SEVEN
LUKE SHOVED ASIDE HIS EMPTY coffee cup with a growl. Two hours of emails and spreadsheets had done nothing to improve his foul mood since he’d climbed out of bed, leaving a sleeping Claire warm and soft behind him. He’d hated coming to bed after she’d already fallen asleep, and he hated even more leaving his bed before she woke up. The fact he loved how she curled into him, her body seeking him even in sleep made it that much harder. Those were dangerous feelings and ones he’d given far too much play. Knowing he needed some distance and fast didn’t keep him from turning into a frustrated bastard.
Maybe if she wasn’t in his space, maybe then he could get her out from under his skin. The thought made him angrier. He wasn’t sure how they’d ended up spending every night together but he’d already gotten too comfortable with the arrangement. His auburn haired electrical contractor was too fucking addictive.
With the thought came the image of her naked, bound open and aching for him, and his cock shot to iron hard. He’d gotten too used to starting his day inside her. He’d tried to shift things back to just fucking but it only made things worse. Taking her over the edge again and again had been amazing, but instead of the control he usually felt when he had a woman tied up and open for him, it felt like Claire still had all the power. The way she’d let him take her any way he wanted to, the openness with which she gave herself to him, it undid everything he thought he knew.
She wasn’t just some arm candy who wanted his money and was willing to trade a quick fuck – hell a long one for that matter – to get it. Claire was strong, capable, smart and sexier than any woman he’d ever been with. That she’d trusted him, willingly offering all of herself to him without holding anything back practically took him to his knees.
And it wasn’t going to work. She was a thousand times braver than he was. Loving Claire – fuck he couldn’t believe he was even thinking it – and losing her would destroy him. He didn’t think he’d survive and surviving was one of the things he did best. The risk was unacceptable.
Without bothering to check the time, he dialed his phone and waited two rings until Jackson picked up. The extra ring was the only concession his head of security made to the early hour.
“Please, tell me you know something,” snapped Luke, more than happy to share his shitty mood with someone he paid to put up with it.
“Nothing concrete,” said other man after a brief pause. “I still haven’t been able to make a connection between what happened at Ms. English’s property and the death at the Ashton Court site.”
“So you still don’t know if she’s the target or if someone is messing with my jobsite or if it was an accident?”
“No.”
Luke could tell by the tone of his voice it cost Jackson something to say it but he appreciated the honesty.
“There haven’t been any real problems on your jobs before, have there? Something that didn’t seem important enough to mention?” asked Jackson.
“Nothing that I can think of. You’ve handled security when I’ve needed it on all the recent ones.” But as he said it, Luke thought about Sparks and his incredulity at the minor thefts on the jobsite. It was easy to discount the construction manager’s concerns as brown nosing or worse dishonesty, but what if it wasn’t? In light of everything that happened, he’d at least have to take a second look at things.
“The only common denominator I’ve been able to come up with so far is Ms. English herself,” said Jackson. “I have to ask, sir. Is there any reason you know about for someone to want to hurt her? Or for someone connected to her to try something to get to you? You were invested to begin with. That’s seems to have only gotten stronger since the vandalism.”
Luke smirked, glad his head of security couldn’t see him. He had no idea exactly how much more invested in Claire Luke had gotten. “Again, not that I know of,” he finally said.
“I have to ask, sir. Do you trust her?”
“Absolutely,” said Luke without a moment’s hesitation, the revelation catching him off guard. “Do you think she’s in any danger?” Saying the words had something tightening in his throat. He had to get a fucking grip where Claire was concerned.
“I don’t think so. If she is going back to her house I can expand security to cover her there if you want.”
It was the smart thing to do. Get Claire out of his house so he could get her out from under his skin and find some fucking perspective. They were just supposed to be having sex, not living together. He couldn’t risk falling any deeper, but he couldn’t stand the idea of her leaving either.
“No,” he said, finally. “I’m keeping her with me. Call me as soon as you know something.”
Luke hung up the phone and glanced at his watch. Five-thirty. Claire should be awake and getting ready for work. If he hurried he could fuck her in the shower before they went their separate ways for the day.
CLAIRE HIT THE skip track button, turned up the music and sang louder. Adele might want someone to feel her love, but it was the last thing in the world Claire wanted to think about. She dipped her roller in the primer and started to cover the walls of the upstairs bedroom. There was plenty to do on the house before she got deep into the finishing, but she still needed to have the floors re-sanded on the second floor, and it made sense to paint before she did that. A line of lighter unfinished wood ran along one wall from where she’d stopped the guy Luke had hired to fix the floors after the vandalism.
Thinking about Luke knotted her stomach. She couldn’t help but feel that something had changed the night of the funeral. She’d almost let herself believe they might have a chance for a real future. But instead of growing closer, every day they seemed to be slipping apart. It wasn’t the sex. They’d had more sex in the past week than she’d had in months in other relationships.
He was amazing. He did things to her body she’d only read about, and she’d had orgasms so strong she’d come close to blacking out. His appetite was relentless, and she’d been happy to feed it, especially since most of the time that meant letting him give her more pleasure than she’d imagined possible.
Despite the fact they had sex at least once a day and he insisted she stay at his place, she felt farther away from him than she ever had. She was nothing if not practical. According to Luke, Jackson was still concerned that Pete’s death and the vandalism at her flip were connected. The police had allowed Luke to reopen the Ashton Court job, but he was worried she might be in danger. She’d never be one of thecheck out the dark barnhorror movie victim types. If Jackson was concerned, she’d be extra careful. Since she didn’t want Luke to spend any more money on her than he already had, it made sense for her to stay at his place for a while. She didn’t have a cat or even a house plant to worry about, and in the beginning she’d loved being with Luke. Even if she had to keep reminding herself that she couldn’t afford to actually love him.
The problem was that except for when he was inside her, she rarely saw him. They both worked crazy hours. She’d lost so much time to the asbestos removal on her flip and doing some of the extra finishing work was always slow going. She could only imagine how busy Luke was. She had to imagine because she didn’t know when she’d find the time to ask him. He never went to bed with her and he was gone by the time she woke up in the morning, occasionally emerging from his office long enough for a quickie before they both left for the day.
She promised herself over and over they’d talk instead of fuck, but then he’d touch her effectively putting an end to her resolve. Her body’s response to him was almost Pavlovian. She saw him; she got wet. He touched her; she wanted him. And she’d let him have her any way he wanted. She couldn’t seem to resist him and the lack of control scared her. She’d never been a big risk taker, and she was afraid she was taking a huge one with Luke.
Refilling her paint roller, she went back to singing along with Annie Lennox, shaking her head when “I Put a Spell on You” started to play. The phone vibrated in her pocket and she jostled things around to reach it, smiling in spite of herself when she saw Luke’s number on her phone.
“Hey,” she said.
