Page 15

“ What?! ” For some reason, his tone was agitated, and I could feel the barely controlled berserker energy rippling off of him in waves. “Why would he do that?”

I thought about lying, at the very least telling him it was none of his business. But the wide marble counter between us provided a separation that made the situation feel safe and like a weird kind of confessional. “ Apparently …I’m boring.”

“He called you boring?” Lukas leaned back and folded his arms, his flexed muscles straining the limitations of his sleeves.

I fidgeted and pressed my lips into a tight line.

His eyebrows came together over those intense, pale blue eyes. “You’re telling me he cheated on you, called you boring, and you’re still living with him?”

My face filled with heat. “No. He’s letting me stay in his apartment for a couple of months while I figure out a new living arrangement. While I’m doing that, he’s staying with…with a friend.”

Lukas’s eyes widened in a way that told me he knew exactly who Daniel was staying with. “You’re kidding.”

“No.” Was that really so unbelievable?

“I didn’t see anyone’s shit lying out in front of the building.”

“What do you mean?” I scrolled through the photos I’d taken so far. Every single one of them was perfection. It was as gratifying as it was annoying.

“You haven’t thrown his shit out,” Lukas explained. “Did you destroy some of it? Throw it into the building incinerator?”

I looked up from my camera roll. “Of course not!”

Lukas stared at me for several long seconds before he shook his head in disappointment. “If your boyfriend trusts you to live in his place and not destroy his shit… I’m sorry, Elliette, but maybe you are boring.”

“That’s not…” I squirmed, not knowing how to get myself out of this conversation. “He just…didn’t think we were compatible.”

Lukas kept his eyes locked on mine, and there was no missing the second he figured out what Daniel had meant by boring .

Lukas’s gaze descended my body.

I knew what he saw: decent-sized breasts and a narrow waist, but a not-so-flat stomach with rounded hips and an ass that betrayed my love of Connors’ Bakery donuts.

“See anything you like?” I asked in an irritated tone.

“Elliette… Just because I wasn’t interested in you when you were eighteen— or now for that matter —doesn’t mean your ex isn’t a complete idiot. In other words, I’m pretty sure you weren’t the problem.”

My brain couldn’t process the meaning behind his concluding words, and even if I could, Lukas didn’t give me time to do it, because he followed that shocking statement up with a question: “So, how were you feeling about the way things were between you?”

I shrugged, wishing I’d never let myself fall into this conversation. “I thought everything was fine.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Fine? You mean, the sex was fine?”

“Good,” I said quickly as the back of my neck started prickling with sweat. “The sex was good . Normal. You know?”

He refilled my wine glass. I didn’t even remember finishing it.

“Normal?” he asked in a way that made the word sound sour. “Are you saying you never got past missionary?”

“We’re not talking about this.”

Lukas set the bottle down and picked up his glass. “You brought it up.”

“I don’t think I did! Not really, anyway. And what the hell is wrong with missionary?”

He sighed heavily.

Oh my god. Had Daniel sighed like that whenever we did it missionary style? “Are you saying I’m a skinless chicken breast?”

Lukas had just taken a sip, and he sputtered, “What the hell?”

“You know…basic nutrition, but nothing to get too excited about?”

Lukas wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.

I pressed my palm against my chest. “I need to prove to Daniel that he’s wrong.”

Lukas frowned at that. “You’re not proving anything to that asshole. He doesn’t deserve a single bit of your time, attention, or concern.”

“Then to the next guy who comes along. If only there was a manual!”

He cocked his head. “A manual?”

“Yes. A how-to manual. Sex for Dummies. ” Oh god, how did I get onto this path? What happened to my totally professional work meeting?

“ Jesus .” Lukas took another big swig of his wine.

“Easy for you to say.” I was on a tear now. “You’re a berserker. You could probably teach the class. Or write the book. Or…whatever.”

He almost smiled. “Listen, Elliette…”

“ Elli .”

“We’ve gotten way off track of what tonight is supposed to be about.”

“You think?! ” My face had to be three shades of red.

He opened a kitchen drawer and took out a pen and a scrap of paper

I was starting to feel a little desperate. “What are you doing?”

He scribbled something out and slid the paper across the island to me.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“The address for an adult website. Nothing too hard-core. Quite cinematic.”

Blood drained out of my head, then rushed back in. “I don’t watch porn. I’ve never watched porn.”

“Like…never ever?” His eyebrows shot up. “Not even in high school?”

“Are you kidding me? Even if I was into it, can you imagine anyone watching porn in my father’s house?” I scoffed. The very idea was laughable.

In fact, Lukas did laugh for the second time that night. “Your dad had all kinds of kinky shit in that house you grew up in.”

“ Ewww. No, he did not.” Our household was as strict and strait-laced as it could be. We certainly didn’t have a red-painted room in the basement with shackles and whips.

“Uh, yes he did. I know because I saw Rogue’s magazine collection—the old-school print kind—which he stole from your old man. Maybe watching a few adult videos will spark your creativity.”

My black turtleneck sweater suddenly felt very tight, and my cheeks were heating up again. At this rate, my blood pressure was so out of whack, it was a wonder I didn’t pass out.

“Hey,” he said softly. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“I’m not embarrassed.”

“Okay,” he said. “You’re not embarrassed.”

I folded the paper and shoved it into my pocket. “We should get back to the interview and take a few more photos. Maybe by the windows?”

“Okay, but seriously…I’m sorry.”

“For what?” I kept my gaze on the floor—a familiar focus for those times when he became too difficult to look at.

“Like I said. For lunch. For seven years ago. For what that asshole said and did to you. And for embarrassing you now.”

I was about to repeat that I wasn’t embarrassed, but my cheeks were clearly giving me away. “Apology accepted. Now?—”

“Thanks. I mean it, Elliette. That means more than you know.”

I looked up, and Lukas’s face was softer and more relaxed than I’d ever seen it before.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I won’t have many more opportunities to make amends. ”

“Now, what’s that supposed to mean?” I swore sometimes the man talked in riddles. “Are you going somewhere?”

He shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Well, good. You’ve got the playoffs.”

His expression turned wistful. “Hopefully.”

“No. Not hopefully . You promised. You said ‘the drought is over.’”

Lukas’s face broke into a wide smile. “You’re right. It’s practically written in the books already.”

I exhaled. “That’s better. Now…by the windows?”

“Sure. Want my shirt off this time?”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “That’s still a no.”

“You’re right. Best to build up the Spriggans’ fan base slowly. Don’t want to overwhelm them right from the get-go.”

I moved the ring light over by the window. “Did anyone ever tell you you’re full of yourself?”

“Yes,” he said. “In fact, I think you have.”

I laughed at that.

“You never used to laugh,” he said softly.

I stopped laughing, cutting it off like a switch.

“Sorry,” he said. “But when you were younger, you were always so serious.”

“I was a serious kid.” I considered mentioning that he hadn’t exactly been much of a comedian.

“I don’t think that’s it,” he said.

“What do you think it is then?”

“I think your dad kept you on a short leash. I think he had two standards: one for your brother and one for you. Now, you’re finally coming into your own, Elliette. Look at how you handled O’Rourke in that meeting.”

I bowed my head. “Elli. ”

“What?”

My head shot back up. “You keep calling me Elliette.”

“Because that’s your name.” He said this as if I’d forgotten.

“I hate it.”

“Why?” he asked. “It’s beautiful. I always thought so.”

I shook my head. “I was supposed to be Elliot —with an O.T.—after my dad’s dad. The sonogram said I was supposed to be a boy. Dad never got over the fact that I wasn’t.”

“Mmm,” Lukas said in understanding. “He wasn’t a good girl dad.”

“He wasn’t a good dad, period. My whole life, it was like I was invisible. The only time he took notice were those few times I stepped over the line. Then he paid attention. And he never liked what he saw.”

“I don’t remember you stepping over any lines.”

I wished Lukas was right about that, but the contents of my closet were proof that I still dressed like my father was measuring my hemlines.

No higher than your fingertips, Elliette. Do you think I want my daughter looking like a trollop?

“I can still hear his voice,” I said softly. That scratchy, cigarette-scarred voice.

Hurry up, Elliette. Your brother can’t be late to practice.

You call this kitchen clean?

Creative writing club? Is that even a thing? Seems like a waste of time.

“He should have paid better attention to you,” Lukas said softly.

I shrugged. “It wasn’t just him. With Evan being Evan—tall, athletic, smart, cool —I was invisible to most people.”

Lukas’s eyebrows drew together, but before he could comment or argue or whatever it was he planned on doing, the buzzer went off on the oven.

He turned his head toward the sound as though he’d forgotten all about dinner, then let out a breath and put on some oven mitts.

He took out the pan. Steam rose toward the ceiling, and the spicy aroma bloomed in the air.

“Wow,” I said, my mouth already watering. “You can actually cook.”

“I can actually read ,” he said. “I just followed the recipe.”

“You’re going to make someone an excellent husband,” I said, then immediately regretted my words.