AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah.” Bo is the first to respond. “I might. I for one have had one too many to be driving.” He turns up his bottle of beer to drain the last of it. I look at the table and see all the empty bottles sitting around and have the feeling none of them will be leaving here tonight unless they call an Uber.
“Marley is staying in one of the guest rooms, but I don’t know which one yet,” I tell them. “So, watch yourselves when you go up, don’t bust in on her.” I give them all a stern look before I turn to head inside to check on her. I check the downstairs, but not finding her anywhere, I head to the lift. When I reach the second floor, I wonder which room she chose. I’m hoping it’s the room next to mine, but that might not be a good idea. Too tempting only having one wall between us. Huffing at the turn my thoughts are once again taking, I head down the hall toward my room, checking all the bedrooms as I go. I don’t find her in any of them. I turn around and head the other direction.
Passing the three rooms I’ve already checked, I pass the lift to check the other rooms. When I arrive at the bedroom farthest from mine, I find the door closed. I reach out to knock, but I hesitate. Am I being too pushy? What if she’s wanting to be alone? How will she react to me coming to find her a second time? I’m about to turn around and go to my room when her door swings open. Marley stumbles when she sees me sitting outside her door, and I’m utterly speechless when I see what she’s wearing, or more like what she’s not wearing. She has on a tank top and shorts that are revealing more of her skin than I’ve ever seen before. I drink her in from head to toe and back again. Her full breasts are hanging heavy in the tank top, and I’m fairly certain she isn’t wearing a bra. Her nipples are peaked and begging to be touched. Her waist dips in slightly before her hips flare out so seductively. The bare flesh of her thick thighs draws me like a moth to a flame. My hand is itching to reach out and touch her. I ball my hands into fists to prevent me from doing just that.
“Luke?” she asks, confusion in her voice. “What are you doing out here?” I grin at her sheepishly.
“I was coming to check on you,” I tell her honestly. “Then I thought maybe you needed some time to yourself and I didn’t want to be obnoxious. I’d already came after you once when you wanted to be alone.” She smiles so beautifully at me, her face flushing a pretty shade of pink.
“I did need a few minutes alone,” she confesses. “But I’m glad you’re here.” The smile on her face makes my heart pound. I can’t get over how gorgeous she is, standing here in my home. I’ve always thought Marley to be attractive, but seeing her smiling in her pajamas…it’s a sight to behold.
MARLEY
“Iwanted to thank you again for everything. Letting me stay here, getting the clothes.” I gesture to my attire. “You’ve been so generous. I’ll never be able to repay you.” Luke moves closer to me.
“As I’ve said before, Marley, you don’t need to thank me.” He reaches for my hand and I give it to him. “Or to repay me. I’m glad I can be here when you need me. I’m sorry all this has happened to you, but I will get this straightened out for you.” I can’t help but smile at the sweet man. “Det. Atwood called. He’d like to see you in the morning around nine.” My smile faulters. I had forgotten I had to talk to the detective. I’ve gotten lost in spending time with Luke. I’ve lost focus on the reason I’m here. My home has been violated by some unknown person. I’m in financial ruin and I have no job.
“Okay, I’ll make sure to be there,” I tell him. I look around for my phone so I can enter the information in it. “Um…can you give me the address to the station?” I ask. Luke frowns at me.
“I’m not sure of the address,” Luke says hesitantly. “I know where it is.” He’s still frowning, looking at me with concern. “Why are you wanting to know the address?”
“I’ll need it to get there.” I sigh heavily as all the possible scenarios run through my head on how I’m going to get there. “You know, to give the Uber driver.”
“You’re not taking an Uber, Marley,” Luke says grumpily. “I’ll be taking you to the station.”
“Oh Luke!” I exclaim, my heart beat kicking up. “You’ve done so much already. You have a business to run. I don’t want to keep you from doing what you need to be doing. I can manage.” His face forms a scowl. He looks almost like he’s angry at what I’ve said.
“Marley”–his voice deadly calm in comparison to the look on his handsome face– “I’m only going to say this one more time.” He pauses to stare deep into my eyes. My breath catches from the intensity of his gaze. “You are not alone. Not anymore. Iwill betaking you to the station. I’ll go with you to your landlord to straighten out your rent issue. Next, we will see the bank about your car payments and your emptied accounts. I might not be able to fix it all in one day, but I’m not leaving you to fend for yourself.”
“Luke,” I croak, unable to speak clearly from all the emotion running through me.
“Like it or not,” Luke growls. “You’re stuck with me for the foreseeable future.” My vision blurs, and I blink to keep the tears at bay. This man is going out of his way to take care of me. Something no one has done for many years. And I like it. I like it a lot.
“I like it,” I blurt out. My hand flies to my mouth because I can’t believe I’ve just said it out loud. Luke chuckles as he tugs on the hand he’s still holding. I let him pull me onto his lap again. It seems I end up here every hour or so. Not that I’m complaining, because he’s a very comfortable seat. One that I could definitely get used to.
“Good,” Luke says. His voice husky as he leans closer. He pauses millimeters from my lips. His eyes find mine, asking if it’s okay to kiss me. I close the distance as my answer. His lips arewarm, soft, and full. His kiss is gentle at first. His lips moving tenderly over mine. His hand lands on the nape of my neck. The sensation so stimulating and arousing I gasp, which gives him the opportunity to thrust his tongue into my mouth. I moan at the intimate contact. Our tongues slide over, under, and around each other. He tilts my head as he deepens the kiss. My arms go around his neck. My hands sliding into his hair. He feels so good holding me, kissing me. I could get used to this. That thought has me pulling away. Luke isn’t mine. This is all too good to be true, and I need to remember things like this don’t happen to me. As my eyes open, Luke is looking at me concerned. “Marley?”
“It’s late,” I say as I slide off his lap. His arms reluctantly fall away. “I’ll see you in the morning.” I don’t wait for his reply. I slip into my room and close the door. Leaning against the closed door, I try to calm myself as best I can. My heart is pounding in my chest and my breaths are rapid. I attempt to recover from his scorching kiss. I didn’t want to stop kissing him. He didn’t seem to want to stop kissing me either, but I have to protect my heart. I can’t let myself get carried away. Luke is so far out of my league I can’t even see his floor. He will see that eventually, but it would be too late to prevent my heart getting broken. After several minutes, I hear his chair begin to move away. I push off from the door and head over to the bed. Crawling under the covers, I close my eyes in an attempt to force myself to sleep, but I can tell sleep won’t come easily, tonight.
A few hours later, I’m woken from sleep by a loud sound. I’m disoriented. It takes a few moments to realize where I am. A doorbell sounds as I realize that’s what has woken me. I throw the covers back and swing my legs over the side. I’m sure Luke has been awoken by the bell, too, but I can likely get downstairs much faster to answer the door for him. I hurry to open my door. Entering the hall, I notice Luke’s door is still closed, and all the other doors are closed, too. I hurry down the stairs and through the house. I hear voices as I reach the front door.
“Luke Robertson?” a deep male voice inquires.
“No,” A male voice replies, Kelvin, I think. “That’s my boss. I’ll get him. You guys can wait in here.” Men in military uniforms are entering the living room as Kelvin hurries to pull blankets and pillows from the couch. “You can have a seat. I’ll be right back.” He turns to leave the room when he sees me. “Marley you should go back to bed.” I’m stunned. Why would there be men in uniform at Luke’s house at three in the morning? Before I can say or do anything, I hear footsteps and the sound of the lift as it’s lowering from upstairs. I’m frozen to the spot. I can’t get my feet to move. A hand on my lower back startles me. I turn to see Dalton at my side, while Bo, Rosco, and Enos are walking toward us.
“Hey, Marley,” Dalton greets me before he turns to Kelvin to ask, “What’s going on Kelvin?”
“Military personnel here to see Luke.” Kelvin’s voice is strained.
“Fuck!” Bo exclaims. “Not again.” Enos’s and Rosco’s faces are pinched tight. Neither of them makes a move toward the room where the men are waiting. We are all just kind of hovering at the door. In another minute or so, I see Luke making his way toward us. “Bro, it’s Daisy, again.” Luke gives a sharp nod and shoves the wheels a little harder, propelling him toward the living room. I stand there watching him roll by me. When his hand grabs mine as he passes, I stumble to follow him. Once everyone is in the living room, the men waiting stand. Luke’s grip on my hand is tight, but I don’t dare pull away. Something awful is about to be said. I can feel the tension in the room.
“Luke Robertson?” one of the men asks, addressing everyone gathered, but his eyes are on Luke.
“Yes?” Luke’s voice cracks, and he clears his throat.
“I’m here to inform you,” the man continues, “that Capt. Daisy Robertson is missing in action. She has you listed as her next of kin.” I suck in a breath. Luke’s sister is missing in action? OhGod! I squeeze his hand tighter as my gaze falls to him. He’s looking straight ahead at the men in front of him. His face a tight mask, showing no emotion. Bo, Enos, and Rosco move up behind us, each one placing a hand on their brother’s shoulder.
“What happened?” Luke whispers the question like he can’t voice his fears out loud.
