Chapter 12 Presley
PRESLEY
“And what did you say the loan was for?”
“It’s all there in the proposal.” I motioned my hand toward the file. “We want to make some renovations at the shop. You know… New paint. New sinks. New flooring.”
“So, this is strictly for the shop?”
“Yes.”
“Then, why isn’t Claire here?” Gary asked, sounding overly skeptical. “She’s the owner.”
“She wanted to, but she’s already overextended.”
“With what?”
“I don’t know. I’m not in charge of her finances.”
“I see.”
He looked down at my paperwork and sighed. I used the moment of quiet to count numbersI’d already counted a hundred times.
We’d gotten five thousand for the ring, seventeen thousand for the Jackie Robinson baseball card, twenty-one thousand for my car, and another ten thousand for all the odds and ends I’d pawned off. Lila Kate had managed to come up with another eighteen thousand, which left us thirty thousand short.
I didn’t think it would be a huge deal.
I had decent credit and had never faltered on a payment, but that didn’t stop Gary from saying, “I could probably get you approved for ten, but there is no way I can give you the full thirty.”
“That won’t work. I need thirty or…”
My words trailed off, and of course, he noticed.
“Or what?”
“Are you going to give me the loan or not?”
“I can’t.” He leaned back in his chair. “Not without some kind of collateral.”
“But I have good credit.”
“And no car or any valuables to speak of.”
“I’ve never missed a payment on anything. You know that.”
“You’re making this personal, Pres. This isn’t about what I know or don’t know. It’s about the numbers, and yours are not great.”
Sitting across from him felt like I’d stepped back in time.
His office was exactly the way I remembered it. Same desk. Same artwork. Same Blackhawk’s hockey jersey on the wall.
I almost smiled as I thought back to my conversation with Luke. He’d been so sweet when he found out about my marriage to Gary. He didn’t judge or criticize. He was actually really great about it all, and it was nice. Surprisingly so.
In fact, there were several things about that night that got to me.
But this was not the time to be thinking about Luke and his adorable smile. I had business to settle, so I folded my hands in my lap and steadied my breath before insisting, “There has to be something you can do.”
“This is my job, Pres. You’re asking me to put everything I’ve worked for at risk, and you’re not even being honest about it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I know there’s another reason why you need the money.” He leaned forward with his elbows on his large, cherry desk. “I’ve always been able to tell when you’re lying.”
“I’m not lying.”
“Yes, you are.” No anger. No accusations. Just matter of fact. “You’ve always been such an incredibly bad liar.”
Unable to look at him, I immediately glanced down at the floor and tried to think of the right thing to say to him. Only, there wasn’t anything I could say. If I told him the truth, there was no way he would give me the money, and there was no way I could leave without it.
“Presley,” he said quietly. “You don’t come in here asking for thirty thousand dollars unless you’re desperate. And you don’t lie to me unless you think the truth would make me say no.”
Damn.
I hated that he still knew me so well. I hated it even more that a part of me was relieved that he did. I swallowed, then told him, “It’s for Lila Kate.”
“Well, that makes more sense.”
“Gary.”
“I would’ve thought she would’ve grown out of that by now.”
“No such luck. So, are you going to give me the money or not?”
“I can’t approve the full thirty through the bank.” He exhaled, tapping his pen against his desk. “But I can get fifteen, and I could float you the rest out of my savings.”
“Oh, Gary. I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t.” He smiled. “I offered.”
I stared at the desk as I considered his offer. Borrowing from him meant strings. I would owe him. I would owe him a lot, and not just the money I would borrow. But it was Gary.
I trusted him.
I always had.
I knew he would never take advantage of me or Lila Kate, so I said, “Okay. I’ll do it. And thank you, Gary. Thank you so much.”
After signing a thousand and one papers, Gary transferred the money into my account which I immediately withdrew. He wasn’t crazy about the idea of me walking out of the bank with thirty thousand dollars in cash, so he walked me out to the parking lot.
When we reached the van, his brows furrowed. “What’s this?”
“I’m just borrowing it until I can figure out something else.”
“Presley.”
I didn’t respond. I simply wound my arms around him, hugging him tightly as I said, “Thank you, Gary. I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”
“I know you will.”
He gave me a quick pat on the back, and I took it as my sign to get going while the going was good. I got in the van, and once I’d started the engine, Gary gave me a quick wave and headed back inside.
As soon as the doors closed behind him, I reached into the glovebox and pulled out the yellow envelope where I’d put the rest of the cash. I slipped the remaining money inside and tucked it back inside the glove box.
That was it.
I’d done it.
I’d managed to get every dime of money Lila Kate owed. Now, I just had to get it to Davis. I didn’t bother calling him. I knew he was at the clubhouse, so I drove straight there. When I pulled up to the gate, one of the brothers came up to my window and asked, “Can I help you?”
“I’m here for Davis.”
“He isn’t here.”
“Oh.” I knew it was too early for him to have left for work, so I asked, “Do you have any idea where he is?”
“Nope.”
“It’s important,” I pushed.
“You could see if Goose knows where he might be.”
I heard the guys refer to Luke as Goose several times, so I asked, “Is he here?”
“Yeah. Pull up to the back, and I’ll have him come out.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
I did as he said and parked around back. I’d just gotten out when the door opened, and Luke stepped out. He was wearing his leather vest, and his hair was a mess, like he’d run his hands through it too many times. And he couldn’t have looked hotter.
I just didn’t get it.
There was something about this man that undid me, and he did it without even trying. I’d never been drawn to a man like I was to him, and it scared me because I didn’t know what the hell to do about it.
When he approached, I forced a smile and said, “Hey, Luke.”
“Hey, Presley. Whatcha need?”
“I’m looking for Davis. Do you have any idea where I might find him?”
“Don’t have a clue.”
“Oh, okay. Well, maybe he’s on his way to work or something.”
“Maybe.” He crossed his arms and scowled. “Thought you two ended things.”
“We did.”
He didn’t respond.
He just stood there staring at me with those gorgeous hazel eyes that seemed to pierce straight through me. My nerves were already shot, and his staring at me was only making it worse. “I just… I just need to see him… I have something to give him.”
Damn.
It was official.
I was literally the world’s worst liar.
Luke’s posture shifted, and his gaze hardened. “It’s time to cut the bullshit, Presley. You need to tell me what the hell is going on between you and my brother.”
And just like that, the weight of every secret, every lie, every withheld detail came crashing down on me. I couldn’t have been in a worse spot if I tried.
“Just tell me,” Luke pushed.
I froze.
I should’ve turned around.
I should’ve gotten back in my car and left.
Instead, I lowered my head and said, “There’s nothing to tell. I just need to find Davis.”
“That’s funny, because nobody ever needs Davis,” he snarled. “Not unless something’s gone sideways.”
I looked past him and out toward the lot. Then, out to the trees. The road. Anywhere that wasn’t his face. That didn’t stop him from pushing, “You show up here like this, asking for my brother like he holds your fate in his hands, and you think I’m not going to know something is up?”
“I can’t.”
“You can.” He slipped his hand around the side of my neck and used the crook of his thumb to gently lift my head, forcing me to face him. “Just tell me what’s going on, and then I’ll help you find Davis.”
“If I tell you, it will change everything.”
“Okay. Not sure that’s a bad thing.”
“But it is.” I let out a defeated sigh. “You’re going to hate me.”
“Doubt that.”
“You will.” I leaned back against the hood of my car, and the fight drained out of me all at once. “Lila Kate ran into some trouble…”
He didn’t speak.
He just stood there and listened as I told him everything.
His jaw flexed from time to time, and I knew he was getting angry. But he remained silent, even when I said, “He said he could help. I just had to pretend to be his girlfriend. I didn’t know what his plan was. He didn’t tell me anything, just that I had to do what he said, and he’d get the money.”
Luke looked away, but I saw it.
The anguish in his eyes was impossible to miss, and it only grew more intense as I said, “I played along with it because I was desperate. I was terrified that those men would come after Lila Kate. I had no choice but to come up with the money, and Davis… he just seemed so sure that he could get it. I didn’t know what else to do. ”
Again, he didn’t speak.
I knew he would be angry, but the silence was killing me. I was afraid to say anything more, so I waited until he said, “You knew.”
“I did, but I didn’t,” I stammered. “I had no idea what he was planning until the night of the party, and even then, I didn’t know specifically what his plan was.”
“You knew he was going to steal the money. You had to know that.”
“Yes, I knew he was going to steal it from somebody. I wasn’t sure who.
Even when he took me to the Vault and he had me pretend to be his girlfriend I wasn’t sure.
But it didn’t take long for me to piece it together.
” My voice cracked as I told him, “I couldn’t go through with being part of it.
I wouldn’t participate in something that could hurt you or your brothers, so I backed out and ended it the night of the party. ”
He lowered his head and sighed.
I’d hurt him.
I kept telling myself that I’d agreed to Davis’s plan because I had no choice. That it made the most sense. Because it felt like the least terrible option in a room full of bad ones.
But as I stood there seeing the anguish in Luke’s eyes, I realized how truly wrong I really was. I hated seeing him so hurt and angry, and I hated it even more that I had a part to play in it.
We weren’t anything. Never had been. Probably never would be, especially now. I’d ruined the possibility of us ever being more than two strangers who once passed each other in the hallways of our high school, and that hurt more than it should have.
Because somewhere along the way, the girl who’d wanted nothing to do with a guy like Luke had started wanting him more than she cared to admit, even to herself.
Man.
I needed to get a grip, and I needed to get it fast, before I made an even bigger mess of things.
Sadly, it was too late.
Things were about to get a lot messier.