Skylar (The Love Family Series Book 1) (3 page)

“Thank you, Benjamin.” Luke scanned the menu before laying it on the table. 

“You can’t possibly know what you want to eat.”

“Are you kidding? Of course I do.” He turned his gaze toward the kitchen. “Your father taught those guys to cook, and I know his specialty is anything grilled or smoked, so my obvious choice is the porterhouse steak.”

She opened her menu and was debating her choices when the same blonde woman that had walked by before stopped at their table.

“Luke. What a pleasant surprise.” Her voice was silky and laced with suggestion.

“Amanda,” Luke answered with irritation. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

“Stalking doesn’t become you, Amanda.”

Amanda’s lips parted.

“There’s nothing left to say.” Luke placed his napkin on the table and rose.

“Because of her?” Amanda glared down her nose at Skylar. The puke yellow energy that surrounded her looked sick and dull. “She’s not even in your class. You belong with someone like me.”

“Skylar has more class in her little pinky than you’ll ever have.”

Amanda waved off his words. “When you come to your senses, I’m staying in suite 504.”

Benjamin returned, carrying a serving tray with two glasses of blue liquor.  Before Benjamin could place them on the table, Ryan, Skylar’s ex-boyfriend, stumbled over to the table and careened into Amanda, knocking Benjamin off balance. The impact sent both glasses of drinks flying into Skylar’s direction. Her fight-or-flight reflexes were stunned into slow motion. She tried to stand to get out of the way but wasn’t quick enough. The liquid splashed, drenching Skylar’s top.

“Oh, Sky.” Luke grabbed his napkin and rounded the table.

“You stupid ass,” Amanda growled at Ryan. His bloodshot eyes drifted unfocused around the room.

She’d expected chills from the cold liquid, but it had the opposite effect. The liquid wasn’t cold on her chest. It was hot. She could hear the sizzling of her top. See the fibers disappearing right before her eyes. “Oh shit. It’s burning through my top.”

Benjamin reached for the glasses, and she screamed, “Don’t touch them!”

She ran down the bathroom hallway. She rushed into the bathroom, flinging the top off and away from her body, not caring that she stood in her bra in front of the sink. Turning the faucet on, she leaned over, cupping the water into her hands and splashing it on her pink skin.

She ignored the other women in the bathroom, who gave her a wide berth, leaving the minute that her top flew across the room.

The water provided little relief as she hurried to cool her skin, not knowing if she was doing more damage than good. Her fingers shook beneath the stream as she splashed more water on her chest. The water slid down her stomach.

The door flew open and Skylar met Luke’s gaze in the mirror.

“Are you okay?”

He hurried in, letting the door close behind him, a plastic bottle of honey in his hand.

“It burns.” She bit back the tears that formed in her eyes.

He turned her and flicked the lid open on the bottle of honey, squeezing the cold goo out onto his palm. “This will help.”

He rubbed his palms together to smear the sticky stuff and placed his palms on her pink chest. The cold honey nipped the heat of whatever had been in her drink. She didn’t care if it was gooey or if it took a week to get off her skin. She was happy for the reprieve.

“Where did you learn this?” she asked as he poured more into his hand to layer the stuff on thick.

“When you grow up on an island and work in a lab, it’s good to know various remedies that work on burns. The honey will keep it from getting infected until we can get you to a hospital for proper treatment.”

“What was in those drinks?”

“I’m not sure, but your father is going to be pissed. They’ve called your brother, and the restaurant manager has taken everyone else’s drinks. It’s starting to eat through the carpet. ”

Her eyes widened. She glanced down at her soaked bra. “I can’t walk out in just my bra, and there’s no way in hell I’m putting that shirt back on.”

“That’s an easy fix, Sky,” Luke answered, sliding his jacket off his arms and holding it open for her. “We’ll go up to my room and get one of my shirts that you can wear to the ER.”

“You realize, if I put that on, your jacket will never be the same.”

He cleared his throat, his tone serious as he answered. “I don’t give a damn about the jacket. I care about getting you the hell out of here.”

She slid her arms through the coat and pulled it around her chest. The jacket was huge to fit his muscled frame. It dwarfed her in width and hung past her butt. With a hand on her elbow, he guided her out of the bathroom, only stopping in front of her brother and the other investigators that had arrived.

“Her top, with holes, is in the bathroom. Don’t touch it with bare hands. It burned her skin.”

Declan’s worried gaze turned to her. “Let me see, Sky.”

“Uh…no.” She pursed her lips. “You can take my word for it. You need to figure out what the hell was in those drinks.”

Luke led her away, but she glanced over her shoulder when he held open the door. “And…don’t tell Mom.”

He shook his head and pressed his lips into a fine line. “It’s too late. Mom and dad already know and are on their way here. You can thank Benji for that. EMS is in the lobby waiting to treat you and decide if you need further treatment at the hospital.”

“They can do it in my room,” Luke called out, pulling her out the door and into the hotel. Two EMS technicians were standing in the lobby with their equipment in hand.

He pulled out his card key and handed it to Skylar. “Use my penthouse suite. It will give you some privacy. I’ll be up in a few minutes. I need to talk to your brother.”

“Thanks.” She clutched the card key in her hand and stepped on the elevator. She held Luke’s worried gaze until the doors slid closed.

****

Luke stormed back into the restaurant, bypassing the forensic teams swabbing for samples of the liquid.

Declan spotted him. “What the hell happened?”

Luke let out a shaky breath, surveying the surrounding chaos. “We hadn’t even ordered yet. The waiter said that the bartender had drinks waiting for her. I’m not sure what he did with them before they were delivered. The waiter left us with menus while he went to get our drinks. Amanda stopped by our table, making a scene.”

“What the hell was that psycho doing here? Is she still stalking you?”

“I guess.” Luke ran his hand through his hair. “She stopped and was creating a scene when the waiter returned. About that time, Skylar’s ex-boyfriend, Ryan, stumbled into Amanda and Amanda into the waiter. There was a domino effect that ended with the drinks landing on Sky. She said it burned and ran to the bathroom. I didn’t know what the hell was going on, just that I needed to find something to neutralize the burn. I raided the kitchen, found the honey, and used it to stop the burn from leaving permanent damage.”

Declan crossed his arms over his chest. “Any idea who might have it in for either of you? You think it was coincidence Amanda and Ryan caused the accident?”

The forensic tech walked over to Declan. “It looks like drain cleaner, but I won’t be sure until we get it back to the lab.”

“Drain cleaner? Are you sure?” Declan asked the young woman.

“We were told they were Blue Hurricanes. Sky’s usual drink,” Luke added.

“If she’s still walking, I can guarantee that’s not her drink of choice. It’s a good thing no one ingested this. There could have been permanent damage, and without medical help, she’d be dead.”

“Thanks,” Declan answered and waited for the woman to walk away. He pulled Luke out of earshot from the others. “What the hell is going on? You care to clue me in on who-in-the-hell is out to kill you?”

Luke rubbed his smooth-shaven skin. His special dinner had gone to shit. His initial response had been to grab Sky and get her the hell out of the building caveman-style if need be. He’d held his breath, trying to stop her burn. “No, but you can bet your ass we’ll figure it out.” He gave short, quick nods. “Call me when you’re done and I’ll let you know if we’re still here or if we went to the hospital.”

Luke clapped Declan on the back and left him to his investigating. Stabbing the button on the elevator, he waited while watching the numbers on the display as they counted down the floor numbers. His jaw ticked at the slow pace. 

Stanley, the concierge, hurried to the elevator. His face pinched with concern. “Mr. Tanner. I’m so sorry. I hope Ms. Love is okay.”

“You and me both,” Luke grumbled as the elevator appeared and the door slid open.

“Call me directly if either of you need anything.” He gave a sincere nod.

“Thanks, Stanley.”

The door slid closed and Luke slumped against the back wall while he replayed the evening’s events. Amanda, Sky’s ex, the waiter, hell, the bartender. Anyone could have spiked that drink, but he didn’t understand why in the hell someone would want either of them dead. Luke ran his hands over his face, agitated that the night hadn’t gone as planned. The elevator dinged; he stepped off and hurried down the hall and into his suite, passing the paramedics on the way out.

“How is she?”

“The spot will be tender and pink for a while, but she won’t scar.”

Thank god. He let out his first sigh of relief.

“She just needs to follow the instructions we gave her and continue to use the ointment every day until it’s healed.”

“Thank you.” Luke shook their hands before walking into the room. He shut the door behind him and flicked the extra lock into place.

“Are you decent?” he called out, standing by the door.

She stepped around the corner, wearing one of his long-sleeved dress shirts. The buttons at the top lay open and were pushed away from her ointment-covered skin. She held one of the roses he’d forgotten to give her at dinner, lifting it to her nose and sniffing.

“They said I should air the burn spot as often as possible to help it heal.”

He swallowed. He’d seen her in her bra, but seeing her in his shirt caused his shaft to jolt to life, pressing against the zipper of his pants. “I see you found your flowers.”

She grinned. “I did. Thank you. I’m surprised you didn’t take them to the restaurant.”

“I was going to suggest a nightcap and give them to you then.”

“And if I’d said no?”

He stepped farther into the living room and loosened his tie. “Then I would have had to give them to the maid.”

She chuckled as he pulled his tie over his head, tossing it on the couch before flicking open the top button on his shirt. She was standing five feet away and he wanted to ravish her. It was nice to see her smile. Even better to know that she would be fine.

“You might have given her the wrong impression,” she teased.

He stepped in front of her and eased the shirt material out of the way, trying his best not to expose her cleavage. If he’d had his way, she’d be topless right now. The angry pink marks were thickly covered in a greasy ointment slathered over her chest. His fingers traced the edge and he frowned.

“Your brother thinks someone is trying to kill us.”

“What?”

“They think at least one, if not both drinks, was spiked with drain cleaner.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Seriously?”

He nodded, caressing her arms. “Can you think of anyone that might want to harm you?”

“Not really. What about you?”

He figured that would be Sky’s answer. She was so sweet and so giving that no one would have an angry thing to say about her, much less try to kill her. He, on the other hand, did.

“Several,” he answered. The realization struck him hard, and he released his hold. His gaze traveled to the marks on her chest, and his heart clenched.  “I’ve made lots of enemies in my line of work, and in my personal life. Hell, you met one tonight.”

“Amanda?” she asked.

“Amanda is the one and only daughter of John McGregor, my number one competitor. She and I had dated.”

“What happened?” She stepped toward him, and he turned his back to her and walked over to the window, lifting the curtain to stare down at the parking lot, avoiding her gaze.

“One day, I showed up at her work unannounced, and I overheard her phone conversation. She repeatedly said ‘I love you’, to whom I don’t know. She said to be patient, another month and she’d have me wrapped around her finger and her father would give her anything to dump me.” He turned back to Sky. “Even reinstating her allowance and inheritance. Amanda laughed when she said she had it all planned out. She was going to get the ring and dump me at the altar. She was using me. I was nothing but a pawn in her game.”

Skylar’s eyes shined ripe with pity.

“I’m so sorry you got hurt.” Skylar planted her balled fists on her hips. She looked ready to fight for his honor, and it was the cutest damn thing he’d ever seen.

His lips twitched. “Before I even heard the conversation, I’d planned to call things off.”