Page 75 of The Hookup
She had hoped that meeting his family would have given her the missing pieces of the puzzle, but instead, she had been left with even more questions. If it was any consolation it was knowing that Luke Hunter had a problem with most types of relationships. It wasn’t just with her.
“Did you mean for me to come back to your place?” she asked, as he parked up in the underground parking lot of an unfamiliar place. She wondered if he had been so deep in thought that he’d almost forgotten to drive back to her place.
“Yes.”
They took the elevator up, and he showed her into his apartment. Even though she was still in the dark about his family dynamics, seeing them had given her a better insight into the man who now stood before her; the man who stared at her with his cornflower blue eyes. He loosened his tie and flung it onto the couch. But if he wanted to have sex, she wasn’t in the mood for it right now.
She wanted answers first. He flung open the door to his bedroom, then strode in, taking off his jacket, and started to unbutton his shirt. Slipping off her shoes, she perched on the edge of the bed, purposely putting some distance between them as she watched him take off his cufflinks.
“You wore them,” she commented, pleased to see that he had, and to such an important occasion.
“They were on my dresser,” he replied, carelessly tossing them there. She nodded, understanding him a bit better now and realizing that his filthy mood made it impossible for him to just say ‘Yes’. It was easy for him to taint even the simplest of comments with a streak of nastiness.
“Why didn’t we stay?” she asked, refusing to be daunted.
“I didn’t want to.” He pulled down his pants.
“But it was your sister’s wedding, and we drove all that way. She would have wanted you to stay. Your brother and his wife even asked you to—”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he growled.
“Maybe you should. Maybe you should let out whatever it is that’s bothering you.”
His eyes blazed as he stood there in his boxers, a silent tower of simmering emotions.
“You can’t keep running away from your issues, Luke.”
“Who says I’m running?”
“I am.” She threw him a conflicted look. Could he be so blind that he couldn’t see? He strode over to the closet and pulled out his sweatpants and t-shirt, then put them on. She stood up, determined to keep pushing and probing, deciding not to let him off so easily this time. “Explain it to me, then,” she said, softly, walking towards him. “So that I can understand the crazy set up in your family and you can—”
“Take off your dress,” he said, interrupting.
“No,” she replied, standing her ground. No sex until she had answers. “Is this why you drove home early?”
She placed a hand on his bare chest, just as he slipped his head through his t-shirt. When he rolled it down, her hand was caught between his skin and the fabric. She stroked the ridges of his abs softly. “Tell me,” she murmured. You’re all worked up about it. Get it out of your system, and then we can have sex.”
If it would make him feel better, she’d let him, because instead of his usual stony countenance, he seemed restless tonight. Irritated and weak, half the man she was used to being with.
He sat on the edge of the bed, and she did, too, taking one of his big, strong hands in hers. He let her, even though this was too intimate a move for them, this subtle indication of caring.
“You took me to the wedding, you made me meet your family, and then you dragged me away. Don’t I deserve some answers? I’m not asking you for commitment, Luke, only answers.”
Lines formed on his forehead, wrinkling his otherwise smooth face, and she felt sure that at any moment now he would tell her to go to hell.
“My father…” he ground out slowly. “...He moved his mistress into our house while he was still married to my mother.”
“His mistress?” She blinked, processing the news in shock.
“We didn’t know she was his mistress at first. He said she’d just joined the company. He said she was a new employee in one of his companies, and that she didn’t have a place to stay, and he was putting her up for a while until she found somewhere. But she started hanging out with him. Going for a swim in our pool with him, sitting in the hot tub. Pretty soon, he moved her into the bedroom. The one he shared with my mom.”
She stifled a gasp. “What did your mom do?”
“She moved out.”
“Did you know what was happening at the time?”
He shrugged. “Not at first. Not until mom moved into the spare bedroom.”
