“Oh.” A smile pushes at my mouth. “Uh, yeah, I’m okay.”
His brow wrinkles uncertainly and I slide a hand up the back of his neck, tilting his head down so I can kiss him.
“Luke, that was…” I try to find the words to describe how I’m feeling. Satisfied, yes, but it’s more than that. I feel empowered. I feel strong. I feel like I’ve tapped into a new inner power I didn’t even know was there. “That was unlike anything I’ve ever done. That was the hottest sex I’ve ever had.”By fucking light years.
His face relaxes into a grin. “Okay, good. I just wanted to check. And for the record, same here.” He leans in to turn on the shower, then kisses me again before leaving me alone in the bathroom.
As I step into the warm water, it feels like a baptism. I can’t explain it; all I know is that I’m not the same person I was when I woke this morning. I feel like I’ve been reborn.
28
Luke takes me somewhere on the Lower East Side, and when our cab pulls up he opens the door with a secretive little smile. In his hand is a folder he grabbed from his office before we left, but he hasn’t told me what’s inside. In fact, he hardly said anything on the drive over and I’m not sure what to make of it.
We step from the cab and I glance around, trying to figure out what he has planned, but nothing catches my eye. I’m even more confused when a guy in a shirt and tie grins at Luke and wanders over to clap him on the shoulder.
“Hawkins!” he says, then turns to me, extending a hand. “You must be Harriet. I’m Isaac.”
“Er, hi.” I shake Isaac’s hand, bewildered.
“Isaac is in real estate,” Luke explains, but that only raises more questions than it answers.
“Here’s the ring.” Isaac pulls a familiar velvet box from his pocket and I lunge on it, relief rushing through me. I pop it open and check all is as it should be, then turn back to Isaac.
“Thank you so much. But…” I glance at Luke in confusion.
“It was Isaac’s wife, Julia, I took the ring to last night,” he explains. “And when I was over there chatting with them, I had an idea.”
I draw a breath to ask for more information, but Luke gestures for me to follow Isaac, who’s pulling out some keys. He leads us to an empty shop and fiddles with the lock before swinging open the glass doors and guiding us inside. It’s dark, then I hear a switch flick and a row of lights along the ceiling illuminates the space.
I wander down the length of the store, taking it in. It’s long, receding back from the street, with exposed ceilings. The walls are a mess, with peeling paint and half-demolished drywall in places. There is what appears to once have been a bar, stacked with crates, and a door behind it that I can only assume leads to a kitchen or something. In one corner is a stack of chairs and tables.
I turn to Luke, wondering why on earth we are here. He says something to Isaac, his voice low, his eyes on me, and Isaac nods.
“Okay, well, I’ll leave you guys alone for a while,” he says with a smile, and heads back out the door.
Luke wanders towards me with a half-smile on his lips, and for a second I think he’s going to kiss me, that he’s brought me here to have sex. I’m not saying I wouldn’t consider it, but it does seem a bit odd.
Unless… Oh God, maybe this is some kind of kinky sex club? Maybe it’s like those secret speakeasies you hear about, where it looks like nothing and you have to do a special knock somewhere and a door opens leading you to a basement. My mind floods with images of sex dungeons, walls lined with whips and chains, and my stomach knots with apprehension. I might have loved our adventurous time in the kitchen this morning, but there are only so many sexual achievement badges I want to unlock today.
I watch Luke warily, but he pulls up a couple of chairs and motions for me to sit. So I do, setting my bag down beside me.
“What do you think?” he asks, placing the folder on his lap.
“Um…” I glance around and back at him. “For what?”
“For a board game cafe.”
What?
Surprise steals my breath. I open and close my mouth, but no words come out.
Luke chuckles. “I’ve been thinking about what you said, that you wanted to do it but didn’t know where to start. When I saw Isaac last night, I remembered he works in commercial real estate. I ran the idea by him, and he had a look through his listings to see what might work.” Luke grins as he gestures to the space around us.
I stare at him, stunned. First of all, he went out of his way to get the ring sorted for me because he knew I was freaking out. And now, he’s brought me here…
When I don’t say anything, his smile recedes. “I know it doesn’t look like much right now, but there’s a lot of potential here. I don’t think it would take much to do it up. You would have to invest in some stock, but”—he taps the folder—“I did some initial projections, and I think after about six months you should be able to turn a decent profit.”
I swallow, trying to process this. He thinks this could work. He thinks this is possible.
