“You can cook?”
“Some basic stuff. I hate eating out all the time and hiring a chef for just me seemed a waste.”
“I can see that. If you want, we can go home instead of out. I’m kind of tired anyway. It was…a long day.” To my surprise, being in the cold for so long had really taken it out of me. “How did you find me so fast? I assume Emerson called you?”
“Chase actually. He called me the second you phoned Em.”
“Why?”
“Because he knows.”
“Knows…what?”
Luke’s hand tightened, the only sign he might be worried as his dark eyes held me captive. “I’m not going to bullshit you, Laura.”
“Okay.” My voice seemed to have raised an octave with my nerves.
“I want you. He knows it—hell, my whole family knows it. The same thing happened when he first saw Em. I’m not going to pounce on you. You’re safe. But I want to get to know you. I want to pursue this.”
“Whatever this is,” I added.
“I know you feel it, too.”
My tongue shot across my lip then I took a deep breath. “Yeah. I feel something. And whatever it is, it worries me.”
He turned and cupped my face with his free hand. His thumb brushed over my cheek. “Love, you never, ever have to be afraid with me. Ever.”
With a nod, as if to underline his promise, he let go then leaned toward the driver. “Change of plan. Back home instead.”
“Yes, sir,” the man replied.
Luke leaned back and took my hand again.
“Just promise me one thing,” I implored, looking out the window.
“Anything.”
“Don’t trap me.”
I felt him lean in, then his chin rested on my shoulder. His breath warmed my neck. “I want you to be mine. But trapping you? No, babe. Never.”
“Okay,” I whispered. I wasn’t sure if I was acknowledging him or telling myself things would be all right. My life was still a mess, but maybe with Luke helping me, I could unmuddle it.
* * * *
“Best omelet ever,” I said after a couple bites of my admittedly more farmer scrambled than farmer omelet-shaped eggs. It tasted awesome and my ravenous belly agreed.
Luke grinned and raised a brow while he chewed a bite of toast.
Once we’d gotten to the building, he’d ushered me up to his top-floor penthouse then shown me around. There were four bedrooms, including the master, and he’d put me in the one closest to his. I was grateful he hadn’t tried something dumb like dropping my bags in his room, but no, Luke was a gentleman. The spacious, mostly open floorplan was beautifully appointed in steel and glass, with plush chairs and couches in the living room. Overall, though, everything but his bedroom, which I’d only seen on a glance, seemed utterly unlived in. It even smelled brand new.
“Have you been here long?” I asked before I took another bite.
“I bought it a little over four months ago.”
I didn’t say anything, but he probably saw the wheels going in my head.
“I got it the day after we met at Diamond,” he continued. “It might have been a few minutes in a club, but it was enough to spur me into making changes.”
I looked around. The dining set was one of those counter-height groupings, so it gave me height to take in the open area around us. “It seems…almost like you don’t live here.”
“I haven’t been here a lot. I plan to be much more though. It was still under construction when I purchased it, then when I could move in, I hired a decorator to do everything. I’ve only been in residence since December.” He followed my gaze and grimaced. “It is a little bland—”
“It’s nice,” I said quickly. No need to hurt his feelings.
“Laura, it’s boring. I get that. You can do whatever you want with it. Consider it your canvas.”
“You know I studied design in college, right?”
“You did not.”
“I did.”
“Do you know what my family’s business is?”
I shook my head slowly, trying to recall if Emerson had ever told me. “Something, something…casinos?”
The warm, rich laugh spilled over me again. “We’re the leading construction firm in Las Vegas and surrounding areas. We cover all aspects from architecture to building to final interior design, landscaping and security systems.”
“I… Really?” Suddenly, I was pretty sure I’d heard of them.
“Really. So, anything you want to do to make this space homier… Have at it.”
I looked around again, this time, letting ideas bombard me. Since Luke was letting me stay here with him, I could definitely do something less generic here and make this penthouse into a home.
If it became a home I wanted to stay in forever… Well, I’d deal with that later. In my opinion, it wasn’t the space that made a home anyway; it was the people. And the current resident was already a problem deep down in my soul.
Chapter Four
~ Luke ~
I lay awake listening to Laura tossing and turning in the room next door. I’d never realized how thin the walls were in this place. I didn’t have neighbors on either side, and I’d never had company here, so this was the first time I’d noticed I could hear everything that happened in the room beside mine.
After a few minutes, the rustling stopped, but my heart clenched when I heard a sniff, followed by a muted sob.
“That’s it,” I muttered, getting out of bed and walking into the hallway. I stood in front of her door for a full minute, before finally reaching out and knocking. “Laura, can I come in?”
“Yes,” she answered softly.
I opened the door to see her sitting up in bed, the blankets piled around her, her back against the headboard and her arms around her knees. I strode into the room and sat next to her on the bed.
“Baby, are you okay?”
She nodded, sniffing again. But the light coming through the window illuminated the tear tracks on her cheeks.
“Talk to me,” I said. “Please.”
“I
