Page 85 of Purchase Power
Chapter 24
Lucy’s head hurt more than her heart, and that said a lot.
I can’t believe he tried to ask me to be his girlfriend…That should have been a dream come true for Lucy, who had been indulging so many fantasies about becoming “Lucy Gabriel” that she went to sleep feeling embarrassed for herself.I can’t believe I almost fell for it…
Lucy had gone to that hotel on Fifth Avenue to phone it in. If she could prove to herself that Noah wasn’t gorgeous or good in bed, then she could pull herself away from the emotional side of their contract. Besides, there was only one week left. Noah didn’t get an extra week from her because he booted her from his house to make room for Mommy Dearest.
Except he had been gorgeous. Those eyes, drinking her in the moment he opened the door, said everything before Lucy heard the words coming from his mouth.
“I love you, Lucy Craig. I’ve missed you so damn much.”
No matter how much she turned off her feelings, however, she couldn’t believe how much he made herfeel.From the direct kiss that he did not push away, to his hard way of making love…Who am I kidding? That was terrible.That’s what Lucy told herself as she tried to go to sleep Sunday night. In her own apartment, for Noah did not bother to invite her back to his house, after all.
They had spent Saturday in a catatonic state. Noah had suggested they go to the theatre. To museums. Central Park. Restaurants Lucy had never heard of before, since they were sequestered in the windowless floors of New York’s most impressive high-rises. He asked her about her family. What she had been doing all week.
And, yes, he had apologized profusely for what happened regarding his mother. That’s not what bothered Lucy, however. He could apologize all he wanted. It didn’t mean she could overlook the information she had found out about him.
Everything came to a head Saturday night, when he once again attempted to do something romantic. Lucy should have been excited. Yet the more she thought about that young woman Stacey, sitting at home, waiting for Noah to return from his sex date in New York, the more she was disgusted about what he had done… never mind the way he had fucked her when they were reunited.Like animals. Like the first time.Lucy lived with constant replays in her head. When they weren’t arousing her, they were reminding her that the kind of love Noah offered wasn’t wholesome. It came with caveats. It came with wishful thinking that merely turned to shit in the palm of her empty hand.
“Who’s Stacey?”
She would never forget the look on his face as he swerved from the bathroom door, face pale. “Who?” Noah’s voice was a pitiful whisper. “How… how do you know that name?”
“Who is she?” Although anger boiled within her, Lucy attempted to keep her cool. Better if she could recall the first time she heard that name and not let loose that she made a habit of snooping on his personal life. “Your mother mentioned her name when she found us in bed. She implied that it would be devastating for someone named Stacey to find us together.”
Noah snorted, as if this were nothing to him. “Don’t worry about her. I… I was meaning to mention her at some point, but…”
“Is she your wife?” Lucy couldn’t hold it back any longer. “She’s your wife, isn’t she?”
“What? Are you kidding me? I told you that I was never married. Why are you so obsessed with it?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? You keep implying that we may have something more than this stupid contract that lets you have me whenever you want.”
“You make it sound like something so disagreeable. I never once heard you protest.”
“Is that all that matters, Noah? My protests? Well, what if I protest your lies? Fuck me all you want for the remainder of the contract. Fine. You knew what you were getting into when youboughtme, but let’s not pretend for two seconds that I knew a damn thing. Here you come, Mr. Gorgeous with your big dick and your burning blue eyes, fucking me like the prize you’ve come to claim! Next thing I know, I’m driving off to God knows where because that’s where you want me for the next four weeks! This whole month has been such a wild roller coaster. And now with everything going on in the world…” Lucy shuddered to bring it up. The whispers in the street. The questions at the local coffee shop about whether or not they’d have to close. Every time someone brought up the word “quarantine,” Lucy thought about that bedroom suite where she was never allowed to leave, not even to go for a walk.
Noah hadn’t wanted her seeing something. Or someone. It was the only explanation.
“Who is Stacey?” she asked again. “Are you sure she’s not your wife?”
“I would think I would know!”
“Is she your sister?”
Noah stepped back, as if Lucy had landed a colossal blow. “I… how did you know?”
“So it’s true? You people really are sick.” Lucy had tasted the bile in her throat.Even if he never put a hand on her, it’s still sick as shit to marry your stepsister.“Fine. I really don’t care what you do with me right now, but after the contract is over, I think we should part ways.”
They had parted much sooner than that. Noah was as interested in her coming home with him as she was going. No amount of good sex could make up for the horror in Lucy’s heart.
She could hardly believe it, of course. For two weeks, she had been taken on a whirlwind romance that changed her life. For once, she believed that she might finally know what it was like to fall in love. The boyfriends and relationships before Noah didn’t hold a candle to this unprecedented experience.I love him. Or, at least, Ilovedhim.None of it mattered now. He had been lying. He was probably lying to other people. What was Lucy supposed to do? Fall in love with a man who had married his sister and be content with being the woman on the side?
She had too much self-respect for that. Not enough to keep herself from that mess to begin with, but enough to get her out of it.
Still, sitting in her room one week after leaving Gabriel Manor didn’t inspire much confidence in her own future. She was back to square one. She had a blank page. She had an idea for an article. All she had to do now was figure out the angle to get back into writing.
That world was slowly closing, however. The murmurs throughout New York were that “the virus” could appear at any time. It was already making its way across other countries. New York was one of, if notthecenter of travel and culture in the USA. Even Lucy was becoming nervous with every passing day.
