AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh.” I assess his body movements. “You sure?”
“Jillian, I swear, if you start analyzing my every move, you’re going to drive me crazy.”
My eyes widen. “That could be a mood swing.”
“Jillian,” he says deeply and in warning.
I hold my hands up, then run them through my hair. I start to move about the table. “I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to do this. If I’m like this with you, I’ll forever be on Ainsley, always wondering and watching and—”
“You know what you need?” Luke places his hands on my shoulders, stopping me from my march around the table.
I lift a brow and hope he has something profound to say. Something to take away this crippling anxiety I feel building deep in my gut and bubbling to the surface.
“You need to go dancing.”
There’s a fluttering of my lashes as I look at him, stunned and confused. “That sounds like a horrible idea.”
“It probably is.” He grins, grabbing his keys off the table and shoving them into his pocket. “Let’s go.”
“Wait.” My attempt to halt him fails as he keeps walking toward the front door. “Your dad said you had a hard time with the diagnosis. You got drunk a lot. You … went off the rails a bit. If we go dancing, you’ll want to drink and …”I could lose you again.“You might not stop.”
This time, he turns on his heel. Those steely eyes stare at me blankly as his chest rises with a quick intake of air.
“I’m not an alcoholic. I don’t have a problem with liquor. I had a life problem.”
He takes three steps forward, closing the space between us. The musk of his freshly put-on cologne lingers in the air between us. I try desperately to resist looking at the captivating hold of his stare, deep, apologetic, penetrating.
“I had ayouproblem. Now, you’re here, and there’re no more secrets. So, we can stay here and think about dying, or we can go out and start living.”
From the moment I met this man, he has been incorrigible. It’s emotional whiplash at its finest, and yet he has a way of making me do what he says. I know spending more time with him—alone timewith him—will be my undoing. It’s dangerous, as are all things when it comes to him. Turns out, after a day like today, I’m more of a rebel than I thought.
As Luke turns and walks to the front door and opens it, I grab my purse, walk out, and decide, even if just for the night, to focus on living.
twenty
NOT FAR FROM THEhotel that caught on fire a month ago is a bar with an industrial ceiling, red brick walls, neon signs, and a live band in the back. A black board in the front shows the lineup for the night. The band playing right now is branded as a pop cover band.
The only free table is a high-top along a side wall with a clear view of the stage, yet it’s far from the bar. The waitresses look busy, so Luke asks me for my order and goes to the bar while I wait at the table. I wore jeans and a V-neck chiffon blouse to Mitch’s house, paired with flats. As I look around the room at the patrons who are easily a decade younger than me, I wish I’d worn something a little different. Perhaps a silk camisole and heels.
There’s a mirror on the wall beside me. I take a look at my hair pulled up in a bun. It looks pretty, and I’m impressed it stayed so well all day. However, I feel a tinge stuffy. Pulling the bobby pins and elastic from my hair, I let it spill down my shoulders. There’s a slight dent in my hair from being held up, so I fluff it out.
“Gussying yourself up for me?” Luke remarks as he returns with our drinks. An old-fashioned for me and an India pale ale beer for him.
I scrunch my nose at him. “I was getting a headache from my hair being up.”
“You look beautiful both ways, but I’ve always been a sucker for your hair down.”
As I take the drink, I fight the urge to look in the mirror and make sure my hair looks good. Screw it. Who cares? I’m messing with my hair when Luke stretches his arm across the table.
“Come here.” He places a finger by my cheek and brushes the hair behind my ear, weaving his hand through the bottom to curl it at the neck. Seemingly impressed with himself, he leans back in his chair, lifts his beer, and grins. “Perfect.”
I release the breath I didn’t realize I had been holding and roll my eyes. “Do you moonlight as a hairdresser now?”
“Only for you.” He winks.
Taking a sip, I assess him over the brim of the lowball glass. My nerves aren’t entirely settled, as my leg is vibrating, and there’s a constant dread creeping itself in the front of my forehead. I rub it lightly.
“You need a distraction.”
