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Chapter Thirteen
“Comfort comes at a price, Quinn. Pay up. Talk to me.”
She didn’t remember sliding down the wall, but somehow she’d ended up on Luke’s lap, her legs slung around his hips, her arms clinging to shoulders, and her head crashed on his chest. Her body suffered a thousand tender spots, but right now, before they exchanged any serious words, her heart wasn’t one of them. All the aches were deeply satisfying, like sore muscles after a good workout. Talking would ruin the rarified state. She raised her head and gave him her brassiest smile. “I think we pretty much covered everything worth discussing.”
Not even a ghost of a smile greeted her. “Think again.”
Retreat seemed like her next best option. She made a move to crawl off his lap, only to find big hands banded around her arms. “Think again,” he repeated.
She opened her mouth to tell him to…what, she wasn’t sure…but the disaster comprising the last six months of her life started dribbling out in a halting, unrehearsed order—tonight’s call with her mother segued into her brother’s long friendship with coke, and her failed effort to help him relaunch his life after his last attempt at getting clean. The more she talked, the more impossible it became to stem the flow of words. Like a dam with a hairline crack, each escaping detail weakened the wall behind which she held everything at bay. It crumbled slowly at first, and then quickly, in a rush that sounded disjointed even to her. Poor Luke didn’t have a chance in hell of following every stream of her rambling explanation, but he didn’t interrupt with questions or attempt to bring order to the information. He just let her talk. And she did, unable to stop even as the bitter truth about her knee sprain spewed out.
“Jesus.” She shut her eyes and pressed her hand to her mouth, but it was too late. “Nobody knows that,” she added quickly. “Not my parents. Not Eddie. I don’t want anyone to know. Please, don’t tell anyone.”
“Shhh.” Something touched her face. His thumb, sweeping away more tears she hadn’t realized escaped. “Like everything you tell me, this stays between us. You can trust me. You did the right thing by telling me.”
She took over the job of mopping her face, but still didn’t look at him. “I don’t feel right. I feel like a fucking train wreck. I’m not supposed to come apart like this. Callum’s the one prone to shatter. I’m supposed to be the strong one. My mother thinks I should let him come. My brother thinks—”
“I don’t give a goddamn what either of them think. It’s off the table.”
Now she did look at him, taking in his steely eyes and set jaw. His edict, and the arrogance with which he’d delivered it, should have pissed her off, but it didn’t. He made her feel…protected. Especially when he added, “If you need someone else to point to for reasons, point to me, because if he comes anywhere near you, I’m kicking his ass.”
He took a breath and visibly banked his temper, while her heart slid a little farther out of her grasp. As a rule, she didn’t inspire protective instincts in…well…anybody. There were reasons she played the kind of roles she did. She was tough. Her family expected it. Her profession demanded it. Seeing Luke’s tightly reined temper rise on her behalf hit squarely in some soft underbelly of her emotional armor she tried her best to keep hidden.
“You don’t owe him any favors, Quinn. You did him a big one by not pressing charges, and putting him in a program instead of a jail cell.”
Defending her brother came automatically. “He didn’t mean to hurt me. He just…couldn’t stay on his feet. He couldn’t control himself.”
“And as long as he’s battling an addiction, he’s not in control. He’s in a world of hurt. His request tells me he’s desperate for a way out of his situation, and not above manipulating the people who love him to find one. Desperate people get careless and mean. Don’t put yourself in harm’s way again. Keep your distance until you’re both sure of his motives. Make him earn your trust.”
“Is that an order?”
She immediately regretted the bristly retort. His support eased the guilt and uncertainty clawing at her. This once, she wanted someone she could trust to tell her what to do. And she trusted him.
Apparently he realized as much, even if she lacked the good grace to say it out loud. He
squeezed her fingers before releasing her hand. “A strict order.”
He can read you like a comic book.
A frightening thought, when she really considered it. Could he see everything, like how far gone she was where he was concerned? And just how the hell did he feel? Yes, he’d just fucked her blind, but she knew better than to read anything into that. She’d used sex like a weapon from day one, to balance the scales, get under his skin, and, at times, just prove to herself he wasn’t immune to her. He’d already proved he wasn’t above engaging in some sexual brinksmanship of his own.
And no, she wasn’t playing anymore. Over the past weeks, things had changed for her. But for him? Unlikely. If anything, her breakdown tonight probably cemented his opinion of her as a head case. She busied herself straightening and securing her robe—rebuilding her smooth facade—and mustered up some actual manners. “I’m sorry I interrupted your evening with my personal drama. Thank you for dropping everything and coming over to…” Fuck me? “…comfort me.”
“You call. I come. That was always part of the deal.”
She snuck a look at him from under her lashes. “Am I so predictable? You knew it was only a matter of time before a neurotic narcissist like me needed even more attention?”
He ran his index finger down the front of her robe, edging the fabric aside to bare her breast. “You are definitely not predictable. Quinn, I think you know the rest of what occurred tonight wasn’t part of our deal. It wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Exactly what a girl wanted to hear from the man who’d just made her come so hard, she’d seen stars. Her nipple tightened under his gaze as if to dispute him, even as a dull throb settled in her chest. “Because I’m a client?”
“That’s what you’re supposed to be, according to the contract we both signed. But that’s only part of the reason.”
“Sounds like you’ve got a whole list.” She drew back and attempted to cover herself and get her feet under her at the same time. Listening to a rundown of her shortcomings was more than she could handle right now.
He caught a handful of the front of her robe and anchored her in place. “It got a lot shorter, as of a minute ago.”
“You know what, Luke? You can take your list and shove it up your—”
