father’s lawyer says.”

  “You’d be stuck with me then,” Paige said. “I don’t believe in divorce either.”

  Luke drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “It doesn’t work like that. You wouldn’t want to be stuck in a marriage with me, anyway.”

  “Why is that?”

  “I’m not a good guy to be with long term,” he said, catching her eyes. “I don’t believe in marriage, or waiting for the wedding night.”

  “Don’t you think it would be better to wait for thirty days?” she asked. “Imagine the anticipation behind that.”

  He couldn’t tell if Paige was teasing him intentionally, but it aroused him. He had no plans on waiting thirty days to persuade her into his arms. Even if he had to exhaust every move in his book, he planned on getting Paige Scott in his bed well before the date they set.

  “You don’t know me very well,” Luke said, grinning at her. “I’m a very impatient man. There is no such thing as anticipation for me. I can build it up in other ways that you don’t even know about yet, baby. Trust me on that.”

  Chapter Seven

  Paige

  “I don’t know about this, Paige. Are you sure you can trust these people?”

  Paige clicked through the schedule that Toby had sent to her school email. Her stress levels rose just glancing through it. He hadn’t been kidding when he said they were going to travel a lot. Most weekends for the next thirty days, she wouldn’t even be in New York.

  “I don’t know,” she said, and turned in her chair to look at Jessica. She was going over the document, and she looked apprehensive. “It’s the only way, though, that I thought of to keep going to school here at NYU.”

  “Did you call to check with financial aid yet to see if he actually sent over a check?” Jessica asked. “I’d check there first before you commit to this event thing at the end of the week.”

  “Good point,” Paige said. She rose from her chair. “I’ll just go down there, and we can grab a bite to eat for dinner before I respond to this.”

  “It’d be smart,” Jessica said. “I mean, this man does business every single day of his life. I don’t want you to get screwed over in all of this.”

  It touched Paige then how much Jessica seemed to care. She smiled thankfully at her as they left the freshman apartments to head over to financial aid office. They ran into Professor Grey as he exited the glass doors.

  “Ah, good afternoon, Paige,” he said, smiling at her and Jessica. “I was just in there talking with a financial counselor regarding the question you asked me the other day.”

  “Oh, right.” She had completely forgotten about asking Professor Grey if there were any scholarships or ways that he could think of for her to keep going to NYU. “Did they say anything?”

  “Well, it was a bit strange,” Professor Grey said, frowning then. “We were in the middle of talking about what we needed to do for you when your counselor received a phone call from someone over at Turner Oil.”

  Her mouth dropped open in shock. There had been a very skeptical part of her that didn’t think Luke would hand out a check to pay for the rest of her college education. Then again, she supposed two hundred thousand dollars was chunk change to a man of wealth like Luke.

  Professor Grey was studying her intently. “Do you know who Luke Turner is?”

  “Sort of,” she said. “What did he say on the phone?”

  “It wasn’t him on the phone. It was his secretary arranging your financial account with NYU. The next three years are paid in full, including supply fees as per Luke’s instructions.”

  “Holy shit!” Jessica exclaimed. “He did it.”

  She winced when Paige nudged her painfully in the side. Professor Grey watched their exchange before placing a hand on Paige’s shoulder. Concern stretched across his bearded face.

  “I know you are new to this city, but Luke Turner has a reputation among the female population that isn’t favorable. A man like him uses wealth to get what he wants out of a woman.”

  No kidding. Unable to stand the intensity of his gaze, Paige dropped her eyes to the sidewalk while she nodded quickly. “I understand, Professor Grey. You see, I promised him a painting.” The lie came to her surprisingly quickly. “It was an agreement, because he wants a
painting in his office and I agreed to do it, and that was the price I asked for.”

  He didn’t believe her. The skeptical look on Professor Grey’s face spoke volumes regarding how much he doubted that.

  “I’ve dealt with Luke Turner quite a bit, believe it or not,” he said. “It isn’t in his nature or character to do something this charitable.”

  Desperate, Paige glanced over at Jessica, who seemed equally floored about what to do. She grabbed ahold of Jessica’s arm then. “We have to get going, Professor. It’s been a long day, we’re starving, and we have tons of homework to do.”

  “Get along then,” he said, but he stopped Paige before she could go. “I’m just warning you about him, Paige. I don’t want to see a good woman like yourself get taken advantage of.”

  “I’m not, Professor,” she replied thickly. “I’ll see you in class on Wednesday morning.”

  She hurried along the sidewalk with Jessica until they were both confident that Professor Grey was well out of earshot. Paige let out a strangled, pent-up breath when she looked over at Jessica.

  “I didn’t think he’d actually do it,” she said, still in shock. “I thought he’d wait it out for the next thirty days.”

  “I thought so too,” Jessica said. “What is he going to expect from you in return?”

  Paige’s throat clenched thinking about those conditions they had talked about. There was no doubt in her mind that Luke was not happy about the no sex condition. She had seen that challenging glint in his eyes.

  “I can think of a few things,” Paige said nervously. They entered one of the many restaurants on NYU’s campus that accept their dinner cards. It was busy, as expected for 5:00 p.m. on a Wednesday night.

  Once they had their sandwiches and bowls of soup, they sat down at an empty table in front of the windows that overlooked the sidewalk. The sun had started to dip down earlier than what they were used to, a sure sign of the pending fall season.

  He can’t honestly expect me to have sex with him. Paige looked down at her sandwich when a wave of nausea crashed over her. He signed that contract. He agreed to the terms of it.

  Except, she knew Luke didn’t follow the rules. He had enough money to buy himself out of legal troubles anyway.

  “He can’t force you to have sex with him,” Jessica said then, reading the expression on Paige’s face. “He really can’t. There are many things he could face if he did.”

  “He wouldn’t force me. As sleek as he is, he isn’t a guy who just goes around forcing women into his bed.”

  “That’s true I suppose. He’s attractive, so I’m sure it’s easy to fall for those charms.”

  “It is,” Paige said, sighing. “It’s just so strange, because there are times when he’s calm and relaxed. He seems completely at ease and normal, but then it changes within a matter of minutes.”

  Jessica looked thoughtful for a long moment. “Brooding is what they call that, but I’m pretty sure he had a rough childhood. That tends to play on people quite a bit.”

  “I know he has. I don’t know much about it besides what Shannon has said to me, or what he has said himself.”

  “If you’re in over your head, then back out,” Jessica said. “You have to admit that Luke is way experienced in certain areas that you’re lost in. I just worry that he’ll charm you before the end of this contract.”

  “He won’t,” Paige said firmly, even though she had her doubts too. “I vowed to myself a long time ago that I wouldn’t give in before marriage. He can’t change my mind no matter how hard he tries to.”

  Jessica gave her a long, hard look. “If you’re sure about that, Paige. I just know what marriage means to you because of the values you grew up with. I don’t think it matters if you even wait until beyond the wedding—he’ll still leave.”

  “I don’t think so. Something is—” Her phone vibrated in her back pocket. “Hold on. I need to take this real quick.”

  “Is it Luke?”

  Paige nodded in confirmation before rising from the table to go outside. Not that it was much better with the noise. She slipped into the alleyway next to the restaurant to answer her phone.

  “I wanted to call and confirm that I upheld my end of the bargain,” Luke said. He paused for a moment. “Where are you? I can hear cars.”

  “I’m getting dinner with my friend,” she said. “I’m standing outside, but—”

  “What type of friend?”

  She arched an eyebrow at the harsh question. Jealousy was in, and she smiled in amusement. She briefly contemplated telling him it was Kyle Duncan just to hear his reaction but decided to leave it alone for the meantime.

  “It’s Jessica,” she said. “That friend who blew the whistle on your plot.”

  “Right,” he said humorlessly. “What were you saying?”

  “I was going to tell you thank you for that. I didn’t expect it until the end of our arrangement.”

  “The other half you can get after thirty days. I wanted something in return for honoring a portion of my end of the contract.”

  Her heart started to pound. “Okay. Like what?”

  “I want to be able to kiss and touch you whenever I want,” he said. “We have to make this look real, and I’m going to have blue balls if you keep your distance from me.”

  She let out a shaky breath. It was exactly what she had assumed he would ask. “Toby told you that sleeping with random women in the meantime wouldn’t work?”

  “Not if I want this to work,” he replied, obviously not pleased with that. “I did what you asked, so it’s your turn to do what I’m asking.”

  “I’m not going to have sex with you,” Paige said firmly. “If we have to go through with this marriage, I’ll consider it then.”

  “Fine.” He sighed into the phone. “But we had an agreement. This is the only thing I’m asking for in the meantime. I’m going to go crazy if you tell me no.”

  “You sound like a typical teenage boy,” she commented, rolling her eyes. “Just kissing and touching. That’s it. Don’t think you’re going to get anywhere else.”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  He hung up without saying good-bye. Paige lowered her phone to stare out across the street with a racing heart. He was pushing her boundaries to see how far he could go. It wouldn’t be so bad… That wicked thought crossed her mind. It wouldn’t be like the last time she had been tangled up in someone’s arms. Luke’s hands never fumbled. He kissed expertly and passionately.

  There was obviously something there that kept women flocking to him.

  She went back inside to sit down at the table across from Jessica. Breathless, Paige sat in her chair, unable to think about picking up her sandwich.

  “What happened?” Jessica asked, lowering her own sandwich immediately. “I can see that something is up. What is it? What’d Luke want?”

  “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to handle being around him,” Paige said. “He’s just so experienced when it comes to everything in life. I’m just starting to figure it out, you know?”

  “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Is NYU that important to you?” Jessica shook her head. “It’s not worth it if it means you have to sacrifice a part of yourself in this fucked-up situation.”

  “I just can’t imagine going back to Wyoming,” Paige said.

  Tears filled her eyes just thinking about it. She missed her parents, but the thought of returning home after two months of utter and complete freedom to do whatever she wanted—it didn’t sit well. She wanted to be a painter in New York City with her own gallery. It had been her dream since she could remember.

  She sucked in a deep breath.

  “It’s worth it if I can get to where I want to be,” she said. “If I have to do this one thing, then it’s going to be worth it.”

  Jessica shook her head in dismay.

  “The promises you made to yourself shouldn’t be a part of any of this,” she said. “Just remember t
hat, okay? You matter too. Don’t let him convince you otherwise.”

  “I won’t,” Paige said, smiling at her friend in appreciation. “Thanks, Jess. I really appreciate you being here with me. Let’s eat so we can get back to studying.”

  ****

  Friday night approached faster than Paige anticipated. She had no idea what to expect besides from what Toby had said in his email. Shannon would be stopping by with clothes and makeup courtesy of Luke’s credit card before a driver would pick her up at 6:00 p.m. sharp.

  She climbed the stairs surreally after a long couple of days of staying up late to get homework done. She had no idea if Luke had any other plans for the weekend that involved her with him, but she didn’t want to risk it. Falling behind in classes was not an option for her while playing pretend with Luke.

  Jessica was waiting anxiously outside Paige’s door when she reached the top of the stairs.

  “I thought you might’ve forgotten,” she said. “You realize that Shannon will be here any minute, right?”

  “Yeah, I know,” Paige said tiredly. “I’m running late. I was trying to think of a good way to talk to my parents about Luke.”

  She unlocked her door before pushing it open to let Jessica in first. She left it cracked open for Shannon before sliding of her leather satchel with a relieved sigh.

  “Do you need to tell them?” Jessica asked, frowning. “I mean, would it hurt if they didn’t know about it?”

  “They would know about it, trust me. They keep up with the news surrounding oil.”

  “Right. I see your point.”

  They were quiet for a moment while Paige slipped out of her shoes, nudging them off to the side. She had no idea how she was going to explain a sudden relationship, let alone an engagement, to them. The only plausible thing she could think of was that she had started seeing Luke two months ago and had just never mentioned it because it was brand new.