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A quick scan of the area and Luke spotted Noah and Josh, which meant Katie had to be nearby. Luke sauntered forward, feeling a rush of anticipation over seeing her that he’d never felt for a woman before. Katie had a way of keeping him smiling off the mound and, so far, focused when he was on it.
He stopped in front of Noah and Josh. “Where’s Katie?” he asked, his gaze drifting up and down the concrete ramp, to find no signs of Katie. He shifted his attention back to the brothers in time to see Noah and Josh exchange an uncomfortable look, which instantly set Luke’s nerves on edge. “Okay,” he said. “What the hell is going on?”
“Katie went back to the house,” Josh offered, another shared look with Noah. “She’s meeting us there.”
Luke shook his head, confused. “Did something happen? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine,” they both replied.
“So,” he said, trying to understand and be discreet at the same time. “Is this about the ‘situation’ we’ve been dealing with?”
“It’s about a situation that Katie has been dealing with on her own,” Noah said, scrubbing his perpetual stubble. “A situation we have no business telling you about because it’s her personal business.”
Luke looked from Noah to Josh, and that punched-in-the-gut feeling intensified. He had given his trust to Katie, done so despite a past that warned him that trusting wasn’t smart. If something went wrong between them, he realized suddenly, if she betrayed him, it was going to hurt like a bitch.
“You know,” Luke began, and it wasn’t meant to be a question, “you’re going to tell me anyway.”
Josh shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and rocked on his heels. “Yeah,” he said. “We are.”
A few minutes later, the three of them stood at the bed of Luke’s truck, and Luke had gotten an earful. “Holy hell,” he said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, agitated beyond belief. Katie had kept all kinds of shit from him. The kind of stuff a woman who cares about a guy doesn’t keep to herself. He’d spilled his guts to her, told her all about the hell he’d gone through. And she’d told him her own history—stories about her knee injury and losing her career. Stories of her past, he realized. Nothing that pertained to the present, though, except for a few details about starting her business.
He stared up at the pitch-black sky, the clouds shadowing the stars, kind of like his emotions were affecting his ability to think straight, and spoke half to Noah and Josh, half to himself. “I didn’t even know her sister was in trouble. Not one word about this.” Neither of them spoke, and he was damn thankful for that. He was trying to make sense of why Katie had kept this from him. Trying to come up with a reason other than the obvious. He simply wasn’t a long-term commitment to her. He was sex and satisfaction and a job. But damn it, he wasn’t going to leave her to deal with this on her own, no matter what the outcome between them. He had money. Plenty of it. Too much of it. He gave it to charities, gave it to his parents. He could give some to Katie to ensure her sister was safe. He’d seen a few guys get in deep with those kind of people. They kept coming until they got their money.
He tilted his head down, brought Noah and Josh into focus. “How much is the gambling debt?”
“Thirty total,” Noah said. “It was fifty but she’s already paid twenty. I’m headed to the airport as soon as I know everyone is safely where they are supposed to be,” Noah added.
“The gambling problem is over, right?” Luke confirmed. They both nodded and he added, “So if I pay this, it’s done?”
“It’s done,” Noah agreed.
“I’ll give you the money,” he said. “Take it and make this go away.”
Josh cleared his throat. “Katie’s going to be furious that we told you.”
Luke pulled his keys from his pocket. “Yeah, well, I’m pissed at her for not telling me.” He glanced at Josh. “Katie and I need some privacy to talk.”
“I have your place on remote surveillance,” Josh said. “I’ll follow you home and stay nearby.”
“Consider me gone,” Noah said.
Satisfied they had an agreement in place, Luke drove them to his place.
He thought of how Katie was withdrawing now after everything they’d been through and silently cursed. If pleasure was all Katie wanted from him, if he wasn’t good enough to be a confidant, a friend and lover, well, then, fine—pleasure was what he would give her. Nothing more. Nothing less. But damn it, they were going to be honest about it. They were going to come to terms with what they were and what they were not. All she’d had to do was talk to him, and he could have taken care of her.
