“Whoa. Oh, this is gettin’ good,” Mike said rubbing his hands.
Both Luke and Janie turned to him. “Fuck off, Mike,” growled Luke, just as Janie said, “Keep out of it, Mike!”
Janie began to leave and Luke stood immediately and stepped in her path. “We’re both leaving.” His eyes flashed at hers, darkening in anger.
“Come on, don’t leave yet,” Mike whined from the table.
“Yeah,” Jem added. “Come on, Janie. I’ve never seen a woman do this to Luke before. Last time I saw a woman take down a man with such ease was when Emily kicked Mike’s ass.”
Mike smiled at that and Jem folded his hands in his lap, and leaned forward with an excited look on his face.
Both Janie and Luke turned to both of them and said, “Shut. Up.” Then Luke said to Janie, “You and I need to talk.” He glanced back at the two idiots at the table and said, “Privately.”
“I have nothing to say to you, Luke. Let’s not make a scene. Just sit down and have your drinks with Larry and Curly over there, and have a good night,” Janie groused.
“Larry and Curly? But I want to be Moe,” Mike frowned and turned to Jem.
“I’m Moe. Isn’t he the one who smacks everyone?” Jem asked Mike. “If anyone needs to be on the receiving end of a smack, it’s you, Mikey. Of course, it appears that Luke may need one as well, which means due to process of elimination, I’m Moe.”
“Cristo,” Luke muttered, then to Janie said, “I said we’re leaving.” He shot a dirty look to the boys then took her elbow.
“No, I’m leaving. You,” she pointed to Luke, “are staying.” Janie tried to remove her arm from Luke’s gentle but unbreakable grasp. Mike was rubbing his hands together and giggling with glee. Giggling.
“What kind of family members are you?” she growled. “Luke’s manhandling me over here and you sit there and laugh?”
“Well, first of all, you do need a man to handle you, Janie, and Luke is definitely qualified,” Mike began. “But more importantly, he’d handle you with care. Not like the asshole who just left,” he said pointedly. “I’d still like to talk about that.”
“Tough. We’re not talking about it. And I just told you he was a liar,” Janie said referring to Luke, trying to keep the hurt from her voice.
“We heard you,” Jem said, “but keep in mind we know him better than you do. Is he arrogant? Most definitely. A pain in the ass? Yup. A determined, tenacious mover and shaker who goes after what he wants? Absolutely. But a liar? A liar is one thing he is not.”
Janie stared at Mike and Jem. They had both turned serious and were looking at her with love in their eyes. She inwardly sighed and looked up at Luke who was giving her that expressionless look. But his jaw was clenched. That told her something.
She still didn’t want to talk to him. She wasn’t ready.
“Please let go of my arm,” she whispered. He didn’t. “I’m leaving,” she said more forcefully. “We can talk another time.”
“I’ll get you home,” Luke said, loosening his grip on her elbow and turning to the guys. “I’m taking her home.”
“Fine by me. Have fun,” Mike wiggled his eyebrows and swigged his wine. Then he turned to Jem. “I need a beer.”
At this point, Janie decided she’d almost prefer Luke’s company to the men sitting at the table. Jerks. “Well it’s not fine by me,” Janie began. “I’ll take a cab.”
“I’m taking you home,” Luke insisted.
“I’ll take a cab,” she repeated with force. “And don’t follow me home because I won’t let you in.”
There was a beat of silence while Mike and Luke exchanged looks. “You have the key?” Mike asked Luke.
“What key?” Janie asked looking between the two of them. The other night flashed into her memory bank and she nearly screeched. “Is that how you were able to lock my door the other night?!” she looked at Luke. “You have my key?!”
“Calm down. I gave Luke the spare key I had to your place. I figured it made more sense for him to have it since he only lives a couple of blocks away from you and can get to you faster if you needed anything. I don’t know why we didn’t give it to him in the first place,” Mike mused aloud with an innocent look on his face.
“You gave him my key?” she repeated, practically yelling, wondering at her brother’s action which was basically the equivalence of Mike giving Luke his blessing. She was both shocked and warmed at the thought. It didn’t stop her from feeling disgruntled though. “And you didn’t think to ask me first?”
“Nope,” Mike said sweetly then added, “And I thought you were leaving.”
She frowned. “I am.” Then she looked up at Luke with a pointed glare then down at his hand still on her elbow. He released it and put his hand out for her to precede him to the exit. She leaned around him and sent one last evil eye to the men who shared her DNA. “Thanks a lot, guys,” she said sarcastically.
“Not a problem,” Jem beamed.
“Yeah, no worries,” Mike said. Then waggling his fingers in a cute wave, he said, “Have fun you two.”
She fumed as Luke remained silent, then he turned and led them out the door. When they were out on the sidewalk, she kept walking.
“Wait,” Luke growled, but she kept going. “Kenneth, would you follow, please?” she heard him yell. A moment later, he was at her side. “I want to talk to you,” he began.
“I’m sure you do. But I’m not in the mood to talk tonight.” She kept walking toward the subway, not wanting to wait for a cab.
This time, he stopped her and put both hands on her upper arms forcing her to stop and look up at him. “Janie.”
There was a moment between them filled with unspoken words and bubbling emotions.
“I’m driving you home. Got that?” He took advantage of the moment of silence after his demand and led her quickly to the limo which was waiting at the curb. She got in and he followed after, closing the door behind him. Once he gave Kenneth instructions to drive them to Janie’s, he leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.
She turned away from him and stared out the window, hearing him sigh. She didn’t respond and basically gave him the cold shoulder the entire ride to her place. When Kenneth pulled up to the curb, she got out and Luke quickly followed. As she was entering the foyer, she saw his reflection in the glass in front of her while he spoke to Kenneth who then got back in the limo and drove away.
“Don’t bother following me in, Luke. You can just turn around and walk home. And don’t you dare use that key. In fact, I want it back.”
“I’m done with this attitude, Janie,” he said with authority while taking her arm, walking her through the foyer, then up the short flight of stairs to her door.
“Yeah, well, I’m done with you,” she growled at him, trying to remove her arm from his grasp. He took his own key out and opened the door, pushing her gently inside. She continued walking, hit the foyer light switch, and didn’t look back. “Don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.”
Two seconds later, she heard the door slide shut with a slam and whipped around to see Luke standing inside her living room in front of the closed door.
He clicked the lock.
Chapter 15
“Technically this kind of door can’t hit me on the ass. You know, because it slides,” Luke said sardonically when Janie met his eyes.
“You don’t have the right to just come in, Luke.” Janie tore off her coat and tossed it on her chair. “This is my place, not yours,” she said, turning on a lamp by the sofa.
“I seem to remember an agreement we had, that I was to know about any dates you had on the books. So you can imagine the questions I have swirling around in my head,” he said sarcastically. “Like first, why the hell you would even go out with a guy like that. Or why this date had to happen tonight of all nights.”
She shot him a dirty look.
He continued, deadly calm, looking like he was trying to figure it all
out. “He’s the guy from high school who treated you like shit, isn’t he?”
“It’s none of your business who I go out with.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said quietly and walked toward her, unbuttoning his coat while he did. When he reached her, he peeled it off along with his scarf, tossing it on top of hers. “That man doesn’t even deserve to breathe the same air as you. Why the hell did you go out with him?”
She let go of an annoyed sigh.
He tipped her head back so her gaze could reach his eyes. “He doesn’t deserve one iota of your time. Not one. He didn’t deserve it when you were a teenager and he most certainly doesn’t deserve it now.”
She fought the warm feeling as he stared into her eyes.
Instead, she looked away, embarrassed with herself that she’d even agreed to see Chaz. “It really is none of your business,” she muttered. “I want you to leave.”
He made her look at him again. “It is my business. Why did you go out with him? Tonight of all nights?”
Her temper finally snapped. “Fine, so let’s talk about that, shall we?” She pulled away from his hand on her chin. “Apparently I need to honor our agreement,” she said emphatically, pressing her hand to heart, “but Luke Daniels can do whatever the hell he wants, is that it? I don’t think so.” Before she could turn away he stopped her with his hand.
“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked vehemently.
“Did you have a nice fuck on your birthday, Luke?” She was spitting mad and put her hands on her hips, facing off with him. “Apparently you couldn’t make it one more week? You really are something, you know that?” She was on a roll. “So much for trying to find a woman you can come home to, huh? Unless that’s what you want to come home to, and if that’s the case, then have at it. I don’t even fucking care anymore. It’s not like you owe me anything,” she mumbled as she stomped away toward the kitchen, taking out her dangly earrings. Everything was just pissing her off, even the sweep of metal at her ears. “No, sir. I can’t have sex, but Luke Daniels, he can’t even keep his pants zipped for seven more days.”
She chucked her earrings onto the counter just as she was about to enter the kitchen area. He caught up to her and whipped her around.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” His hands clamped onto her upper arms, stopping her. “What the hell happened between last night when you dropped off my present, and this morning when you refused to return my calls? What happened that hurt you? I don’t underst –” Then, just like that, his eyes blinked as if a realization had blindsided him. His mouth formed a frown and he looked off over her shoulder, thinking.
When he looked back at her, he cocked his head and narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing her with his gaze. Holding up his finger, he commanded, “Don’t. You. Dare. Move.”
He reached for his phone in his pocket and began typing things on it. Within seconds he was shaking his head and pressing his lips together in annoyance, muttering a curse. Eventually he made eye contact with her again, this time in full understanding and held up the phone to show her the screen.
“By any chance, does this have anything to do with why you’re pissed at me?”
She looked at his phone screen where the pictures of him and Vanessa taken from the night before continued to mock her. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared.
“Does it?” he demanded.
She continued her defiant stance and he let out a whoosh of breath.
“Have I ever lied to you? Ever?” He was getting pissed.
“How am I supposed to know?” She sounded whiny even to her own ears.
He swore. “Answer this: do you think I would lie to you?”
She remained quiet, biting her lip. The emotion began to rise in her chest and she fought hard to control it. She didn’t want to cry even though she was on the cusp of it at the moment. “I don’t want to believe you would ever lie to me. Not you.”
“You don’t have to want to believe it. Just believe it,” he said, exasperated. He shook his phone to bring her attention back to it. “She was waiting for me when I got home last night from my meetings. She was wishing me a happy birthday and,” he paused and ran his hand through his hair, “wanted to hang out last night. She’s been having problems getting some modeling gigs since we’ve broken up and wanted to rekindle the romance, if you know what I mean. This is a picture of me reiterating to her that it’s over and then me putting her in the car so Kenneth could take her home.”
She swallowed. Believe him. Believe him.
“When you dropped off my present,” he began, “was she there?” He stood there waiting for her confirmation.
She nodded, avoiding his eyes. He didn’t allow it and cupped her face to direct her gaze back up to him.
“What happened? Did she say something to you?”
She shrugged.
“Tell me, Janie,” he demanded. “What did she say to you?”
She took a deep breath and spoke, trying to tamp down her irritation. “That you had called her because you wanted to see her. She took great pleasure in telling me that it was probably a booty call.”
He let out a string of curses. “I didn’t call Vanessa, Janie, and I didn’t have plans last night. I really did have meetings. What else did she say?”
Janie let go of a breath of displeasure. If he wanted to know what a bitch Vanessa was, she’d be happy to oblige him. “That you’re great in the sack. That she’s happy to take care of your needs, that she was sure you were missing a good fuck, basically. That she’d make sure you got the gift I’d left you in the morning.” She took another deep breath. “That you’d just texted her from the road and were about to arrive to pick her up,” she rattled off, waving her hand.
Luke’s pale blue eyes softened and he rubbed his thumb over Janie’s cheek. “And you believed her?”
“At first I didn’t. And I’d been willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but when I saw your picture with her this morning,” she said then stopped, shaking her head.
“You have my word that I’ve honored our agreement ever since we made it. How did you even find out about this picture?” he said, wiggling his phone. “I didn’t even know about it until it hit me just now that she was either there when you dropped off the cookies, or you’d found out somehow that she was there when I got home. A picture is the only way for you to have known that, so I took a lucky guess to search for it. I asked Javier to make me aware whenever you and I were photographed together ever since we had lunch a couple of weeks ago, but he doesn’t tell me about all the pictures out there. I don’t like people taking pictures of you and putting comments up. I know it’s par for the course if you’re around me, but I still don’t like it.”
She wasn’t about to tell him she got alerts on her phone anytime a picture or something was said about him in the entertainment rags. “Who was the woman I heard in the background when you left me my message last night?” she asked quietly.
“It was Carolyn. I offered to give her a ride home because of the snow. We decided to have my last conference call from my home office because the snow was coming in and she lives nearby. She was going to sit in on my conference call, then Kenneth was going to get her home afterwards. He did that after he’d returned from taking Vanessa home.” He touched her face. “It wasn’t Vanessa you heard. It was Carolyn.”
She watched him and nodded, feeling the butterflies let loose, the constricted feeling around her lungs beginning to loosen and a sense of euphoria taking its place.
“Tell me you believe me,” he demanded.
She gave him a disgruntled nod. He still looked pissed.
With a bit of exasperation, he said, “You can always trust me. I want you to trust me. In every way. I’ll never ever hurt you, Janie, certainly not intentionally. And I will never lie to you.”
She looked down, feeling chastised, but better than she’d felt in 24 hours. “Okay,” she whispered.
He angled her head back again so she’d look up at him.
“Are we good then?”
She gave him a look that theoretically said she wanted to stamp her foot. “Just for the record, Vanessa is not a nice woman. And if it’s alright for you to tell me you don’t like Fernandez or Weston, then I can tell you I don’t like Vanessa.”
He murmured, “Not a contender for my queen of hearts?”
“No,” she grumbled. “Definitely not a contender for your queen of hearts.”
“I agree. Definitely not a contender.” He tilted her head back more and his eyes took on a different look. “I’ve got news.” His blue eyes burned, his hand reached back into her curls to grip her hair, and his body shifted closer.
She could feel the adrenaline hit her, the arousal so evident, she clenched her thighs together. Her body was vibrating. She wanted him. “What kind of news?” she whispered.
“Looks like your perfect man is ready to be revealed,” he said softly.
She nearly stopped breathing. “Yeah?” Ohshitohshitohshitohshit. “He can’t wait ’til Christmas, huh?”
Luke shook his head slowly. “I’m changing up our little agreement, Janie.”
She waited for him to continue, his hand pulling her head back so she could look up at him. His other hand snaked around her waist and slowly pulled her until she was flush against him.
“Number one, the time for sowing your wild oats is over,” he stated emphatically.
Her heart felt like it would burst. “Are you going to tell me who this man is?” she practically whimpered.
“Number two, we’re both now most definitely allowed,” he whispered, “to have that hotter than hell sex we’ve been waiting for.”
Her heart could barely take the rate at which it was pounding. “Fantastic. Maybe you can give my man a call and have him come on over. Because I’m ready.”
His lips tilted up sexily. “How about my queen of hearts? Is she ready to be revealed?”
Remembrance: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series Book 4) Page 26
