Desire Too Wild To Tame: The Bad Baker Boys: Luke's Story

by Tonya Brooks

  ~~~~

  “You drug me out of bed at the asscrack of dawn to go fishing?” John asked incredulously and glared at his brother through bloodshot eyes.

  “It’s ten o’clock.” Luke defended and pulled a cooler out of the rear of the Hummer. “The bar closed at two so you’ve had at least seven hours sleep.”

  “I would have if I hadn’t hooked up with Laura,” was growled in answer. “Hell, I didn’t even get home until after five.”

  “You could have said no when I called.” Luke pointed out as he grabbed an insulated bag filled with sandwiches and snacks and closed the cargo door.

  “To what?” he demanded. “You wake me up from a dead sleep and say, ‘Bro, get your ass to my house double time.’ I thought it was an emergency.”

  “Well, you’re here now,” he shrugged. “And the coolers full of beer.”

  John grunted his appreciation of that as he opened the lid and grabbed a bottle. “When the hell did you start fishing?” he asked as he twisted the top off.

  “What’s wrong with fishing?” he asked and picked up the cooler.

  John drained half the bottle before complaining, “It’s boring.”

  Luke sighed and shook his head. “We can just ride the river,” he offered as he headed down the dock to his boat.

  “Or you can just tell me what the hell is bothering you.” John replied shrewdly as he untied the rope from the moorings.

  “Nothing’s bothering me,” Luke denied as he stowed the cooler and food between the seats.

  “Uh huh.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” the older brother asked as he sat down in the driver’s seat.

  “That you’re full of shit and we both know it,” he said with a smirk and sank into a comfortable slouch in the passenger seat.

  Luke didn’t even bother to answer that as he cranked the jet boat and eased away from the dock. Once they were out of the marina’s no wake zone, he opened her up and reveled in the sense of freedom that gliding over the water at sixty mile per hour provided. Hopefully, it would help him outrun his demons.

  Thirty minutes later, the fresh air had done wonders for John’s hangover and lack of sleep, and the second beer had helped his surly disposition. Luke had finally eased off on the throttle enough that they could talk without shouting and he knew it wouldn’t be long now. Something was bothering his brother, but he wouldn’t say a damn word about it until he was good and ready. Stubborn ass.

  Luke hadn’t had much sleep the night before either. He had been an ass and hurt Easy’s feelings. He knew it. He just didn’t know what to do about it. He’d played every possible scenario out in his mind and no matter how many times he tried to imagine giving in to the ultimate temptation that she presented, it always ended the same way. He was going to get burned.

  They were better off keeping their non-relationship strictly platonic. It was the only way. But if that were true, then why the hell couldn’t he get her out of his head? Why the hell did he ache for what might have been? And why did he know that he would regret this decision for the rest of his life? He had he done the right thing, hadn’t he? Hell, he just didn’t know anymore.

  His mind was a quagmire of doubts and he needed advice, hence the call to John. His two older brothers were so happily married it was almost sickening, so he knew they would be useless, but maybe his little brother might help him get his head on straight. John had an easy, laidback attitude, but the kid had a good head on his shoulders. Most of the time.

  He killed the motor and just let the boat float along as he leaned over and pulled a beer out of the cooler. Luke removed the top, turned the bottle to his head and drained it. He tossed the empty into the built in waste basket and grabbed another one from the cooler. This one he drank half of before he sat it in the cup holder beside him and swiveled his chair to face his brother. John’s expression was surprised to say the least.

  “What?”

  “Since when do you drink this early?” he queried. Luke adhered to the ridiculous belief that alcohol was not meant to be ingested before happy hour, and even then in moderation. Hell, he’d never even seen his older brother drunk.

  Yeah, he knew he was behaving out of character, but little brother didn’t know him nearly as well as he thought he did. Hell, Luke could drink all three of his brothers under the table, he’d just never felt compelled to do so. He shrugged and said, “Nothing else in the cooler.”

  “Uh huh,” John replied and took a sip of his own beer. Luke had known that when he stocked it, so he’d planned this.

  Luke ignored that and said evenly, “Got a hypothetical situation for you.”

  Oh, this was gonna be good. John barely kept the grin off of his face. “Okay.”

  “There’s this woman,” he began, choosing his words carefully and heard his brother laugh.

  “I assume she’s hot.”

  Hot enough to turn solid rock into lava and that was an understatement. “You assume correctly,” he confirmed. “You want her, but you can’t have her.”

  “So she’s married,” he deduced.

  “What? No. Hell no,” he denied and finished off the beer.

  “Then why can’t you have her?”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Luke denied and slashed a hand through the air to cut off that line of thought. “The point is that you can’t.”

  “It would have to be a damn good reason.” John insisted.

  “It is.”

  “Is she a crack ho?”

  “No,” he huffed.

  “Got an STD?”

  “No,” was gritted.

  John took a sip of beer and shook his head, “Then there’s no reason you can’t have her.”

  “There is.” Luke insisted and barely managed to hold onto his patience. “So, you tell her that it ain’t happening, but she won’t back off.”

  “Sounds like my kind of woman,” he said and flashed that bad boy grin.

  “The only way you can convince her that you’re not interested...”

  “Wait, I thought you wanted her.”

  “I do.” Luke confirmed tersely as he grabbed a fresh bottle before adding, “Hypothetically speaking.”

  John rolled his eyes. Friggin’ lawyers and their hypothetical situations. “Then why are you trying to convince her that you don’t?”

  “Because you can’t. Have. Her,” he ground out as his patience began to wear thin.

  “So you lie,” he frowned because his brother did not believe in lying to women.

  Luke ignored that, chugged half the bottle and clarified, “The woman will not back off without a valid reason, so you tell her that you aren’t interested in casual sex...”

  “Say what?”

  “... because you’re looking for a wife.” Luke continued doggedly.

  “Say what?!”

  “And when you tell her that she’s not wife material it hurts her feelings.”

  “No shit, bro. That was cold,” he accused and really began to hope that this was a hypothetical situation. Cause if it wasn’t, Luke had gone off the deep end. Not interested in casual sex? Looking for a wife? Seriously?

  “Now you feel like an ass,” he admitted.

  “As you should.”

  “And you still want her.”

  “How bad?”

  “Bad enough that she’s becoming an obsession.”

  Now it was John’s turn to hang onto his patience. “How bad did you hurt her?” he clarified. “Was she crying and shit?”

  “No. She just sounded... sad,” he admitted, his thumbnail absently scratching the bottle label. “Maybe even a little defeated.”

  John just stared at him a long time before he said, “Uh huh.”

  Luke finished off his beer and asked, “So, what do you think?”

  “I think you’re a dick,” he admitted evenly and drained half of his bottle. “I think you owe that woman one hell of an apology. And I think now that you’re out of the running, I might get Easy in my
bed tonight.” If the expression on his brothers face was any indicator that was so not happening. Luke looked furious and the string of obscene expletives he spewed confirmed it.

  John leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees and said, “Look, bro, I don’t know what kind of reason you think you’ve got, but Easy is a nice woman and she doesn’t deserve to be treated like that.”

  “I know, dammit,” he complained and raked both hands through his windblown hair. “She’s making me crazy, bro. She propositions me in public, can’t keep her hands off of me no matter where we are, and claims she just wants no strings sex. Jesus, she even calls me when I’m in bed and tells me in explicit detail what she wants to do to me.”

  John was staring at him wide eyed, mouth agape, beer bottle poised halfway to his lips. “And you’re telling her no?” he demanded as if his brother were nuts.

  “Have you seen her?” Luke demanded.

  “Have you?” John fired back. “She’s hotter than the fires of hell.”

  “She’s a crazy ass biker babe.” Luke ground out. “I can’t get involved with a woman like that.”

  “Why the hell not?” was demanded in confusion.

  “Because she’s a crazy ass biker babe!” He shouted in frustration because his brother just wasn’t comprehending the implications.

  John was shocked at his brother’s outburst and his blue eyes widened as he said, “Oh, I get it. She’s not good enough for you.”

  “The hell she isn’t.” Luke snapped, his eyes glittering wildly. “That woman is goddamned perfect just like she is.”

  John was starting to get a headache. This entire conversation was a headache and his normally logical brother was making about as much sense as waterproof toilet paper. “If she’s so perfect, then why can’t you...”

  “Because if I have sex with Easy, I’m throwing away any hope of having a normal life,” he admitted wearily and leaned back heavily in his seat.

  “Over casual sex?” He questioned in disbelief.

  Troubled blue eyes met confused blue. “She’s my kryptonite, John,” he confessed. “If we get involved, I won’t be able to let her go. Do you hear what I’m saying? Once she’s mine, I’ll never let her go.”

  Okay, that was unexpected and it explained a hell of a lot. The youngest studied his brother for a minute before asking, “You’re telling me that you know she’s the one for you and you’re still willing to let her go?”

  “I don’t have a choice.”

  “I think you’re a fool,” he stated bluntly.

  “Join the club.” Luke confessed wearily and popped another top.

  ~~~~

  Matt slid the creeper from underneath the car he was working on and looked his brother over carefully to determine just how drunk he was. John was still wearing the same clothes he’d had on the night before and he looked like hell. “Have you even been to bed?” he demanded instead of responding to the wild tale that he’d just heard.

  “For about a minute before Luke dragged my ass out,” he complained.

  “To go fishing,” he stated and shook his head. Not likely. Luke hated fishing. John had to be completely hammered. He rose lithely to his feet, extended his hand and said, “Gimmie your keys. You’re not driving like this.”

  The look his baby brother gave him would have shriveled a lesser man. “I’m not drunk, dammit,” he complained indignantly. “Hell, Luke drank more than I did.”

  Now he knew John was full of shit. Matt folded his arms over his chest and shook his head, “You expect me to believe that Luke was drinking this early?”

  “Damn straight.” John nodded. “Never seen him put it away like that. Hell, if we hadn’t emptied the cooler he would have drunk me under the table.”

  Matt laughed at that. “This is a joke, right?”

  “Why the hell won’t you believe me?” The younger brother demanded and was beginning to get pissed off.

  “Because it doesn’t make sense,” Matt insisted. Hell, he’d seen the way Luke looked at Easy and knew his brother wanted her bad, but what John had told him was crazy.

  “Now you know how I feel.” John insisted.

  “Did he say he was in love with her?” he questioned.

  “No, but...”

  “Did he say he wanted a relationship with her?”

  “No, but...”

  “Did he say...”

  “He said she was his kryptonite.” John cut in and was tired of the questions. “He said that once she was his he’d never let her go.”

  “I’ll be dammed.” Matt mused in amazement. It looked like Luke had fallen hard and was fighting it every step of the way. Then he frowned and asked, “So why is he hell bent on pushing her away?”

  John raked a hand through his hair in frustration. “That’s the part where I couldn’t get him to give me a straight answer,” he complained. “The only thing that even came close to a reason was when he started yelling about her being a crazy ass biker babe and that didn’t even make any sense.”

  Luke had been yelling? What the hell? “Why not?”

  “When I accused him of thinking she wasn’t good enough for him, he got madder than hell and said she was perfect just like she is.” John relayed. “Then he got all calm and shit and said if he had sex with Easy then he would throw away any hope he had of a normal life.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” Matt demanded at a complete loss to understand any of this.

  “I don’t have a clue. You know getting something out of Luke is impossible unless he wants you to know,” he complained. “Hell, I’m lucky I got that much.”

  “So he’s really gonna let her go?” He queried. “Even though he loves her?”

  “That’s what he said,” was confirmed with a nod. “He’s running scared, bro, and it’s making him batshit crazy. Hell, his eyes looked all wild and shit. Kind of freaked me out.”

  Matt shook his head in disgust. After all the years he had suffered through hell without Harley, the last thing he wanted was for his brother to have to go through the same thing. There had to be a way to make Luke open his eyes before it was too late. Then he remembered the drastic measures they had taken to get Mark to realize that he was in love with Desi. Hell, it had worked once and it was worth a shot.

  “The heat between those two is explosive.” Matt pointed out with that bad boy grin. “If we can get them together on the dance floor tonight, do you think you can fan those flames until Luke can’t keep his hands off of her?”

  His little brother’s smile was beyond wicked. “Bro, I’ve got just the tunes to send him over the edge.”

  ~~~~

  As usual, on Saturday nights, the Baker family and friends congregated at Mark's other bar, My Brother’s Place, to listen to John's band and raise a little hell. Luke wasn't surprised when Easy walked in, but he could tell that she hadn't expected to see him with another woman. Her smile wavered when she saw his date and he felt like a complete ass because he knew that he had hurt her again, dammit.

  The main reason that he’d asked Shelly out was because she and Easy were polar opposites. Easy might be the woman that he wanted, but Shelly was the type of woman that he needed. There was no way in hell she could ever bring out his wild side and he was more than happy to keep it that way. As the Walker's made their way over to the table, he drank in the sight of the leather clad beauty and couldn't help comparing the two women.

  The difference was like night and day. His date looked every inch a lady while Easy looked... God, she looked edible. The black leather shorts and matching top barely concealed her glorious curves and emphasized those long gorgeous legs. He wanted to feel them wrapped around his hips again while he drove himself deep inside of her hard and...

  “Oh. My. God,” Shelly breathed in horror and pulled him out of the delicious fantasy. “Tell me that's not Dizzy's sister. What on earth is she wearing?”

  “Leather,” Luke murmured absently and forced his ravenous gaze away from the woman i
n question.

  “Poor, Dizzy. She must be mortified that her sister's dressed like a prostitute.” she derided in such false compassion that he looked at her sharply.

  “She does not look like a prostitute.” Luke defended as his temper flared.

  “Well, I've never actually seen one.” Shelly confessed with a superior smile. “But that's how I imagine they must look.”

  “Hi, Luke. Shelly, nice to see you,” Dizzy said as they joined them at the table that was always reserved for family and friends. Double damn. Luke had a date. She hadn’t been expecting that, but she should have. Of course the man would bring a date so he and Easy wouldn’t be paired off again tonight. Though what he saw in the pompous accountant she’d never know. “This is my sister, Easy. E, this is Shelly Andrews.”

  “Very nice to meet you,” Easy managed to say cordially instead of jumping across the table and delivering a throat punch to the woman looking at her as if she were something that needed to be scraped off the bottom of her shoe.

  She looked her rival over curiously and wondered if Luke considered his date to be wife material. Shelly was lovely and dressed very demure, but she wasn't the woman for him. Luke needed a woman who could bring out the wildness inside of him and miss prim and proper would never do that. And if she was fortunate enough to do so, it would scare the hell out of her.

  “I'm sorry. Did you say... Easy?” Shelly asked with barely veiled humor and gave Luke an I told you so look that really pissed him off.

  “Yes. My initials are E. Z. so everyone calls me Easy,” she explained and finally steeled her nerve enough to look at the breathtakingly handsome man across from her. “Hello, Luke.”

  More relieved than he cared to admit to find out the reason for her nickname, Luke returned the greeting evenly, “Easy.” Then he felt a sharp stab of anguish when he saw the pain in her beautiful sea green eyes. His chest tightened painfully and every protective instinct he possessed demanded he pull her into his arms and kiss the hurt away. Instead, he turned to the couple next to her and said, “Dizzy, Brett, good to see you.”