My mother started on her rant about my needing a well-rounded life. She was five minutes into it when I temporarily lost my mind and blurted, “I have a boyfriend!”
Oh shit.
When I called Luke to get him to come over, he actually sounded like he wanted to meet my mother. “I don’t think you understand.”
“Nat shared Madison’s thoughts on her. I’m pretty sure I know what I’m getting into.”
“I will owe you big.”
“Savannah, after all you’ve done…”
“You’ll see,” I said. “So you and Natalie can be here by 7?”
“We’ll do our best.”
I wanted to see Luke, but I was furious with myself for telling my mother he existed. Luke was important to me. We were in love with each other, and I didn’t want to share any part of that with my mother. She’d no doubt cheapen what Luke and I shared by comparing it to her relationships.
“Mother.” I didn’t want to expose Natalie to her. “Please remember that his sister is only fifteen and very impressionable.”
“Surely you aren’t insinuating that I’m not suitable company for a teenager.”
Yeah. I totally was. “Just be nice. She’s very shy.”
“Forget about the kid sister,” my mother said, sitting down next to me on the couch. “Tell me more about your young man.”
I rolled my eyes. She talked like she was way older than forty. Of course, she generally hooked up with victims, I mean men, who were twenty years older.
“What does he do for a living?”
Really? What did she do for a living? She’d only gotten jobs when she needed a new wardrobe to find the next man for the next rung of her narcissistic climb up the social ladder. “He’s a carpenter. He does remodeling and stuff like that.”
“Isn’t that a surprise? I guess he’s built then. Nice arms?” She grinned. “Nice ass?”
She was going to be all over Luke like, well, cougar slut on hottie. “I’m not comfortable discussing my boyfriend’s body with you. And please behave when he gets here.”
Why hadn’t I thought to have him where baggy sweats and a giant hoodie?
Someone knocked on the door and she rushed past me to fling open the door.
“Oh,” she said, “it’s just the pizza.”
Thank God.
We had just paid the pizza guy when Luke and Natalie appeared on the front porch.
Luke wore a pair of well-worn Levi’s, the thin cotton clinging to his legs and no doubt, his butt too. His t-shirt was molded to his muscular chest and arms. I would have been thrilled if my mother weren’t there to ogle him.
“Hi, Natalie,” I said. “Luke.”
Luke walked right up and kissed me before acknowledging my mother.
I introduced everyone, averting my eyes as my mother thoroughly checked out Luke’s ass.
We sat on the couches in the living room because I wanted as much distance between myself and my mother as possible. I served everybody a few slices and a can of Coke.
“So, Luke. Savannah never tells me anything. How long have you two been together?”
I tensed.
Luke shot me a reassuring glance. “Long enough to know how special she is.”
Awww.
“Isn’t that sweet,” my mother said. “You really are just gorgeous, aren’t you? And Natalie, you are a beautiful young woman.”
Luke squirmed and Natalie blushed.
“She’s also an excellent student,” I interjected. “I bet you learned something fabulous in school today.”
Natalie blinked and glanced over at her brother. “I didn’t go today. We went to the hospital.”
Oh shit. Oh double shit.
“Oh dear,” my mother said. “Is your mother ill?”
Natalie froze. Luke, wide-eyed, looked to me for help.
No telling what my mother would say if we actually discussed the situation. “She’s fine,” I squeaked. “Boob job.”
My mother raised a brow. “Your mother had breast enhancement surgery?”
“Yes,” Luke said. “Yes, she did.”
“You can see why they don’t feel comfortable discussing it. Let’s talk about something else. Tell me more about Roger. Let our guests eat.” I shot Natalie and Luke a look and they each took a giant bite of their pizza slices. If I hadn’t been wound so tight, I might have smiled.
“You will just adore him, Savannah,” she said. She proceeded to talk about her latest conquest for the next ten minutes. Although she did aim most of her comments at Luke, and her not so subtle glances at his biceps were taking their toll on his comfort level and on my patience.
“That is an interesting tattoo, Luke. Does it have some symbolic meaning?”
I tensed. He shouldn’t have to share something so personal.
“Actually, it doesn’t. I was eighteen and had a few too many drinks. I went with the first thing the tattoo artist suggested.”
I grinned.
Natalie smiled too.
What a great example we were setting. Lying to the embodiment of shallow and self-absorbed. Great lesson for a girl dealing with a mentally ill mother.
Things were going downhill fast.
Then Natalie stepped up to the plate. “You don’t look old enough to be Savannah’s mother. Did you adopt her?”
Score.
My mother beamed at the compliment. “Aren’t you so sweet. Well, I was very young.”
As my mother gushed on, I winked at Natalie. She’d realized that Luke couldn’t be overly nice or we’d be in a grotesque flirting situation. And the smart girl had taken matters into her own hands.
I couldn’t ditch Natalie with my mother for even a second, so there was no way that I could sneak a moment alone with Luke. It wasn’t until I saw Natalie pull her phone out that I realized I could text him.
I whipped out my phone.
You look yummy. Sorry about this. How did it go today?
Luke pulled his phone out of his back pocket. He read my text and winked at me.
Rough but I found out that there is a shot she could get once a month instead of taking all those pills. Easier to monitor. Harder to screw up.
Really? That’s wonderful.
Except she doesn’t want to do it.
I looked up at Luke. “Are you serious?” I mouthed.
He nodded.
I’m so sorry, Luke, I texted.
He didn’t answer for a few minutes.
Finally, he sent, When is she leaving?
I laughed to myself. Tomorrow.
Thank God.
Can you come over tomorrow?
Yes.
I’ll think about you tonight.
I fanned myself with my hand.
Then a text from Natalie popped up on my phone, Are you guys texting each other? How rude.
Sorry.
Sorry.
They bailed on me shortly after.
“Thanks for taking time to meet me even though it is a school night,” my mother said. “It was lovely getting to know you.”
I waved to them and shut the door. Giving an exaggerated yawn, I said, “I didn’t sleep well last night and I have an early class. I’m going to turn in.”
“Savannah!” my mother cried with exasperation.
“Night,” I said, slipping into my bedroom and shutting the door.
I called Luke immediately.
“Hi!” Natalie said.
“Oh, good, Natalie. I’m glad you answered. I wanted to be sure you understood why I didn’t want to tell my mother about your mom. It wasn’t that I thought you should be embarrassed about it, it was just that—”
“Your mother is a total bitch and you were afraid of what she’d say.”
“Oh good. You do understand.” I really liked this kid.
“Luke wants the phone. Hang on.”
“Hey, Savannah. I’m sorry about Nat’s lack of respect. Can I call you back when we get home? Then we can really talk.”
He didn’t call. I slept while I was waiting for him to call me. At three a.m. I woke up and checked my phone. I almost had forgotten to set my alarm. I couldn’t believe he hadn’t called.
I fell asleep and had terrible, stressful dreams about my mother moving in and about Luke cheating on me with Aubrey. I woke up nauseated and grumpy before my alarm went off.
Then, exactly one minute after my alarm, the phone rang. Luke was finally calling.
“I’m so sorry.”
He’d purposely called when he knew I’d have to wake up. “It’s okay.”
“No it isn’t. I was waiting for Nat to fall asleep and I drifted off myself. I’ll make it up to you tonight.”
I hoped so.
I was at the theater when my phone vibrated. My mother. For once, I didn’t mind answering. “Hey, are you there? How was your drive?”
“Savannah, dear, I’m still at your apartment. There’s been a delay.”
God dammit.
“Roger’s flight was canceled. He won’t be back until tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Would he really? “Um, okay.”
“What time do you get off?”
“Eight.”
“Okay, I’ll see you then.”
I pushed end and started banging my head against the wall of the box office.
My manager walked up, took one look, and retraced his steps.
Luke and I arranged to meet at Taco Blocko at 7 since I actually got off work at six.
We set Natalie up with some dinner and sat down at a nearby table to talk.
“Good plan,” Luke said. “We should definitely be able to keep our hands off each other here.”
I glanced around. “We needed a place grungy enough to keep us from doing it in the ladies room.”
“Mission accomplished. Why are we avoiding sex exactly?”
“We aren’t really. We are just respecting your sister and making sure we actually talk while we have time.”
“Oh, right.”
“What’s going on with your mom? When are they releasing her?”
He leaned forward and took my hand in his. “Next Wednesday. You forgot about my SUV. We could do it in the SUV.”
“Cameras in the parking lot,” I said. “How is she doing?”
He sighed. “I talked to her counselor today. She’s still fighting the idea of the shots.” He shoved his hand through his hair, which did drool-worthy things to his arm muscles. “I don’t want her in our home if she isn’t getting the shots. I just don’t know what to do about it.”
“Can’t you just make her?”
“I don’t know. What if she takes Natalie and kicks me out? Or moves out with Natalie? Or pretends to agree and then never goes in for the shot next month?”
He had a point. I didn’t know what to tell him. I couldn’t say it would all be fine because it really might not be fine. “You’ll make the right decision, Luke. I have complete faith in you.”
Luke gave me a small smile. “Thanks for being here for me, Savannah. I know you didn’t mean for this,” he gestured between us, “to get serious, but I’m really hoping you want to keep dating after the month is up.”
His brown eyes bore into me as if trying to see through to my soul.
I didn’t bother to hold it in. “I love you, Luke,” I said.
He stood, walked around the booth and pulled me to my feet. “I love you too, Savannah. So much. And I know it’s fast. Too fast, but so good.” He pulled me against him, brushed my hair out of my face, and said, “Too damn good to stop now.”
I touched my lips to his, pouring all my emotions, all my love, into the kiss.
“Hey guys,” Natalie called. “You’re attracting attention.”
Luke pulled me closer to him into a tight embrace before releasing me. “Your mother leaves tomorrow, right?”
“God I hope so.”
Chapter Twelve
Savannah
Since I had two hours of reading to do for class, I didn’t have to make up a reason to blow off my mother.
“Oh, Savannah, really? Can’t you skip your homework for just one day?”
“No. But I will sit out here with you and read and you can find something on television.”
My mother sighed.
Gee. So sorry to interfere with her life.
I grabbed my books and went to the living room. She had settled on HGTV which was fine except that it probably meant she planned to comment on everything she saw.
My phone beeped and I opened the text from Luke. He’d sent a picture of himself. On his chest, he had drawn a heart with my name in it.
I almost teared up with the overwhelming emotion. I wanted to run out the door, get in my car and drive to his house. I’d never been in love and I’d never experienced the good parts of a relationship before. I’d mostly had sex followed by a string of disappointments. The good with Luke was going to far outweigh the bad. I knew this deep in my heart.
I glanced at my mother who had picked a truly rotten time to show up.
“That rug is ghastly,” she said. “What were they thinking?”
Luke was waiting for me to reply to the text, and I had no idea what to say. How did I convey how I felt? I knew how to talk dirty, how to be sexy. I didn’t know squat about real intimacy.
Saying “I love you too,” seemed so inadequate. I needed more.
“Be right back,” I told my mother as inspiration struck.
I went to my room and dug out my red lacy bra. I slipped it on, adjusting my breasts for maximum cleavage. The bra pushed my breasts into a heart shape, the point down in my cleavage and the rounded globes of my breasts forming the top of the heart. I took four pictures before getting it right. Then I texted him a picture of myself in the bra. “My heart belongs to you,” I typed.
The message went through with a whoosh. My phone rang immediately after.
“Oh, Darlin’,” Luke said. “I don’t want you to think that what we have is just about sex, but I’m about to combust from that picture.”
Immense joy rushed through me at his need for me. “I’m sorry if it was too sexy. I wanted you to know I love you.”
“Damn, Savannah. There is no such thing as too sexy when it comes to us. Ever.”
“I want to see you,” I said. I didn’t want to miss him combusting.
“I can’t leave Nat, and if you did come over,” he sighed, “we couldn’t possibly reach satisfaction without scarring Nat for life.”
Good point. No matter how quiet we were, she knew what we were doing. “Yeah, I guess even after one or two,” I cleared my throat, “or three times, we still couldn’t keep our hands off each other.”
His groan sent another wave of heat to my happy place.
“I get out of class at ten-thirty and I don’t work until twelve. Can I come to your job site?”
“Meet me at my house at eleven. You can get to the theater in fifteen minutes. We’ll have at least forty five minutes.”
“I’ll be there.”
“And Savannah,” he said, his voice sounding pained, “wear the bra.”
I laughed and promised I would. When he hung up, I put on the clothes I had been wearing and carefully placed the bra on my purse so I wouldn’t forget it.
I spent the rest of the evening trying to ignore the thoughts of Luke and love and tomorrow’s interlude so I could comprehend what I was reading. When I gave up and went to bed, I had read the same two pages over and over, and I had no idea what any of it meant.
In the morning, I hugged my mother again, praying she’d really leave this time.
“It was so nice to visit with you, dear. I hope we get a chance to do this more often.
I wanted to be polite without encouraging her to stay. “I would love to have lunch with you anytime.” That should do it.
Class lasted forever. I didn’t get a thing out of it, but at least I went. I had standards for myself about missing class, and it was
important that I didn’t compromise them.
When the professor stopped talking, I grabbed my books and dashed out the door. I had parked a good mile away in a commuter lot. I ran the entire way. If my time with Luke went as planned, I’d be sweaty before long anyway.
I almost rear-ended a shiny new Ford on my way out of student parking. I slowed down a little and made it to Luke’s in ten minutes.
He stood in his driveway, wearing jeans and no shirt.
“What’s with the nudity?” I teased after jumping out of the car and into his arms.
“A little preview of what’s to come.” He lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around him. “Tell me you wore the red bra,” he said as he carried me into the garage.
“I wore the bra.”
He set me on the bed, whipped off my shirt, and gazed upon my chest with adoration. “You’re heart belongs to me?”
I nodded.
“This one,” he said putting his hand over my heart, “and this one,” he said, tracing the edges of the lace.
His intense gaze burned into me as he raised his eyes to mine. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
He kissed me and then proceeded to show me just how much he loved every inch of me.
My mother left me three messages. One to tell me she was gone. The second to thank me again. The third to tell me that Roger had brought her a diamond brooch from Paris.
Nothing could be more precious to me than the heart Luke had drawn on his chest. I didn’t need jewelry, but I did need Luke. I was starting to need him so much that it terrified me. He could leave me like my father had, like my mother had when she turned all her attention to manipulating men.
I stopped by home to shower, shave my legs, and find clothes that were sexy enough for Luke but decent enough to be around Natalie. I knew she was still sleeping in the garage on the couch, and I didn’t want to run her off. She needed some stability, and I could wait for alone time with her brother. I forwarded the picture he’d sent me with my name in his heart to Sophie because she would kill me if I didn’t update her on this development.
She immediately texted, Squeeeeeee!
Then she called to let me gush about Luke.
I grabbed my overnight bag and headed to my car.
“You can keep me company on my drive,” I said.
“I can’t believe you are in love, Savannah! And it’s all because of my brilliant suggestion of a one-night stand.”
Too Fast Page 12
