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Terri nodded sagely. “Yes, I know I need you, Luke. I don’t deny that. But I also need to be self-sufficient. My life may be in danger, but I’m not stupid. I can watch my own back and I know how to be careful. Besides, we work together and live together now, so this is all probably a moot point anyway.”
Luke didn’t seem too happy either way, but she could see in his eyes that he wasn’t going to argue. If she wanted her car, then she would have her car, and she didn’t know why she had ever doubted him.
Twisting the knob, Terri let herself inside the garage. The sight before her had her stumbling backward, her cry muffled by her hand over her own mouth.
“What is it?” Luke demanded, rushing forward to brace her against his chest. Then he saw it.
“Damn it!”
The garage was a total mess, shelves turned on their sides, buckets of paint spilled onto the concrete. The worst made her want to scream, the pain of having her home and everything she had worked so hard for, destroyed.
“We need to go, Terri.” Luke’s voice was a distant command. But Terri wasn’t hearing anything he said. Her car had been demolished, its windows shattered, its doors smashed in, the lights non-existent. And as if that hadn’t been enough, black spray paint covered nearly every exposed inch of metal. Bitch. Whore. A few choice names she knew she would never get out of her head. But there was one that had her shaking so violently her knees threatened to give out.
Soon.
That one word said it all. She had run out of time. Randy was going to kill her. Crumpling to the cold, hard ground, Terri was glad Luke had her, because she was falling apart.
“I wish he had killed me,” she cried into his chest, dampening his shirt with a torrent of unstoppable tears.
“Shh,” Luke said, petting her hair as he held her closer still. “Don’t say that.”
“Why not?” she sobbed. “I always knew he was going to kill me someday, and he almost did. If they’d just let me die then, none of this would be happening now.”
Leaning back, Luke grabbed her chin and wrenched her face up to meet his eyes. “If there is one thing I have learned in my life,” he said fiercely, “it’s that everything happens for a reason. Someone wanted you to live that day, Terri. You were given a second chance. Don’t throw it away. Fight. Randy isn’t invincible. He’s a man who has lost his mind. Stand up to him and fight. Take back your life.” “What life?” she huffed, trying to pull out of his grip, but his hold was firm.
“Any life you want,” he rasped, then lowered his head to seal his mouth over hers.
***
Terri touched her fingers to her lips, still feeling the pleasurable sensation of Luke’s kiss. She had been so floored by what he had done that she had broken the kiss and scrambled to her feet. Luke didn’t apologize, and neither did she. That one shared kiss had sparked something between them and she now wondered if it had always been there and not just a one-sided attraction on her part.
Cold beer splashed her hand and Terri jumped back, flipping the taps off to prevent any more spillage. “Damn,” she muttered, cursing her drifting thoughts. It was still early, and the club wouldn’t be in full swing for another couple hours, but Terri had been distracted since she stepped foot through the door. She needed to get her act together because tonight was going to be a long night.
Luke had asked that all the wait staff be on hand to cover tables and help get things set up for the coming St. Patrick’s Day celebration they had been planning. And it should be good, because Luke wasn’t sparing any expense. Balloons and party favors had been ordered already, but they still had to track down a caterer and someone to DJ the event, since Luke normally used a professional track list played through the many speakers set into the walls and hanging from the ceiling rather than a live person.
They probably wouldn’t get out of there until the very early morning hours, if they were lucky. Terri was already feeling the pinch of her shoes, which threatened to make her more irritable than she already was. Having your husband break into your house and trash your car had a way of doing that to a person.
They had called the police before coming in, for all the good that did. The officer took a report, all but dismissed their suggestion that it was Randy who did it, merely saying that it would be looked into. In the end, both she and Luke had walked out of there steaming, defeated, and mentally exhausted. It seemed Randy’s uncanny ability to skirt the law was still intact.
Deciding not to dwell on something she couldn’t change, Terri chose to focus on the job in front of her. She was just finishing cleaning up the mess she made when Luke strolled behind the bar. “The first rule in bartending: No spilling the beer,” he said as he reached around her to grab an empty glass.
“It was an accident,” she replied crisply before she could check her growing temper.
“It was a joke,” he said, clearly offended by her waspish tone. When he finished filling the tall glass, he set it on the counter and pulled her aside. “Is something wrong?”
Terri sighed, knowing she was being unreasonably acerbic. “It’s not you,” she explained. “I’m just feeling a little irritable after everything…”
Luke’s features softened, and he stepped closer, as if to embrace her, but then Marianne and Sara were there and he pulled away, breaking the connection. He didn’t say anything, just walked away, leaving Terri feeling bereft. Picking up her tray, she forced a smile on her face and hit the floor. Tips didn’t magically appear, after all, and she needed all she could get.
About halfway into her shift, as she looked up from the blender she was using to mix a frozen margarita, to find a stern looking man staring expectantly back at her. Cutting the motor, she smiled brightly. “What can I get for you?”
Instead of ordering a drink, he flashed a badge. “I’m Detective Young with the CPD. I need to speak with a…” he pulled out a pad of paper from his breast pocket and leafed through it. “Luke Reed,” he said, tucking it away again.
Instant and irrational fear ripped through her, but Terri schooled her reaction and motioned for him to follow. Luke’s office door was closed as usual, and she knocked lightly. A moment later he opened it, and the friendly smile he was wearing when he found her standing there slipped when he looked past her to find the detective.
Luke recovered quickly, smiling a broad smile and reaching past her to offer his hand. “Sir. What can I do for you this evening?”
The detective accepted the gesture and returned it with much less enthusiasm. “Mr. Reed. As I told your waitress, my name is Detective Young from the CPD. I need to ask you a few questions.”
Luke’s eyes flicked to Terri, whose own eyes were filled with worry. “Certainly. We can use my office,” he said, pushing the door open wider. He passed Terri a slim smile and as he closed the door and as she prepared to walk away, she overheard the detective say, “Tell me everything you know about the hit and run.”
