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That couldn’t—would never—be me. The fairytale would end.
Luke was silent all the way to the airport and didn’t speak a word during the flight. Like him, I was waiting for the axe to fall. It was only a matter of time before his father when he got wind of the tabloids.
Relief flowed through my veins when the pilot announced that we were flying over Oakland and would land shortly. I looked down and saw the blue, freezing water of the bay. Luke glanced at his phone after landing and stuffed it back into his jacket.
What now?
As I followed Luke out of the plane and into San Francisco’s breezy air, I wondered what the hell would happen. I squeezed his hand as we waited in the chilly air for a cab.
He turned his head toward me, his windswept hair making him look adorably ruffled. “I know you’re eager to go home, but I don’t want to be alone.”
He was asking me to stay with him.
“Luke, I want to be with you.” I didn’t need to add that I had no desire to be in Natalie’s presence, not after what her fiancé did.
It annoyed me that there were paparazzi still clicking away at us outside SFO. I couldn’t wait to see the headlines: Luke Pardini seen at SFO with blonde escort, who does he think he’s kidding?
I bounced on my toes to give him a kiss. He drew my body into his and bit down on my lip as I swept my tongue across his mouth. My heart was pounding when he pulled away with a heated look on his face.
“I can’t wait to get home,” he whispered in my ear as the cab appeared.
Twenty-minutes later, we stumbled up the steps of his Victorian home in Pacific Heights. It was one of the richest areas in San Francisco, where the homes had actual driveways, a luxury in the city.
He really lives like a king.
I barely had time to marvel at the beauty of his home before Luke grabbed my hand and led me upstairs. We ran up the steps and he pulled me to the side, his arms wrapping themselves around my waist. His mouth parted, and I leaned forward to taste those lips I fantasized about all day. His fingers dug into the waistband of my jeans and I slipped my hands under his sweater. I dragged my thumb across his hard nipple and squeezed his back muscles as he slid around my backside. I could already feel his hardness grinding against my leg and my core heated, almost like I could feel him thrusting inside me already.
We were halfway to the bedroom and his mouth was tracing a downward path from my neck. Then the phone rang, jarring us out of our dance toward the bed. My face hot, I looked up at Luke who seemed to debate whether to answer it or not. He let out an angry sigh and kissed my head.
“It might be work, just hold on.”
Damn it.
He picked the phone off the dresser and winced when he looked at the screen. I felt cold all over as I realized what his expression meant.
“What?” he barked.
Stiffness worked itself through my limbs like poison. It started in my handswhen Luke left my embrace. Something was fighting to swim to the surface of my mind, something that made my heart sink.
He spat angry words into the phone, his face becoming red. “It’s not like that.”
It was his father. I turned around, feeling numb as I walked out of his bedroom and picked up my purse in the living room. It was torture to waitin the foyer with my suitcase.
I can’t do this to him.
His slow footsteps creaked the wooden floorboards.
“My dad will donate all of his money to charity unless I end things with you.”
I nodded. A quiet storm was building up in my chest and my voice was already shaking with the first throes. “So that’s it, then.”
“No. Fuck him.”
It was the last thing I expected him to say, and a surge of joy flooded my heart.
You can’t do this to him. You can’t force him to throw away his entire fortune.
Guilt punctured my joy like a needle to a balloon.
