4. Not Tonight Satan
Not Tonight Satan
Luke
A knock comes on my door around six o’clock. I have been working on a weird divorce case and lost track of time. Pierre Miller bought furniture with his ex-wife and now he expects me and her lawyer to sort out who gets what. It’s furniture, sell it and divide the money.
"I’m heading out," Carrie says.
I look away from my computer and over at my cousin. "Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a good night." I reply and go back to work, but Carrie has other ideas.
She saunters in and sits in the chair across from my desk. "You like Dani, don’t you, Lucas Michael." Carrie states matter-of-factly.
She used my full name, meaning she expects me to answer. "Ms. Carter is a very nice woman and a perfect match for this company."
Carrie tilts her head back and looks down her nose at me giving herself a double chin. "Dani is very nice and perfect for you ," she says with a nod of her head.
I close my eyes. I’m not going to have this conversation.
Carrie leans over the desk and takes my hands in hers. "Look. I know you’re unsure about relationships after what bitchface did to you."
I grunt my agreement.
"However, I saw how you reacted to Dani. You’re attracted to her." Carrie states.
I exhale through my nose. "Carrie, drop it."
"I’m not going to drop it. I want you to be happy, Luke. I want my dorky older cousin back. The one who used to make shadow puppets with his body on the garage door at family get togethers. The one who used to sing and play guitar," she grins. "I believe that Dani can bring that Luke back." She jiggles our connected hands. "And if she helps you defrost your heart, even better!"
I still play guitar and sing, however, I now do it behind closed doors. I haven't played for anyone since Mom passed fifteen years ago.
"CeCe, I’m not in the mood to do this right now. I’m in the middle of a divorce case with some of the stupidest requests. I’ll talk to you tomorrow," I say, brushing her off.
Carrie squeezes my hands and let’s go. "Alright," she says, standing. "Dani will be here at eight." Carrie heads for the door, hand on the doorknob. "Wear something blue, it really makes your eyes sparkle." Carrie smiles and walks out.
I close the case and open Google. I usually have a friend of mine do a background check on every new hire, however he is currently on his honeymoon, so I’ll have to do a simple check until he gets home. I enter her name, and a Facebook and Instagram account pops up. I click on the Facebook link and her page comes right up. I don’t have Facebook myself, so I’m limited in what I can see.
My finger hovers over the left mouse key, I shouldn’t be doing this. It might be made accessible to the public but that doesn’t mean I have the right to look through her life.
I debate with myself for a few more moments before I click on a picture. I jerk back when I see a picture of her with her son. Fucking hell, that kid is huge. He might be bigger than Gabe and Gabe stands at six-four.
I find videos and pictures Dani’s been tagged in and click through them. There are ones of her with family, and friends. Pictures of her son and another man, fishing, riding bikes, learning to shave. I click on one of the pictures, reading the caption. ' Fishing with Uncle Jake.' However, there are no pictures of the father.
Is he not in their lives anymore? Even if that’s true, you’d think there’d be a few pictures of him. Unless they ended on bad terms. I give my head a shake, it is none of my business where the father is.
I stare at the monitor; pictures of Dani take over the screen. I keep scrolling, finding some concert pictures and videos. I zoom in on the one with Dani and The Black Crowes . She looks so happy standing between Chris Robinson the lead singer and Rich Robinson the guitarist. I even find one of a very pregnant Dani. A huge smile on her laughing face as a red-headed girl puts a hat covered in tissue paper on her head.
I exit out of everything and stretch; the office has been quiet for hours now. The sound of the vacuum a dull hum coming from outside the primary office. It’s almost nine when I finally leave the office and head to my condo building on Hayden Street.
It’s a quiet ride up to my sub-penthouse, until Mrs. Johnson joins me for a few floors and talks my ear off. Stepping out of the elevator, I unlock my door and walk in, dropping my keys on the table by the door and turning on the kitchen light.
It’s an open concept layout, kitchen to the right of the main door, living room/dining room in the center of the sub-penthouse complete with floor-to-ceiling windows and the door to the balcony. My bedroom is off the living room, complete with an ensuite and another door to the balcony. The second bedroom is down a short hallway. I converted it into an office.
Opening the fridge and grabbing a beer, I flop down on the couch in front of the TV that I never turn on. I open the bottle and chug half of it. I can’t get Dani out of my head. I have never been so affected by a woman before. Her laugh, her smile. Hell, the way she called me Archer did something to me.
I hate feeling out of control, and Dani is making me feel this way. She makes me want to give her everything with just one look.
You can’t deny a beautiful woman. They pout, using their sweet voice and tantalizing scent to break you, and you want to make them happy. You are driven to do and say things you never did before. Because pleasing them is your number one goal. I learned my lesson the last time, I'm not going to make the same mistake twice.
I need to keep my interactions with Dani to a minimum. I need her to think I’m not interested. I can’t afford to lose my control and my heart to another beautiful woman.
Because this beautiful woman would absolutely destroy me.
My phone rings in my jacket pocket. "Not tonight, Satan." I mutter when I see my ex’s number on screen and let it go to voicemail. Dropping the phone on the coffee table, I stand and stretch before heading into my bedroom.
Stripping down, I walk into the bathroom and get into the shower, beer and all. I plant a hand on the cool tile and let the water run down my neck and back. Tilting my head, I down the rest of the beer, putting the empty bottle in the shower caddy next to the shampoo and finish up.
Stepping out of the shower, I catch a glimpse of my reflection and cringe. Dark circles have formed under my eyes, my five o’clock shadow is all patchy and my eyes are exhausted. Sweet Jesus, I look older than thirty-six.
I dry off and walk into my room, throw on a pair of boxer briefs and venture to find something to eat. The fridge is full, but I don’t feel like cooking. Shutting the door and leaning against the counter, I run a hand across my jaw. Usually when I get home I go straight to my office and work, but tonight, my head isn’t in it. All I can think about is Dani.
Thinking back on it now, I should have interviewed all three of them to be fair. However, I wanted someone with integrity, someone with balls. Someone like Dani. I scrub my face. What Carrie said to me earlier comes back.
"Fucking hell," I mutter.
Dani is perfect for me.
My phone rings again.
I drag my ass over to the coffee table and answer it. It won’t stop ringing until I do.
"Yeah?" I growl.
"Well, hello to you too, sunshine." Gabe laughs.
He’s my younger brother. The happy one, the funny one, the nice one. He didn’t become a lawyer like our father wanted him to, he doesn’t have the personality to do a job like that, although he did attend law school for a year and a half. Instead, he went into the hospitality and tourism business working for three hotels in the city and managing another fulltime.
"Sorry, long ass day. Had interviews for a new personal assistant." I tell him.
Gabe laughs. "Must’ve been so hard looking at all those young, beautiful women all day."
If he only knew the half of it.
"Did you find someone?"
"I did," I hum.
"And?"
"She has no experience being a PA, but she has a sharp tongue and no bullshit attitude." I answer.
Gabe whistles. "She’s perfect. Is she a beauty?"
I sigh. "I don’t hire my staff the same way you do."
That’s how Gabe hires his staff, if he’s attracted to them, they have the job whether they have experience or not. He turned into an asshole five years ago after a tragic accident, although after what he went through, I don't blame him. However, people overlook that part because of his optimistic disposition.
"So, is she?" Gabe pushes.
"Yes, she is attractive." I reply. I’m not going into detail, Gabe will show up soon enough to sniff around. "Is that why you called?"
He laughs again. "Nah, I called because Sarah called me. Said she couldn’t get a hold of you and that she was, and I quote ' extremely worried ,'" Gabe says doing his best Sarah impression.
I let out a groan as Gabe chuckles. I should have known she would call Gabe. I have no clue what she thinks Gabe can do, but she cries to him when I don’t bow to her.
"I was in the shower. And she’s not worried about me, she’s worried that I might have found someone." I bite out.
Sarah left me four years ago. Said I didn’t give her the attention she deserved. Emptied our joint bank account, cleared out our apartment and moved in with the guy she was seeing. He left once they blew through all the money. Now, she calls every few days to inform me that she ‘made a huge mistake and she misses me terribly.’
I should've blocked her after we broke up, but I held out hope that she'd come back to me. But as the days and months went on, that hope I had held onto splintered into millions of pieces the day I saw them ring shopping. I loved her, she was my everything, and she used my career as an excuse to cheat, stating my long hours working as a reason for leaving. She knew when I started my business that my hours were going to be long while I established myself and she understood. We talked about it in length and she assured me that she was okay with it.
Turns out, I meant nothing to her.
After that, I decided it was better to build a wall around my heart and threw myself into my work, barely going out. I tried blind dates, but I never found someone who kept my interest. After a while, I figured it was better to be single than have a woman destroy my heart again.
"You’re not wrong there. You know she also calls me once a week to tell me how much she misses you," Gabe states while making kissy noises.
Now it’s my turn to laugh. "She’s hoping she can catch me when I’m down and out so she can claw her way back into my life by feeding me bullshit."
"If she calls me again, I’ll tell her you found your way into a cute blonde’s bed," Gabe says with laughter in his voice.
"Then you’ll be an only child because she’ll kill me." I say.
"True enough. What are you doing for lunch tomorrow? I’m going to be in your neck of the woods around noon. Wanna grab a bite?" Gabe asks.
I shrug one shoulder. "Sure, why not. I have meetings in the morning, should be free by one."
Gabe bangs his hand on something hard. "It’s a date! I’ll bring flowers. Wear something that shows a little skin. I’m a leg man you know."
I shake my head, grinning to myself. "You’re an idiot."
"Don’t care. What I do care about is checking out this new assistant of yours," Gabe says.
The last thing I need is Gabe sniffing around Dani, laying on the charm. The ladies love him, with his sky-blue eyes and long blond hair.
"The fuck you are. You can wait with CeCe; you are not going anywhere near Dani."
Fuck. I don’t like this feeling of possessiveness I have with her already.
"Dani huh? Short for Danielle or Daniella. Cute name. Might have to call CeCe and get the run down on Dani ."
"Don’t you fucking dare."
"Too late, see you tomorrow." He hangs up before I have a chance to say anything else.
I call Carrie, but she doesn’t answer. "Shit." I rub my face and look at the notification indicating a voicemail is waiting. Hitting the button, I listen to the message.
"Lucas, please call me back. I really need to talk to you. It’s important, I think…I think I made a mistake leaving you. Please, call me . "
Deleting the voicemail and blocking her number, I head to my office, sit down in front of my computer, and get to work on Pierre Miller's divorce.