So why did I like the way she looked in my penthouse? Why was I looking forward to having someone to come home to, assuming she didn’t wreck the place? Why did my heart start pounding when I touched her shoulder?
The elevator popped open, shaking me from my thoughts. I stepped in and turned around just in time to see her watching me as the doors closed. I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.
My suit was feeling tighter in the pants. Even after all these years, Clara was like a drug. She had an instant effect on me and I was powerless to control myself—and I was always in control. It was the secret to my success.
When I walked into the network offices of SportsMax, the place was jumping. Things were always busy around here. Live broadcasts made everything intense and things could change at any second. That was why dependability was so important.
On my way to the production meeting, one of the board members spotted me. Marshall Lipton had a lot of sway with the other executives and he loved me, except he also thought I wasn’t steady enough to take control behind the scenes.
“Luke,” he called out. “Welcome back. I heard you were out for a few days.”
I nodded and shook the man’s hand. “I don’t like taking time off, but sometimes you have to.”
He laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. “No need to apologize, son. I hope you were on a yacht with a supermodel, living it up for the rest of us.”
“Believe it or not, I actually went home to Texas to visit my family,” I said.
“I don’t believe it,” Marshall replied, shaking his head.
It occurred to me that this was the perfect opportunity to get the rumor mill going. I had to break the news somehow, but I wasn’t going to announce it to the whole office. Starting small was the way to go.
“The truth is, sir, I’ve got a girlfriend now,” I said. “And I doubt she’d like me yachting off the Costa Del Sol.”
Marshall’s eyes widened and he grinned. “I never thought I’d see the day. Someone finally snagged Luke Whitaker, the eternal bachelor?”
“I haven’t put a ring on her finger or anything, but yeah, she’s different. She’s special.”
Insanely enough, the words didn’t taste like a lie on my tongue. Clara really was a special woman. We could never have any kind of romantic entanglement, but if I, the eternal bachelor Luke Whitaker, ever settled down, I knew it would be with someone like Clara.
CHAPTER 10
CLARA
After Luke left me all alone, I sat on his couch with my hands folded in my lap, not wanting to move or touch anything. He had gotten angry when I picked up his award and I didn’t want to knock something out of place and make him even madder. But eventually I got bored and had to pee, so I went looking for the bathroom.
The place had several of them. Each bedroom seemed to have one attached. I picked one that looked like it hadn’t been used in a while and took the fanciest tinkle of my life.
The toilet seat was pre-warmed through some sort of sorcery I didn’t understand. Buttons beside me seemed like controls for the toilet from the future, but I had no idea what any of them did. With my luck, I would hit an ejector button and go flying across the room. Best to leave them be.
The warmth on my buns was plenty of luxury all on its own.If this is how rich people live, sign me up.
My toasty tush, more than anything else, brought the reality of my situation into crystal-clear focus. I was in New York, on the cusp of getting everything I wanted, if only I could pretend to be the kind of woman Luke wanted.
I wasn’t sure I could do that. Acting had once been my goal, back when I first started with drama classes in high school, but I really found my calling behind the curtain, working with sets, wrangling actors and props, and making the show run smoothly.
I didn’t need to see my name in lights or be on a magazine. It would be enough for me to be a part of the team, making a successful show. With the money I would make from Luke’s wild arrangement, I would be able to get a place out here and start knocking on doors. Broadway, here I come.
If I could be the woman he needed to be. That remained to be seen.
I took a hot shower to ease some of the tension from my shoulders. Unlike the toilet, the shower only had one button. Feeling brave, I pressed it and the shower came to life. Hidden showerheads appeared from the tile to rain down steamy water.
Maybe the thing had already been preset for this. Maybe you could change things with an app. Luke’s apartment needed an instruction manual and maybe some sort of onboarding orientation. At the very least, a pamphlet.
As I showered, I thought about what to do with myself. Touching things was frowned upon. If I wasn’t so tired, I would hit the streets and take a walk around, really soak in the city vibes. Luke also hadn’t left me with a way to lock the door or get back up on the elevator. I wasn’t exactly a prisoner, but leaving didn’t seem like a good idea.
I dried off after the shower, wrapped the towel around myself, and peeked out of the room I was in to make sure I was still alone. “Luke?” I called out, and the responding silence spooked me.
Feeling like a little kid, I ran to get my suitcase from the living area and brought it into the room I had decided was mine. Some of the clothes I had brought were nice, as far as I was concerned, but I wasn’t about to dress up for Luke tonight. Heprobably wouldn’t like anything I had brought with me anyway. I would just have to let him dress me up like a doll tomorrow.
