Page 82 of See You There
Luke’s mouth stretched in a self-deprecating smile. “I know. I sound like a spoiled brat. It wasn’t all bad. I enjoyed those summers with my siblings until Dec went off to college. Butit wasn’t all watermelon and popsicles. Our father viewed that time as his chance to mold us into the future little moguls he expected us to be. Whether or not we wanted it.” The last he muttered under his breath.
Walmart came into view ahead, putting an end to their heavy conversation. Luke’s mood seemed lighter as he pushed the shopping cart up and down each of the aisles. Twice, she’d caught him staring at her as she loaded the basket with food items. Opening up had been the right choice.
“You’re not going to eat that are you?” Dahlia asked when Luke grabbed a box of sugary cereal.
“My mom never let us have it as a kid. I went through a phase in college where it’s all I ate. That sugar got me through some late-night study sessions. It's delicious and you know it.”
Dahlia scrunched her nose. “If you have a taste for chemicals.”
As they continued to gather their items, Dahlia realized they were getting some sidelong glances. Luke must have picked up on the same thing.
“We should probably hurry,” he said quietly. “We don’t need someone pulling out a phone and posting a sighting of Lia Everton in the Ellijay Walmart. Defeats the purpose of hiding.”
But Dahlia had been watching the crowd. The majority were women. It wasn’t her they were looking at. “I’m pretty sure it’s you.”
Luke glanced around. “You might be right. Iampretty.” He winked at her.
The attention he was getting reminded her of the gossip at her photo shoot. “Yeah, I heard you are popular with the ladies in Atlanta.” Dahlia had meant for her tone to come across as teasing. She failed miserably.
“Jealous?” Luke smirked.
Dahlia narrowed her eyes at him. It really wasn’t fair that he was even more attractive when he was being cocky. “Of course not,” she said, pushing the cart forward.
“So, what did you hear?” Luke grabbed a bunch of grapes from a bin, stealing one before placing it in the cart. “How sweet I am? How funny? How big my—”
“Your exploits aren’t exactly secret,” Dahlia said through clenched teeth.
“Exploits even.” Luke’s eyes gleamed. “Did you Google me?”
Dahlia had, but it wasn’t the information that was burning a hole in her stomach. “Of course! I googled both you and your brother when I hired you.” She cocked her head. “The two of you are very different. You might appear identical, but you seem to be total opposites.”
Luke straightened, his light-hearted expression falling away, replaced with a scowl. “Truer words have never been spoken.”
“I didn’t mean it as a criticism…”
What could she say? That she wanted to jab at him because she was jealous. It didn’t make any sense. Dahlia hadn’t known him when he was with all those other women, and it shouldn’t matter to her if he’d slept with the entire city. He wasn’t her boyfriend, and she had no claim on him.
It shouldn’t matter, but it did.
“It’s fine,” Luke said, wiping his hands on his jeans. “I’m used to the comparison. I might be older by five minutes but I’m the irresponsible one. James is steady and always makes the right decision. I’m the one who is too much. Too loud. Too impetuous. Definitely the one who would screw everything up. My father called it my reckless streak. God, he loved to compare us. James was the ‘good’ one which, of course, left me as…”
Luke’s tone was light, as if the whole thing were a joke, but she could see the hurt in his eyes.
Dahlia felt a shiver of sadness. She knew exactly what it was like to be the ‘bad one.’ She put a comforting hand on his forearm. “That was me, too.”
Luke’s expression was pure disbelief. “You seem like the little girl who never got her dress dirty and sat quietly at the table.”
A loud laugh escaped Dahlia. “I’m serious. Growing up, I was wild. Everybody said so. I was the one who fell off the roof of my mother’s trailer, got bad grades in school, got in too many fights... trouble…” Dahlia trailed off as a knot formed in her stomach.
She hadn’t meant to reveal all that. She’d only wanted him to feel better. Less alone…
“What happened that made you…” Luke tilted his head to study her, like he was looking for an answer written across her skin.
“Made me what?” Dahlia asked, throwing two pillows and a package of fresh sheets into the cart too hard.
She understood what he meant, but that was another subject she wasn’t sure she was ready to share. And not under the fluorescent lights of Walmart.
“How do I say this diplomatically?” Luke compressed his lips. “Until today, you’ve been… Let’s call it… calm. I call it your Lia face, always projecting the movie star. But then there were flashes of Dahlia now and then. For the record, I much prefer Dahlia to Lia. But nothing I’ve seen comes anywhere close to what anyone would callwild.”
