by Elle Keating
“So you went to that audition?”
“The next morning, without Gus and Gina’s knowledge, I took a bus to Atlantic City and this,” she gestured to her baggy clothes and unbrushed head of hair, “was discovered.”
He chuckled, which was something she had never heard from him before. She loved the sound of it and she laughed along with him. They finished their sandwiches and she was just about to clear their empty plates and take them to the dishwasher when he said, “Being adopted that late, at ten and twelve…that’s…unusual. Were Gus and Gina family?” She was almost certain he wasn’t trying to pry, but she was starting to feel uncomfortable. He had just slipped into the no-go zone.
She had done it a million times, but those questions had been asked by interviewers and television personalities, people she could easily navigate around. But Luke…he was different. For whatever reason, she found it difficult to lie to him or even skirt the truth. Even more strange, she didn’t want to lie to him. She wanted him to know her, maybe not every ugly, disturbing detail, but more than what she was typically willing to share with people.
“No, Gus and Gina weren’t blood relatives. They were just two wonderful people who wanted to give two sisters a chance at a better life.” Peyton was hit with a wave of sadness as she collected the plates and deposited them into the dishwasher. Gina would never see Lainey get married or watch her husband give their wonderful adopted daughter away to the man of her dreams.
“What’s the matter?” Luke asked.
“Two years ago, Gina died from cancer. I wish… I just wish that she could have seen Lainey marry Walt here at your winery. She would have loved the Winter Room.”
“I’m sorry for your loss. Her husband… your…”
“Dad,” she supplied. “I may call him Gus to his face and to others when I talk about him, but he is my dad in every sense of the word. Lainey and I had never met our fathers, so when Gus came around, taking care and loving us from the get go, well, we finally realized what we had been missing all those years.” Peyton locked the dishwasher door and turned, only to find Luke just inches from her and looking as if he was about to say something. He opened his mouth and then closed it just as quickly. He then grabbed a handful of paper towels and some Lysol and began to wipe down the bacon grease-splattered counter.
After a minute of rigorous scrubbing and deafening silence, Peyton decided to make herself useful and started to clean off the island by returning the mayo, extra tomato slices, lettuce and bacon to the fridge. Did she say something wrong?
She decided to shift the conversation away from her family life and end the night on a safer note. “Thanks again, Luke, for tonight.”
He stopped mid-scrub and said, “You don’t have to thank me, Peyton.” He didn’t look at her and that small smile he had flashed her earlier while they had been eating sandwiches did not reappear. His scrubbing resumed with a bit more vigor than before.
“Yes, I do. I’m also aware that I most likely spoiled your night.”
His jaw clenched, and he walked over to the trashcan where he disposed of the worn paper towels. For some reason, he seemed pissed. She was just about to ask him why he appeared agitated when a peculiar question entered her mind.
“What were you doing there? Outside the club, I mean?”
He squared his shoulders and crossed his arms over his chest. “My brother Gabe was in town. I was on my way to meet up with him at a bar down the street from the club when I saw you on the sidewalk.” His response was immediate. He didn’t look away or display some telltale sign that he was lying, but something didn’t feel right. Something told her that everything that he had just said was complete bullshit. But she had nothing to go on, so she didn’t press it.
“Well, in case you were wondering, I wasn’t participating in the festivities at Eden. I think pubs and gritty taverns are more my speed.”
His eyes narrowed, and she got the sense that he was studying and silently calling her out on her own bullshit. And then he asked the question that she should have seen coming. “Why did you run?” His arms fell to his sides and he took two steps toward her, close enough so he was in reaching distance. “What did you see, Peyton?”
His eyes bore into hers. A believable response formulated in her muddled mind, but it didn’t pass through her quivering lips. No, what came out was something so close to the truth that she regretted those words instantly.
“I thought I saw someone I knew. Someone I haven’t seen in a long time.”
Her admission prompted him to look away, as if he couldn’t bear to stare at her any longer. She suddenly felt exposed and terrified. She may not have any physical scars, but the ugliness beneath, somehow he had sensed it.
“Well, you’ve had a long night and I know you have to get up early for work. Let me know if you need anything.” He brushed past her without another word, leaving her feeling like that disgusting, filthy little girl she had thought she had said goodbye to years ago.
Chapter Nine
Luke
So she had been adopted.
Luke wanted to believe that this connection, that they had both been adopted, was what drew him to her. He desperately and foolishly tried to tell himself that this revelation was what made her seem familiar to him. But deep down he knew he was lying to himself. Their pasts were intertwined, but not because they had both been adopted by two people who would walk to the ends of the earth for them. Something else, something a lot less kumbaya-ish was reflected in her eyes whenever he had the balls to stare into them.
Although he was thankful that Gina and Gus had adopted her and cared for her like she was their own, he couldn’t help but think of the first twelve years of her life. What had she been exposed to? What had she seen? He shuddered at the thoughts that were racing through his mind. He didn’t want to think about her life pre-Gus and Gina, the hell she may have gone through, the possible experiences they may have in common.
Stop jumping to conclusions. You barely know this woman.
Thankfully and finally, his rational side decided to join the conversation. Shaking his head to dispel his disturbing thoughts, Luke sat up in bed and glanced at the clock. He had spent the majority of the night tossing and turning, only to fall asleep a little over an hour ago. Somehow, he was going to have to survive on sixty-five minutes of sleep today. He quickly threw on a pair of mesh shorts, socks, and sneakers and entered the hallway. He crept toward Peyton’s room and stopped at the door. He pressed his ear up against the door and listened. When he detected no movement or sound on the other side, he contemplated for a moment if he should check on her. Was she okay? Was she in there sleeping or did she leave after he had briskly wished her goodnight and left her standing in his kitchen?
He felt like an ass for doing that, but she had caught him off guard with her admission. Again, he thought about what she had said, the same thoughts that had kept him up for most of the night. When asked about why she had fled Eden, she had said that she thought that she’d seen someone she knew, somebody from her past. He then recalled what Robin had said to him over the phone, that the moment Peyton had locked eyes with the woman, the woman who had been wearing a school uniform, she had grown white as a sheet and ran. The woman, not the man who was pounding into her, had unnerved Peyton. He wanted to probe Peyton, to find out why the sight of that woman caused her such pain and panic, but he couldn’t.
What if her response hit too close to home?
Luke reached for the doorknob and turned it, only to be surprised that she had not locked the door. Was it typical for her to trust so easily? Or to put herself at risk? He shouldn’t be upset with her or elated that she was comfortable enough to leave her door unlocked as she slept. He shouldn’t feel a goddamn thing.
Frustrated, he peeked into the room and saw that she was sound asleep. She had removed those enormous lounge pants he had given her and decided to sleep in just his t-shirt. She rolled over and lay on her side. Luke studied her face, the delicat
e features and slope of her cheek. Her blonde wavy hair limited his view somewhat when a few stray locks fell, covering half her makeup-free face. He wondered how many people had gotten the chance to see her in such a natural state, when she wasn’t all dolled up for the cameras. At this moment, far away from the runway and paparazzi, she looked vulnerable and so achingly beautiful.
He needed to get away from her, from the feelings she had the capability of awakening, even in sleep. Luke stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind him. With his heart already racing and his blood pumping he decided to head to his home gym for a much-needed workout.
***
Peyton
“Go get your bath, Lainey.”
Lainey had been nodding off in her bowl of mac and cheese when Peyton decided that her sister was desperately in need of sleep. Peyton covered her half-eaten dinner with tin foil and placed it into the fridge. Lainey didn’t protest and within seconds, Peyton heard the bathroom door close and water splashing into the tub. Peyton quickly wiped down the small, rectangular kitchen table and was on her way to her bedroom to change out of her school clothes and into her pajamas when her mother and her boyfriend Reggie came stumbling through the front door, bringing the stench of booze and cigarettes into the small, cramped apartment.
“You’re still awake?” her mother asked. “You should be in bed.” As usual, her words came out slurred and she was having difficulty standing on her own. She had most likely been out all day drinking, spending the last of the welfare check at the bar around the corner. “I’m going to my room. Don’t bother me and Reggie,” she said, her tone clipped.
“I’ll be right there, baby. Just grabbing a beer and something to eat,” Reggie said, helping himself to a can of Budweiser from the fridge. Her mother walked into her bedroom and slammed the door behind her.
Peyton changed her mind about going to get dressed for bed and decided to join Lainey in the bathroom. Once inside she would lock the door, barricading them in, protecting them from Reggie. Although he had never laid a hand on her, she didn’t trust him. He stared at her too long, and the way his gaze always lingered on her bare legs when she was wearing her school uniform made her stomach queasy.
“Where’s your sister?” he asked. He drained his beer and threw the empty can into the sink.
“In the bathroom,” she said through gritted teeth. She walked around the table and made a beeline for the bathroom, but Reggie blocked her path. “Excuse me,” she said.
“So polite. Where did you get such nice manners? Not from your mother, that’s for sure.”
“My mother is waiting for you in her bedroom. She’ll get mad if you keep her waiting.”
Reggie gave her a sleazy smile. The sight sent chills down her spine. “We both know your mother is most likely asleep already. Nothing, not me, not Lainey, or your muffled screams will wake her.”
Her mother was probably passed out in bed or the floor, or wherever her sorry, drunk ass had landed. Fear gripped her, but instead of giving into it she kept her head down and pushed past him. She was just feet from the bathroom door when she felt him at her heels. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her into her bedroom and locked the door. He released her but stood in front of her door. “This is my room and I don’t want you in it,” she screamed.
“You’re so pretty, Peyton,” he said, ignoring her attempt to stand her ground.
“Get out,” she said, backing away from him. But the more distance she put between them, the farther away she was from Lainey and that made her come to an immediate halt.
“I just paid you a compliment. The nice thing to do is say thank you.” He stepped toward her and that was when the tears started. She didn’t want to cry. She didn’t want Reggie to see that she was scared, but all of a sudden the reality of the situation, of what Reggie was going to do to her, hit her and the tears flowed freely. He reached up and touched her tearstained cheek. “Don’t cry, little one. I’ll make sure you like it.”
He grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her to the floor. Her butt screamed from the sudden impact, but there was no time to nurse that pain. He dropped to his knees, turned her so she was positioned on all fours and tore her white cotton panties away from her body. “I know you want this. I see the way you watch me, how jealous you are when I give your mother my attention and not you. So tonight, I’ll give you what you want.” She tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but he tightened his grip around her waist. “You try to scream or alert that pretty little sister of yours, I’ll make sure that I have enough left over for her.” She froze. No. Her beautiful, innocent, sweet sister would never be touched by this monster. She would make certain of it…no matter what. “Good girl. Now hold still while you let me love you.”
Peyton bolted out of bed. She hadn’t dreamt of Reggie or that horrible night he had first raped her in her bedroom, with her mom just down the hallway and her sister getting a bath a few feet away, for over a year.
Peyton looked around at her surroundings. The spacious guest room Luke had offered her was more than accommodating. She had drifted off to sleep the moment her head had hit the pillow, which was strange. She should have felt a little leery about staying in Luke McGinnis’ house, a man she had just met, a man who had seen her make a complete ass of herself last night on the beach.
There was no way to unsee the images of the previous night in her mind. She had hyperventilated in his car, had run fully clothed into the ocean and retched. But she didn’t physically cringe until she remembered what she had said while they were eating sandwiches in his kitchen. She had told him the truth about why she had fled Eden. She had seen someone she knew. It didn’t matter how much therapy Gus and Gina had gotten her, or that she eventually was able to let her adopted parents hug and kiss her goodnight without shutting down, she would always be that little girl, a little girl with ugly secrets.
Peyton went to the bathroom and took care of her business before throwing Luke’s lounge pants back on. She then grabbed her silver dress from the closet and the still damp heels she had basically destroyed in the ocean and left the bedroom in search of her host. She wanted to thank him for allowing her to stay last night before she was due back at the winery in twenty-five minutes. If she left now she could enter the winery, slip into a robe in the dressing room and plop herself into one of the hairstylist’s chairs. No one would notice where she had slept last night and wonder why she was wearing the winery owner’s clothes.
She searched the kitchen and the living room first before she heard the hum of some type of machine coming from the end of a long hallway. She followed the sound into a room that housed gym equipment and…holy hell…the most beautiful man she had ever seen. Running on a treadmill, wearing only gym shorts and sneakers, Luke was dripping with sweat. She watched the muscles in his back flex as he sprinted against his invisible opponent. She could have fantasized about his body, imagined his sweat mixing with her own wetness between her legs all day long, if her attention hadn’t been ensnared by those dozen or so circular scars sprinkled across his back. She wanted to step closer to get a good look, but she was afraid he would spot her. So she stayed in the doorway and squinted her eyes to bring those scars into focus. How did he get those? What could make such perfect circles? Some were small, the circumference no bigger than an eraser on a pencil. Others were the size of a dime, a few the width of a quarter. His marked torso and her disturbing thoughts had put her in a trance because she didn’t realize that he had stopped the machine. “Good morning,” he said.
She tried to recover by looking away at anything in the room other than him. “I’m heading to the shoot. Just wanted to say thank you for last night.”
Luke stepped off the treadmill and grabbed a t-shirt that was hanging from an elliptical machine and threw it on, hiding those scars and the story that was attached to each and every one. She wanted to know how they’d happened…or worse…who had given them to him. “Did you sleep well?” he asked.
“Act
ually, I did.”
“You sound surprised.” He walked past her and headed down the hallway toward the kitchen.
She followed him, taking in his firm ass with each massive stride he took. Did he know how good-looking he was? He didn’t act like a conceited asshole or flaunt what God so graciously had given him. Peyton was used to being around beautiful people on a daily basis, but she had never found herself in awe like she did right now.
“Because of my job, I travel a lot. Which means I can never get used to one bed for long…so lots of sleepless nights.”
Luke stopped when he reached the kitchen island and turned and faced her. “Well, whatever the reason, you look…rested,” he said, his eyes navigating from her face to her body. She felt his heated gaze and her heart quickened. But just like that, his smoldering, panty-melting stare frosted over and his eyes hardened. “After you went to bed last night, I gathered all the information you’ll need to plan your sister’s wedding.” He retrieved a folder with the Lucrezia Winery’s logo embossed on the cover and handed it to her. “Everything should be in there, sample menus, wine choices, costs. I also included a list of highly recommended vendors if you need it. But if you or your sister have any questions, feel free to call my father. He would be happy to assist you with whatever you need.”
