Lucky Break

by April Angel

  “True, but you’re supposed to be lucky, so I’d say we’re even,” he taunted.

  She grinned. She knew his game already. He was trying to bait her into doing what he wanted. She was not that easily convinced, but she loved their banter, and last night had been almost magical for her. After the private pool party for two, they’d had dinner and continued their private session up in his room. She couldn’t think about it without smiling.

  “Fine. Let’s do it.”

  She bit down on a piece of bacon and watched him place cards in front of her.

  “Loser answers whatever question the winner asks.”

  “And when did I agree to that?” She continued to eat, wondering where he was going with this game.

  “Come on. It’s another way of getting to know each other better. Didn’t we agree that’s what we wanted?” His smile belied the intense way he gazed at her.

  “I’m such a sucker, but…fine.” Her usual luck wasn’t with her that morning. She glanced at her cards and winced. She had seven. “Hit me.”

  He winked. Another card was placed in front of her. OK, now she had ten. “Again.”

  He chuckled and gave her a third card. Eighteen. Crap. She’d have to stay or risk going over. “I’ll stay.”

  She studied his face while he checked his cards. He had a magnificent poker face. She had no clue what type of game he had. Damn, he was good.

  “I call twenty.” He said, showing his cards.

  “Eighteen.” She pouted. “Why did I let you convince me into playing when I’m still half-asleep?”

  He grabbed her cards, leaned forward, and kissed her again. While she was distracted with their kiss, he pulled the coffee out of her hand and sat back.

  “Hey!”

  He grinned and sipped. “This is really good.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I know that. Why do you think I drink it?”

  The smile dimmed, and he appeared undecided on what to say. Her heartbeat doubled and she wondered what was going on.

  “Tell me about the McKinley-James wedding.”

  She glanced down at her hands. An instant knot formed in her throat, cutting off her ability to speak. He cupped her cheek and she glanced up.

  “Please?”

  His eyes held concern and another set of emotions she wasn’t clear on, but she decided to tell him the story anyway.

  Clearing her throat a few times, she put the piece of toast she’d had in her hand back on the plate. “I was with someone. Nick. Or as we have come to call him for some months now, Nick the Dick. We’d been dating for almost a year before he was offered a high-level position down in Florida.” She laughed. It sounded so hollow to her ears. “He asked me to move down there with him and promised that we’d let things grow at their own pace. After six months, I started to wonder where we were going, so I asked him point-blank what he was thinking.”

  Jared said nothing but continued to watch her with concern. Lucky no longer felt dread churning in the pit of her stomach.

  “He said he wanted to be with me, but he wasn’t ready for marriage or a family yet. I wasn’t happy with settling for anything less than full commitment, so I told him I’d need to think about things. The McKinley wedding took us both to Paris. He worked with the Jameses and I was handling the wedding.” She stopped, visualizing the scene as it unfolded. “He traveled with his assistant everywhere he went, so it wasn’t anything new. She had recently become pregnant and so he was very careful with her, saying she had a delicate nature. What I didn’t know was that his assistant was his ex. Nor did I expect to walk into the study we’d been using as an office and…catch him screwing her.”

  Jared clenched his jaw but said nothing.

  “I guess they heard the door, because a few minutes later he was running after me to the main salon where the reception was taking place.”

  “What happened then?” He had a dark scowl covering his face and appeared ready to hit something.

  “He tried to whisper for me not to make a scene.” She laughed. “You know something? Until he said it, that was the farthest thing from my mind. But then I turned to look at him and I got really angry.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I kneed him in the crotch and punched him in the face, breaking his nose.”

  “You what?” The anger was replaced by surprise.

  “Yeah. I know. It wasn’t a good moment. I let my frustration guide me, and I hit him. Twice. Until he was lying on the floor, whimpering like a little bitch, sniveling through his tears for a doctor.”

  “What happened with the other woman?”

  She shrugged. “She showed up, took one look at Nick the Dick, and threw herself over him. It created quite a stir. I’d forgotten the event was being televised—my actions were all over European tabloids for weeks. They called it the ‘knock-out wedding of the decade.’”

  She didn’t know how he managed to keep a straight face. Most people would laugh at such a ridiculous scene. Hell, now that she remembered Nick on the floor, crying like a bitch, it was pretty funny. “But you didn’t do anything to her?”

  “Why would I? He was the one I was in the relationship with. Whatever she did, those were her decisions. What Nick did, that impacted me.”

  She sighed. It was weird to have it all out there, to have said the entire sordid story without someone snickering or making fun of her stupidity for not noticing that Nick really was a dick.

  “I’m sorry, Lucky. What he did was low and immature. Not the actions of a man who loves a woman.”

  She nodded. She knew that, and yet it was the getting played part that still bothered her. “I know.”

  She lifted her gaze from her hands. He had a smile on his face that made her feel less worried over sharing her past with him. “Your turn.”

  “What?” He reeled back as if she’d slapped him.

  “It’s your turn to tell me about your ex-fiancée. Come on, I won’t judge. Shit, I’m the last person to judge.”

  “I don’t think that’s something we should be discussing now.”

  She frowned, confusion and anger growing inside her. “What do you mean? I came clean and told you my past—at your insistence, I might add—and now you won’t share yours? I wouldn’t have asked you if you hadn’t brought it up first. I thought you said you wanted us to get to know each other better?”

  “I just don’t think I’m ready to talk about that yet.”

  “You felt I should be ready to discuss my life with you, but you’re off-limits? That’s how it works, right?” Her voice rose, anger made her almost lose her temper.

  “Calm down. It’s not like that. You don’t understand—”

  “Oh, I understand. I’m the one that just spent all that time rehashing something I’d rather not, just to share myself with you.”

  She tugged the sheet off and stalked to the bathroom, ignoring her naked state. Then she shut the door and locked it behind her.

  Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she realized what had happened. While she’d been fighting her attraction to him, she’d been falling for him. And now that she heard the story of what Nick had done come out of her own mouth, she acknowledged that she needed to let it go. Not all men were dicks like Nick. But during that same revelation, it dawned on her that her feelings for Jared hadn’t just grown; they’d developed and rooted in her heart. She strangled a sob, watching the woman in the mirror as her eyes filled with tears.

  There was a knock at the door. “Lucky?” His voice sounded strained, worried. “Are you OK in there?”

  She choked on a watery laugh. That was the question of the century. Was she OK? She would be as soon as she got the hell out of there. She’d let things move too fast too soon. He clearly wasn’t ready to move on from whatever happened to him, and now that she realized she’d been stagnating over Nick, she wasn’t going to be living in the past any longer. Her heart ached with frustration. She’d told herself this was so simple. So easy. Date Jared and not get em
otional.

  That wasn’t her style. She’d gotten emotional from the moment he’d kissed her by the fountain. She jumped into the shower. A dull throbbing expanded in her skull, growing while she showered into a full-blown migraine. She needed to go. She came out of the bathroom to find the bedroom empty of Jared. Dressed and still struggling to control the emotions running rampant inside her, she went in search of a phone to call a taxi.

  Jared sat in the kitchen looking at some papers when she entered. He wore a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. His frown deepened when he glanced up at her.

  “I forgot my cell phone in your car. I know it’s probably dead by now. I didn’t see a single phone anywhere on my way down.” She pursed her lips. Anger battled its way up her throat, but she bitterly pushed it back. “Either give me a phone to call a cab or take me home.”

  “Lucky—”

  “I don’t feel like discussing anything else. We had our moment where you felt I needed to divulge my past, but you were off-limits. I want to go. Now,” she added when he appeared ready to argue with her.

  He clenched his jaw. “I’ll drive you.”

  Their ride back to Nina’s apartment was quiet, tense. When he stopped at the curbside, she didn’t wait on him. She opened the door and jumped out. “Good-bye.”

  She turned to the building and hurried to the front door, with his impassioned pleas echoing behind her.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jared glanced at the newly married couple doing their first dance and couldn’t help but be happy for Max. He’d seen the smile on Nina’s face when she walked up the aisle. It was clear to anyone with two eyes that they were deeply in love.

  “You look like somebody took your favorite toy away, Mr. Sexy.”

  He flicked a glance over his shoulder to catch Jazz strolling up to his side in a navy and pale blue suit.

  “I’m fine.”

  Jazz sighed. “No, you’re not. You’re stupid.”

  He glared at Jazz. “Excuse me?”

  “Oh, you didn’t hear me? I said you’re stupid. You have a great woman like Lucky shoving her past experience out of the way to give you a chance, and you can’t bother to be real with her. What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “You know, you’re treading dangerous ground there. Just because you’re Lucky’s and everyone’s preferred venue designer doesn’t mean I’ll allow you to call me stupid.”

  Jazz rolled his eyes, stopped a passing waiter, and grabbed two flutes filled with champagne. “I hate to tell you this, but no smart man would do what you did.”

  His defense mechanism kicked in. “Hey, I tried calling and seeing her. She’s the one who has refused me every step of the way.”

  Jazz stared at him like he really was stupid, or slow on the uptake. “Why would she waste any more time with you when you don’t even know what you want?”

  “Of course I know what I want.” He ground his teeth. “I want her.”

  Jazz grinned. “Then tell her, because she’s not going to be up here forever. Our plane leaves in the morning.”

  His gut clenched. She was leaving already?

  “Word of advice?” Jazz’s voice interrupted the fear running rampant inside him. “Tell the woman how you feel. Cut the bullshit and get on with making her happy already. Trust me: it will be better in the long term, Mr. Sexy.”

  He glanced around the room, looking for her. There. His eyes settled upon a goddess draped in pale gold. His woman. Her hair tumbled in soft curls down her back. His panic grew when she glanced his way, sadness filling her gaze.

  “Thanks, Jazz.”

  “No problem. Hurry your ass up before some other guy takes your woman!” He slapped him on his back.

  Jared’s gaze locked on to her. She was talking to her sister and Alex. The three were dressed in identical styles of the same shade.

  When he got to the women, Alex tapped Lucky and pointed at him. She whirled around. Her eyes went wide when she realized he was right behind her.

  “Hi, what—” She frowned. “Did you need something?”

  He nodded, his mind going a million miles per hour trying to think of the right words to say to her. “I need to talk to you.”

  “Really, Jared. I have a lot of stuff—”

  “Go!” her sister and Alex said in unison. “We’ll take care of everything.”

  “The, um, suite that we changed in is empty if you need somewhere private. It’s just down the hall and to your left. There’s a sign on the door,” Alex stated, staring right at Jared.

  He could’ve kissed her. He definitely needed privacy. Luciana looked from her right to her left before conceding. “OK, I guess we can talk for a few minutes.”

  Her posture was rigid, and she pursed her lips as he led her across the room and down a hallway, following Alex’s directions.

  Nerves got the better of him. He shut the door behind him and watched her make her way to the other side of the room, stopping by a large bay window and folding her arms over her chest.

  “What did you want to talk about?”

  “I—” He hadn’t spoken to anyone about his ex since it happened. It was hard getting the words out. “I was engaged to be married two years ago.”

  Her defensive stance softened. She dropped her arms and sat on the window ledge, brows lifted, waiting.

  “She came from a well-connected family, so the last thing I expected was for her to want me for my money.” He gulped past the acid burning his throat, shoved his hands in his pockets, and remembered. “Two days before the wedding, I returned home from a trip overseas early, so I let myself into the house we were living in at the time. She mustn’t have heard me because she was involved in a phone conversation.” He took a breath and let it out slowly. “She was negotiating with a hitman.”

  “What?” She jumped to attention, her eyes wide with surprise.

  “Yeah. Apparently her family was in debt—big debt—and she figured that marrying me would secure the money she needed to bring them back from the brink of ruin. Only, our prenuptial agreement stated she wouldn’t get anything while I drew breath.”

  Lucky gasped, her face a mask of horror.

  “I overheard her confirming a…price on my head. It was supposed to happen at the airport, on the way to our honeymoon.” He took a few steps toward her and stopped, unsure if that was the right move to make. He wanted to touch her, to hold her, but he knew he needed to let her know what happened.

  “Oh my God.”

  “I called in a favor from someone from my security business to find out more about her plans. Waited to see how far she’d go. We had all the details on who she’d hired, exact time and location. On the day of the wedding, I didn’t think she’d show up. Part of me was in denial that someone who’d been showing nothing but innocence could do that. But when she showed up, I let my own plan roll and had her ass arrested in a church full of her friends.”

  “That’s…awful,” she whispered. “Didn’t she love you at all?”

  He’d asked himself the same thing. And had come to one conclusion. “No.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  He stepped toward her. The ties holding him back over what his ex had done to him loosened their hold. He cared more about being with Luciana than dwelling on what had happened in the past. He couldn’t stay in the past forever, wondering if every woman would do the same. He already knew Lucky wasn’t like that. And she’d opened up to him, shared her own hurt with him.

  She was watching him with sympathy. He didn’t need sympathy. What he wanted was her to give him a chance. “No, I’m sorry. I should’ve told you this when we discussed Nick the Dick.”

  A smile split her lips. “He really was a dick.”

  “I know, baby, but his loss is my gain.” He cupped her face with his hands. Emotion clogged his throat. He was scared she’d reject him, but his feelings pushed him to talk. “I know a few weeks wouldn’t normally be considered long enough to fall in love with someone, but I know how I fe
el.”

  She lifted her brows. Curiosity filled her gaze. “How do you feel?”

  “I love you, Luciana.”

  She glanced down. “I don’t know, Jared…”

  His heart stopped beating. “What don’t you know?”

  Her smile was sad. “I don’t know what made you tell me this now, but will you have this much of an issue communicating with me about other things? Relationships are hard enough without me having to guess what you’re feeling.”

  “It’s not that…” He stopped, unsure what to say, how to make her see that opening up to her—hell, to anyone—was hard. “I haven’t shared that story with anyone, until now. Only a handful of people know what happened.”

  “So what stops you from shutting me out again, from locking things inside and not sharing them with me?”

  He tried to think of what to say.

  “That’s what I thought.”

  She marched past him. She was leaving. No! He couldn’t, wouldn’t lose her.

  He ran after her to the entrance of the room, grabbed her by her arm, and stopped her. “Don’t go.”

  She turned in his grasp.

  “I may not be the best at opening up, but I’m telling you the truth. I will never hold myself, or feelings, back again.”

  She didn’t seem convinced. He placed her hands on his chest, directly over his heart. “Everything I am: the card shark, the security professional, the man, and every other piece of me…belongs to you.”

  Her eyes widened. “Really?”

  “I’ve never felt this way toward any other woman.”

  “How?”

  “I…” He searched his mind for the right words.

  She shook her head. “Forget it.”

  “The love I feel for you is rooted deep in my bones.” He swallowed hard. It felt good to say the words. Even if he still worried she’d continue on her way out.