by Ella Brooke
Tucker ordered for both of them, something that Luna had never had happen before, and she shot a quizzical look at him.
"What if I had had an allergy or something?" she asked, and he quirked an eyebrow at her.
"You don't. It would have come back in the screenings."
"Oh," she said, slightly deflated. "Or what if I hadn't been in the mood for an almond croissant?"
Tucker smiled at her, and though she wanted to be irritated by the authority she saw there, a part of her liked it.
"You will be when you have these," he said, and damn him, he was right.
Far from being the squashy greasy rolls that she sometimes bought from the day-old bin at her local bakery, these croissants were amazing, still warm from the oven, the perfect mix of butter and sweet. They were filled with an almond paste that had to have been made fresh and delicate spiced on top of that, and an almond croissant with a small mug of hot chocolate was a heaven she had never considered before.
"You were right," she said with a sigh. "I submit to your superior breakfast powers."
Tucker looked a little surprised at her admission, but he grinned.
"Maybe you will let me be right for the rest of the day?"
She frowned, glancing up at him.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I have the day off," he said with a smile. "And you need to be properly outfitted for the city. At the very least, you need some shoes and some clothes. Will you allow me to get you what you need without fighting me?"
"I do have my own money, you just gave me..."
He waved it off.
"Without fighting me."
For a moment, Luna wanted to fight simply because he had told her not to, and then she sighed.
"All right, I suppose I can let you spend some money on me so that I don't look like a little ragbag."
"I wouldn't have said that," Tucker said diplomatically, but then he leaned across the table.
"And afterward, when you no longer have a use for that dress that you are wearing, I will tear it off your body," he murmured, and her face felt as if it had gone up in flames.
"Oh," was all she said, and she knew how soft and faint her voice was.
"Oh indeed," he said with satisfaction.
***
Shopping with Tucker was a revelation. They simply walked into stores, he flashed his credit cards, people recognized his name, and suddenly there was seating and champagne and mimosas. Luna had always prided herself on being practical, wearing clothes that were hand-me-downs or purchased from the thrift store. She had never been in the stores that Tucker took them to before, where people whirled around and dresses that already felt as if they had been tailored for her were offered for her perusal.
It was all stunning and overwhelming in a way that made her grateful for the champagne, and by the time Tucker took her to a real cobbler to have her fitted for beautifully polished leather shoes of all kinds, she knew she was giggly and slightly flushed.
"I think you're laughing at me," Luna said accusingly, and Tucker shook his head.
"Wouldn't dream of it," he responded, so solemnly that she burst into a fit of giggles.
"What is so funny about all this?" she demanded. "I mean, why did you do all of this? Why do you think that dressing me is so much fun?"
The sun was just beginning to set, but there was plenty of daylight left. Tucker guided her to a bench by a fountain that featured an eagle swooping over the fish below, and they sat.
"I suppose because it was such a surprise to you," he said, and she stilled. The champagne was definitely making her a little fuzzy, but Luna could still tell that there was a seriousness to Tucker's voice.
"Is it so much fun to surprise me?"
"You'd be surprised," he said, looking at the water. "Other women that I... spend time with. There's an expectation. I usually set up expense accounts for them, and they run off and do this on their own. That's fine. However, I had the idea that if I did that for you... you'd just ignore it. So I ended up taking you out, and I had no idea how much fun that could be. I suppose this experience is unique for both of us."
There was something reflective about his tone, and then Tucker looked at her as if he was startled to have said what he did. It wasn't that strange or unusual, was it? It struck Luna as strangely lonely, however, and she placed her hand over his, squeezing gently.
"Thank you," she said. "I had a very good time with you, and I appreciate the things you bought for me."
Now Tucker looked almost shocked, and she wondered if no one had ever thanked him before. Surely that couldn't be right.
She opened her mouth to ask him about that, but then her eye caught on the store behind them, and instead, she said, "Oh, can we go over there?"
Was it her imagination when Tucker looked slightly relieved as he followed her gaze?
"Elena's Jewelry Supplies? Why am I not surprised? Of course we can."
She found herself laughing as they made their way over to the store.
"Now you really need to let me spend my own money here," she said. "Trust me, I could bankrupt you if you let me spend as I liked in a place like this."
"Somehow, I feel I would like to see you try."
There was something honest about the way he said that, but then they were in a jewelry supply shop, and Luna's mind went to other places.
***
That night, after dinner at a rooftop restaurant that took Luna's breath away, they returned home to boxes and packages that had been delivered in their absence.
"Why don't you try on something comfortable, some of the evening lounge wear?" Tucker suggested. "We're not going anywhere else this weekend."
She went to the bedroom he had told her was hers, and she found the boxes that were meant to contain the nightgowns that she had purchased that day. As she rifled through them, she wondered again whether she was meant to sleep separate from him. What did it mean to have her own bedroom? Would he come here and sleep with her?
She hesitated over the plain ivory nightgowns. They were lovely and decadent in their own way, made of pure silk with just a hint of lace at the hem, but she paused over something that she had discussed with the fitter in the changing rooms by herself.
A part of her said that she was far too shy for this. It had been a whim, and she had all but forgotten it for the rest of the day. Now though, it was here in her room, more real than it had been earlier, and she took a deep breath. If she couldn't get up the courage to put it on tonight, she might never, and that would be such a waste.
"Would like a nightcap before we..."
Tucker turned at the sound of her step, and his words trailed off. Luna had had her eyes on him intently, and she saw when his amber eyes lit up with desire. He scanned her from the top of her head to the toes of her bare feet, and she knew what he saw.
The emerald negligee was simple, made out of a nearly transparent silk chiffon. It fell to mid-thigh with a ruffled edge, but otherwise it was unadorned. Even in the dim light, however, her silhouette in the fabric was obvious. She knew that he could see the darkness of her nipples through the fabric, the curve of her hips and her breasts, nearly everything.
"So," she said in the silence. "What do you think?"
God, for such a big man, he could move with incredibly quickness. Suddenly there was no space between them at all, and he was crushing her in his arms, his mouth slanting over hers.
"I think that I want to see it on the floor," he growled, and she gave herself over to his passion.
Chapter Ten
The next day, Elena's delivered Luna's supplies, which against her wishes, Tucker had paid for. However, they delivered more than that, and Luna stared at the fully equipped jewelry bench that Tucker had to direct them to place in a small sunny room on its own.
"But there must be some mistake," she protested, and he smiled briefly at her.
"No, no mistake. I thought you were being a bit miserly, so I took things into my own han
ds."
"This is too much," she protested, but she could already feel a familiar itch to explore her new tools, to really see what they could do.
"It really isn't," he said dismissively. "I figured it would keep you occupied while I need to work for the rest of the week."
She wasn't sure why that line rankled. Perhaps it was because he was speaking as if she were a toddler that needed to be handled while he was busy, but she didn't feel she could say all that much when he had gotten such a beautiful gift for her.
"Well, thank you," she said, smiling a little at him. "It's very beautiful."
"It's nothing at all," Tucker said, glancing at his phone, and somehow, she realized that that was really the truth. A jewelry bench that she could have worked for a year or more to afford was absolutely nothing to him, and Luna couldn't put her finger on why that stung a little.
"Well, I do think it's wonderful," she said. "In fact, I might try it out right now, as long as you don't mind?"
She realized that Tucker was already frowning over work messages, and instead of bothering him further, she put on some of her old clothes and went to investigate her new supplies.
The new bench put her old setup to shame, she realized very quickly. Her own tools had been purchased haphazardly as she could afford them, and many of them were second- or third-hand. These tools were all brand-new and of a quality that she could use them the rest of her life if she were careful.
It was a gift that could make a career, and he had given it to her as if it were a cheap plastic ring.
Luna brushed the thought away, because she felt it was unkind and unworthy. No matter what his reasoning, no matter how little he understood what he had done, there was a kindness to it that she had never encountered before, and that meant something, after all.
How in the world can I thank him for this? she wondered, and then she smiled, looking at her new tools.
A ring, she decided. Tucker might not be a man who wore much jewelry, but there was a trend recently for men wearing rings, especially in Europe. Luna might have been hopeless when it came to clothing, but she studied the magazines like a hawk, pinpointing new trends that might serve her business.
The rings that were being worn by men in the modern era had a few things in common with the rings of the Renaissance, she reflected. They were thick, and often contained a single expensive gem at the center. In construction, they were almost brutal compared to the clean and delicate lines of women's rings, and as she pulled up research photos on her phone, she started to have an idea of what she wanted to create.
It would be expensive, it would be extravagant, but it would be gorgeous, she decided. She wondered for a moment if it was a gift he would want, but perhaps that was less important than the fact that she had made it for him.
She couldn't think of a better way to tell him thank you for a gift than to make him something that only she could make. Luna glanced towards the door behind her. For a moment, all she wanted was to go to him and tell him about her plan, to get his help in designing something that was specifically for him, but then she pushed the thought away with a pang of guilt.
He's got his own life, and he entered into this arrangement specifically to avoid... probably the exact thing I want to do. I should leave him alone.
She knew very well that fashionable people did not live in each other's pockets, and she settled in to start designing the ring she wanted to make him.
***
Tucker managed to work for a few hours, but soon enough there came a lull, and he found himself drifting towards the room he had already started to refer to as Luna's studio. There were perhaps a dozen other things he could have been doing and one or two things he should have been doing, but she pulled at him like a magnet.
Luna had left the door ajar, and he could hear the strains of something light and classical drift out. He realized with a bit of surprise that she was using her phone to play the music and reminded himself that she would probably appreciate a sound system in her space.
He pushed the door open just a little bit and found himself strangely breathless about the scene in front of him.
The room was now filled with a gorgeous natural light, and seated at her new bench, Luna's red hair was set aglow. She sat with surprisingly good posture at her tools, humming along with the music and utterly absorbed in her work. She had taken off the new dress that she had started the morning in, and now she was in an ancient pair of jeans and a dark green camisole, her arms bare as she fiddled with tools whose names he didn't know.
It's strange, Tucker found himself thinking. I have made love to her several times now, but I think this is Luna at her most natural, at her most graceful and lovely.
Tucker twitched with the urge to go to her. He wanted nothing more than to lay a hand on her bare white shoulder and to drop a kiss down on her tousled red hair. For a moment, he entertained the thought of kissing her ear, tracing a kiss down her neck and seeing how much he could make her squirm and cry out, but then he was startled by another thought.
For some reason, for some goddamn reason, Tucker wanted to sit down next to her and ask what she was doing. He found himself intensely curious about the work she was doing and how she did it. Were her tools what she wanted, and did she need any others? How did it all come together, and could she truly make anything that she could design?
There was a kind of authority to Luna here. She was utterly in her element, and a part of him recognized that. It was, Tucker thought, like how he felt when he knew he had made an amazing deal, or when he had outmaneuvered a rival. There was grace and beauty here, and suddenly, he found himself aching to touch.
He shook his head, pulling back and walking away. In the kitchen, he splashed some icy cold water on his face. He shot a glance at the cabinet where the alcohol was kept, but he decided against it.
Luna was a strange woman. She was beautiful, she was tender, and her good heart was as much a part of her as her green eyes or her red hair. She made his heart beat a little faster whenever he saw her, and if it was only when she was wearing a see-through piece of lingerie, that would have been fine. That made sense after all, and there was nothing wrong with that.
However, to feel that way about her when she was simply making jewelry or tasting oysters for the very first time, that was ludicrous. It was worse than ludicrous, it was foolish, and Tucker knew that he was too old to be foolish. There was too much at stake to be foolish.
He had gone into this knowing that there were a few ways it could go wrong. Legally, things were as airtight as they could be. Any child that came of their union would be under his custody, and there was no way she could fight that, no matter what lawyer she hired with the million dollars he was going to pay her.
However, he knew that women were sentimental about children, and children were naturally attached to their mothers. Tucker could already feel that he was strangely attached to Luna, and he could only think that that was because he knew that she would be bearing his child. There were a lot of deep emotions at play here, and he had spent his entire life aware that emotions were problems waiting to happen.
Things had been so much easier before he had nearly died jumping out of a plane, he reflected, but that was to be expected.
Then he glanced towards the studio and had to admit that in terms of enjoyment, he had not enjoyed someone as much in a very long time, so that was something.
The pull that Luna exerted over him was exceptional already, and Tucker knew that it could lead to something exceedingly difficult. No, it was safer by far to simply maintain a distance. There were things that they could enjoy together, after all, and they could avoid being joined at the hip while they did it.
He was a little surprised by how the thought of doing things separately from Luna already gave him a bit of a pang, but that probably meant that he was doing the right thing.
In her studio, he could hear her singing, and when he thought again about joining her, Tucker forced himself t
o turn around and go back to work.
***
"Why is it that I think this gets better every time?" Luna gasped, lying back on the pillows. She had rolled away from Tucker to relieve some of the heat that had built up during their vigorous lovemaking, but almost instinctively, she kept her hand on his chest, wanting to maintain some contact between them.
"It's because I'm such a great lover," Tucker said straight-faced. "You are only now developing the skills to appreciate it."
"I would bop you with this pillow if I had any strength left to do it," she said with a small smile.
"If you have the strength to hit me, you definitely have the strength to be doing other things," he suggested, and she groaned.
"I'm not sure I can," she confessed, sitting up a little stiffly.
"That's fine," he said, kissing her forehead. "There's always tomorrow night. Or breakfast. Or just a few hours from now..."
She groaned, snuggling up next to his chest. There was something absurdly safe and lovely about being close to Tucker like this. She had no idea that she would feel like this about him, not this safe, not this at peace.
At least, that was how she felt until he opened his mouth to speak again.
"I would like you to sleep in your own room tonight," he said, and she jerked away, looking at him with wide eyes. She was still a little blown from their physical activities, and his words felt as if he had dropped ice cubes on her.
"What? What's the matter? What did I do wrong?"
Was she mistaken, or did he flinch just a little? Then it was gone, and she decided that she must have imagined it, because his face was perfectly smooth and reasonable again.
"Nothing wrong at all, but these last two nights have been a little different. I hadn't gone back to work yet, and of course that meant that I could sleep and wake up as I pleased. Things are going to be a little busier for me over the next little while, so I am going to need to sleep alone."
"Oh, I see," Luna said woodenly.
Her brain raced through all the compromises they could make, but then it ran flat into the brick wall that was Tucker's bland resolve. This was what he wanted. If he had wanted something different, she was sure he would have said so.
