She had lit it, inhaled and coughed out her first drag when he entered the room.
He grinned at her. "Trying to take up my nasty habit?"
She coughed again, handing the cigarette to him, wrinkling her nose. "I don't think so."
He laughed. "Probably better that you don't anyway." Then his grin faded and his face became serious. "Shouldn't you call your parents? Won't they be worried about you?"
She snorted. "My mom wouldn't worry if she was in town. My step dad is always glad to have me out of the house so that he can pretend that his trophy wife really isn't the middle aged mother of a teenager."
"I'm sorry. My parents were glad to have me out of the house, too. I was nothing but a dead beat to my dad. He shelled out all that money for college when all I wanted to do was write songs. Boy was he glad when my uncle died and left me the house and his money. Well, not all that glad I guess. He'd been hoping that his big brother would leave the money to him. But he didn't mind too much when I dropped out of college, and moved here to pursue my dream in peace."
She raised an eyebrow. "So that's where the money came from?"
He laughed. "Does it disappoint you? Knowing that you slept with someone who is not something exciting like a jewel thief or a drug dealer, but a guy who got lucky when his rich uncle died?"
"Do you really write songs?"
"Yeah.” Sierra thought that he seemed almost embarrassed. "I've sold a couple, probably not anything you've heard. I've been lucky. And I've been investing some of my uncle's money so I should be pretty comfortable for quite a while. If I don't hit it big in song writing, you shouldn't see me working at your trusty neighborhood convenience store for a while yet."
"Hey. I might have to get a job at that convenience store if I want to pay for college."
"Your parents won't pay for school?"
"It's not that. My step dad has plenty of money and would be more than willing to pay for college, if for nothing more than to get me out of the house. I don't feel right letting him pay my way. I don't want to feel like I owe him anything."
He nodded. "Your clothes are dry. You can take a shower if you want. Although I don't have any of the smelly girly soap." She wrinkled her nose at him. "I'll make something to eat, though I hope you like leftover pizza 'cause I don't have much else, since the grocery store doesn't seem to be my best friend."
She laughed, then winced as her headache decided to remind her of its presence. "Wouldn't mind some of that aspirin you offered earlier."
"In the medicine cabinet."
She nodded at him, noticing that her now clean clothes were stacked on top of his dresser, her bra and panties folded almost primly on top.
She went into the bathroom, and opened the medicine cabinet. She removed the bottle of aspirin, taking two and replacing it.
She gulped them down with a swig of water she'd run into the small plastic glass beside the sink and stepped over to turn the shower on.
She luxuriated in the spray, liking his massaging shower head.
She toweled off quickly, wishing for her blow dryer so that her long dirty blonde hair would dry quicker. She walked naked into his bedroom, feeling a little giddy. What was she doing, she thought? She hardly ever walked around naked in her own bedroom, let alone that of a virtual stranger.
Somehow, he didn't feel like a stranger anymore, she thought. She'd shared something with him she'd only shared with Austin. Austin seemed so adolescent in comparison to Luke.
She realized she wanted to know more about him.
She went into the kitchen. He was sitting at the table, munching on a slice of pizza. She sat down, looking at the pizza on the plate in front of her and wrinkling her nose.
"You don't like supreme?" She shook her head. "I can order you something. I've got a bunch of take out menus. I'll get you whatever you want."
He rummaged around in a drawer and brought out a handful of menus. She looked through them, quickly deciding on the lasagna from a local Italian restaurant.
He went to the phone, and placed her order, then returned to the kitchen. He told her the food should arrive in about half an hour.
"Luke.” Sierra bit her lip as she looked at him. “How'd you know my name?"
"I've seen you around town, with your mom sometimes. And I used to see you with that guy all the time."
"Oh, I see. How old are you?"
He laughed softly. "I'm twenty-two. That's not too old is it?"
"No, I guess not."
Her food arrived soon after and she was grateful. She found herself growing uncomfortable again.
She still didn't regret having sex with him; it was a different feeling now. The lust had started to fade. She was beginning to wonder if she'd had her first one night stand.
He walked her home later, not touching her. "Can I call you? Or would your step dad come after me with a shot gun?"
She laughed at the thought of her step dad running after Luke in his business suit waving a shot gun. "Fat chance of that. Let me give you my cell number. Then you won't have to worry about him or my mom."
He took out his phone; putting in the number she gave him.
She dug in her purse for her keys, unlocking the door slowly. She wanted to invite him in. Her mom and stepdad wouldn't be home for another two days. But what if one of the nosy neighbors mentioned something she thought? She gave him a quick kiss instead.
"I'll see you."
Luke gave her what could only be called a cocky grin. "Definitely."
Chapter 4
And he did call her, the next weekend.
She told her mom that she was going out with friends; and instead walked down the street to his house.
Sierra started spending more and more time with Luke. She spent many afternoons with him as he was pretty good at math and history. She thought that it was nice to have someone help her study, though his attractiveness was a constant distraction. His habit of lounging around the house in nothing more than a pair of jeans drove her crazy.
Before long, they were having sex on a regular basis and she found herself initiating it more and sometimes sharing a cigarette with him afterwards. She felt herself almost forgetting about Austin. Spotting him in the halls at school, always seemingly with Ilana at his side; no longer held the sting that it once had. Her mom quit asking about him at home.
She'd begun telling her mom that she was spending time with a former junior high friend named Amy on the days and nights she was with Luke. She was glad that her mom trusted her enough not to question her further or simply didn't care. Sierra figured that it was some combination of both.
Time passed and she found herself closer to graduation, wondering what exactly she was going to do with her life.
She'd decided that she wanted to go into early childhood education, probably teach at a preschool. But she found herself thinking more and more of putting college off for a year. Though she didn't really think of him as her boyfriend, was too stubborn to put into words what she really felt for him besides the lust, she felt herself not wanting to leave Luke so soon.
Luke supported her decision to put college off, though she claimed it was more to save money for school than to be able to stay by his side. If he sensed that he had anything to do with her decision to stay in town for another year he was discreet enough not to mention it.
He hadn't told her he loved her. She wasn't sure if he thought of her as his girlfriend. They simply let things go the way they were and didn't talk about it.
Chapter 5
One night a few weeks before graduation her mom stopped her when she was leaving to go to Luke's.
"I know you haven't been with Amy. You've been with that boy, that man. I can't believe you broke up with Austin for someone like that."
Sierra turned towards her mother angrily. She wondered what right her mother had to lecture her about anything to do with men. She'd married Timothy when Sierra’s father was hardly cold in his grave. She had always believed that it w
as because he had money.
"First of all Mother, Austin broke up with me because he knocked up the head cheerleader. I don't know what you think you know about Luke, but you're wrong. He's only a few years older than me. He's not a drug dealer or a pimp or any of the other bullshit the people around town seem to think. They're too stupid to take the time to really find out about people. I'm eighteen years old which makes me an adult. So what do you have to say about anything anyway?"
Her mother looked at her for a moment, seeming almost shocked. "Sierra," she started and then stopped herself, the angry gleam coming back to her eyes. "You may be an adult.” Sarcasm dripped from her words. “But you still live under my roof and therefore under my rules."
"Last I knew you hadn't worked in how long? Shit Mom, did you ever work? You lived off of Dad, a man who I barely knew because he was so busy working to support your lazy ass; and you let it kill him. Then, you married Timothy simply because he had more money than Dad could have ever given you. So this is Timothy's house the way I see it. And he never cared enough about me to set any damn rules. I could be screwing the whole damn town for all he cares. If you don't want me under your roof anymore, I'm sure I can arrange that."
Sierra stopped, and took a breath; not daring to look at her mother. Had she gone too far she wondered?
She suspected that underneath all the frivolity, the yearning for material possessions, the plastic surgeries to hide the wrinkles, her mother did love her. She just chose to show it on very rare occasions.
Her mother stood there silently, glaring at her.
Sierra grabbed her purse and back pack from the table and headed to the door. "I won't be coming home tonight."
She slammed the door behind her. Part of her wanted to go back and apologize to her mother. Part of her was satisfied that she had finally told her mother off after all those years of remaining silent.
It had hurt to be left behind when her mom and step dad took their quarterly vacations for the past four years.
It had been a long time since she felt that her mother was glad to have her around. She'd never felt that her mom was proud of her, no matter how good her grades were, or whatever else she accomplished.
She was out of breath by the time she made it to Luke's house. He opened the door and taking one look at her face, immediately pulled her into his arms, absentmindedly shutting the door behind them.
"What's wrong hon?"
"Gimme a cigarette." She slumped down onto the couch.
He complied, digging one out and lighting it for her.
He sat back lighting a cigarette of his own and watching her.
"So," he said, after letting her remain silent for several minutes. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"
She sighed, putting the cigarette out in an overflowing ashtray on the coffee table. "I had a fight with my mom. She found out about that I’ve been seeing you and tried to give me some shit about rules and it not mattering if I was eighteen because I still lived under her roof."
He took her hand. "Sierra, baby, you couldn't expect your mom to be thrilled about you spending time with me. Not a lot of mothers of eighteen year old girls would be celebrating them hanging out with a guy like me." He comically raised an eyebrow at her, trying to coax a laugh out of her.
She pulled her hand away, picking a pen up off of the table and twirling it between her fingers.
"She doesn't care Luke. She doesn't want her reputation sullied by her daughter screwing around with someone like you." She laughed harshly. "I can't believe she let me go out with Austin for so long. It's not like his family lived up to her and Timothy's precious standards. Austin's mom works. His dad is the manager of a grocery store. They live okay, but they're not exactly in Timothy's income level."
"Hey." He pulled her head against his chest. "I'm sure your mom loves you honey."
"But that's just it Luke. Sometimes I don't know. It's not like she ever tells me."
To her embarrassment, Sierra found herself crying softly. Luke held her for a long time; saying nothing.
After a while she sat up. She took the tissue that he handed her from the box underneath the table, and blew her nose.
"You want to go out tonight? Go to a movie? See something stupid?"
She shrugged her shoulders. They didn't usually go out together, usually watched movies or TV at his house, or listened to music, and ordered take out.
He kissed her lightly, brushing her hair out of her face. "C'mon, it'll be fun. You can take your first ride in my car. I finally got it back."
He'd finally given up on the idea of restoring the old mustang himself and had sent it out to be done professionally.
She brightened a little. "Okay."
He went to the bedroom, coming back out in a tight black t-shirt.
"Ah," she teased, feeling her mood lighten. "Do you really have to put that on? I like you so much better without it."
He laughed. "If I went out in public like that I'd have to beat the women off me with a stick."
She scowled at him. "Like you don't anyway."
He kissed the side of her neck. "I don't need any other women."
She felt a little thrill go through her at his words, but again wouldn't let herself read too much into it. Even if she was staying in town another year, all that meant was that they'd have that year together. She couldn't let herself think of anything beyond that.
He grabbed his keys off the hook in the kitchen and pulled her out the door with him.
"By the way, I'm spending the night."
"Mmm. I can think of all kinds of interesting things we can do with all those extra hours."
She slugged him lightly in the arm as he came around the car to open to door for her.
"You asked for it." He grinned.
"Nice car," she said as he slid into the driver's seat.
"Yep. Got myself a nice car, and a pretty girl to spend the whole night with. Life is good."
She laughed.
"And you don't know the best part yet, love. I haven't told you what I'm giving you for graduation."
She raised an eyebrow. "And what is that exactly?"
"A weekend of hot sex with me of course."
She rolled her eyes at him as he made the turn to pull into the crowded parking lot of the mall. "What makes you think I'd want that?"
"Nah, seriously, I'm taking you away for the weekend. How much of it we spend in bed is up to you."
She gave him a quick kiss as he opened the door for her, taking his hand.
"Let's go find a movie to watch. Something that will keep your mind out of the gutter for a couple hours."
"Nothin' keeps my mind out of the gutter for long darlin."
They were on their way to check out what was playing at the theater when Sierra stopped. She felt her breath catch in her throat.
"Sie." Luke noticed she had stopped unexpectedly in front of the food court. "You want to get something to eat before we see a movie?"
She shook her head. Her eyes were locked on the sight of Austin and Ilana coming towards them, hand in hand. He noticed the direction her eyes were taking and started to pull her towards the theater, but it was too late. Austin had already spotted them.
"Hey, Sierra. Long time no see."
She wanted to laugh. It's not like she didn't see him in the halls at school every day and in class. "Hey Austin, hey Ilana."
Ilana was starting to look pregnant, and Sierra supposed she should be, being four or five months along now.
"Don't think I know your friend." Austin looked at Luke.
She almost dropped his hand then, feeling almost embarrassed to be seen with him.
He was nothing to be ashamed of she thought. He was much better looking than Austin in all honesty.
Austin was about 5'7, with light brown hair. He was a little on the skinny side, though he liked to think of himself as "wiry". Ilana was an inch or so taller than him.
Luke was six foot, muscular and had everyt
hing going for him, besides the stupid reputation that he still carried among the ignorant (which still seemed to remain predominant as her mother had shown her this afternoon) in town.
"This is Luke, my. . ." She paused, at a loss for words.
What exactly was he, she wondered? Her fuck buddy? She felt her face start to go hot. Then Luke stepped forward, holding his hand out to Austin.
"I'm Luke, her boyfriend. Her boyfriend."
She wasn't sure if she repeated it for Austin's benefit, hers or his own.
"Oh, okay," Austin said. There was a note in his voice, to Sierra it almost sounded like jealousy. "Nice to meet you."
"You too." Luke put an arm around Sierra's shoulders. "We'd better get to the theater. Wouldn't want to miss the movie. You two have a good one."
"Yeah, you too. Bye Sierra."
She could feel Austin’s eyes on her as Luke pulled her away. She wondered what he was thinking. Then she wondered why she cared. She hadn't truly thought about Austin in a long time, in anything more than a casual way. And she had Luke so. . .
But it had been a shock to see him here with Ilana when she was venturing out with Luke for the first time in the months that they'd been what? Sleeping together she wondered again?
She looked up at him as they neared the theater, pretending to be pondering the titles that were showing on the screen outside the ticket booth. "Boyfriend?"
His eyes were serious when he looked at her. "Would you rather I told him that I'm the guy you've been fucking for the last couple of months?"
She felt herself blushing, and was glad that there was no one near enough to them to hear what he had said. "No."
"Would it hurt to think of me as your boyfriend?"
"I guess not."
He got down on one knee then, taking her hand like he was proposing.
"Sierra Collins, will you accept my humble proposal of being your boyfriend?"
"Get up you jerk." She giggled as she helped pull him back to his feet.
"So what shall we see girlfriend?"
They decided on a romantic comedy; that ended up not only not keeping his mind out of the gutter but driving hers there as well. They decided to go back to his house and order a pizza.
Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set Page 2
