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I sat there with my mouth hanging open for a moment before getting on top of things.
"No," I said and cleared my throat. "That's okay. You got here really quickly."
He smiled. "My office is just a few blocks away."
I sat mute, unable to think of what else to say. Candace made a face at me, her eyes wider than saucers.
"Alexa, why don't you introduce us to your friend?"
"Oh, oh, yes," I said, stuttering. “Luke, this is Candace, my best friend and these are my colleagues. Everyone, this is Luke."
Luke reached out and extended his hand across the table to Candace. “Hey, Candace,” he said. “Nice to meet you. Alexa told me so much about you."
"All of it good, no doubt," Candace said and blushed. Luke kissed her knuckles gallantly. Then he turned to Ichabod.
"Ian, right?” he said and pointed to Ichabod. “Nice to meet you. Alexa told me about you as well."
Ian extended his hand and the two men shook. It was when Luke reached to Ian that I saw the tattoo extending down below his shirt cuff to wrap around his wrist. Something tribal, in dark blue ink.
It was so unlike what I thought of Luke. He didn’t seem the tattoo kind of guy. It made me want to take off his shirt and inspect the tattoo. See what else he had on his body besides that wonderful washboard abdomen. And of course, our conversation while I was in the washroom came back to me, and I couldn’t help but imagine his hands on me.
"Alexa, you never told us about a boyfriend," Ian said. He smiled at Luke but I could see it wasn't a truly friendly smile. "How long have you known each other?"
How would I explain him to everyone?
If I was at a loss for words, Luke wasn't, improvising on the spot.
"I used to go to Columbia, and we met at the pub last year when I was there for a reunion. We lost contact for a while and reconnected recently."
Luke grinned at me, winking slightly.
"How nice," Ian replied, his voice low. He looked rather upset. The other female students were a bit wide-eyed, no doubt impressed with Luke as any woman would be. He was gorgeous and looked high end, in his dark grey suit, white shirt and black tie. Plus, that obviously expensive black watch.
He was, quite simply, Armani gorgeous.
I took in a deep breath and calmed myself. Seeing him again, I realized that Luke was a hunk of man like I hadn’t seen in a loooong time. Tall, built, handsome… Even I was excited. I pasted the most alluring smile on my face and prepared myself to play his new girlfriend. It would solve the problem of Ichabod so it was worth having to deceive my colleagues. I put my hand on Luke's bicep and squeezed, enjoying the feel of the hard muscle underneath my fingers.
“Yes, I met Luke last year at Columbia. It was nice to see him again after he left for the business world and well, we just couldn't stop seeing each other."
Luke and I looked at each other, smiling like a couple deeply in love. I could see the gleam in his eye. He was enjoying this little charade.
He took my hand and kissed my knuckles.
What a change from the other guys at Columbia. He was a slick charmer, for sure. I could see Candace almost bursting with glee across the table, her grin ridiculously big. She loved the game as well.
"You're the Luke Marshall?" one of my fellow students asked, leaning forward. "The Luke Marshall of the Chatter app? The deal that's rumored to be worth two billion?"
"The very one, but shh," he said and held a finger to his lips. "We don't want that number repeated too many times. Just in case it falls through. The deal's still in the works."
"How did that number get out, anyway?" I asked. "Shouldn’t it be a secret?"
Luke shook his head. "Sometimes, it’s good to have a few rumors floating around. Increases buzz around a deal and might attract a higher bid by someone who wants to win the deal."
Luke pulled up a chair and the group moved on to some other discussion. When their attention was focused elsewhere, I leaned closer to him.
"I know your family's rich, but that's still a lot of money," I whispered, barely able to believe it.
Luke leaned closer and smiled back. “It is a lot of money, but I can then be my own man, with no money from the family."
