Off Limits (21 page)

Chapter Nineteen

School was
painful. Phoebe wasn’t there, but she’d done a fantastic job of spreading the
news that Luke and I were together among her other friends and they’d spread it
around the entire school. Even a few people from the younger years gave us
funny looks when we were walking through the corridors.

“I guess I knew
this would happen,” Luke admitted as we took our seats on a picnic bench. It
was so cold outside that there wasn’t a soul out here with us. “I’d been hoping
to just keep the fact we were together silent at school.”

“I know, me too,”
I agreed. “But I knew this would happen, as well. It’s Phoebe’s style.”

“Can’t say we
don’t deserve it.”

“No, that isn’t
what I meant. I know I deserve it.”

“Jamie isn’t
speaking to me,” Luke admitted, rubbing the back of his head with a sigh. “So I
guess we both lost our best friends after all.”

“I’m sorry.” I
would have squeezed his hand, but we were both holding sandwiches. I just
wanted to eat quickly enough that I could stick my hands back in my pockets
before getting frostbite. “But this is what uni is for. Moving on and finding
new friends. And everyone always likes you.”

Luke sent me a
gorgeous grin. “That’s true, they do.”

“How is your mum?
I’ll come around and see her tonight.” I was missing Angela a lot. She was
definitely bubbly enough to keep me in high spirits.

“She’s doing well,
actually. I explained everything to her last night and I think she was probably
so relieved that I’m not having a baby and am with you by the end of it that
she’s in a good mood.”

“Well, as long as
she doesn’t think I’m a bad influence I’m happy.”

“There’s something
else I meant to tell you.” The words were slightly sinister, but Luke didn’t
seem too concerned about what he was about to say. “I went back to the police
station last night, after dropping you off, and told them about what happened
with my dad. They might want to ask you about what happened. I don’t know if
they do anything about it, but I’d really rather he was kept away from you if
it’s possible.”

“And they didn’t
mention anything about you getting arrested for assault?” I double-checked. We
were so close to getting to uni, I couldn’t handle Luke losing that because of
some silly notion to protect me from what was probably an empty threat.

“Nope, I’m all
good, don’t worry.”

I grinned,
swallowing the last bit of my sandwich between our sentences and hurrying my
cold, white fingers to my pocket. “We’re going to have to find a warmer hideout
than this. I’ll have hypothermia by the end of the week.”

“Hopefully it
might have died down by then,” he dared to hope.

I laughed. “Don’t
even pretend. Phoebe wasn’t even here today, when she gets back to school we’ve
got no hope.”

“True,” Luke
finished off his own lunch and put the sandwich bag back in his bag.

I groaned when I
noticed someone walking straight towards us, but it was nerves that grew in my
stomach when I recognised our detective. “Sorry to bother you out here,” she
wasn’t wearing nearly enough clothing for the cold weather and was probably
ready to arrest one of us for making her walk all the way out here. “But we
need to speak to you down at the station. We’ve signed you out of school.”

Luke and I
exchanged a glance before standing up. We’d both assumed the best case
scenario.

They’d caught our
stalker.

My hands were
clammy the entire car ride there and I stared out of the window with apprehension
swirling relentlessly through my mind. What if it was someone I knew? Someone I
cared about? What if they hadn’t really gotten the right person and someone was
still out there looking for us?

Luke reached out
and squeezed my hand, pulling a face when he felt how sweaty it was to make me
laugh. It worked and I pulled my hand back with a grin. “Gotta live with the
pros and the cons, I’m afraid.”

That managed to
quell my anxious thoughts for all of twenty seconds before I was staring out
the window with a frown again. Luckily it wasn’t far to drive to the station.

Inside the
building, I tried to revel in the warmth rather than the fact I felt sick to my
stomach. “It’s okay,” Luke soothed whilst the detective talked to the one of
the receptionists. “This is a good thing.”

“What if it’s
someone we know? What if it’s someone I care about?” I voiced my thoughts
again, eyes pleading for some reassurance. I’d never felt nerves like these
before.

“If it is, we’ll
deal with it. I’m starting to think we can handle anything.”

He pressed a kiss
to my forehead and held my hand when the detective gestured for us to follow
her.

She halted us just
before the door. “We haven’t had time to check any records to see if you know
this man yet, so I don’t want you to get an unpleasant surprise when you walk
in there. Tyler Rorka, does that name mean anything do you?”

Luke and I
exchanged a confused look. “He’s our boss.” The man who’d been paying our wages
for the past few months had been stalking us? It didn’t make any sense. There
was no motive.

There was almost
relief at hearing the name. Just an acquaintance. I felt a bit icky,
remembering all the time he’d been sat in that backroom whilst we manned the
shop. Why on Earth had he been out to hurt us?

The detective
nodded. “You can come in and watch his interview, if you’d like. We’re just
about to get started. We wanted you to be here to validate things he said.”

We slipped in
behind her, Luke and I stood with our sides pressed firmly together as we
watched Tyler from behind the one-sided window. He was sat, back straight,
staring straight into the eyes of the officer conducting the interview. Someone
popped their head in and the officer began.

“Tyler Rorka.”

“Yes.”

“Did you harass
Carmen Slater and Luke Foster?”

The solicitor sat
at the side of him gave a firm shake of the head and Tyler followed suit. “I
can’t answer that question. At least, not to you. Send her in and I’ll tell her
why I did it.”

“Her?”

“Carmen. Send her
in here and I’ll tell her why I made her suffer.”

My stomach
dropped. It was me. It had been me he was targeting, not Luke. Luke grabbed my
hand. “You don’t have to go in there.”

“I want to.”

Whatever his
motive, I had to know and if the only way was to go in there and find out then
so be it. I’d dealt with so much stuff over the past few weeks that going into
a room and listening to someone talk couldn’t be so bad. Compared to all the
other things Tyler had done to me, this was a piece of cake.

“We’ll keep the
officer in the room, if he’ll allow it.”

“And I’ll just be
on the other side, listening,” Luke squeezed my hand once more and checked my
face for some kind of assurance I was doing the right thing. He must have seen
the decision, because he nodded once. “Don’t stay in there if you don’t want
to.”

I walked into the
room with a hardened heart. Whatever he was going to tell me, I could cope with
it. If he was just being a lecherous creep, I would tell him what a pervert I
thought he was and watch him get sent down. I didn’t think that was what I was
about to be told, though. This seemed far more personal than mere sexual
attraction.

Slipping into the
seat, I crossed my arms and was grateful for the officer standing in the corner
behind me. “Why did you do it?”

“I’m surprised you
haven’t worked it out yet. Didn’t they tell you my last name?” His voice was
completely calm as he watched me, fingers drumming against the table.

“I don’t recognise
it.” Rorka was the kind of name I’d probably remember, too.

Tyler raised an
eyebrow, his face twisting unpleasantly. “Kevin Rorka. Not ringing any bells?”

The surname
didn’t, but the first name is. “As in, my mum’s boyfriend?”

“Bingo. Right on
the money. Your bitch of a mother’s boyfriend.”

So it wasn’t even
about me. It was my mum. “What did she do?”

“Stole my father
away from my mum, the whore. They’d been planning on separating, but they
worked through it. Then, just as my dad moved back in, your mum showed up and
took him away again.”

Tyler was pushing
on thirty and I was surprised he was so affected by that. I’d cursed my mum for
leaving with my dad, but this was going way too far. “You killed my friend’s
baby,” I told him, voice cold. “That can’t just have been because my mum slept
with your dad.”

Tyler shrugged, a
scary smirk touching his lips. “I knew she wasn’t pregnant. You guys don’t keep
your lives very secret, no matter how sneaky you think you’re being. That’s why
I had to hurt you instead of her. You were an open field of betrayals to plan
on. So much drama.”

“You went through
all that trouble,” I shook my head and leant back in my chair, wanting
desperately to punch that smug smile right off his face, but holding myself. I
knew the final blow would be worth it.

“I did. I can only
imagine how hard it is for you to hold in the tears right now. Facing the guy
who ruined your life. And when your mum finds out, knows I crippled her
daughter’s life all because of her, she’ll never recover, either.”

I clapped once.
“Congratulations. Such a flawless plan. You’re a very intelligent man.”

“Thank you.”

“Only… there’s a
few things you forgot about.” I rested my elbows on the desk and held my chin
in my hands, watching him closely. “You let us know that Phoebe wasn’t really
pregnant. She’d obviously been planning on pretending to have a miscarriage to
keep Luke snared in for longer, but you solved that problem. Now she’s getting
the therapy she needs. Luke and I are together, happier than ever now all the
obstacles are out of the way. In fact, we might have never been together if you
hadn’t forced me to stay at his house those few times. I should thank you. In
fact, I will.” I stuck my hand out for him to shake, but he sighed, waving me
off and staring at the ceiling. He wasn’t shaking or angry, just crushed. I’d expected
rage, but this was better. Far better.

I stood up and
smiled, walking from the room with a serene smile. “I’ll say hello to your dad for
you when I go for dinner with him and my mum on Thursday.”

Epilogue

“This feels a bit
ridiculous,” I admitted, standing next to Luke whilst our parents took
pictures.

“I think it feels
a lot better than if we were doing the real thing.” Luke’s arm was tight around
my waist.

“Would you please
stop talking?” My mother exclaimed, pausing her snapping to glower. “You’ve got
all night to talk, but right now I’m taking photos.”

My dad and Kevin
both smirked at her outburst and Luke and I were forced to remain quiet. My
dress was nowhere near as over the top as a real prom dress and I couldn’t have
been happier for it. The puffy style wasn’t really for me and neither was going
to a celebration where half the school hated me.

The dress I’d
ended up with for the evening was special, anyway. It was from a small boutique
in the city centre and had been adjusted so it fit my practically non-existent
curves snugly. The upper half was lacy and long sleeved, black and see through
until it hit the top of my cleavage. Then it was stuck to my body until it came
just below my mid-thigh. Respectable enough for a fancy dinner date, I was
sure.

Luke definitely
seemed to think so. He hadn’t been able to keep his gaze from my hips since I’d
come downstairs.

As much as I’d
longed to dress Luke up in a tux, he’d been having absolutely none of it. I
couldn’t blame him. We might be going out for an extortionately priced romantic
dinner for two, but it didn’t quite justify a tux.

His shirt and tie
was plenty sexy, anyway. His muscles strained against the black material and I
was sure I wasn’t keeping my gaze any more chaste than his. I couldn’t wait to
get away from our parents so I could ogle him to my heart’s content.

“Oh, come on,” I
groaned. “We’ve been at this forever. We’ll probably not make our reservation
at this rate.” It couldn’t have been more than five minutes in actuality, but
posing had never been my strong suit.

Luke grinned down
at me and his mother laughed. “This is perfect. We can stop now.”

She passed the
camera around for us to see the picture of me at my wit’s end and Luke looking
highly amused by it. “Perfect,” Luke applauded, handing it back. “Seriously
though, we should get going.”

I went through
hugging everyone, smirking as Luke shook my dad’s hand. I knew my mum had been
dying to see me go to prom in a big frilly dress, but things didn’t work out
that well.

“Have fun guys!”
My mum called after us, talking animatedly to Luke’s mum as we drove off.

“Your mum makes my
mum even worse,” he complained. “She’s never been that fussy before.”

“Maybe she’s just
never liked any of your girlfriends as much as me before,” I smirked, gripping
his hand and lacing our fingers together. “You don’t think we’re going to be
completely out of place at a fancy restaurant, do you? I think I’ll probably
get the urge to talk with a really common accent and swear a lot if everyone’s
super stuck up.”

Luke’s laugh
reverberated around the car. “It wouldn’t be the same if you didn’t.”

Whilst Luke and I
weren’t the topic of much conversation nowadays, we’d certainly not retained
any friends for the rest of the year. Prom wasn’t something I wanted to go to
and Luke had readily agreed. Our parents had been saving up for prom stuff,
though, so we’d put the money into doing something special after all.

We were going out
for a fancy meal in our fancy clothes and then staying at a (relatively) fancy
hotel. The money only went so far. I was kind of surprised my mum had agreed to
the hotel part, but Luke and I had both had our eighteenth birthdays now.

I had to admit I
was looking forward to the night of sex and cuddling just a little bit more
than the meal.

Sitting down at
the table, I stared around the room in awe. It was an exclusive little place,
just ten or so tables in a rooftop room that looked over the city. I’d never
thought Sheffield was pretty, but in the darkness, with just twinkling lights
and stars it was significantly more beautiful.

The room itself
was a swamp of plants. They grew up trellises on the side of the wall and over
the ceiling. It was June, so I supposed it could be flowering time for some of
them. I convinced myself the gorgeous flowers and the aroma filling the room
weren’t fake.

“This is
gorgeous,” I whispered, ordering a cocktail for a change and tapping my feet up
and down excitedly. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

Luke couldn’t
contain his grin, either, as our drinks were placed down before us. “Me
neither. I’m going to have big dreams about living the good life after this.”

“When do you think
we should count our anniversary from?” I pondered. “We could do this kind of
thing every anniversary.”

“I would say the
day before Phoebe’s birthday, but that might be a bit dark.”

“Neither of us are
going to speak to Phoebe ever again, I think it works just fine,” I decided,
beaming. That was the day we’d agreed to be together, even if there had been
obstacles since. “And that means we get to go out for another posh meal sooner,
so that’s a bonus.”

Luke nudged my
foot under the table and sipped on his drink. “I feel like I should have
lobster or steak or something.”

“Nah, I’m just
going to have pizza. I just want to see what my favourite food tastes
expensive-style.”

“Can’t fault your
plan,” Luke continued to scan the menu with a cute face of complete indecision.
“This is so hard,” he whined.

“I’m definitely
not picking for you.”

He flicked back
and forth between the two pages for a solid few minutes before slamming the
menu shut. “I’m going to have the peri-peri chicken skewers. I need to make
sure I’ve left enough room for dessert, because that salted caramel tart looks
gorgeous.”

I snatched my menu
back up and flicked to the desserts. My sweet tooth was going to be well and
truly satiated by this menu.

And the food was
just as good as I could have hoped for. “Pizza is never going to taste the same
again, is it?” I teased, taking the last sip of my cocktail.

Luke grinned. “I’m
sure we can readjust ourselves to the life of peasantry quickly enough.”

We paid the
staggering bill with raised eyebrows and left the restaurant hand in hand.

On the way to the
hotel, we drove past the prom venue. It was looking quiet now – everyone was
inside having fun and I hoped Phoebe was enjoying herself.

She’d come back to
school a week after us and I’d never had another conversation with her. I kept
tabs on her from a distance, of course, but I had no idea what went on behind
closed doors. She always seemed fine, but I longed to know that she was really
okay.

The hotel was
something akin to the one we’d stayed at when visiting Scarborough, but somehow
different. It was a tiny building in the middle of the city that looked
completely out of place. It had probably been a pub in another lifetime.

Inside was
old-fashioned and homely, but I could tell straight away why it was so
expensive. Every piece of furniture was antique – the ceilings were covered with
the most gorgeous paintings with that fancy plasterwork around the outside.

The fact that
something could be both posh and welcoming surprised me slightly.

We took the lift,
even though it was only to the first floor, and shared a grin before stepping
out and into the corridor. Luke put in the key card and we slipped into the
room we’d booked for the night.

It was only tiny,
a double bed with mountains of pillows in the middle, a big bay window on the
other side and a little room with an en suite. It was perfect.

Luke grabbed my
hand and dragged me to the bed, lying down and letting me lie on top of him. My
fingers drummed against his chest in a way that I knew irritated him and he ran
his fingers through my hair with a smirk. My dress was too tight to straddle
him properly without hiking it up to my hips.

So I did just
that.

Luke wasted no
time in letting his fingers brush against my now exposed thigh and I leant
forwards to kiss him. We only had the room for the night and we both wanted to
make the absolute most out of it.

Luke flipped us
and I lay on my back, admiring his contented face. Fingers brushing against his
cheek, I pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. Somehow, we’d made it through, and
I wasn’t ashamed to say this was the happiest I’d ever been.