Chapter Twenty-Eight
Tayler
“Ican’t believe I agreed to this.” Sure, I’m talking to myself, but I’m okay with that. Luke’s left me alone in his bedroom so I can unpack my bag. He’s cleared out two drawers for me and half his closet. I don’t need anywhere near that kind of space, but it was nice of him. Part of me thinks I should take over his guest bedroom, but I know that won’t fly. We still need to talk, though.
I’m exhausted. I look over at his bedside clock and see it’s almost sunrise. It’s also Luke’s birthday.
Stopping my unpacking, I walk down the hallway into the living room. I expected to see him sitting on his sofa, but he’s not there. I peek into the kitchen, but he’s not there either. When I hear noise coming from the basement, I follow it. I haven’t been down here before, so I half expect it to be a moist haven for spiders. Fortunately, that’s not the case. He’s got a finished family room and what looks like a bedroom and a bath down here as well. Behind another door is a large laundry room.
“Lucky duck.”
I hear water running and decide he must be in the shower. I take this as an opportunity. Knocking on the door, I hear him say, “Enter.”
Pushing open the door, I marvel at the spa-like bathroom. It’s all done in gray and black tones, making it a more masculine design. “This is nice.”
“It is. I wish I could tell you I did this, but the basement was done when I moved in.”
“Why haven’t we hung out down here?”
“I don’t spend my time in the basement except to do laundry. I figured you’d want to shower and change up there, so I wanted to give you some space.”
“Oh. That was nice.” I should have showered, but I did that earlier.
I can see through the clear glass walls. Seeing this man wet, with soapy suds running down his muscular backside, is making me weak in the knees. I should probably go. Getting turned on is not what I or we need right now.
“I’m going to stay here tonight, but after that, I’m going to Cooke and Quinn’s.”
“No.”
I’m shocked by his response. But not so shocked that I can’t spit back, “Yes.”
“No.”
“Luke. Yes. Things with you and me—”
“Are confusing. Besides, I was wrong. You were right.”
“Wrong about what?” I shake my head but see, from the corner of my eye, that he’s washing his front, all the way down. It’s fascinating how thoroughly he’s cleaningeverything. “No. I can’t keep doing this with you, Luke. I’m exhausted from it. I’ll be better off on my own so I can focus on my work.”
I hear the water shut off and watch as he pushes open the door and steps out. Holy shit. I need to avert my eyes because it’s like looking into the sun.
Wrapping a towel around his waist, he moves closer. I’ve got my eyes down, staring at my toes. I need to polish them; they look horrible.
A long finger comes up underneath my chin, pushing my face up until we’re eye to eye. “Here’s what I propose.”
I remain silent.
“I propose you sleep in my room and I sleep on the couch.”
“No. Why?”
“I want you to stay with me so I know you’re safe. You can cut your hours at the bar if you want so you can focus on school, though you don’t have to. If you do that, I’ll make you a promise.”
“What promise?”
“I promise we’ll talk. I mean really talk. I’ll take you out. On dates. I’ll court you.”
I want to scoff, but he looks sincere. “Why now?”
