“Are you good?” Luke asked after dessert.
“I think so,” Nash said. “But I’m overwhelmed.”
“Anyone in your situation would be that way,” Luke said.
“But it’s not just that. It’s hard, hearing stories of a life that feels like I should have been a part of, but wasn’t. I mean, it’s as if we’ve been brothers our entire lives, but we haven’t.”
“We’ll get there,” Luke said. “We can’t replace the years we lost, but we can make new memories.”
“I know we can and I may sound like a jealous little brother, but sometimes, it feels as if Nick already had you, so you were the son he decided to keep and I was the one he decided to throw away. And Athena can’t remember some of the dark times in their relationship, but she can remember every moment of your childhood. Even the good memories with your dad.”
“That’s not fair,” Luke said. “My mom hasn’t had an easy life, either. She’s still coming to grips with how her relationship with our dad went.”
“Your dad,” Nash said. “Not mine. I don’t even know the man.”
Luke nodded. “Fine. My dad.” Given how quiet it was in the kitchen, Luke assumed Kyra and his mom were now listening to the conversation.
Nash pinched the bridge of his nose. “Listen, I loved meeting your mom and I thank you for bringing me to St. Lucia, but I think I need to head out.” Instead of waiting to get a response from Luke, Nash said goodbye to Athena, hugged her tightly and walked out the front door.
“We can head back,” Luke said, following him out the house.
Nash sighed. “I just need a minute. Some space to think. Maybe I’ll get a hotel room tonight if you’re cool with that.”
“I don’t want that, but I understand that this is hard for you,” Luke said. “It’s difficult getting taxis this time of night, so I’ll give you a ride.”
“No need,” Nash said. “I texted Maceo during dessert and he’ll give me a ride. He should be here any minute.” Nash walked over to Luke and clasped his shoulder. “Bro, I appreciate everything you’ve done since we met and I love you for it. I just need some time. Seeing you and your mom... Knowing that you were able to at least grow up with Nick and get to know him... It’s all harder than I thought it would be. Athena is a sweetheart just like I imagined she would be. But I need some time by myself to think about everything that’s happened.”
Luke clasped the back of Nash’s head and brought their foreheads together as Maceo arrived. Luke was staring at the street long after they left, until he felt someone loop an arm around his. He glanced down to see Kyra, her eyes warm and comforting.
“He just needs time, son,” Athena said, stepping out onto the porch. “He’s a good man and his parents raised him right. But this is a lot for anyone to handle.”
“I know,” Luke said with a nod. “I guess I just hate feeling like I’m the reason he’s overwhelmed right now. It was my idea to bring him to St. Lucia. Dad doesn’t even have family here anymore, so I’m not sure why we even came.”
“Because even though your dad isn’t handling this situation right, you still wanted your brother to see where he came from,” Kyra said. “It was the right thing to do, even if Nash is having a hard time handling it right now. He’ll appreciate you later.”
“How could he do this?” Luke asked, looking to Athena. “How could Dad father a son and not tell us anything about it? Even if Nash’s birth mother wanted to give him up for adoption, how could he turn his back on his own flesh and blood?”
Athena walked down the stairs and met them in the street. “Who knows why your father made any of the decisions that he has. We can’t spend all our time trying to figure out why he did this or that. We just have to learn to heal and accept that Nick has made mistakes that cannot be undone.”
“I wish Nash could realize that,” Luke muttered.
Athena glanced at her son. “Nash is a lot like you, you know.”
“How so?”
“You’ve always needed to take a moment to process things. You’ve been like that since you were a boy. There are some people in this would who would have found out they had a sibling and wouldn’t be doing everything in their power to incorporate them into their life. You’re one of the good seeds, Luke.”
Luke hugged his mom. “Thanks, Mama. Don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Luke glanced to Kyra. “Ready to head out?”
“Yeah, let’s go home.”
Luke smiled, touched that she said “home” so easily.
“Take care of him,” Athena said, giving Kyra a hug. She whispered something in her ear that Luke couldn’t hear, but Kyra was smiling when they broke their embrace.
The night had been more mentally exhausting than Luke would have liked, but the forty-minute drive from his mom’s place with the windows rolled down and Kyra sitting beside him wasn’t half-bad.
“Having you there tonight made all the difference,” he told her.
“Duh,” she said. “I’m kinda awesome. Shocked you never realized it before.”
“Oh, I realized it,” he admitted. “I’ve always known how great you are.” He briefly glanced over at her. “Always felt how much I need you in my life.”
Since he had to look back to the road, he didn’t have time to see her expression, but he figured the hand that was resting on his thigh was a good sign. I’ll take it.
Chapter 11
Kyra’s heart was beating out of her chest as they walked into Luke’s home after leaving his mom’s place. She knew the night hadn’t gone how he’d planned, but she was glad Luke had introduced Nash to his mom.
“I don’t know about you,” she said, walking over to his bar, “but I could use a drink or a shot.”
Luke laughed, following her. “I think I need a shot. What are you in the mood for?”
Kyra scanned the liquor bottles. “Ooo, Jameson. Definitely a whiskey kinda night.”
“How could I forget,” Luke said, getting out two shot glasses. “You’ve been a whiskey girl since you were old enough to drink.”
“Nope,” she said with a smile. “Way before that. I was a whiskey girl since I snuck my first bottle out of my parents’ liquor cabinet.”
“I think I remember you getting in trouble for that,” Luke said, pouring the whiskey. “Your parents found you and your friends drunk in the backyard. You were like sixteen, right?”
“I was,” she said with a laugh. “Can’t believe you remember that. Taheim and Ajay were pretty pissed, too. But I remember you telling me that although it seemed like the end of the world to have my entire family upset at me, it was a teenager’s rite of passage to misbehave.”
He nodded his head. “I did say that, but I have to admit, you scared the hell out of me, too. I’d never known someone who had to get their stomach pumped from too much alcohol.”
“I didn’t drink until I turned twenty after that incident,” she explained. “It was really my first time having liquor, so I didn’t know how my body would take to it. You would think I’d hate whiskey after that, but I like to forget that I ever had to go to the hospital.”
“I could never forget,” Luke said, clinking his glass to Kyra’s before they both took the shot. “You looked so helpless in the hospital and your parents had told me you were asleep. I wasn’t expecting that you’d wake up when I came in the room.”
“I felt you there,” she admitted. “I’d been out of it most the night, but something pulled my eyes open. I’d wanted it to be you and, surprisingly, it was.”
“Really?” he asked, his eyes studying hers. “Pretty sure I thought you wanted it to be someone from your family instead of me.”
Kyra rolled her eyes. “Luke, I had the biggest crush on you and that was the year that I finally noticed a hint of flirtation in your eyes that made me think that maybe you didn’t
see me as a little sister anymore.”
“That hint of flirtation you saw scared the crap out of me. I’m not gonna lie—I still looked at you like a little sister back then. But it was in a rare moment when we were hanging out at one of your family’s parties and I actually forgot that I shouldn’t be noticing certain things about you, like how your hair fell over your shoulders or the way your eyes twinkled when you laughed.” Luke poured himself another shot. “Jaleen noticed it at that same party and you called me out. Warning me that if Taheim and Ajay picked up on it, they’d kill me. Plus, I was in college and you were in high school. It just felt wrong.”
Kyra played with the rim of her shot glass, nervous to ask a question she’d had for years. “I understand why you felt the way you did back then. But by my twenty-first birthday, we were both adults and our five-year age difference didn’t seem that strange to me.”
“It wasn’t about the age thing at that point,” he said, holding her gaze. “Do you remember Jessica? My ex?”
“The one you were engaged to?” Kyra asked. “Things ended right before my birthday party. I thought that may have had something to do with it, but you’d seemed fine.”
“I thought I was fine, too,” he agreed. “Jessica was never good for me and deep down, I knew that. She only cared about herself and what I could do for her. If it didn’t revolve around making money or high social standing, she didn’t want to be concerned about it. She got her hooks in me in college because she knew even before I did that I would make something of myself. I was the one who broke off the engagement after overhearing her saying to the partners at her law firm that she was only with me because it looked good and that she’d already landed more clients because they liked the person I was.”
“That’s messed up,” Kyra said. “And you projected those feelings on me?”
“I did. And I’m so sorry because that was wrong of me. But I was in a bad place and didn’t know how to get out of it. I didn’t mean anything I said about you, but I knew the words would hurt and as much as I hate to admit it, I needed someone to hurt more than I was. It was an asshole move and I vowed to never make anyone feel less than after that situation. The guys had invited me down for your birthday because they knew I needed a change. Plus, I’d found out some news about my dad that had really messed up my head.”
“What was it?” she asked.
Luke sighed. “Back then, I knew damn well my dad was cheating on my mom. The first time I noticed something was going on was back when I was in like the third or fourth grade. Even then, I knew Dad shouldn’t have women in the house when my mom was at work. But he was my world when I was younger. I wanted to be just like my father.”
“He’s always been charismatic,” Kyra added. “Most young boys look up to their fathers, so it’s natural for you to only want to see the good.”
“That may be the case, but I was an idiot. When I finally decided to take a stand against my dad, we got into a huge altercation. Punches were thrown. Words were said. Revelations surfaced. And my only regret is that it took me so long to call my father out. I didn’t know Nash existed, but I shouldn’t have been surprised when he found me.”
“I’m so sorry, Luke,” Kyra said. “I had no idea that was going on between you and your dad. But you do know that it’s not your fault that Nash didn’t know your father growing up, right?”
Luke shrugged. “Yeah, I know. But I still feel guilty. Every time he brings up his birth mother, I can’t but wonder if she was one of those women I caught my dad with.”
“You may never know, and you’ll drive yourself crazy thinking about it.”
“I told Jessica some of it,” he said. “That mess with my dad went on for years and I confided in her only for her to tell me that I needed to get over my family issues and suck it up.”
“Like you said before, Jessica wasn’t good for you,” Kyra said. “She didn’t have a bone of empathy in her body. Besides, she never liked me, anyway.”
“Most of my exes didn’t like you,” Luke stated. “Clearly, despite my best efforts, they saw what I’d failed to acknowledge.”
Kyra swallowed. “What might that be?”
Luke held her eyes for a while, then he walked around the bar and placed his arms on either side of Kyra, pinning her still. “That I was crazy about you even when I tried convincing myself that I wasn’t.”
Kyra closed her eyes. “Or maybe you just think that you were because all of these stories about the past are making you nostalgic.”
Luke shook his head. “Nah, I know damn well what I’m feeling. What I’ve always felt. I may have tried to ignore it when I didn’t want to jeopardize my relationship with your brothers, but we’re adults and, quite frankly, I’m tired of fighting my feelings.”
Kyra opened her eyes, locking them with his. He’s dead serious. She could tell by the way he was staring at her, observing her, waiting for her to comment on what he’d said. Usually, she could find the words, but it was hard to say something during a moment she’d waited so long for. A moment she’d craved and dreamed about in every fantasy she’d ever had.
She liked to think she was a strong woman who could make the man of her dreams sweat a little before he won her over, but sitting on that bar stool, pinned between Luke and the counter, she couldn’t think of one good reason why she shouldn’t be taking full advantage of this opportunity to finally get with Luke.
Pulling his head down to hers, Kyra placed her lips on his, the taste of whiskey on each of their tongues increasing her awareness of the situation. As with the kisses they’d shared before, it was as if their mouths knew what their minds were still trying to figure out.
Luke clasped her around the waist and lifted her so that she was on the counter, the move catching her off guard. She felt like she was starring in her own romantic film, but the problem was, cheesy romance movies were so not Kyra. She didn’t do the pick-me-up-and-kiss-me-senseless thing. Up until college, she’d been a hard-core tomboy for goodness’ sake, thanks to her brothers. Yet sitting on this counter, her long skirt pushed up as Luke’s hands roamed her thighs, she couldn’t even handle how hot the moment was.
“Kyra,” Luke breathed between kisses. She wanted to answer him back. Had planned to say his name, too. Yet she was feeling too many emotions all at once to do anything other than soak in the moment with him.
Luke broke the kiss first and rested his forehead against hers. “Do you want this to go any further?”
She nodded. “Yes. Hell yeah.”
“Then we have to go to the bedroom,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t have a condom down here.”
“I can’t wait that long.” Kyra looked around the bar for her purse and spotted it. She pulled out a condom and tossed it to him. “We’re good.”
He looked from the condom to her. “Did you expect this would happen tonight?”
She shook her head. “No, but I figured it would happen sometime on this trip, so I wanted to be prepared. Now are you gonna keep talking or are you gonna help me off this counter and onto that soft-looking rug down there.”
Luke smiled before kissing her again, his lips not leaving hers as he lifted her off the counter and gently placed her on the rug in his living room. Kyra felt like she could feel him on every part of her body as they were lying there, kissing and touching in a way they never had before.
When Luke leaned up to remove his shirt, Kyra’s hands went to his pants. She unbuckled his jeans and helped him slide them down his hips, leaving him in only his boxers. She took a moment to admire his delicious-looking stomach, strong thighs and overall manly physique.
“You’ve always looked good,” she said. “But this...” She motioned up and down. “This body is on another level.”
“Thank you,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve been working on it.”
“It shows,” she replied, removing her shirt with
out warning. Luke’s eyes widened as she stood to unzip her skirt and slid it down her hips, leaving her in only her black lingerie set.
“Damn,” he said, kneeling to place soft kisses on her stomach and thighs. “You look amazing.” Instead of responding, she unhooked her bra and tossed it to the side with the rest of her clothes.
Luke visibly swallowed. “Was not expecting that.” She slid off her panties next. “Was expecting that a little more after the bra,” he said, causing her to laugh. The laugh didn’t last long because Luke was pulling her down to the couch instead of the floor and widening her legs.
“What are you doing?” she asked, the question dying on her lips the moment she felt his tongue teasing her nub. She expected him to take it slow because this was their first intimate moment together, but Luke clearly hadn’t gotten that memo because he was swirling his tongue and causing her to buck off the couch, showing no remorse for the way she was panting over how good it felt.
“Luke,” she whispered, trying to push his head away and pull it closer all at the same time. He hadn’t even been pleasing her long, and already she felt like she would burst if she didn’t have an orgasm soon. “I can’t take it.”
“You can,” he said, dipping his tongue even farther. The strokes of his tongue increased and sent her overboard as her orgasm erupted faster than she’d been prepared for. When she finally came down from the pleasure, Luke finally stood, a cocky look on his face.
“I’ll never forget your orgasm face,” he said.
“Ugh, please do. I’m sure it was horrible.”
“It was beautiful,” he said, helping her to the floor and putting on the condom. He planted her with a serious look.
“What’s wrong?”
“Are you still a virgin?”
She laughed. “Hell no. I got tired of waiting for a man who was convinced we shouldn’t be together, so I gave it up to the next sucka.”
Her Christmas Wish ; Designed by Love Page 10
