About that Night (10 page)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Business or pleasure?”

The question caught me by surprise. “I’m sorry?”

The old woman standing next to me at baggage claim repeated her question. “Are you here on business, or for fun?”

“Oh. For fun, I hope.” My actual purpose for visiting Montana didn’t really fit either category.

“Visiting someone?” When she smiled at me, she reminded me of my grandmother.

“I’m here to see my boyfriend.” That, too, was not the truth. But it was the safest descriptor I could think of for Luke.

I spotted my suitcase and prepared to snatch it from the conveyor belt. Due to my extreme dislike of snow and cold weather, I had packed almost my entire wardrobe. My suitcase was heavy and it took a fierce tug to pull it down.

“How nice. A romantic weekend in the mountains?” She eyed my suitcase. “You sure packed a lot of clothes for a romantic weekend.”

My mouth dropped open. “I’m sorry?”

“No need to be shy. I was young once, too.” Apparently, I was talking to Blanche from the
Golden Girls
. “My Harold and I used to have some
fun
weekends ourselves.”

“That’s nice.” My voice came out in a squeak. “Is Harold your husband?”

“We were together fifty years before he died.” She nodded at me wisely. “Do you know what my biggest regret is?”

“No clue.” I hoped it wasn’t going to be a revelation that would make my ears bleed.

“That we didn’t enjoy each other enough. We did in the beginning, but then we had four kids and everything changed. Our lives became so serious.” I reached down to help her with her much lighter bag. “This boyfriend of yours that you are here to see?”

“Yeah?”

“Enjoy him. Have fun. Life is so short.” When she looked at me, her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Trust me. I’ve lost my great love, but it’s not too late for you.”

Blanche had given me a lot to think about. I was glad that my trip up the mountain in the ski resort shuttle took almost an hour. I needed to get my thoughts together before I saw Luke. Was he my great love? I had no idea. But I did know I wasn’t ready to let him go yet.

“Where are you staying?” the shuttle driver asked as we closed in on our destination.

“Um, Mountain Home 10?” It had taken some serious sleuthing for me to track down the address.

“Wow. You must be somebody important if you are staying in 10.” He let out a low whistle. “Do you know Mr. Donovan?”

“You could say that.” I wondered if I really did know Luke. So much about him was still a mystery to me.

Our van climbed higher into the mountains. When we pulled off the main road, the driver stopped in front of an iron gate and reached through the window to punch in a code. The gate slid open and we continued forward. After about 100 yards, I could finally see Luke’s mountain home.

It was buried in the trees, but I could just make out all three stories. It had a winding deck on all three levels, and a slanted roof that was pure glass. The shuttle pulled to a stop. “This is it.”

“Indeed.” I took a deep breath before opening the car door. Despite the hour-long car ride and three-hour plane trip, I still hadn’t figured out what I was going to say to Luke.

“Do you want some help with your bag?” He gestured to the steep stairs leading up to the house.

“No thanks. I’ve got it from here.”

I took my time dragging my luggage up the stairs, partly because my bag was heavy and the climb was steep, but also because I was stalling. Even with my slow progress, I was still standing at the front door in less than two minutes.

Very slowly, I raised my hand to knock, but the door flew open before I could make contact.

“I thought that was you.”

Luke’s sister, Alexis, stared at me with wide eyes. I returned her dubious stare, realizing for the very first time that I might actually be interrupting something important. Somehow I had managed to forget that he had said it was a family trip.

“Hey, Alexis.” I smiled meekly.

She tilted her head to the left and looked me up and down. “Luke never mentioned that you were joining us.”

“It’s kind of a surprise,” I said.

She nodded, but still looked suspicious. “Okay. Come in.”

I carried my bag inside and dropped it to the floor with a loud thunk. The entryway to Luke’s mountain home was larger than my entire apartment.

“Luke isn’t here,” Alexis said. “He’s been out skiing all day.”

“Oh. That’s okay.” I glanced around, looking for some inspiration as to what my next move should be.

“His room is that way, above the garage. Did you want some help with your bag?” Alexis was a tiny girl and probably weighed less than my suitcase, but I appreciated the offer.

“Thanks, but I can handle it.” It took some time to carry it up the stairs, but it was worth the effort. Luke’s room was amazing. The room was sparsely decorated, dominated mostly by the king-sized bed in the middle of the room. A sleek fireplace along one wall promised cozy, romantic nights. But the real gem was the slanted glass skylight that revealed an amazing view down the mountain. It felt like I could see the entire state of Montana from his room.

One of Luke’s shirts was folded on the bed and I picked it up, holding it to my face so that I could breathe in Luke’s scent. The bed looked so soft and welcoming that I felt like jumping into the middle of it for a long nap. But I knew that even if it was the most comfortable bed in the world, I wouldn’t be able to get any sleep with all the thoughts twirling in my brain.

“You can tell me in a minute, Alexis. I’ll be right back. I just want to change out of these clothes.” Luke’s voice rang out from downstairs. I could hear his footsteps pounding on the stairs.

“But Luke-” Alexis tried ineffectively to get Luke’s attention, most likely to warn him about my surprise appearance. He was a man on a mission though, and he ignored her plea.

His footsteps slowed as he neared the landing. I stood frozen at the foot of the bed as I waited for him to round the corner. He did so in a hurry, his head down. As if he sensed my presence, his head whipped up and he stopped in mid-stride.

“Kasey.” My name passed smoothly over his lips.

“Hey.” All that time thinking about what I would say when I saw him and the best I could come up with was
hey
.

“Why are you here?” It wasn’t the response I had been hoping for, but I wasn’t entirely surprised.

Luke’s eyes were cold and distant. His dark hair was damp and curling at the ends. I was overcome by the desire to run my fingers through it. With the way Luke was glaring at me, I didn’t dare.

“We need to talk about what happened.” I understood why Luke was mad. “I want you to know why I pushed you away that night.”

“This couldn’t wait until next week?” he asked in an unreadable tone.

I worried that I had made a huge mistake coming to Montana. “No. I couldn’t wait.”

Luke made it easier when he said, “I haven’t stopped thinking about you for a minute. I’m so glad you are here.”

“You didn’t even let me apologize.” It wasn’t much of a protest. I was already walking toward him.

“I would say you being here is apology enough.” Luke’s playful smile appeared. Now I knew I was a goner. “Though a kiss wouldn’t hurt…”

“You’re not as charming as you think, Luke Donovan,” I said. But he was exactly as charming as he thought. Maybe even more charming.

Luke reached out and hooked a finger through my belt loop, pulling me to him. “You were wrong. You overreacted. You panicked. But then you realized how sad your life would be without me in it. I’m sure you can find some way to convince me to forgive you.”

“Oh trust me, I have some ideas.” Then I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him so passionately that we both tumbled backward onto the bed. Luke’s hands slipped inside my sweater, and then he was pulling it over my head. As his lips moved over my collarbone, I sensed that we were no longer alone.

“My goodness!”

Luke shot up, holding me to him to prevent me from falling off the bed. “Mother,” he said, more annoyed than embarrassed.

“I didn’t know you had company,” she said.

I hugged my arms over my chest and died a little inside.

“You remember Kasey?” Luke kept his arms around me and I burrowed closer to his chest, turning only my head to acknowledge Virginia.

“Hello,” I said.

She looked down her pointy nose at me, both literally and figuratively. This time I didn’t really blame her. “Kasey. It’s nice to see you again.” She frowned harder. “I just came to let you know that Lola is here.”

“Can you give us a minute, Mother? We’ll join you shortly.”

“Do what you need to do. Preferably, put on some clothes.” She actually smirked. “We’ll be waiting for you.”

Once Virginia was gone, I let out a horrified groan. Luke just laughed. “Virginia is really going to hate you now.”

“Not. Helping.” I smacked him on the chest, then regretted it because my hormones were still running wild. “I’m mortified.”

“You shouldn’t be.” Luke kissed my bare shoulder, then traced kisses up my neck and over my jaw. When his lips reached my mouth, he planted a sweet kiss and said, “You are the best thing in my life. I don’t care what my mother thinks about us.”

“Who’s Lola?” I climbed off Luke and reached for my discarded sweater.

Luke stretched lazily. “My sister.”

I turned to him in confusion. “I thought your sister’s name was Alexis?”

“That’s my younger sister. Lola is my older sister.” Luke smiled fondly. “She’s the crazy one, but in a good way.”

“Good crazy?” I wondered if he also thought his mother was a good kind of crazy. “Any other siblings I should know about?”

Luke ignored me and pulled some clean clothes out of his closet. I took a seat on the bed as I watched him strip down to his boxer briefs. I had to remind myself that this was a non-erotic strip down. “You’ll like Lo. She has no problem calling my parents out on their bullshit. She kind of reminds me of you, actually.”

“Your crazy sister reminds you of me?” There had to be a compliment buried in that insult. “Thanks, Luke.”

“Good crazy, remember?” He pulled on a faded pair of jeans and an old University of Chicago t-shirt. He flashed me his dazzling smile and a sly wink. “God knows you drive me crazy.”

“Is that so?” I pretended to be offended. Luke took my hand and pulled me to my feet.

With his hands resting on my hips, he gently kissed my lips and whispered, “I can barely focus on anything else.” A longer kiss. “You’ve bewitched me.”

“Your mother is waiting for us,” I said as his hands moved over my hips.

Luke winced. “Yep. Cock definitely blocked.”

“Only temporarily. I promise.” I jabbed him in the side. “Get it together. We can’t hide up here forever.”

“Yeah. Let’s go.” Luke led the way to the stairs and I followed reluctantly. Like it or not, his family scared me. Especially his mother.

“I think that’s him now.” Just the sound of Virginia’s voice gave me chills.

“Lukey is that you?” This voice was younger and higher pitched. I could only assume it belonged to Lola.

“Hey, Lo.” Luke braced himself as a burst of blue hair and bright clothes collided against him. He choked out a laugh as he hugged his sister. “Good to see you, sis.”

“Damn right.” Lola released him. “You look good, little brother.”

“Damn right.” Luke gave her a quick once over. “New hair color?”

“Mother hates blue hair. I couldn’t resist.” She gave him a conspiratorial wink and then her eyes widened as she noticed me for the first time. “So what mother said is true. You brought home a whore?”

“Jeez, Lo.” Luke’s face turned a bright shade of red. “You could at least pretend our family isn’t a bunch of assholes.”

“Sorry.” Lola turned to me. “I’m sorry if I offended you. That was supposed to be a joke, but my brother isn’t exactly known for his sense of humor.”

“I’m not offended.” In reality, I was sure Virginia had said much worse things about me. “At least she didn’t say ugly whore.”

Lola laughed, a deep laugh that came from her gut. It was a wonderful sound. “I think you might be a keeper,” she said and turned back to Luke. “It’s a shame though. I was really hoping you would turn out to be gay. It would have so pissed off our mother.”

“He could always get his whore knocked up,” I suggested. “That would probably piss her off even more.”

Lola grinned a wicked smile. “I like it. And I like you. Come with me. We have work to do.”

With that, Lola grabbed my arm and pulled me into the devil’s lair.

* * *

“So anyway, that was the third time I got arrested,” Lola said as she filled up her wine glass for at least the sixth time. “That was also when mother started seeing her therapist.”

I glanced across the room to where Virginia was sitting, knitting a purple scarf and passing judgment on me with her beady eyes. I was glad to have the space between us.