A Modern Love Story

by Jolyn Palliata

  “Oh,”—Payten put her hand to her chest—”you were foster kids?”

  Robbie nodded. “But Luc made it…well, easier for me than it might have been. Being twelve, orphaned and new in town really put a target on my back. Those little heathens at school smelled fresh blood from the get go. That was until Luc made his stance very clear.”

  “And what stance was that?”

  “Basically, tease me and get the shit beat out of you by Luc.” Robbie smiled, stared down at her hands as her thoughts wandered to the past. “Seems he was always looking out for me.”

  “Seems to me, he still does.”

  Robbie watched Payten take another drink as she tried to figure out her meaning. “I’m sorry. I don’t follow.”

  Payten set her mug down. “Oh, perhaps it’s rude of me to bring up, but I was there when you had…well, I think it was a panic attack. I just meant that he took care of you then, too.”

  “Okay. That’s embarrassing.”

  “Please,” Payten said, “don’t be embarrassed. I used to get them all the time.”

  “You?”

  “Sure. They’re pretty far and wide now, but I still fear they’re going to pop up at the most inopportune moments. Like when I’m in court.” Payten rolled her eyes. “God, that would be mortifying.”

  “I’d imagine so. I’m able to hedge them off for the most part, since I know the main trigger.” Payten arched a perfect eyebrow that signaled Robbie should continue. ““Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin. It gets me every time.”

  “I know you don’t know me from the next person, but do you mind if I ask why that particular song?”

  Robbie studied Payten—her patient expression, her kind eyes, her supportive smile—and decided what the hell. As she launched into the story about her parents and the car accident, Robbie found it wasn’t that hard to talk about. At least, not like how it used to be. Perhaps telling someone she hardly knew, knowing she wasn’t going to smother her with pity and questions, made it easier. Maybe time had. Regardless, the words just kept coming out. She even included her fear of hospitals.

  “Robbie.” Payten reached over, brushed her fingers across the back of Robbie’s hand. “Thank you for telling me. I know that wasn’t easy for you.” Her hand retreated back to her side of the booth. “This may sound odd, but I had an immediate liking to you the moment I met you. I think now I know why. You and I share a very unique past.”

  “How’s that?”

  “I was alone with my mother when she died. I was seven years old.”

  “Oh, Payten. I’m so sorry.”

  “Please, don’t apologize. It was just an accident. Or…that’s what I chose to believe. Either that, or it was her choice.” Payten shook her head, then smoothed her hair back. “No matter which, I was powerless against it. That’s when I started getting my panic attacks.”

  “You were so young. Can I…”

  “Ask how it happened? Seems only fair.” Payten took a drink before starting. “My father owns the law firm I work at. He’s big with the community—society events and such. My mother loved to entertain…that much I remember clearly. And she was very hands-on during the set up of the larger gatherings. It was then that it happened.” She swallowed hard.

  “You don’t have to, Payten. We can just leave it.”

  “No. It’s good for me to talk it through. I think that’s why I don’t have the panic attacks as often—I’ve told this story time and time again. Therapy. Very expensive therapy. Anyway, we were standing on the second floor balcony overlooking the pool. Only, the pool was drained for some sort of maintenance. I don’t remember the reason why. I suppose it doesn’t matter. What did was that if the pool was full, my mother might still be alive today.”

  Robbie’s heart sunk to her stomach. “She fell?”

  Payten downed the rest of her beer, nodded. “And I watched it happen. I watched her die.”

  “God. I’m so sorry.”

  Payten smiled, appearing to shake the sober and reflective mood as she squared off her shoulders. “Like I said, it does me good to talk about it. I can’t honestly say that her death had a profound effect on me. I mean, it certainly did, but after that it just seemed like death followed me around. That’s what caused my panic attacks more than anything.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “After my mother’s death, my father doted on me—bought me everything and anything I could possibly want. I suppose he was trying to make up for the loss of my mother in the only way he knew how. But the only thing I really wanted at the time, was for my father to be around more. Instead, he got me a little Yorkie. Poor thing ended up drowning in the pool. And then, when I was a teenager, I had another that the gardener killed.”

  “He killed it?

  “Might as well have. He left some chemicals lying about that poisoned the dog.” Payten’s eyes went blank. “Awful way for an animal to go.”

  “I can see why you had the attacks. Did you ever get another dog?”

  Payten snapped to and smiled. “No. I got my first Porsche shortly after that. From that point on, sports cars became my new babies.” She laughed lightly. “I’m sorry. You must think I’m just dreadful to be able to speak so easily about it all.”

  “No, not at all.” Robbie wasn’t about to admit she had wondered that exact thing, and felt ashamed she had. Who was she to judge how others dealt with their grief?

  Payten waved a hand, as if clearing the air. “Enough about me. Back to you.”

  “What about me?” Robbie asked.

  “Yeah,” Luc said, slipping next to Robbie. “What about her?”

  Payten smiled politely at Luc’s hard tone. “I was just going to ask her if she ever found her family. Colin and Anna Byrne, was it?”

  “You told her about them?” Luc asked, turning an astonished expression towards Robbie.

  “It came up. But no, the state never did find them, and I haven’t been able to afford to do some digging of my own yet.” She smiled at Luc as he rubbed her thigh—an absent, yet soothing, gesture. “Some day.”

  “I have just the person for you. Best PI in the business. Just leave it to me.” Payten pulled a notebook out of her handbag and scribbled a note of some sort.

  “Oh, no, Payten. I don’t have the money saved yet. But as soon as I do, I’d love the name.”

  “I’ll foot the bill,” Luc said, shooting Robbie a warning glance.

  “The hell you will, Lucian Anthony Cintrone,” Robbie growled, overpowering his glance with solid, searing glare.

  “I’ll pay for it.”

  Robbie turned to Payten, poised to protest, but Payten was already shaking her head. “What’s the point of being rich and having connections if you can’t do a little favor for a new friend. I’ll take care of it,” she said, laying a manicured hand over Robbie’s.

  “Thank you, Payten. Thank you.” Robbie bit back the threat of grateful tears, knowing they would only embarrass everyone all around. “Please, let me pay you back.”

  Payten grabbed her bag and got to her feet. “When you have the resources we’ll discuss it. In the meantime, I’ll let you know if he finds anything out.” She tipped her head towards Luc. “I know how to reach you.”

  “Thank you,” Luc said, holding out a hand.

  Payten stared at it, then shook it. “That was painful for you, wasn’t it?”

  “Little bit.”

  “Thought so.” She smiled. “You two have a good night.”

  “Looked like the two of you had some deep conversation going on over here,” Luc commented, putting his arm around her.

  “Yeah. I told her about the accident, and then found out her mother died when she was young too. It was…I don’t know…kinda comforting talking about it again. Kinda bummed me out though, too.”

  “You okay?”

  “I think I’m gonna head home. I just wanna chill for a bit and go to bed early.”

  “Did you want me to come over after closing?”
/>
  Robbie grinned, looked up at him. “For what?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

  He chuckled. “Well, I was thinking for simple comfort, to have someone there with you. But I’m sure more can be arranged.”

  She poked him playfully in the side. “And here I thought you wanted to take things slow.”

  “Slower. You couldn’t possibly think I can hold back from you for any sustained period of time.” He brushed his fingers across her face, pressed his lips to hers. “No man could be that strong.”

  She sighed as he pulled away, and contemplated his offer. Ultimately, she decided against it—she knew she wouldn’t be very good company. “I’ll take a rain check and just crash tonight.”

  He studied her face, then nodded. “I can respect that. But promise you’ll call if you change your mind. Even if it’s just to have someone there with you. Deal?”

  “Deal.”

  Luc scooted out to let Robbie stand. “Good luck at your interview tomorrow.”

  “Thanks.” She planted a kiss on his cheek.

  “Come by the bar afterwards and let me know how it went.”

  “You bet.” She shoved her arms into her jacket. “I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”

  “Back atcha.”

  *****

  Robbie cringed as she stood outside Hooligan’s door, rummaging around in her purse for the key. She couldn’t wait to get her heels off. Although she was a master at walking in them, she rarely did. They only proved to make her feel clumsy. Besides, heels were for high-powered business women, not for girls who would rather play in the mud than wear button-down dresses and pumps.

  “Finally,” she muttered, pulling out her key and shoving it in the lock. One more minute in that wind and she was sure her updo would’ve come undone. Already she could feel little tendrils whisping around and tickling her neck.

  “Hey there,” Luc said, checking the stock behind the bar. “Don’t forget—”

  “To lock the door. Yeah, yeah.”

  “I get one night of peace in this place. Don’t think some damn idiot wouldn’t walk right in ‘cause he can’t read a closed sign.” He turned back to his inventory sheet.

  “It’s locked, Stretch.” Robbie shrugged out of her black thigh-length trench coat and threw it on the coat rack.

  The door rattled behind her.

  “See? It never stops them.” Luc gestured towards the door with his pen as he glanced over. He froze, staring hard enough to make her want to squirm.

  “What?” She smoothed her hands over her navy dress, suddenly paranoid that a button had come undone, or the v-neck shifted enough to reveal what was supposed to be concealed. Damn. She knew she shouldn’t have tried to pull it off. Girls like her should not wear dresses like that.

  “You look beautiful, Rob.” He blinked, hard, and turned away as his ears flushed.

  She felt the warmth of his compliment spread through her body as she stepped to the bar and slid on a stool. But for Luc, it seemed he was embarrassed by his own reaction. In fact, it was like a switch had been thrown somewhere inside him the moment the words left his lips. Not only had he turned away from her, but his movements as he checked through his inventory were stiff. He even had to clear his throat before he spoke again, and when he did, his voice was harder, more detached-sounding. What was going on with that guy?

  “How did the interview go?”

  She shrugged, noticing how he pointedly averted eye contact. “It went okay, but I don’t think I’ll get it. They seem very insistent that the candidate have field experience.”

  He made a noise that sounded somewhat like a snort. “They don’t deserve to have you then. No one does who wouldn’t jump at the chance of hiring you. Shit, do they think they’re going to find someone more qualified just because they stood in a hole and pulled out some old bones?”

  That was exactly what they thought, and she knew it. But instead of responding to him, she watched as he slammed bottles around and made angry little tick marks on his list. Something was eating at him, and it started the moment she took off her coat. Putting two and two together, she was pretty sure she knew what it was.

  She decided it was time to scratch at the surface, quickly gathering her courage before she did. “I love you.”

  “Yeah. Me too.”

  He leaned over to look at the papers in front of her, and she caught his face in her hands. “No,” she said. “I love you. I’m in love with you.”

  His eyes locked on hers a moment before launching himself over the bar to band his arms around her. His lips fused to hers, scorching her in a firestorm to where she barely registered his movements—that he had spun her, was pressing her back against the rail of the bar.

  Her need for him was instantaneous, and she knew it was the same for him—she felt it in the possession of his mouth, the urgency of his hands. She finally caught her breath when he broke away and blazed a trail down her neck, across her cleavage. Tipping her head down, she dragged her teeth across his shoulder, spurring him on.

  Slipping his fingers into the front of her dress, he jerked it open. Buttons popped off, raining down and scattering across the floor to reveal her sheer, black camisole. He clamped his mouth over her breast with enough force to make her stool tip and she hooked her arms over the edge of the bar to brace herself. When the barrier of material was too much for him, and her, he gripped the edge of the fabric and easily ripped it open.

  She arched her back, giving him access to her bare breasts, as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She couldn’t get enough of him, of his hands, of his mouth. More, was all she could think. More. As if reading her mind, his hands raced down, and after a careless tug, her panties were gone too.

  God, she wanted this. Wanted him. He made her feel wanted, needed. He lit fires inside her she hadn’t known could burn so fierce, in places she didn’t even know existed. Nothing in life could ever make her feel this complete, this whole. He was as much a part of her as her own soul.

  She felt exposed in every way possible, and reveled in it. There she was, completely naked, head dropped back against a bar top, with a man who was still fully clothed and taking what he wanted—what was his to take.

  His arm slid around her back as he grabbed her hip, lifting her higher and pulling her harder against him. And as she wrapped her legs tighter to comply, the stool tipped out from underneath her. She squealed as she squeezed with her thighs, surprised to lose the support beneath her. Luc’s arms clamped around her, and staggered as he swept her up.

  “Are you okay?” The panic in his voice was almost laughable.

  “I’m fine.” She nipped at his neck to elicit a moan. “Now where were we?”

  “Wait,” he said, loosening his grip as he set her on her feet. “I can’t do this. I can’t take you like this.”

  “God, Luc. Now is not the time to take it slow.” If that man didn’t get his hands back on her, she was going to burst. She just knew it!

  “Now is exactly the time we should take it slow.” He lifted her face, kissed her nose. “You just told me you’re in love with me.”

  The tenderness in his voice made her knees weak. “Yeah. I did.”

  “So, we take it slow.” He rubbed his palm down her side, brushing against the side of her breasts as his mouth moved to nibble her neck.

  An involuntary shudder racked through her. She could have sworn there were a pack of bees buzzing under her skin.

  “Very slow,” he whispered in her ear, tugging on her earlobe with his teeth. “Your place is closer than mine.”

  “Jesus. Let’s go.”

  Luc chuckled and stepped back, glancing at the floor. “Ah, well…shit.”

  She looked down to see every stitch of her clothing torn at her feet.

  “Hell, I barely remember even doing that. When I get around you, it’s like I have no control. I just want to have you, right then and there.”

  She kicked at her ruined dress. “How can I complain with a c
ompliment like that?” She slid her hands up his chest. “You would have won that round for sure.”

  He laughed and hugged her, groaning when her hands came around to give his ass a quick squeeze. “How am I going to get you home?”

  “No problem,” she said, pulling away.

  Robbie could almost feel his eyes on her as she walked towards the coat rack. She suddenly felt very sexy and confident walking around in nothing but her heels. For once, pumps worked for her, and her feminine ego.

  “Holy shit,” Luc muttered from behind.

  She smiled as she turned to face him and slipped into her trench coat. “There. No one will know but us.”

  In three very long strides, Luc was at her side. “Jesus, there’s that other side of you again. I gotta say, I’m loving it.”

  “It’s different with you, Luc. There are no barriers, no holding back. I can just be me and know that it’s okay.”

  “It’s better than okay. It’s perfect.”

  *****

  Luc was ready to jump out of his fucking skin by the time they got to Robbie’s apartment. Goddamn, did the girl know how to tease him—unbuttoning her jacket enough for him to see the side of her breast, placing his hand on her thigh, then knocking it higher with the gear shift when she took it out of park. She was fucking lucky she made it home in one piece. He was ready to tear into her and leave nothing left behind.

  Luc took slow, deep breaths as she unlocked the door. He wasn’t kidding when he told her he couldn’t, wouldn’t, take her against the bar. Not after what she’d said to him. He didn’t know what he’d been thinking. He heard her words and just fucking reacted. Totally selfish on his part, he knew. And he was determined to make it up to her, to show her what it meant to him.

  “Home sweet home,” Robbie murmured, locking the door behind them, then sauntering up to his side. Jesus Christ, she was sexy as hell.

  He clamped onto her hands before she could take off her coat. “Don’t.”

  She arched a brow but complied as she watched him, a spark in her emerald eyes.

  “Come with me,” he said, leading her to the bedroom, forcing himself to take small measured steps.