ELEVEN
MY GOD, HE LOVEDFEEDING her.
Luke was used to impressing women. With his money, it wasn’t much of a challenge. For most women it was designer clothes or jewelry. For others it was being seen and photographed in the right places on the arm of a powerful man. For Claire, it was all about the experience, and she couldn’t have charmed him more.
He’d taken lots of women to famous restaurants, but none of them appreciated it like Claire. They were much more interested in who was at the table next to them than what was on their plates, if they bothered to eat at all. But not her, she tasted everything, marveling at the combinations of flavors as well as the presentation. Instead of pushing her food around, she cleaned her plate, and when she tasted something she particularly liked, her eyes would drift shut in pleasure the way they did when he touched her. He would never be able to think of food the same way again.
Being with Claire was like getting to experience things for the first time all over again. He was going to love showing her the rest of the world.
“How is it that someone as curious as you, never made it to New York City before?” he asked, taking a sip of a truly delicious Pinot.
She hesitated, glancing down, her lashes a thick fringe on her rosy cheeks. He could tell she was wrestling with something so he waited until she took a deep breath and looked up at him.
“My family wasn’t big on vacations. We went to Nags Head a couple of times, but that’s about it. Mom was a homebody. She loved taking care of my dad and me, but she was never really interested in going outside of the area she grew up in. Especially not up here with the Yankees,” she said in a mock whisper. “Daddy worked all the time. I knew he loved me, but it wasn’t until I started following him to jobs that I got to spend any real time with him. He was too busy to travel.”
If it made her sad, it didn’t show. Claire spoke of her parents with love and affection. Nothing like the relationship he’d had with his father. Although what the fuck he was doing thinking about that? His past was his past. Over. Not to be relived, reflected on and sure as hell not to be shared with someone as perceptive as Claire.
“What about you?” she asked, licking lemon curd from her spoon and making that fuck me face.
“I love to travel. I don’t get to go as often as I’d like, at least not beyond checking on cities where I already own property. But discovering someplace new, it’s one of my favorite things to do.”
He could tell she expected him to continue and maybe talk about his own family. That wasn’t going to happen. He was far more interested in putting her sweet mouth to good use than sitting here, dodging the questions he knew were coming. He ran his thumb over her bottom lip and licked the tangy sweetness of lemon from his thumb. Her eyes turned emerald in the warm lighting, and her saw her draw in a breath.
“I don’t want to rush you, sweetheart, but we should probably go. You’ll want time to get ready for tonight.”
Apprehension clouded her expression, and he was struck yet again by how different she was than the women he was used to. Any of them would have welcomed a chance to spend hours primping and preening for a chance to be photographed on his arm. The expression on Claire’s face said it was more duty than pleasure. He’d simply have to change that.
WHEN THEYGOT to the penthouse, he fought the urge to take her to the bedroom and fuck her until they were out of time. Instead, he steered her to the spare bedroom he never used. Rolling racks filled with everything from gowns to casual clothes had been set up in the middle of the room. She took a step back, and he had the pleasure of seeing her eyes go wide. There was something so satisfying about knocking a take charge in control woman like Claire off her feet.
“What is this?” she asked, still hovering in the doorway.
He laughed and gave her a little nudge over the threshold. “You need clothing, and you didn’t want to go shopping. My assistant called…”
“Anna, sir,” said the discreetly dressed woman, rising from a side chair.
“Anna brought over anything you might need. I’ve got some business to take care of before tonight. I’ll see you in a little bit.’
Claire looked at him wide eyed and apprehensive, much more like a woman on her way to a test than one facing racks of beautiful clothing.
“Relax, sweetheart,” he said, planting a kiss on her cheek. “This is supposed to be fun.”
AFTER AWHIRLWIND day, she couldn’t seem to get her bearings. It started last night, if she was being honest, when he showed up at the flip house with food for her. He took care of everything, never really giving her a chance to catch her breath. And now, simply because she said she didn’t want to go shopping, he’d had them bring the store to her. He asked questions, paid attention and then acted on what she said.
That kind of attention was intoxicating and too one sided.
“Miss,” said the young woman in the demur black dress. “Mr. Master’s assistant said you’d need an evening gown and cocktail dresses as well as day wear. What would you like to start with?”
Was she really going to let him do this? Let him dress her? She took care of herself. She always had. She wasn’t used to this kind of attention and didn’t think she’d ever be. But the only other choice she could see was to embarrass him by not having appropriate clothing or worse send him off to a party alone, oozing sex and power while she sat here and prayed he remembered to come back to her.
Neither was an appealing option.
The clothes were a big deal for her, but they weren’t for him. It was easy to forget how rich he was. This kind of expense probably didn’t even hit his radar. Regardless of the truth in that thought, it didn’t make Claire any more comfortable. She’d never be able to give him what he gave her. It wasn’t just the money, it was the way he took care of everything without ever losing control himself.
It was just another reason to try to keep at least a piece of her heart safe. She didn’t know what they had together, but it could never be a real relationship. Not when they were on such uneven footing. She either had to enjoy what they had for now or get out while she still had a chance.
Taking a deep calming breath, she made her decision for better or worse.
“Let’s start with tonight, Anna.”
