“Huh? Oh, right. Can I have next weekend off? Hannah wants to stay with me.”
“Of course you can.”
I leaned into his touch. “Excellent. My plan to seduce the boss for personal favors is paying off, then.” I grinned, then kissed his hand and tried something new: sincerity. “Thank you.”
James helped me clean up enough to go home in the employee bathroom—but not before I pulled him into a make-out session in the hall. We kissed until my lips were pink and swollen, even more than they already had been from the blowjob. Then he ushered me out the door.
I was grinning from ear to ear as I fished my keys from my pocket and worked through them to find the one for my car. Distracted, I didn’t see Luke in front of me until I slammed into his chest.
Chapter 21
I stumbled,feeling Luke’s hands on my biceps as I steadied myself. “I’m so sorry,” I said. “I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be out at this time of night.” I paused. “Whatareyou doing here at this time of night?”
“I was hoping to catch you.” He grinned, flashing pearl-white teeth. “Though not quite so literally.” He gestured to the parking lot. “Can I walk you to your car?”
I nodded, and Luke fell into step right beside me. His blond hair wasn’t styled this time, instead hanging in his face in a perfectly disheveled manner. His green eyes sparkled in the moonlight as he looked at me, and I felt my heart speed up. “So, what’s up?”
He licked his lips, clearly nervous. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you, Ryder. I know Kian’s relationship with your daughter complicates things, but I owed it to myself to try again.”
I found myself smiling. “Luke, I’m flattered, really, but I just started something with someone.”
He eyed the bar. “James?”
I tried to come up with some witty remark, but I was stillfighting off the aftershocks of that quickie in the office, and my silence was answer enough. Luke lowered his eyes, clearly disappointed. “I figured.”
I leaned against my car door, fidgeting with my keys. “How so?”
Luke leveled me with a single look. “We both heard the jealousy in his voice when he kicked me out of the bar.”
After everything the last few weeks, my heart fluttered at the memory. “Yeah, at the time I thought it was wishful thinking.”
Luke seemed to notice my appearance for the first time. Though I’d straightened up a little, there were still signs: my wild hair, the hickey on my neck, my rumpled clothes. “That good, huh?”
“After the orgasms he’s given me in the last twenty-four hours, I’m surprised I’m still standing.”
Luke choked. “Orgasms?Multiple?” He shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t know which one of you I’m more jealous of.”
James’s voice rang out behind Luke. “Yes, I’ve heard you’ve taken quite the interest in me.” Before I knew it, he’d crossed the parking lot and shouldered himself between us. “Are you okay?” he asked me.
“I’m fine,” I said, confused. “I’m not some damsel that needs saving.”
Luke jumped in. “I was just saying how happy I am for you two.”
“Thank you. Feel free to congratulate us during normal business hours,” James said coldly. The air grew warmer between us. Was James trying tomeltLuke away from me?
Eventually—and after a long, awkward silence—it worked. Luke looked at James, then at me, forcing a smile through his discomfort. “Good night, then.”
I stayed silent until Luke was well out of earshot. James refused to look at me, instead pacing in front of me with hiseyes on the ground. “What the hell was that all about?” I asked.
“I thought he was bothering you.”
I crossed my arms. “And if he was, I would’ve handled it.”
James sighed. “I know.”
“Then why did you run out here and chase him away like some white knight in a Taylor Swift music video?”
James stayed quiet, seeming to know he’d been caught.
