Backroom Boy: All American Boy Series

by Marika Ray

  Her hands gripped the bottom of my T-shirt, her eyes going from soft to firm in a matter of seconds. “We’re going to make this work. You hear me, Lukas Murphy?”

  I kissed her forehead. “We will. There are going to be bumps ahead, but we’ll make this work. I promise.”

  We walked back to the pool house in the dark and Delta came inside.

  Neither one of us saw her dad standing inside the glass door of the main house, his gaze locked on us.

  10

  Delta

  “I better get home,” I whispered against Lukas’s skin.

  His arms pulled me in tighter like he couldn’t bear the idea of letting me go. My limbs felt sleepy as hell and I knew if I didn’t get out of Lukas’s bed, I would end up falling asleep and spending the night. Pretty sure my parents would have a shit fit if I didn’t come home tonight. Twenty years old and still following my parents’ archaic rules about curfews.

  Lukas groaned, but he finally let me go and rolled away to pull some sweatpants on. The only reason I even got up was because I knew we had a whole lifetime to be together and my parents putting a stop to my college funds was not in the plan. It was that inspiring thought I kept in the forefront of my brain the whole time I got dressed and then headed to the front door. Lukas kissed me quick, his chest bare and his hair rumpled, looking entirely too yummy to say goodbye to. He opened the door for me and I stepped out, feeling him following me.

  “Want to make sure you get home safe,” he whispered, his voice already hoarse with sleep.

  I smiled into the dark, loving that he was such a gentleman when my house was only twenty feet away. We took the short path to the pool area hand in hand, the moonlight guiding us. I stopped short and Lukas stopped a second after me.

  My father sat in the lounge chair next to the pool.

  In the dark.

  With an empty wineglass in his hand.

  “Daddy!” A deep dread replaced all the sleepy hope that had sedated my limbs this evening.

  He pursed his lips and twirled the glass in his hand. “Someone care to tell me what the hell’s going on under my own nose?”

  Fuck. The secret appeared to be out now.

  “Listen, Daddy. It’s not—”

  Lukas stepped forward and cut me off. “Sir, I’m in love with your daughter. Which I’m sure is not what you hired me for, but I won’t apologize for it. She’s amazing in so many ways, I couldn’t not fall in love with her. I can promise you, though, nothing about loving Delta will interfere with my job.”

  My knees went weak, and if my father hadn’t been sitting right there, I would have jumped on Lukas and begged him to take me back into that pool house where I could show him exactly how grateful I was for his support.

  Daddy stood up abruptly, pulling my attention from Lukas. He swayed a second on his feet before righting himself. “You work for me. You live on my property. And now you’re sleeping with my daughter?”

  Lukas pulled himself up even straighter and looked at my father head-on. I needed to intervene before this thing got nasty.

  “Daddy, stop.” I put my hand out toward him. “I love Lukas. He treats me better than any boy I’ve dated. This is a good thing between us. Please don’t ruin it.”

  Daddy glanced at me, his eyes softening slightly when they found me, but the pinch of his lips told me he was still extremely angry. I’d always toed the line, keeping any rebellions small and out of sight. He wasn’t used to me standing up for myself and I wasn’t exactly sure how this would go over.

  He swung his head back to Lukas and pointed his finger at him. “When this summer job is over, so will this…thing…between you. Mark my words.”

  Daddy spun around and marched back toward the house, tossing over his shoulder, “Tick-tock.”

  Rage filled my chest. How dare he insinuate that what Lukas and I had was shallow and flimsy? He had no idea how I felt about this man who’d shown me more respect than my own family. Lukas listened to me. He saw every part of me and loved me for me. That was more than I could say for my own father. Daddy only loved me for what I could do for the company image.

  The back door closed and the lights flipped off, plunging Lukas and me into darkness. He reached for me and I wrapped my arms around his neck, desperate for his touch.

  “I’m so sorry, Delta,” he whispered against my hair.

  A lump lodged in my throat. I pulled back to look him in the eyes. “No. I’m sorry. I’m sorry my parents don’t understand.”

  Lukas shrugged, but I could tell by the haunted look in his eyes he cared about their opinion very much. “I get it. I’m the hired help who preyed on their daughter’s emotions.”

  I shook my head so hard I got dizzy. “You know that’s not true. What they think about you and me changes nothing. We are a team, Lukas. We have a plan and we’re going to follow through with it no matter what. And then, maybe, they’ll understand. You’re it for me.”

  He didn’t waste a second claiming my lips and making me forget all about my father’s judgements. Lukas made my heart melt and my body go up in flames. He challenged my brain and stimulated my creativity. How could something so right be wrong?

  “Stay with me,” he whispered against my lips.

  I nodded, lost in the daze of his kiss, and he smiled. His fingers wrapped around mine and he tugged me back to the pool house. The sound of the night around us was comforting in its quietness. I didn’t need fancy surroundings or the cushion of money to pave my way through life. All I really needed was Lukas.

  When he shut the door behind us, I took the gold band off my middle finger. The ring I’d had since I turned sixteen. The ring that had been passed down from my great-grandfather’s day, the one that had been in the family as a representation of how far we’d come. When my great-grandfather got married, all they could afford was a simple gold band. The winery had grown into a multimillion-dollar enterprise since then, but our roots came from a single grapevine.

  “I want you to wear my ring.” I held it out to Lukas, who looked down at it curiously. “My great-grandfather started this whole winery with nothing. And right now, you and I are at that nothing stage. We’ll make it too, Lukas. You may be my daddy’s backroom boy, but you’re my everything. Never forget that.”

  His eyes went molten and I shivered. Lukas reached up and unclasped the gold chain around his neck and took the ring from me, stringing it onto the chain and putting it back around his neck.

  “I’ll wear it proudly. I’ll work my ass off for us, Delta. You’ll see.”

  His hands cupped my face. His jaw clenched with determination and I knew one day we’d talk about this night. The night we vowed things far more serious than wedding vows. This was a vow to never let the other person down and I meant it with every cell in my body. Lukas was everything good in my life.

  I dropped to my knees and pulled him out of his sweatpants before he could protest. I licked the tip of his cock, watching as he hardened before my eyes. Lukas growled at me, his eyes watching me hungrily. I put the full length of him in my mouth, pulling back slowly as he grew, my tongue flicking the tip. His taste flooded my mouth and I had to clench my thighs together to hold back my moan.

  Lukas gathered my hair to the back of my head and pulled me back so that just the very end of his cock lay between my lips. Then he thrust into my mouth and he went all the way to the back of my throat. Tears gathered in my eyes, and I’d never been more turned on than in that moment, on my knees, choking on Lukas’s cock. He kept thrusting, his control over me complete with the stranglehold he had on my hair. Spit dribbled down my chin while I tried to breathe through my nose. I was sure I looked a mess, but Lukas only seemed more turned on as he gazed down at me through slitted eyes.

  He made a noise in his throat and pulled out of my mouth. I gasped in a lungful of air. Strong arms pulled me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. Lukas carried me into the bedroom, dropping me onto the bed and stripping me of my shorts. He didn’t wa
ste any time, just plunged right into me with his pants around his ankles. He grunted and I moaned at the feel of him inside of me.

  “Yes, yes, yes,” I whispered, adjusting to the size of him.

  He pumped once, then twice, before standing back up, his cock still in me. He looked crazed with want, his eyes half closed and his mouth slightly open. He reached between us and thrummed his thumb across my clit. I bucked at the strong zing of desire that rushed through my body, and he slid further in. He pulled back out and strummed again. It felt so good, but I really needed his cock filling me.

  “Lukas, please,” I begged.

  The side of his mouth tilted up in a smile, a look I lodged in my brain so I’d always remember. He was half the sweet boy I knew and half a dirty man who knew how much he ruled my body.

  His cock plunged all the way back in and my eyes rolled back in my head. Then he was out again, his thumb working me over. I writhed on the bed, my legs trying to pull him closer. I needed that cock more than I needed to breathe and Lukas was being a damn tease.

  He used his free hand to pin my leg to the bed while he worked my clit. My breath started coming in short gasps and I knew I was about to come. He must have known too, because he notched his cock at my entrance and stroked back in. The second he filled me all the way, I came, my walls squeezing him tight. It felt so good it hurt, the waves of pleasure coming and coming, no end in sight.

  Sometime later I heard him grunt and pull out. With my eyes squeezed shut, I whined, wishing he still filled me. Warmth hit my stomach and I fluttered my eyes open to see long, creamy ropes coating my stomach and breasts. Lukas shuddered above me, his strong arm bracketing my body. He reached down and dragged a finger across my breasts, making me quiver yet again. With heat still in his eyes, he put his finger to my lips. I opened and sucked his finger clean, tasting the tang of him and wishing I could taste him every single day for the rest of my life.

  My ring, hanging from his chain, hung suspended between us. I knew, and I knew that he knew.

  This was it.

  Lukas and Delta.

  Forever.

  11

  Lukas

  I put my cell phone back in my pocket and turned toward the pool house. Delta would be home any minute now after going shopping for last-minute things she needed for the sorority house. We’d started a countdown that night her father found out about us. Summer had seemed long and endless when I’d first moved to Merlot for the job at Black Bishop Wineries, but now it had passed in the blink of an eye. Tomorrow, Delta left to go back to school and my job at Black Bishop ended.

  Like Delta kept reminding me, this ending was really just a beginning for me and her.

  And the phone call I’d just finished confirmed things were unfolding right on schedule.

  “Hey, babe!” Delta came bounding down the path to the pool house, multiple shopping bags in hand.

  Everything in me relaxed at the sight of her dimples and broad smile. It was like my personality had been born grumpy, but she made the sun come out just by being around. I’d miss her when she left. And that ache would make me work that much harder to bring our dream to fruition, just so she’d come back to me with that grin and twinkle in her eyes. What had started out as a dream to make something of myself, now had become a joint dream, one where if we weren’t together, the rest didn’t matter. I wanted it all now: the winery, the success, and most of all, Delta.

  “Hey. Did you get what you needed?” I snagged a quick kiss before opening the door so she could put her bags down inside. She’d more or less moved into the pool house the last few weeks, irritating her parents even more, though they hadn’t retaliated or tried to forbid her from seeing me.

  “I did.” She spun and threw her arms around my neck, stretching up to kiss me like she’d missed me too, even if she’d only been gone an hour.

  “I’ve got news,” I said against her lips.

  Her eyes lit up. “You’re going to stow away in my suitcase and live in the sorority with me?”

  My mouth hitched up on the side. “Um, no, thanks. Living with a bunch of sorority girls?” I shuddered at the thought.

  Delta smacked me on the arm. “Hey, watch it, mister. I’m a sorority girl too and you like me just fine.”

  “Mmm, I sure do.” I nuzzled into her hair and kissed my way down her neck.

  “Focus, Lukas.” Delta tried to be demanding, but ruined it by ending her demand with a little moan.

  I chuckled and backed off enough to tell her the news. “I just got off the phone with Jordan Rhoades. He owns that little winery called Easy Rhoades. He needs a vineyard manager and is willing to take a chance on me. I just accepted the job for the busy fall season. I start Monday.”

  Delta jumped up and down and then smothered me in a hug, peppering kisses all over my face. “I’m so happy! I knew you’d find something, Lukas. Oh my God! It’s really truly happening, isn’t it?”

  Nodding, my heart pounded away at the realization that we were onto the next step in our grand plan. “Yeah, it really is.”

  “Well, I’ve got news too.” Delta winked at me, biting her lip.

  I tilted my head and waited, knowing it had to be good based on the way her eyes sparkled in the afternoon sunshine.

  “I just got the email from the counseling department that they’ve officially declared my major as business!” Delta looked ready to burst with excitement.

  She jumped and I caught her, pulling her into my chest and spinning her around in a circle. She did it. She’d declared her major so she’d be poised to help us set up the business side of our dream. I’d learn how to make the wine, she’d learn how to sell it. A dream team.

  I set her down and held her beautiful face in my hands. “We’re doing it, baby.”

  Her eyes went soft on the edges. “You and me.”

  “Forever,” I whispered right before sealing our lips together in an indecent kiss. Time spun away, leaving just the two of us in our own little world. Having a dream was so much better when it was shared with someone else. I didn’t believe in soul mates prior to this summer, but my trip to Merlot had opened my eyes to so much more.

  A loud wolf whistle interrupted us. We both looked over to see Delta’s sorority girls standing on the path by the pool, grinning and making googly-eyed faces. My stomach swooped, realizing my time with Delta had come to an end. Plus, a small part of me wondered if she’d ignore me now that her girls were here.

  I shouldn’t have worried though, as Delta laced our fingers together and walked us over to her friends.

  “Girls, this is Lukas, my boyfriend. Lukas, these are the girls. Natalie, Blair, Bree, Courtney, and Anna.” Delta introduced us.

  A simple hand lift was all I managed before they swarmed me, shouting out questions and blocking my view of Delta. A cloud of perfume choked my throat and I’d never felt more claustrophobic.

  Another loud whistle broke it up, Delta pushing her way back toward me. “Girls! Step off my man!”

  Thankfully, they did step back, giving me room to breathe and to tug Delta back to my side, my arm over her shoulder. She laid her head on my shoulder like she knew just how much I didn’t want to be surrounded by a gaggle of girls. I was a one-woman man.

  “It’s nice to meet you, ladies.” I gave them a head nod.

  “Oh, we’ve heard all about you, Lukas. Nobody has made Delta smile like that.” Natalie pointed to Delta’s beaming face.

  I looked down at Delta as she peered up at me. I could get lost in that face for hours at a time.

  “Oh my God, you two are adorable,” Bree sing-singed, her hands clasped under her chin.

  “I hate to break the bad news, but we’ve gotta get Delta’s things packed in the car and head out. There’s a sorority meeting tonight to prepare for rush week,” Anna said softly, looking like she’d personally scheduled that meeting and had to apologize.

  Delta’s eyes turned worried and I spun her in front of me, her breasts smashed against my
stomach. Running a thumb under her chin, I tilted her face up to me.

  “Hey. This isn’t goodbye. This is just a temporary thing to get us to where we want to be. Remember?”

  Her eyes filled with tears anyway, and my heart lurched in my chest.

  “I know.” She nodded, but didn’t look convinced. “New rule? We talk every single day?”

  I smiled gently. “You bet. Not a day goes by we don’t talk.” I pulled the chain and ring out from under my shirt. “We’re already starting with so much more than nothing. Let’s build something great.”

  Delta grabbed the back of my neck and brought me down so she could kiss me. Her tongue swept my lips and I let her in. Friends watching be damned. If my girl wanted to claim me in front of anyone, including her parents, I’d let her. Knowing she wasn’t ashamed of me made me feel like more of a man than turning eighteen had.

  A throat clearing had us breaking apart. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her parents coming out the back door and skirting the pool. Delta gave me a stern look, which I knew meant to keep my emotions in check. Her parents weren’t exactly supportive of us dating, but I couldn’t let their judgement color our decisions.

  “All ready to head out?” Mr. Bishop said gruffly.

  Delta’s mom rushed forward and gave her a hug. “Straight A’s now. Like we talked about. Next summer we’ll have your father train you to take over the management of the tasting room.”

  Bitterness filled my veins listening to Delta’s mom give her instructions instead of simply telling her she loved her. What mother sends her kid off with business instructions instead of a simple I love you and I’ll miss you? Delta didn’t seem fazed by it. She just nodded and pasted on a fake smile. I vowed to give her all the love and acceptance her parents didn’t.