17. She?
She?
Dani
Luke hasn’t left his office since I got in. He has been getting Carrie to relay messages and bring in any paperwork that I finish for him. I got all dressed up, did my hair and makeup, and for what? He hasn’t even come out to piss.
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about what Luke said. Ever since I talked to Erin, it has been on repeat. Those words, said in his deep voice had heat pooling between my thighs.
I stare at my computer screen, the cursor blinking next to the last word I wrote, getting lost in my thoughts.
From the moment I saw you sitting by Carrie’s desk, you undid me. I think about you all hours of the day and night. Of all the dirty things I want to do to you with my mouth, fingers, and dick. Here and in my bed. Has me wanting you in a way I have never wanted any woman before. You burrowed under my skin and made camp there.
I close my eyes and drop my head on the desk. Banging it on the wood, I try to scramble his words.
"He feels awful."
I lift my head to find Carrie perched on the edge of my desk. "Well, he should." I glance around to make sure no one’s in ear shot. "Do you know what he said to me in his office?"
"He told me later that day. I have never heard Luke talk like that before."
I drop my head in my hands. "God," I groan mortified. I want to slide under the desk and stay there until this all blows over. Carrie pulls my hands away from my face and grins.
"You should talk to him," Carrie says and holds up a hand as soon as I open my mouth to reply. "Hear me out. He feels like a complete ass. He thought he lost you, that's why he sent the flowers. It was his way of apologising for making you feel uncomfortable."
"A simple 'I’m sorry' would’ve been good enough for me." I blow out a breath. "I also shouldn't have ran out the way I did without an explanation. But I panicked. I'm not used to men speaking to me like that."
"Luke is used to spending his money on things to apologise. Sarah would never accept an apology, he always had to buy her something to prove he was sorry. Mainly flowers and jewelry." Carrie informs me.
"Well, I would prefer an actual apology instead of a gift," I say. "Although, it was nice to receive flowers."
Carrie smiles and I now see the family resemblance. They all have the same smile and dimples.
"Guess I should explain myself." Standing from my chair I walk over to his door. I take a deep breath, and knock before walking in.
Luke is sitting behind his desk, hunched over his keyboard. His usually neat desk is covered in papers. His jaw is covered with two-day old stubble, his hair’s a disaster, sticking up in complete disorder like he has been running his fingers through it. His tie is gone, as well as his suit jacket, leaving him in only a charcoal vest and burgundy dress shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
There is a blanket folded on the arm of the couch with a pillow sitting on top.
"Archer," I call.
His shoulders tense but he doesn’t look up.
"Archer," I try again. Same reaction as before. I drop my hands to my hips and tap my foot. I’m getting irritated. "For fuck sakes Luke, would you look at me. I’m trying to talk to you." I say, using my mom voice.
His head jerks up then and my next breath gets caught in my throat. He’s even more handsome looking like a gigantic clusterfuck than all cleaned up.
"Finally. Jesus. You have selective hearing like Mason." I complain.
Luke straightens from his desk and walks over to where I’m standing. His solid chest raising and falling with hard breaths. I force myself to keep my eyes on his face but with his shirt unbuttoned and the sight of that light chest hair, I can’t help it as they travel down his thick neck, across his broad shoulders and down his solid chest and hard stomach towards his belt.
"Daniella." His voice is gravelly and thick and so sensual that my skin breaks out in goosebumps.
My eyes snap back to his. "I’m not mad at you for what you said," I announce, my face starts to burn as I think back to what he said and how I would love for him to do whatever it is he wants to do to me.
Luke takes a step closer, towering over me and making me feel even shorter than I already am.
"I apologise, Daniella. I should not have said those things."
"But you mean them, right?" I don’t know why I’m hung up on what he said. Maybe because it makes me feel powerful knowing I have that kind of impact on him.
"I do, but I should’ve kept them to myself."
I reach out and place a hand on his chest, his peck flexes under his charcoal vest. I’m going to kick myself for what I’m about to ask but I really, really need to know. "What kind of dirty things do you want to do to me?"
I look up at him, his ice blue eyes darken with heat. Luke takes another step forward, crowding me until my legs hit the couch and I’m forced to sit. He positions his body over mine, resting his hands on the back of the couch and dropping his forehead on mine.
"That’s something I’m not comfortable talking about with you." He answers.
"Why?"
His eyes close and he sucks in a sharp breath. "Because I want to show you, not tell you."
My whole-body flushes, it feels like someone set me on fire. I tilt my chin just enough that I can feel his breath on my lips. What would he do if I closed the gap and kissed him? Would he devour me? Or would he be gentle?
He shakes his head and straightens, holding his hand out to me. I take it and stand, straightening my skirt before following him over to his desk and cleaning up the papers. Luke sits behind his desk as I organize it for him. I take his mug and refill it in the staff room, placing it in front of him.
"Will that be everything, Mr. Archer?" I ask, hand on the doorknob.
"Yes, Daniella."
I nod once and step out, shutting the door behind me.
"For the love, Mason. Just make yourself a sandwich." I rub my forehead.
"With what?" Mason grunts.
I curse my son under my breath. "Are you kidding me? Nanny has a fridge full of lunch meats, lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes. Make something."
"Can’t you come over and do it?" he whines.
"Goodbye, Mason." I hang up and rub my temples.
It’s only one-thirty in the afternoon and he has called me eighteen times for some of the stupidest shit. This one being the dumbest. It’s as if Mom leaving him alone for the day has messed with his brain and he can’t function without her.
I spin myself in my chair. Luke hasn’t asked me to do anything for him yet, and I’m bored as hell.
My desk phone rings. "Lucas Archer’s office."
"You have a visitor," Carrie sings into the phone.
"Who?" I glance towards the front of the office, but I don’t see anyone I know.
"No idea. She refuses to give me her name."
She?
"I’ll be right there." I hang up and head towards Carrie’s desk. Maybe it’s Erin. She has been known to randomly show up at my place of employment. But she would’ve said her name was Queen kickass or something equally stupid.
Carrie points to the chair across from her desk.
Son of a bitch.
"Hello, Helen." I gripe.
Helen rises gracefully, her pantsuit looking crisp. "Daniella. Nice to see you," she says, expressionless.
That’s a fucking lie. That crotchety bitch never liked me. Said I seduced her son with my whore body—insert eye roll—when, in fact, he stalked me for months until I said yes to a date.
"How did you find me?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.
She checks her nails as she speaks. "That is none of your concern." Her eyes are shrewd as she looks down her nose at me. "I must speak with you. It is regarding Mason."
My heart lodges itself in my throat. This is the first time she's ever said Mason's name. She used to call him 'that child.' Swallowing, I square my shoulders. Better get this done and over with.
I nod towards the conference room, walking in and motioning for her to sit. "What did you want talk about?"
She sits gracefully. Knees together, ankles crossed and her hands in her lap. "Joshua has retired from playing for Team Canada."
Whoopie .
"What does that have to do with my son?" I ask.
"He wants Mason to move in with him."
My stomach drops like a ball of lead and my heart slams against my chest. They want to take my baby. Mustering confidence that I don’t have, I say, "that’s not happening."
Helen looks at me shocked. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me, Helen. Not. Happening."
She sighs in that condescending way of hers. "He is his father, Daniella. He has the right to have his son in his life."
I bark out a humorless laugh. "I seem to recall both you and John telling me Mason was someone else’s son."
"We said no such thing, Daniella." Helen says.
"Oh, you don't remember," I say, my confidence slowly rising. "Well, let me refresh your memory. You said, and I quote: that baby looks nothing like Joshua. It's obviously someone else's ."
Helen scoffs. "I would never say anything like that about Mason. He looks exactly like Josh."
I gawk at her. Is she serious? "I'm not getting into this with you, Helen. Mason will not be living with Josh, so it's time to leave." I say.
"I’m not leaving." She pulls out her phone and taps on the screen a few times before putting it back in her purse.
"Yes, you are."
Helen crosses her leg over her knee and smiles as the door opens.
"Dani baby," Josh says with a slimy smile as he walks in. "Guess Mom told you I want my boy to come live me with permanently." He smirks.
"You do realize that he can decide where he lives, right. He's seventeen, not seven."
"Doesn't matter. We have the means to take him from you." Josh says.
I might not have been raised by a lawyer like Josh was, but I've done my research over the years. Any child over the age of twelve has say in which parent they want to live with.
"You dropped us after his first birthday. You would ignore us if we saw you in public. Why would you care now." I demand.
"I don't have to explain myself to you."
"The fuck you don't. Mason wants nothing to do with you. You were nothing but a sperm donor!" I scream in their faces.
Helen’s hand moves and she slaps me across the face. "How dare you call my son a sperm donor!" she fumes.
"Well, what would you call a guy who knocks someone up then fucks off and doesn't pay a dime in child support." I ask.
"You were the one who kept him from us." She states.
"Why didn't you take me to court then. John's a hot shot lawyer and my family doesn't have the money to fight you." I point out.
Helen composes herself, tugging on the bottom of her jacket. "John was too busy to deal with this at the time."
Oh, this fucking woman has excuses for everything. If they really wanted Mason, they would've done something to take him from me when he was a baby.
"You have a month to give Mason to us or we will be taking this to court." Helen says.
"You can try, but no judge is going to just hand him over." I say. "I have proof of the abuse Josh put me through and emails stating that I will never get a cent from you for child support."
"You have no proof," Helen says. "And we have pull in the court system. No one is going to believe that we refused to help you." She takes Josh by the arm and walk out. Slamming the door behind her.
I stand there stunned, my cheek stinging. I squeeze my eyes shut. Although that doesn’t stop the lump swelling in my throat or the burning behind my eyes. My heart hammers in my chest as I back against the wall and slide down, burying my face in my hands as the tears come. A sob hiccups out as a pair of strong arms slides under my legs and behind my back.
"I’ve got you," comes the deep voice I’ve gotten used to hearing.
I push back against his chest. "Just leave me here."
Luke doesn’t say anything, instead I’m lifted from the ground. I push against his hold but it’s no use, Luke’s grip on me is too strong. Another sob hiccups out and I curl towards his warm body, letting the tears flow freely as I grip his vest. His hand smooths through my hair as I cry in his arms, until there are no more tears, and I fall into a sob induced sleep.
I wake with a start, bolting upwards. It’s dim in Luke’s office and I’m on the porn couch, covered in his suit jacket.
"You’re awake," he says.
I jerk to the left to find Luke walking out of what I now know is a washroom and not a closet like I first thought.
"How long was I out for?"
He looks at his watch. "Five hours."
I jump off the couch. " Five hours!"
"Daniella," Luke holds his hands in front of his chest, trying to calm me down.
I scramble out of his office. "Fucking hell Archer, why didn’t you wake me earlier? I’ve probably got you backlogged." I check my emails, finding nothing new from him.
"Daniella," he calls again.
"What are you working on now? Do you need me to proofread anything?" I look up at him through hair that fell into my eyes.
"Sweetheart, stop." He rounds my desk and takes me by the shoulders.
"I’m sorry." I whisper.
"There’s nothing to be sorry about." Luke states.
I shake my head. "There’s plenty. Sleeping while at work is one. Having Mason’s sperm donor and his mother show up is another."
His hand comes up to cup my cheek, his thumb brushing over the scar on the side of my face. "There’s nothing to be sorry about." He repeats.
"But—"
"Nothing, Daniella."
I stare into those ice blue eyes, not believing that the man who is being so kind, so gentle, is the same man I threatened to staple his dick to his leg a week ago. He has done a complete one-eighty since his case of verbal diarrhea on Monday.
"Do you want to talk about what happened earlier?" he asks softly, dropping his hand.
I shake my head then sigh. "I didn't think they knew I worked here," I admit. "Or that they'd show up."
"When was the last time they contacted you?"
"A week after Mason's first birthday. I was told by John that Josh will not be seeing us again as he has a bright future playing left wing for Team Canada." I sigh. "I was so scared they were going to change their minds and take Mason."
"Is that what they are attempting to do now?" Luke questions.
I nod, rubbing my chest.
"What's their reasoning for wanting to do so?"
"They refused to tell me." And even if they did, I don't think it would matter. If they truly want Mason, they will find a way to take him.
I glance up at Luke. "Thank you for listening but I'm tired. Mentally and emotionally. If there's nothing you need me to do, I'm going to head home."
"Of course. I will see you in the morning." He replies, walking into his office. "Have a good night. Oh, and Daniella," he calls.
I look over at him.
"You look utterly breathtaking today." Luke says and walks back into his office.
Closing the door behind him.