Wrecked (Crystal Book Billionaires)

by Jessica Blake

  “Oh,” he said, looking wildly confused.

  My cheeks hot, I turned to Luke. “Rainy is… or was my best friend.”

  “Something happened?” he asked, ducking his head to aim a leveled gaze at me.

  My lips were incredibly dry, despite the gloss I’d applied right before coming into the kitchen. I licked them and tried to figure out what my next answer would be. “She just, uh, kept some things from me.”

  “Hm.” From the short answer, I got that Luke knew one hundred percent that I was keeping some things from him.

  I sucked in a deep breath. All right. Here went nothing.

  “There was this guy I used to like,” I explained. “And she started seeing him while I was still into him.”

  “Ah.”

  “I mean, I’m not anymore,” I quickly added, rolling my eyes. “God, I’m so over that douche.”

  Uncle Joe made a sound of annoyance, but I ignored him.

  “That’s a shame,” Luke said. “Friends are important. It would be awful if a woman came between my best friend and me.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed, relieved that I’d successfully navigated my way into safer waters.

  The conversation turned to upcoming events at the library, and then Luke asked Uncle Joe what he did for a living. I was right, he worked at a bank. When all the plates were cleared, Luke offered to help clean up, but Uncle Joe shooed him away.

  “Come back for dinner some other time,” he said. “And then we’ll see. Maybe you can take out the trash or something.”

  “All right.” Luke smiled. “Thank you.”

  He shook Uncle Joe’s hand and gave Aunt Ginger a kiss on the cheek. My knees almost buckled at the sight. Luke certainly had the best manners out of any guy I’d ever been into, and it kicked his attractiveness up one big notch.

  “Grace can walk you out,” Aunt Ginger said, turning to get busy at the dishwasher.

  So she was trying to hook Luke and me up. I would have to find some massive way to thank her. Maybe once Luke and I were married, I could dedicate a whole botanical garden to her.

  Luke followed me down the hall and out onto the dark porch. The lamp from the living room illuminated the two rocking chairs out there just slightly, but other than that the only light came from the lamp posts and the house across the street.

  Luke shut the door behind us, and I gazed up at him, feeling more confident since I could only make out half of his face. It was funny, really. Usually, I wasn’t nervous around guys. I’d learned long ago just how easy it could be to wrap them around my finger and make them do my bidding.

  But with Luke it was different. Maybe it was because, unlike all those other boys, I knew he didn’t like me. His disapproval made me self-conscious and unsure for the first time in a long time.

  “Thanks again,” I told him. “You know, for bringing me my phone.”

  “Don’t worry. You didn’t get any new messages. I read through all your texts just to make sure.”

  I gaped at him. His face was so serious I half believed what he said. When he finally smiled, I let out a relieved laugh and then remembered that my phone had a pass code on it anyway.

  I wanted to mention Eli again, just to doubly assure Luke that I was no longer interested in him, but that would probably be pushing it. Instead, I gazed down at my hands. Six days away from home and they already didn’t look like mine. The French manicure I’d gotten a week and a half ago was chipping. I curled my fingertips into my palms, not wanting Luke to notice their state.

  A board creaked as Luke took a step towards the ground. He stopped at the top of the steps though and turned around to look at me, half of his face still in shadow. “You’re a lot harder to figure out than I thought.”

  My heart lifted. After what had happened between us, that statement could only be taken as a compliment.

  I lifted my chin. “So what have you got figured out so far?”

  He didn’t smile. “Just that I never know what to expect next from you.”

  “Oh.” His sad tone made the last comment sound like anything but a compliment.

  Abruptly, Luke’s fingers were on my cheek. Their touch was light, feeling more like the brush of a feather than anything else. I sucked in a breath and froze. His hand trailed down my jaw then cupped my chin. All the while he gazed at me, only one of his eyes visible in the poor lighting.

  His hand lifted my face higher, and he took a step forward. With a swift duck of his head, his lips were against mine. Every inch of my skin was still numb with shock. Was he kissing me, or was I just dreaming?

  After a second, my body woke up, and I fully felt the pressure of his mouth against mine. The movement of his lips came slow and deliberate. I kissed back, and he responded with more force, the tip of his tongue just barely touching my own.

  A shiver ran down my back, the little tremors from it spanning out and shaking my fingers and toes. One kiss from Luke Anderson and the term “magic touch” took on a whole new meaning.

  He broke off the kiss but didn’t move away, his face staying a couple inches away from mine and his hand still on my skin.

  “You’d leave here in a heartbeat if you got the chance,” he whispered. “Wouldn’t you?”

  I choked on my words. “Y-yeah. Of course I would.”

  I mentally slapped myself. I’d said the wrong thing again; spoken without thinking. I was still shaking from the aftershocks of his kiss though. He’d swooped in with his question during a time when my mind was all foggy.

  His hand dropped away, and he moved back to lean against the railing. “I don’t know what to make of you.”

  I bit my bottom lip. “I think we’ve established that. But I also don’t think I’m as horrible as you seem to believe I am.”

  “You showing up at the food pantry seems like an awfully big coincidence.”

  “It’s a small town,” I said, almost too quickly.

  Even though I couldn’t see much more than the outline of his body now, I felt his eyes running up and down me. “I know,” he murmured, in what could only be described as a bedroom voice.

  A rush of warmth entered the spot between my legs. The man had to know the effect he was having on me. He was knowingly teasing me… and maybe even enjoying it.

  “I’m not an idiot, Grace.”

  My jaw ticked. “I don’t think you are.”

  He crossed his arms. “I know what’s probably going through the mind of a person in your position. My guess is your family just lost almost everything you own, not just the company. You’ve never worked a real day before. You’re used to being taking care of. It only makes sense that you would be on the hunt to find someone to take the helm in your life.”

  Heat — a new kind incredibly different from the one in my lady parts — filled me up. The accusation was a cruel one, never mind that it was true. What Luke conveniently skimmed over, though, was how I was only doing what anyone in my position would be expected to do. Women married for security all the time. For God’s sake, that was one of the main reasons the establishment of marriage had been created in the first place. For Luke to blame me for being the victim of a society and way of life I couldn’t help but be born into was downright cruel.

  “You really don’t know me,” I replied as coolly as could be managed.

  “It’s interesting that you were so into this other guy, and now you seem so into me.”

  My body went rigid. “I already told you that’s in the past. It’s my friend I’m angry with. As far as Eli, he was just some random boy. By the way, you’re awfully full of yourself to just assume I’m so into you.”

  “You didn’t have feelings for him last week, before you met me?” he asked, completely ignoring the last thing I’d said.

  I scoffed. “Why are you grilling me about this? I’m going to guess you had feelings for someone else last week. Or maybe you still do. Life’s not all pretty and orderly, Luke. I know that much. Sometimes we fall for two people at one time. Sometimes
we’re still trying to get over one person when another one comes into our life. Go ahead and tell me none of the above has ever happened to you.”

  He didn’t respond. I’d hit the bulls eye.

  “And anyway, the way you talk makes it sound like you can’t stand me, and yet you just kissed me. So what’s that about?”

  Both of his arms stretched up. My body jerked, hoping he would reach out and embrace me. Instead, he just looped his hands behind his head.

  A long silence passed and it seemed like he wouldn’t respond. When he did answer, his voice was thick and low. “In some ways you’re irresistible.”

  “You are too,” I replied, praying the confession helped my cause.

  He laughed. “Yeah, it’s a shame isn’t it?”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because we can’t be together.”

  The finality in his words was unquestionable.

  “You act like it’s a done deal.”

  “It is.”

  I scoffed. “I know you want me, Luke. If I took two steps right now and put my arms around you, do you really think you would resist me?”

  My heart fitfully hammered on while it waited for his answer.

  “I can’t deny my attraction,” he finally responded. “But sometimes we want things that are bad for us.”

  “Ugh,” I groaned, seriously starting to get sick of the whole conversation. I straightened my back and took a slow step towards him… and then another one. He tensed as my body came within inches of his. My sight had adjusted to the darkness, and I could see his pupils dilating.

  Making my voice as seductive as I could, I leaned forward to brush my lips against his ear. “You think whatever you want, Luke,” I whispered. “But not everything I do is about you.”

  I heard him gulp.

  Satisfied, I took a step back.

  “I’m not half as stupid as you think I am,” I told him.

  And with that, I turned with a flounce and went back inside.

  *

  I stared at the white popcorn ceiling, running the scene from the night before over in my head for only the tenth time.

  I’d blown it, for sure. After the way, I’d poked and prodded Luke on the porch there could be no way he was even infinitesimally still interested in me.

  Sighing, I pressed my palms against my eyes and let the darkness carry me away. So that was it. After him, I was basically out of options. The one small hope I had left involved returning to L.A. and trying my luck on the dating scene there. But now that I no longer had Rainy to count on, I was out of places to stay.

  I could always go to New York.

  It was where my dad was, after all. And it was the only city in the United States that probably rivaled Los Angeles when it came to the head count of millionaire bachelors.

  But most of them are nothing like Luke Anderson.

  And wasn’t that the truth. Luke really did have it all: money, good looks, and a touch that could make even the most frigid woman drool. Just thinking about him made the muscles between my legs contract.

  I didn’t even have to wonder about what he was like in bed. From just one kiss, I could tell Luke possessed a level of expertise I had likely never dreamed of. Instantly, I became jealous of the girls I’d never even met who had gotten to taste the full effect of Luke’s passions.

  Thinking about it then, I could practically feel his lips against mine. I could sense their need, their desire to taste the other spots on my body. I felt it all so clear and crisp because I had the same desire.

  Groaning softly from the pain of it all, I dropped my hands beneath the sheets. I kept my eyes closed, though, not wanting to face the stark reality of the guest room. Instead, I wanted to stay in dream land, in the place of fantasies. It was a place where the scene on the porch hadn’t ended with a kiss and me storming away. Instead, it went on, with Luke’s mouth traveling further down my face, then going across my breasts and grazing against the rigid nipples there.

  I lifted a hand and felt one of my nipples. It was rock hard, stretching up towards the sky and begging to be touched. I swirled a finger over it, imagining that my hand was Luke’s, imagining that he was there in the bed with me.

  My other hand traveled lower, dipping under the waist band of my pajama pants. The spot between my legs seeped with wetness. I ran my fingers over the top of my underwear, thinking of Luke’s strong grasp and intense blue eyes.

  What was his girth like? Likely no matter the size of the packaging, he could fill me up and make me scream out his name.

  A shuddering sigh escaped my lips, and I pushed my underwear down to get to the source of my need. My fingers — Luke’s fingers — found my sensitive clit. They flicked across it, making me bite down hard on my bottom lip.

  I grasped my tight nipple harder, twisting it slightly. At the same time, I swirled my fingers around my clit, riding a wave of pleasure. In my mind Luke hovered above me, his muscles gleaming in the moonlight. His tongue ran across the length of my torso, going back up to swirl around a nipple. His cock pulsed against my thigh.

  I sped up the movement of my fingers, enjoying another quick jolt of pleasure. Luke’s cock pressed against my folds, with him taking his time gaining each inch inside of me. The width of his member expanded my inner walls, pressing against each nerve and causing a tidal wave of pleasure.

  My hips shook, and I came hard, the pleasure rushing over me. My shoulders tensed, and my head jerked forward, the vision of Luke’s face and tight abs still swimming in front of me.

  With a sharp gasp, I fell back onto the pillow. My breath came out thick and fast, like I had just been pounded by a man.

  Dropping my face to the side, I stared at the wall. Physical release had done nothing. I still couldn’t get the image of Luke’s eyes and mouth out of my mind.

  With a frustrated groan, I turned my face into the pillow and forced myself to go back to sleep.

  Maybe if I were lucky, there would be a sex dream starring Luke waiting for me there.

  A knocking sound came from somewhere in the house. I rolled over and groggily lifted my head. Falling back to sleep had proved successful, but if I’d had any dreams about Luke I couldn’t remember them.

  And what about the knocking? Had I imagined it?

  Rubbing some of the sleep from my eyes, I waited to see if there would be additional noises. Sure enough, the banging started again. Someone was definitely knocking on the front door.

  Tossing the sheets off me, I headed down the hallway. Both Aunt Ginger and Uncle Joe had left for work a long time ago, way before I’d fantasized about Luke or fallen back asleep. I’d laid in bed and listened to them getting ready and going. So the person at the door couldn’t be looking for them.

  Maybe it was someone asking for money for a non-profit or looking to see if I’d heard the good news about Jesus.

  I peeked through the little hole in the door. The person standing on the porch was doing neither one of those things because that person was Tracey. She wasn’t completely alone, either. Her weight was shifted to one side, a baby wearing a floppy white hat resting on her hip.

  My hand hovered near the deadbolt as I considered what to do. Surely there was only one reason she was there. She’d seen me dropping the bag off on her porch the day before.

  And so what? She was there to throw the tomatoes back in my face and tell me she didn’t need my charity?

  “Hello?” she called through the door.

  I held my breath, thinking about just turning around and going back to bed. Yet if I did that I would never find out what she had to say, so my curiosity got the best of me.

  Slowly, I opened the door.

  “Hi,” I said.

  “Hello.” She looked over my shoulder, seemingly either nervous or self-conscious. “Do you have a minute?”

  “Yeah, sure.” Bugs buzzed on the porch, and I realized how hot it already was. “Do you want to come in?”

  She hesitated. “It will only ta
ke a second. I just wanted to thank you for what you did.”

  “Oh. Um, what do you mean?”

  She shook her head, tendrils of red hair whipping around her face. “You don’t have to play dumb. I saw you.”

  “Oh.”

  There went any hope for a future career as a spy.

  “I didn’t mean for you to see me,” I blurted out.

  The baby on her hip cried out, and she bounced it a little, shushing it. “I imagine not. But I did, and it only felt right to come here and thank you. Honestly. Thank you.”

  My face warmed up, and I looked down at my hands. “It wasn’t much.”

  “It was something, and that meant a lot. Just the fact that you cared…” Her voice got choked, and she trailed off.

  I looked up at her. “Did you go to one of those places?”

  She nodded and pursed her lips. “I did.”

  I felt compelled to ask what it had been like, but the conversation was already incredibly uncomfortable, and I didn’t want to make it any more so.

  “You have two more kids, right? Where are they?”

  “They’re playing at a neighbor’s house for a few hours.”

  “Ah.” I rested my hand against the doorjamb. “Are you sure you don’t want to come it? I mean I just woke up, but I was going to make some coffee and just chill.”

  She hesitated for a second before speaking. “All right.”

  I led the way into the living room and told her to take a seat on the couch. In the kitchen, I got busy starting a pot of coffee. When it was done, I filled up two mugs and carried them out to the living room. Tracey sat on the end of the couch, her arm around the baby sitting next to her playing with her keys.

  “How do you take it?” I asked.

  “Black is good, thanks.”

  I set the cups on the low table and settled down on my own end of the couch.

  “What’s your baby’s name?”

  “Henry.”

  I laughed. “I like that. It’s classic sounding.”

  She smiled. “Thanks. It was my idea. My husband wanted to name him Cooper, but I hated it.” Her face fell, and she looked down at baby Henry.

  “Have you heard from him?” I asked, wrapping my fingers around my mug and taking my first sip.