by Becca Steele
Me: I’m not lying. Promise.
Avery: OK. Change of subject. Let’s make plans for the weekend!
Me: Yes! I’m in the bath at the mo. Want me to call you after?
Avery: Going to bed in a few mins. Call me tomorrow for a proper catch up and we’ll sort it out? x
Me: OK, speak tomorrow x
Lying back in the bath with a sigh, I let the soothing scent of the lavender and chamomile bubbles swirl around me. The whole episode in the pub with Luke seemed like a weird dream. My plan was to try to forget it had ever happened; instead I’d do what I’d mentioned to Avery—be nice to Luke and treat him like I’d treat anyone else. We couldn’t go on like this, and I doubted he’d be the first to offer an olive branch. Determined, I set an early alarm on my phone so that I could put my plan into action.
7
Olivia
I arrived at work bright and early the next day, determined to put everything behind me. I was going to follow Avery’s example—be nice to everyone and work my hardest. Okay, I did work hard, and I was nice to everyone, other than Luke. But now? Now, I was going to make an effort with him, too.
Balancing my tin of homemade cookies on one arm, I swung the office door open. Phew. I was the first to arrive. I walked into the kitchenette to deposit my baked goods, stuck a Post-it to the tin which said HELP YOURSELVES!, and popped a pod into the coffee machine. I grabbed my favourite mug, one that proclaimed “Better Latte Than Never,” and placed it underneath the nozzle. The smell of brewing coffee permeated my nostrils, and I sighed in happiness. Fresh coffee had to be one of the nicest scents in the world.
I headed back into the office, steaming coffee in hand.
Oh. Luke had arrived. Right. Time to put my “be nice to Luke Davenport” plan into action. He hadn’t seen me yet, busy fiddling around with his computer.
I walked over and stood behind him.
“Hi,” I said brightly.
He let out a shriek, that, to my ears, was rather girly, spinning round in his chair and holding his hand over his heart.
“Payne,” he groaned when he saw me. “Why are you sneaking up on me like that?”
“Sorry,” I said, in the same bright tone. “Just wanted to say hello.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “What are you up to?” Suspicion coated his words as he eyed me.
“Nothing. Nothing at all.” I took up what I hoped was a casual position, leaning against his desk and crossing my ankles. His gaze darted to my legs, and he licked his lips, unconsciously.
“Um, so, how was your date with Ash?” I blurted out, using air quotes around the word “date” for some inane reason.
“Fine,” he said slowly, raising his gaze to mine and still looking distrustfully at me. “I don’t think we’ll see each other again, though.”
My heart soared and I couldn’t stop the smile spreading over my face.
“Why, was she too nice for you? I can’t see you with anyone nice.” I threw his words back at him.
His full lips tipped up at the corners. “I guess I deserve that comment.”
“Yes, you do.”
He opened his mouth to say something and then groaned, rubbing his head. “Bloody hell, I need more painkillers,” he muttered.
The guilt came rushing back.
“Let me have a look,” I offered quietly, placing my full coffee mug down on his desk. Surprisingly, he let me spin his chair without resistance.
I placed my hands in his soft hair, gently parting the strands.
“Oh Luke, I’m so sorry. You have a proper lump here,” I breathed, gingerly prodding it with my fingertips.
“Ouch! For fuck’s sake, Payne, don’t start poking at it with your sharp fingernails,” he berated, spinning back in his chair to face me.
“Sorry, again,” I whispered, biting my lip.
We stared at each other wordlessly for a moment, our faces close together. I’d never noticed the gold flecks in Luke’s green eyes before. Then again, I hadn’t ever been close enough to study them. I watched in fascination as his eyes darkened, his pupils dilating.
I suddenly felt short of breath, and my brain seemed to shut down.
“Your eyelashes are so long,” I whispered. “Any woman would kill to have those.” As if of its own volition, my hand came up and touched the corner of his top lashes. “So soft,” I mused to myself.
His whole body stilled.
My brain came back online.
Shit, shit, shit!
With dawning horror, I snatched my hand away and bounced back against Luke’s desk. What on earth had possessed me to do that? I risked a glance at him. The tense set of his jaw and the way he was clenching his knuckles so hard they were turning white told me everything I needed to know.
“Luke?” I said tentatively.
“Don’t say another fucking word,” he bit out.
Reeling away, I stumbled over to my desk and slumped in my seat dejectedly. Plan “be nice to Luke Davenport” was a fail. I’d already managed to upset him, and the workday hadn’t even officially started.
“So, I saw a very interesting sight as I walked into the office,” Eddie purred, wheeling his chair over to mine.
“I don’t want to talk about it. I was trying to make an effort to be nice, and it blew up in my face.” I threw up my hands. “I don’t know why I bother,” I muttered to myself.
Eddie scrutinised me, looking far more pleased than he ought to, as my friend.
I gave him my best icy look.
“Ugh, don’t pull that face again.” He shuddered. “I’ll drop it for now, but we are discussing this later.” He regarded me sternly, then relented at my downcast expression. “You need coffee.”
I pointed to my almost full mug.
“Drink up, then, and I’ll make us another.”
I gulped down my coffee, grimacing at the lukewarm temperature.
“Good girl,” Eddie praised me. “One fresh cup coming right up.” He blew me a kiss and strolled into the kitchenette.
I buried myself in my work, spending the next hour consulting with one of our clients via video chat regarding a social media campaign we were setting up for them. Adding the proposed deadline to my calendar, I noticed a reminder notification pop up on my screen to say that my meeting with Ethan was due to begin in five minutes.
I could have sworn there was no meeting in my calendar when I’d checked it the day before. Confused, I dialled Ethan’s internal number from my desk phone.
“Hi, Delia,” I said, when Ethan’s assistant answered. “It’s Olivia. Am I meant to be attending a meeting with Ethan?”
“Yes, that’s correct. He asked me to schedule a meeting with yourself and Luke as soon as I got to work this morning.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks. Um, I’ll be there in a minute.”
Time to steel myself for what was sure to be an awkward gathering.
Grabbing my third coffee of the day, I made my way to Ethan’s office.
“Head on in.” Delia inclined her head towards the open door, her warm brown eyes twinkling merrily at me, crinkling in the corners. I nodded and walked into Ethan’s spacious office. Luke was already in there, of course, debating the merits of some football player or other. As soon as I sat down next to him, he stiffened and went silent, then glared daggers at me.
I gasped at the venom in his gaze and responded by subtly giving him the middle finger, pretending I was scratching the side of my face.
Ethan frowned unhappily at us both.
“Must you two act like children all the time?”
“He started it,” I muttered.
“Oh, that’s fucking rich—” Luke began.
“Enough!”
Ethan slammed his palms on his desk. I was quite literally shocked into silence. My boss was one of the most level-headed and calm people I knew.
I shrank back into my seat.
“Ethan, I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
He held up a hand.
&
nbsp; “I don’t want to hear it. You two are severely testing my patience with your bickering. I’d hoped you would be over this childish behaviour by now, but if anything, it’s getting worse.”
I flushed, chastised. Glancing at Luke’s profile, I saw him breathing like an angry bull, and his jaw was clenched so hard I could see a muscle ticking. I’d bet anything he was seconds away from exploding.
“Right. Let’s start again,” Ethan instructed. “I have something important I need to talk to you both about, so can you please try to be civil while you’re in here.”
“Yes.” My voice came out as a croaky whisper.
Luke nodded once, jerkily.
Ethan leaned back in his seat, looking more relaxed. “Good.” He clapped his hands together. “I have a proposal.”
He looked at each of us in turn, his stern gaze boring into us.
“The atmosphere in the office has become more strained of late. I take responsibility—I should’ve seen how bad it had become between you two.” He sighed heavily. “I hired you, Olivia, because I felt that you would be a perfect fit at Barrett London.”
The colour drained from my face—what was he insinuating?
Ethan must’ve seen my panicked expression because he hastened to reassure me.
“Liv, you are a good fit for this company. Please don’t take my words the wrong way. Clients love you, and so do the rest of my staff.” He grimaced. “Other than Luke here, of course.”
I rolled my eyes. Obviously.
“I’m very concerned about the effect your relationship—” He paused. “—or should I say, non-relationship, is having on the rest of the office. I want to propose that you two agree on a truce. Right here, right now. I’ve been discussing it with Avery, and I know I made a mistake keeping you apart after that first disastrous week and hoping things would work themselves out. I’m going to get you working more closely together.”
Picking up his glass of water, he took a sip before continuing. “Luke, I’m bringing Olivia over to the Delny Drinks project, and you’re going to work together on it, as a team. Luke, you’ll be in charge, but that doesn’t mean you get to throw your weight around and treat Olivia like a slave. She’s very talented, and if you take the time to listen to her, I believe you can achieve something special. I want daily updates and a breakdown of who is doing what so that you’re both pulling your weight equally.”
He scratched the back of his neck. “Also, Avery and I, well, we want you to come for dinner with us. We both agree that some time spent together out of the office environment with a neutral party to mediate might help to smooth things over somewhat.”
I sank low into my chair, feeling so very small. I knew that Luke and I had our problems—okay, so that may have been downplaying it—but I felt awful that it had spilled over into everyone else’s lives. I mean, the man was bloody irritating, but I didn’t dislike him that much that I couldn’t treat him with polite indifference. I hoped. I’d tried this morning, after all. Surely I could do it again.
Next to me, Luke’s face twisted in a grimace, but he remained silent.
Ethan stared at us imploringly.
“Please, at least try this truce. For the sake of my sanity, if nothing else. Give it two, maybe three weeks.” He threw his hands up. “At least you will have tried.” He added ominously, “And if that doesn’t work, we’ll look at the next steps we need to take.”
I gulped and glanced at Luke out of the corner of my eye. His chiselled jaw was set mutinously, but even from my sly sidewards gaze, I could see the worried frown on his face.
Right. I would have to be the bigger person.
I turned to face Luke, holding out my hand.
“Truce?” I asked hesitantly.
Our eyes met and held.
My heart skipped a beat.
His gaze raked over me searchingly; then he sighed and lowered his eyes.
“Truce,” he said in a low, reluctant voice. He reached out his hand and clasped mine.
8
Luke
Fucking Ethan and his blackmailing ways. I’d been in a foul mood all day, ever since he’d essentially forced me into the stupid truce with Payne. As for our weird interaction this morning—nope, wasn’t even going to go there.
I connected my Bluetooth headphones to my phone, and my chillout playlist filled my ears, the laid-back, mellow beats relaxing me somewhat as I made the familiar journey to the retirement complex.
Molly sat behind the reception desk, tapping at her computer keyboard. She raised her eyes to meet mine, a faint blush staining her cheeks.
“Can I go on up?” I asked, and she nodded. I smiled and made the familiar trip to the second floor. Stopping at the third door along, I lifted my knuckles, giving a soft knock to the painted wood.
“Come in,” called a faint, feminine voice. I entered the room, and my eyes went straight to the bed where a tiny, frail figure lay sleeping. Seeing her asleep sent dread rolling through my stomach.
“How is she?” I directed my question to Jodie, the care assistant I’d come to know over the years I’d been visiting Martha.
Jodie’s tired eyes met mine. “Luke, she hasn’t got long left. I’ve seen all the signs before.” Her lined face crinkled as her mouth twisted sadly. Jodie was always honest and direct, and I appreciated it. Still, the news wasn’t what I wanted to hear, at all. I coughed to clear the sudden lump in my throat.
“You can stay with her for a bit, but she may sleep through your visit.”
“That’s okay, I just wanted to see her.” Crossing the carpeted room, I settled in the chair next to the bed, gently taking Martha’s worn, small hand in mine. Jodie nodded and slipped out of the room, leaving us alone.
I brushed a strand of downy silver hair away from Martha’s pale face and began to tell her about my day. I shared my feelings and frustrations, letting everything spill out of me. Even if Martha had been awake, she would have listened without interruption. She was the one person I knew would never judge me, and always allowed me to draw my own conclusions.
Concluding my spoken thoughts, I stood to leave. I fussed with Martha’s blankets, tucking them securely around her, then dropped a light kiss on her head. She’d remained asleep for the duration of my visit, an all-too-common occurrence these days. I worried about her, even more so after hearing Jodie voice my fears.
“Bye, Martha. Love you.” I left her sleeping, closing the door behind me with a soft, final click.
As I left the retirement complex, concern for Martha occupying my mind, my phone rang. Glancing at the screen I groaned. Dad. He only ever called me when he wanted something.
“What do you want?” I barked.
“That’s no way to speak to your father, Lucas.”
“Dad, I’m not in the mood. Tell me the reason for your call, and we can avoid this charade.”
I could hear him hesitate.
“Well…thought you might want to know that Sandy and I got married. And—”
“You got married? I didn’t even know you were engaged. When?”
“Last week. I proposed on her birthday, ’bout nine months ago.”
“And this is the first I’m hearing about any of it.” My voice was flat.
“Uh. Well. That is to say…” He trailed off.
“Whatever. Thanks for finally telling me, I guess.”
“Right. Anyway, Sandy and I thought you could give us money instead of a wedding present.”
I laughed bitterly. “No, I don’t think so.”
His voice rose as he spat his venomous words through the phone. “After all the money I spent feeding and clothing you as a kid, you owe it to me.”
It took every bit of self-control I possessed to stop myself from saying words that could never been taken back.
“I’m hanging up now,” I gritted out through clenched teeth, ending the call.
Even after all these years, he still had the ability to hurt me.
What a shit day. My mood,
already low, had soured to the point where I needed to let off some steam, otherwise I’d end up doing something I regretted. I headed past the university where I’d studied alongside Ethan and Alex and entered a nondescript black door with a small metal plaque to the left, bearing the name Savage Boxing Gym. I let the heavy door clang shut behind me, pausing for a moment as the scents of musty leather and sweat surrounded me. Ethan, Alex, and I had come here all the time as students. Although it was out of the way for all of us now and we had closer gyms we could have joined, there was something about the basic, raw appeal of this place that kept us coming back.
I changed quickly, glad I’d had the foresight to bring my gym clothes to work with me, and headed into the gym area. Comprising a dimly lit, cavernous space, there were three boxing rings, and punch bags, speed balls and weights dotted around the room. The sound of gloves hitting leather, grunts as fighters punched each other, and the squeaking of shoes filled my ears as I walked up to a punch bag. Pulling on a pair of boxing gloves, I faced the bag, ready to pound my frustrations and worries into oblivion.
Panting, I wiped the sweat out of my eyes, my muscles aching, feeling a hundred times better.
“Alright, mate? Want a go in the ring? Seth’s free if you’re up for it.”
Axel Savage swaggered over to me, his huge, imposing presence sucking the air out of the room. He owned the boxing gym alongside his three brothers, but as the eldest, he had the authority of leadership. Tall, lethal, built like a brick shithouse, scarred and tattooed, he was the kind of man you’d cross the street to avoid. His reputation had earned him respect among London’s seedy underbelly, and if you had any sense you did not cross him.
I met his eyes in the mirrored wall we stood in front of. “Alright, mate. Thanks for the offer, but I punched the shit out of my frustrations already.”
I inclined my head towards the punch bag, which was still swinging.