The Hunt for Summer (NSC Industries) (39 page)

“May I pinch the end
of this dance?” she asked Logan and I stepped back immediately, offering him to
her.

Logan tipped his
head again and I smiled at his politeness. Their parents had obviously done a
fine job of raising their boy’s.

“I’ll find you
later, little lady. Don’t think I have finished with my cross-examination.”

I laughed slightly
but nodded before I went to find Lucas.

Chapter 44

Lucas

“Lucas, darling, I
haven’t seen you for nearly eight weeks. You really need to get your family
priorities sorted out.” My Mother started and I just grinned at her as my Dad
rolled his eyes at her chastisement.

Even her nagging
couldn’t pull my good mood from under me tonight.

Although I had just
hit thirty, I had the most stunning, bright and remarkable woman in love with
me, almost as much as I loved her.

I had decided
tonight, I was never letting Red get away again and I grinned when she slid up
beside me.

“Hey, baby” I
whispered as I planted a kiss against her head and snaked my arm around her
waist.

I knew Red was
nervous to meet my family but tonight had been the perfect opportunity to kill
two birds with one stone.

“Mom, Dad, I’d like
you to meet my girlfriend, Layla Summers. Red, this is my Mother, Teresa Hunt
and my Father, Bernie Hunt.”

My Dads eyes lifted
at the word ‘Girlfriend’ and he seemed impressed for a moment. My Mother? Well,
I couldn’t quite read her as she eyed Red warily.

“Pleased to meet you
both” she grinned widely at them both as she held out her hand.

My Dad gave her the
usual once over, his eyes skimming over every inch of her, before he smirked at
me and took her hand in his. “It’s a pleasure, Miss Summers. Anybody who can
tie my son down deserves my upmost respect.” He told her with a huge grin and I
bit into my lower lip at his openness.

“Well, I don’t know about
tying him down, Sir,” she laughed “but, if you have any rope, I would be
willing to give it a go.”

My Father barked out
a laugh and turned his gaze to me with a lift of an eyebrow “I like her.”

“I’m really glad,
Dad.”

Red then turned to
my Mother, the worst of the two evils to win over, and tipped her head as she
held out her hand, “Mrs Hunt, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Lucas has
told me so much about you.”

My Mothers eyes
skimmed over Red and I knew what she was thinking. Her cold eyes settled on
Red’s as she took her hand and my stomach clenched in apprehension. “It’s a
shame I can’t say the same, Miss Summers. But, tell me, where did the two of
you meet?”

Oh Shit.

Without batting an
eyelid, Red smiled sweetly “Lucas frequents the club where I dance.”

Oh bigger shit.

“Oh, you work in a
club?” My Mothers sneer was not lost on me and I was secretly planning how to
get Red out of here to save her embarrassment.

I knew she would be
ashamed to tell my folk’s what she did, it didn’t bother me, I was in awe of
how she danced like she did; her lithe little body held my attention every time
she took to the pole and I was always impressed with her moves, some of them
looked downright dangerous, but Red always performed them with effortlessness
and expertise.

“I do, Mrs Hunt,
yes.” Red smiled. I noticed the slight twitch of her thumb against her finger
but she was so far holding her own and I knew I had to let these women find
their middle ground.

“What type of
dancing do you do? I’ve been thinking of taking up Salsa to try and keep myself
in shape but your dancing seems to keep you nice and trim.”

Even bigger shit.

“I’m a pole dancer,
Mrs Hunt.”

There was my girl.
Open, honest and fearless.

My Mothers eyes
widened and my Dad struggled to hide his smirk and I just stood and took a deep
breath.

“Really?” My Mother
said as she eyed Red’s body, “Is it difficult to learn?”

What the hell?

Red shook her head,
“No, not at all. There are tutors who teach you right from the basics upwards,
but if you don’t mind me saying, I think you would be great at it. You already
have a figure to kill for and that helps, but the pole will keep everything
tight and supple.”

God, I loved this
girl.

“You want to pole
dance?” My Father asked my Mom and I swallowed at his excitement.

“Well, I think it
would be fun Bern, don’t you?”

“Good God, yes,
definitely.”

“Okay folk’s, you
are my parents, stop right there.” I warned.

Red turned to me and
laughed before she looked back at my Mom. “If you’d like, I could give you a
few simple lessons to start, just to see if it’s something you think you would
like.”

My Mother’s face lit
up like a beacon and she beamed at Red. “Oh, darling, that would be fantastic.
I’d feel a little more comfortable doing it with someone I know.”

God bless you Red.

“You will have to
give me a couple of weeks Mrs Hunt, I recently had an accident and I’m not
supposed to dance for a few weeks yet, but if it is okay with you, I’ll get your
number from Lucas and give you a ring.”

My Mother nodded
happily, “That’s fine darling. I hope it wasn’t a bad accident.”

This time Red did
stiffen but she smiled at my Mom “Just a car accident, everything’s fine, I
just need a few more weeks’ physio and then I’ll be right as rain.”

Thank you Red. I
didn’t think my Mother would appreciate me being involved with the mafia and
guns.

I nearly fell on my
arse when my Mother leaned forward and planted a tender kiss on her cheek.

Red smiled sweetly
just as the crowd started chanting my name and I turned to look at the
expectant crowd.

“Okay” I shouted as
I took Red’s hand and made my way to the stage.

Logan approached
with a huge cake as everyone sang happy birthday and I got a hoot of cheers as
I extinguished each one with a deep puff then I turned to my well-wishers.

“Firstly, I’d like
to thank you all for coming, even if it’s a terrible feeling for you all to
relish that I’m growing old.”

I paused until the
laughter broke down.

“And secondly, I’d
like to introduce my girlfriend to those of you that don’t know her. Everyone
meet Layla Summers.”

Everyone gave Red a
hello and I grinned as she went blood red, but then she went even redder when I
dropped to one knee in front of her.

The room was flooded
with gasps, Red’s being the loudest, and I looked up at her as my heart paused.

“Red, baby, the last
three months, even if eventful, have been the most amazing three months of my
life. Why? Cos’ they’ve been full of you, baby and I wanna make the rest of my
life just as good, and I know if you are in it then… then…”

Suddenly I couldn’t
breathe as I saw her.

She stepped out from
behind Brad and my heart stopped when I saw who was stood next to her, holding
her hand.

Holy-Fucking-Shit.

I could feel Red’s
confusion; it seemed to flitter around me, like a mist, along with her hurt
when she turned to see who I was staring at.

“Lucas?” she
whispered and I looked back up at her but I couldn’t seem to form any words.

Red swallowed
heavily and released my hand. “Go to her, Lucas.” She said before she descended
the steps from the stage and disappeared through the crowd.

I didn’t even call
her back, my shock and disbelief rendering me numb and immobile.

She took a few steps
towards the stage and then smiled that pretty smile she always had, “Hello,
Lucas” Alana said quietly but I couldn’t remove my gaze from the two year old
boy beside her, the boy with the dark blonde hair and the deep blue eyes, my
eyes.

Chapter 45

Layla

I knew it had been
too good to be true. Every time something good was happening with my life,
something came along and took it from me; ripped it from me, usually, this time
being no exception.

I knew the woman was
Lucas’s ex from the way he had stared at her, the woman he had been so in love
with before I came along. And I also knew the little boy was Lucas’s, he was
the image of Lucas and it was impossible not to see the similarities.

I shovelled
everything into my case and dialled Sara.

“Where are you,
Lay?” she said as soon as she answered.

“In my room, I’m
leaving.”

“I’ll be right up.”
she told me and my heart swelled at her protective manner. We had moved on from
what had happened and Sara had finally accepted and come to terms with her
pregnancy.

I scooped all my
toiletries and cosmetics from the bathroom and piled them in with my clothes
just as Sara walked in.

“Babe…” she
whispered as she came up to me and pulled me against her.

I would not cry. I
was refusing to, knowing if they came they wouldn’t stop.

“I’m okay, I just
wanna get out of here” I told her.

She nodded and
zipped my case up for me before she pulled it off my bed and dragged it behind
us, knowing I couldn’t lift anything heavy yet, as we locked the room and left.

We were both silent
as we descended the floors in the elevator but my mind was far was quiet.

It was screaming,
crying, raging, anguished, confused, distressed and agonized all at the same
time and I could feel my headache slamming into me rapidly.

My throat closed in
and my knees buckled when we exited the lift and my gaze settled on Lucas and
Alana.

They were sat
together on a long sofa in the foyer.

Her palm was on his
cheek and his own hand covered hers and I could see the love and devotion in
Alana’s eyes. I couldn’t see Lucas’s as his back was to me but I couldn’t drag
my eyes away from his hand over hers.

I was struggling to
breathe but I forced air into my lungs and took a step closer to the exit with
determination and self pride.

“What the…” Sara
hissed from beside me and I grabbed her arm before she made her way over to
them.

“No Sare, please…” I
begged. I couldn’t handle a confrontation now, I just wanted to get the hell
out of there and die under my duvet.

She sighed as she
gave me an agonized look but then nodded and led me through the foyer, both of
us hell bent on looking straight ahead.

I didn’t think he
had seen me until I heard him shout my name as we made our way through the huge
glass main doors.

I didn’t turn, I
just kept on moving forward, one step after another until we hit the pavement
and Sara passed my case to a taxi driver who then heaved it into the boot of
his cab.

“Red…” Lucas shouted
and I grit my teeth as I turned to him.

“What? Where are you
going?” he looked confused and I fought the urge to laugh.

“You can’t have us
both, Lucas. I saw the way you looked at her.”

He had the decency
to look shamed and I knew then that Alana still held his heart, whether she
held all of it or a piece of it, I wasn’t sure, but she still held something of
him.

And I knew, to fight
against a woman who had his child, would be damn near impossible.

I swallowed before I
climbed in the taxi and told the driver to drive, refusing my eyes to look at
Lucas, stood by the roadside watching as I left him.

***

“What the hell is
going on with you?” I asked Mason as soon as he took the chair opposite me in
the café where we’d arranged to meet the next day.

He closed his eyes
and scrubbed his face with his hands as he groaned, from my question or a
hangover I wasn’t sure, but it was both a groan of frustration and resignation
and I reached across the table for his hand.