Page 47 of The Hookup
He grinned. Marie was old enough to be his mother. Sometimes, their relationship scuttled into odd corners. Mostly, he was the business man, telling her what needed to be done, but there were times when she cut through all that work bullshit. She was direct and she would say it as she saw it. He was thankful for the guidance. The only problem with Marie being his business confidante and go-to person was that she was a woman, and as such, had a woman’s curiosity about her. She’d be asking for Kay’s vital statistics next.
“Who’s the plus one you might be taking?”
He feigned nonchalance, and picked out a piece of fluff that was clinging on the cuff of his jacket. “I’m not sure.”
Her face had disapproval written all over it. “I hope you’re not going to take an escort.” She pinned him with a stern look. “Isn’t it time you stopped using those people?”
“I use them rarely, and never for sex,” he clarified. For one thing, he never trusted where these women had been. But for the purpose of having a plus one to take to the wedding, mainly so that he had someone to talk to so that he could avoid talking to his family, the escort service would do.
Unless Kay turned up at the bar sometime soon and he could ask her. He’d mention that it was no big deal, because women could be fickle and she’d no doubt make something of it, but having her there would make it easier on him. It would be better than taking an escort and pretending they were an item. Men didn’t pay attention to these things, but women did. And he wanted to portray the image of someone in a relationship. He wanted to show that he was just fine and Kay was the perfect trophy girlfriend to have on his arm.
“A fine looking young man like you,” Marie continued, rising up from her chair with a frown. “I don’t understand it.”
“I’m not paying you to understand my personal preferences, Marie. I pay you to look after my bars.”
“We both know that I do more than look after your bars,” she pointed out with a smile. She took care of the accounts, and invoicing, and marketing. She was a goddamn wonder woman but without a cape or a tiara, and he depended on her. She knew that, and sometimes, he sensed, she used this to her advantage, and treated him not as her boss, but more like her teenage son.
“Yes, you do. I take it back, I’m sorry. But you’re rewarded well, aren’t you?”
She moved her head from side to side, as if weighing up his question. “I never say no to a raise.” She smiled.
“We’ll talk about that at the start of the year in your next appraisal.”
Her smile widened. “Sign here, here, and here,” she said, passing over some paperwork to him. He scribbled his signature.
“I’ll set up a meeting with the owner.” The Canal Street site was highly sought after and had a number of interested parties after it. He and Marie had already scoped it out twice, and he’d taken his architect to get a feel for the work and cost involved in having a complete makeover.
“Do that.” Because he was ready to buy it now, before he got into a bidding war with some other savvy entrepreneur . With bars and clubs, location was everything, and he wanted his establishments to be in the best, upscale areas. Places where clients would think nothing of paying upwards of twenty dollars for a cocktail, and thousands to become exclusive members of his clubs.
When Marie left, he turned his attention to his computer but unable to concentrate and still irritated by his sister’s phone call, he reached for his cell phone. For the third time that week, he picked it up, and was about to call Kay. And for the third time, he hesitated. It was turning out to not be about the sex. They’d only done it the one time, yet he found himself embroiled in the mental games already, and this was not what he was used to. He was used to having things go his way. With most women, he had the strings, and he controlled when, and how often he would see them.
Not so with Kay. He wanted to see her, but he would have preferred it if she came to him and they had sex, instead of twisting his balls and leaving him high and dry. The fact that he spent more time than usual thinking about her unsettled him. More so because he’d been hoping to have forgotten her by now.
It had been two months since Tobias and Savannah’s wedding, and two months since he had fucked Kay. How was it that he was still sitting here thinking about her? What the hell was going on with him that she had managed to burrow under his skin like that?
Damn.
He’d give it until the wedding. Clearly, he needed to fuck her out of his system properly, and if he could get her to come to the wedding, it would be a fait accompli.
He would call her some other time. Amanda, and the wedding, and all that other stuff—there was too much debris swirling around in his brain. He needed his wits about him when talking to Kay. Now was not the time.
A few days later towards the end of the week, he noticed that a group of people from Kay’s workplace were in the bar. He recognized the slime ball, Geoffrey, immediately, but there was no sign of Kay.
Was she deliberately staying away from this place in order to avoid him, or was something wrong? Or maybe it was because of something else, and nothing to do with him?
He called her, and this time the phone rang for a while but then went straight to voicemail. It was the perfect excuse for him to find out what was going on. He grabbed his car keys and left, arriving at her apartment a short while later.
But he couldn’t get past the concierge, an old man with a huge gap between his front two teeth.
“But I’ve been here before,” he stated, when the old man refused to let him go straight up.
“Somebody else must have been on duty. I’ve never seen you before.”
Luke frowned. “Can you please just let her know I’m here.”
The concierge buzzed up to announce his arrival, then with the phone receiver still in his hands, told him, “She said she’s not expecting you.”
“It’s a surprise visit,” he said, gritted teeth. “Tell her I need to talk to her.”
