“Aha,” I declared victoriously when I found it in the back corner of the drawer. I popped up to my feet and spun to face Rodney. “We’re in luck.”
Rodney took the corkscrew and opened the bottle of wine. He poured us each a glass in our flute and apologized for the champagne flutes. “Originally, I was going to buy champagne,” he said as he lifted his glass to his lips, “but the price tags were a little off-putting.”
“I prefer red over bubbly anyway. Cheers, Rodney. To the kids.”
“To the kids.” He grinned. “And to the greatest non-profit director in the world, and an incomparable woman as well.”
“I don’t know about that.” I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. There he went, always making things a tad uncomfortable for me.
“I swear you could squeeze money out of a stone with those little fists of yours.”
“If that was true, I’d have a much nicer office.”
Rodney laughed. I’d always thought he had a nice laugh, even if it sometimes did seem a little exaggerated. “What are you talking about? You have a great office.” He looked around and the corner of his mouth turned down. “Although I suppose a fresh coat of paint couldn’t hurt. But hey, that’s not why I’m here. I’m here to toast to your brilliant mind and persuasive skills. How did you convince that scrooge to give us money anyway?”
“I didn’t—”
Movement to my left caught my eye. I shut my mouth and turned, only to find Lukas standing in the doorway that had framed Rodney minutes ago. The sun was still shining at his back, casting his face into shadow, but I didn’t miss the glint in his eye as his gaze landed on me.
“Lukas,” I breathed.
I couldn’t read his face or hardly make it out in the shadows that fell across him, but I could feel his energy, and it wasn’t warm and friendly.
I swallowed and nodded at Rodney. “Would you like a glass of wine, Lukas? Rodney and I—he’s the manager and coordinator at the soup kitchen—were just going to toast to your donation and—”
“I’m sorry, but something came up,” Lukas said smoothly. He simultaneously pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it up. “Duty calls.”
With that, he turned his back on us and left.
Rodney tipped his head back and took a sip of wine. “See? Told you. He’s a stone.”
Chapter 17
Lukas
Who was the guy in the cheap polo shirt in Kayla’s office drinking wine with her? And why did his smug smile piss me off so much?
I jerked on the hem of my suit jacket, pulling it sharply against my shoulder blades as I strode purposefully to my Lykan parked at the curb.
I didn’t like seeing Kayla with him drinking wine and smiling at each other—like how I wanted her to smile at me. And what was that asshole saying? Something about her being able to squeeze money out of a stone?
I stepped off the curb and walked around the hood of my car. The handles lifted automatically and I wrenched the door open. “Stone, my ass. I’m throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars their way and they’re toasting to what?” I slid into my seat and turned on the ignition.
Was Kayla playing me? Was she only in this for my money after all?
Her efforts might not have been to line her own pockets. I understood she was working to help others but it still made me feel like a chump for believing she might have real feelings for me. Feelings like I had for her.
“You’re a fool,” I growled at myself as I slammed into first gear, checked my mirrors, and cut off an approaching taxi cab. He laid on his horn behind me and I wove around a couple of cars so I could leave the incessant wail of his horn behind me.
I made it seven blocks before my car speakers rang through the blue tooth on my phone. Kayla’s name slid across the touchscreen display on the console. I sighed. It wasn’t what I needed right then. What was she calling for? To apologize?
I considered letting her go to voicemail but decided against it. I was a grown-ass man. I could handle rejection without drawing into my shell.
I answered the call. “Hey, sorry to run out on you like that.”
“Lukas,” she said. It almost hurt how she said my name like a fluttering exhale. “I wish you hadn’t run off so quickly. I wanted to introduce you to the man who came up with the school lunch idea in the first place. Rodney is a really nice guy. A little pushy,” she added, “but nice. And Good Fellow’s wouldn’t be where it is today without his support.”
Just what I wanted to hear, the girl of my dreams singing the praises of another guy who happened to be exactly the kind of person she probably deserved.
“I’m working a shift with him this evening at the soup kitchen,” she continued. “How would you feel about joining me and seeing what it’s all about? You could meet some great people, like Rodney and the other volunteers and our community of people we help.”
I made a thoughtful sound in the back of my throat. “I don’t know if tonight is good for me.”
“Please? I’m telling you, you’ll enjoy it once you get past the ugly aprons and the hairnet.”
I heard Rodney mutter somewhere close by that the aprons weren’t that ugly. And damn him, he made her laugh. Kayla’s bubbly laughter filled the line and she told him that yes, the aprons were in fact quite ugly, but there was no room in the budget to replace them.
“Come on, Lukas,” she pleaded. “Just a couple of hours?”
“Fine.”
“Really?” she asked excitedly.
“Really.”
“Great! I’ll text you the address. Be
