“Thanks,” I said as she handed me a cracker sandwich.
“I’m making steak skewers with aioli and an arugula salad with grilled pears and crème fraiche over at my place. It should be done in a few minutes.” She said the whole thing with a smirk.
“What do you want?” I said, taking a swallow of the champagne. It was crisp and delicious. I knew the significance of the vintage, and they hadn’t been lying. I wanted to just grab the bottle and drink the rest of it myself.
“I don’t want a thing,” she said, popping a cube of cheese into her mouth. “I just . . . have a proposition for you. And for you, actually.” She turned to Lucah, and he raised one eyebrow. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I had the feeling I wasn’t going to like it, and neither was Lucah.
“So, your brother needs a job, correct?” That was all she needed to say for me to know what she wanted.
“No,” I said and Lucah shook his head and swallowed some of the champagne.
“No to what? You haven’t even heard my idea!”
“I can pretty much figure out your idea, and the answer is no,” I said. I glanced at Lucah. Back me up here.
“I don’t need your permission,” she said, draining the glass of champagne.
“No, you don’t, Sloane. But that’s not the way to get what you want,” Lucah finally said.
“How do you know what I want? Can you read my mind?” Sloane snapped, pouring more of the champagne. Oh, crap. This was not going to end well. Sloane liked to get her way.
“No, but I know the effect my brother can have. I’ve seen it many times, and I’ve seen what happens when that initial spark dies out. He’s not very nice, my brother, and he needs to figure his shit out. This is not the solution.” His speech was met with silence from Sloane.
“It was just a suggestion.” She acted like a pouty teenager, and it was completely out of character for her. I wondered if this had anything to do with the conversation we’d had not that long ago about her being afraid that she was going to end up alone. I also had the suspicion that Lucah and me moving in together had something to do with her extremely petulant and childish behavior. Just a hunch.
“I have to go check on dinner,” she said and left, taking her champagne glass with her.
“That went well,” I said, finishing my glass and pouring some more. The bottle was almost empty. So much for savoring the vintage.
“It’ll be for the best, in the long run. He’d break her, and I couldn’t stand to see that happen. She’s too good for him.” It wasn’t that Lucah had such a low opinion of his brother. Ryder’s track record spoke for itself. Lucah had filled me in on more of the dirty details, and most of the stories were shocking.
Ryder had done it all. Sex, drugs and rock and roll, leaving a trail of heartbroken women in his wake. One had even killed herself when he’d broken up with her. She’d been severely depressed and on drugs at the time. Drugs he’d sold her. And there was more. So much more.
It would be so much easier of Sloane was a teenager and I was her mother. Then I could lock her in her room. But maybe I could lock her in her apartment . . .
“But if she’s determined to have him, in whatever sense, there is nothing we can do about it. God, I wish I could ship him off to military school,” Lucah said.
This had been happening increasingly more often. I would think something and then he would say nearly the same thing out loud. Sometimes I wondered if Lucah and I were absorbing each other and someday we’d wake up and we’d be attached at the hip. Literally. That wouldn’t be so bad.
“I know, but she’s an adult and she has to make her own decisions.” He held out his arms and I leaned into them while he pulled my hair out of its low ponytail and ran his fingers through it.
“We could always tell her he has herpes.” That made me smile.
“I love you.”
“I love you, Sunshine.” Love made you feel fluttery even when your boyfriend mentioned herpes.
2
Sloane’s dinner was delicious, of course. All her dinners were. This happened to be extra fabulous, as if she was trying to rub it in our faces. Thankfully, she did let us eat alone, but not before she left a box for me, with strict orders that we weren’t to open it until we’d finished dinner. I had to race Lucah to get to it before he could.
“No peeking. It ruins the surprise.” I dashed to my bathroom and locked the door. I think he let me win that race on purpose, though. I knew he liked seeing the lingerie on me better than seeing it in the box.
This time it was a black bra and panties that were made out of the same material as my gown from the company ball, and had little ruffles. It was adorable, but not the kind of thing you could wear under clothes, because of the ruffles. So I had no choice but to open the bathroom door and slink slowly out into the living room. Lucah was scraping up the last of the crème fraiche from the plate that the grilled peaches had been on.
“What do you think, Mr. Blythe?” I tried to go for the breathy Marilyn Monroe voice, and I leaned on the doorway, with my butt popped out. Lucah dropped the spoon. Ahhh, so satisfying.
It never ceased to delight me when I showed him one of Sloane’s new projects and he had this reaction.
“I’m thinking that maybe I was a little harsh on Sloane, and also that I need to get you to bed. Now.” He grabbed me and I screamed. He threw me over his shoulder and marched to the bedroom. With another growl, he dropped me on the bed and then did a flying leap and landed right next to me. I covered my eyes and screamed.
“You didn’t think I was going to hurt you, did you? Silly girl. I’d never hurt you.” He brushed my hair out of my eyes.
“No, but I’m going to hurt you if you don’t get these clothes off and f**k me, posthaste.” I pulled at his shirt to make my point.
“Yes, Miss Clarke. Whatever you say, Miss Clarke.” He batted his eyelashes at me and started loosening his tie. Painfully slowly. Bastard.
“Huh. This tie won’t come off. I think I need a hand. Or two.” Now I was the one diving on top of him. I wrenched the tie out of his hands and used it to pull his mouth to mine. He stuck his tongue in my mouth and I lightly bit down on it as my hands worked on the tie. He broke the kiss and smiled.
“Bad girl. Do you really want to go to work with marks all over you tomorrow? Because I can make that happen. I have no problem nibbling your sweet skin. Every little inch of it.” He blew on my exposed shoulder, which distracted me from getting the tie from around his neck.