Page 115 of See You There
Luke shook his head again. “I don’t understand. If you left him, why were you so sad? Why were you upset when he married Courtney?”
There was a long pause before his mother answered. “I cried because I still loved him. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right decision for all of us. I would have been unhappy if I had stayed, and that would have trickled down to you boys. As for Courtney… I didn’t trust her, and David wasn’t acting like someone in love. I could tell by the tone in his voice that he didn’t like her, but—”
“Wait? What! When did you talk to him?”
“David called from time to time. After I married Bruce, we didn’t talk as often out of respect to my husband, but David would call to check on me every few months. He wanted to make sure I was getting the care I needed, and if there was anything he could do.”
“You never said anything,” Luke wheezed. His view of his father was being twisted, and he wasn’t sure he liked it. “Does James know?”
“I wouldn’t tell one of you and not the other,” Anne reproved. “David asked me not to. He knew that you both felt he tried to manipulate people with his influence. You weren’t wrong, but that’s not what this was. Your father didn’t want you to think any worse of him, and he knew how protective you and James were of me.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“I probably should have told you sooner. I didn’t realize how deeply it affected you. I thought the two-week thing was a convenient excuse. I never dreamed you would meet a womanyou actually cared about, and only give yourself two weeks to decide whether to spend the rest of your life with her.”
Luke sank into one of the rocking chairs.
“You do care about Dahlia, don’t you? I can tell by the way you talk about her. Don’t let her go just because you aren’t sure it’s forever.”
Luke’s throat worked through a swallow, but Anne was still talking. “Sometimes, when you love someone, it doesn’t always work out, but that isn’t a reason not to be together. And sometimes, you are lucky enough to find someone who shares the same values as you and puts you first… That’s what I found in Bruce. It sounds like what’s growing between you and Dahlia.”
Words froze in his chest. As he listened to his mother talk, images of her and Bruce together flew through his mind.
“Let me ask you this? Can you be yourself with her? Not—what was it they called you in that article—Luke Bloom, billionaire bachelor, but the Luke I know and love. Does she value what you value? And trust,” she added, almost as an afterthought. “That’s the most important thing. Can you trust each other? Because once you have kids—”
“Whoa!” Luke exclaimed, and when his mother laughed, he knew she had made the comment to lighten the mood.
“Oh, and, Luke… I’m glad you’ve found someone who makes you forget to call me sometimes. Not all the time. I’m still your mother, but if she’s making you look forward, that’s all I can ask.”
“She’s excited to meet you,”Luke said in a nonchalant voice.
Dahlia spun to face him, her mouth forming an adorable O. Her eyes flickered, and he saw her vulnerability. His chest expanded, and he stroked a hand down her cheek before puttinghis forefinger beneath her chin and closing her mouth. Luke grinned. “What can I say? I’ve gotten used to you. I’m not letting you go.”
Dahlia grabbed his hand in a surprisingly tight grip. Her chin jutted up. “Don’t joke about this, Luke.”
Luke’s expression grew serious. “I’m not making a joke, Dahlia. When we leave here, I want us to be together. There are still some things we have to iron out. I can’t be your lawyer and also involved with you, so as soon as you sign your deal with the DA—”
“What about Chandler?”
Dahlia’s words stabbed at him. He took a measured inhale. Her career was important to her. “I understand we can’t be public right away. Not until you figure out what to—”
His words were cut off when she practically leaped into his arms and pressed her lips against his. “We don’t need to wait, or at least not long. That was my idea earlier.”
“What idea?” Luke cared about the answer. He really did. But the sensation of Dahlia, dressed in her tight leggings and athletic shirt, pressing against him, was distracting. With a wicked smile, she wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him even tighter against her. When his cock hardened, he knew she could feel it. Her eyes darkened and grew heavy-lidded, her eyes on his mouth.
A crack of thunder over them made Dahlia jump back with a squeak. Gusts of wind rushed through the thick forest around them.
“Come on,” Luke said, taking her hand. They walked briskly as the thunder began sounding with increasing frequency. “You aren’t afraid of storms, are you?” he asked when Dahlia picked up the pace.
“I love them.” She flashed him a smile. “But we still have almost a mile, and we are about to get soaked.”
As if the storm heard her words, the skies opened up. The heavily wooded trail protected them some, but by the time they were sprinting up the rutted drive to the cabin, they both looked like they had jumped in the lake.
“Climb on.” Luke stopped so Dahlia could catch up to his longer strides. Without hesitation, she clambered on to his back. Even the chilly rain didn’t dull the sensation of Dahlia’s legs wrapped around him, making his heart pound even more than the run.
“Somehow, I didn’t think the first time I would hear you tell me to climb on would be for a piggy-back ride.” Her breath was hot in his ear. For a second Luke thought he had misheard her with the sound of the storm, but then she tipped her head to nip his earlobe, and his cock became hard as a rock. Her tight nipples burned into his back.
“Dahlia,” Luke groaned. She giggled in his ear, and as much as he wanted to spin her around his body and plunge into her, his heart turned over at the joyful sound.
