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The weird part of me was actually lookingforwardto the added challenge.
My boss groaned. “She’s going to make it as impossible as she can for you now, butting heads with you and refusing to soften in the slightest.”
I snorted. “She’salreadydoing that.”
“Well, it’s about to get fifty times worse. She’s not going to believe anything you say to her, convinced you’re lying or forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to do.”
“Don’t worry,” I swore solemnly. “I’ll make sure she sees that I’m in no way being forced and I’m sure as shit not pretending anything. Before long, she’ll remember that I’m brutally honest Luke and thereforeincapableof playing pretend with my emotions. I got this, boss. Just chill.”
Pick released a breath and sat on the corner of his desk, clasping his hands as he studied me thoughtfully. I merely stared back, letting him see whatever it was that he was looking for.
And soon enough, he nodded—slow at first but then he gained some emphasis—and he seemed much calmer. “Okay, you’re right,” he said, lifting his hands in acceptance. “If you want to do this your way; you should do it your way. I’ve interfered enough. And I trust you.”
It startled me how easily I’d pacified him. I even squinted suspiciously, searching for some ulterior motive from him. But all he did was slap his thighs as if that was settled, then he rose to walk back around behind his desk.
“So Nightclub Management 101…” he started, diving into business without another word about his daughter.
I blinked at the sudden switch, then shrugged and sat forward as he opened the books to explain how everything was entered.
Alright, then, I realized. I guess he reallydidwant me to do this relationship thing with Chloe in my own way.
Sweet.
For some reason, that made me feel better about the whole situation.
Not that I’d been worried, to begin with.
I knew everyone who wasn’t Pick thought it was a horrible idea, and I should feel as if my freedom was being stripped and I should hate and resent what was happening. But oddly enough, I was kind ofintoit.
I really had been okay with being a bachelor up until, well, Pick asked me not to be one. I hadn’t felt an itching need to put down roots and find myself a life partner, but now that the seed had been planted, I was growing mightily curious about it all. Because trying it withChloemade it sound…fun.
Marriage had never sounded fun to me before.
It was like a dad who’d just taken down the finest bottle of scotch off the top shelf to give his obedient ten-year-old their first sip. You never let yourself imagine what it would taste like until that amber-filled glass was being handed to you, and then it was all, bam, you felt as if you were suddenly a big shot who’d just been handed the keys to the kingdom.
I’d just never realizedChloemight be my kingdom. But now that I’d been handed an opportunity with her, I definitely wanted to see where this went because I had a strange feeling I was going to like the prize at the end.
* * *
By the timeI clocked out at eight, I was exhausted.
Like, more exhausted than I was after closing a bar at two and then cleaning up until three in the morning.
But the mental strain of administrative duties mixed with the physical rush of slinging drinks and dealing with customers had worn me down.
What was worse, Chloe’s place was quiet and dark when I got there, which immediately freaked me out.
Pausing in the front entrance after opening the door, I peered around the dark and quiet front room, knowing immediately that she was gone. There was just an absence of Chloe in the air. And it made anxiety race up the back of my neck.
I’d been doing better with all that shit lately. And it had been nice.
But the way it spiked now made an almost-immediate tension headache crop up.
“Chloe?” I called as I walked the rooms, even though I knew she wouldn’t answer. “Hello?”
Finally, I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed her number.
It took her three rings to answer, which was three too many for my taste. “Are you okay?” I demanded immediately. “Where are you?”
