Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Kate
“Almost done?” Luke calls over the roar of the blow dryer. The thing is old, from my middle school days, and not very powerful despite being loud.
But I don’t want to go into town with Luke looking like I stepped out of the river while he rocks some effortless GQ look with a working-guy twist.
It makes me feel so inferior.
Maybe I can pick up an eyeliner or something today. Maybe a little gloss for my lips would be nice.
I turn off the blow dryer, assessing my hair. At least I got the loose waves right. They look soft and silky, waving back from my face.
I tug at my Walmart T-shirt as it stretches across my chest. “Ready,” I call back and then open the door.
He’s leaning against the wall of the kitchen, one brow quirked up as he takes me in.
I nip at my lip. “I didn’t want to look like I’d been dragged through mud today.”
“You always look beautiful,” he rumbles. “But that hair looks so gorgeous all blown out, I can’t wait to mess it up.”
My cheeks flush as I look down with a smile. Now that he’s said it, that’s exactly what I was hoping for.
His hand loops around my waist, brushing the bare skin between my shirt and my shorts as he pulls me outside.
He helps me into the truck and then fires her up, turning the truck around to head down the long dirt road that passes as a driveway.
We finally pull onto the road and start the hour-long drive to Durango. In a different car it would be shorter, but Alice won’t go over forty-five.
Fine by me. With the wind filling the cabin, I lounge back in my seat, wondering where I’m headed next.
We finally reach Durango and pull into the bank. “Can I make a call while you’re in there?” It’s just nine, the bank doors opening. If I call now, I might be able to catch the doctor before his first procedure.
“Sure,” he tosses me the burner. “Good luck.”
I catch his grimace. Is he nervous for me? I appreciate it, but I’m pretty resigned at this point. He’ll either give me the extension or he’ll take away the position.
With trembling fingers, I dial the number, having called enough times, it comes easily.
It rings twice and the doctor’s assistant picks up. “Doctor Shrewsbury’s office.”
“Karen,” I say warmly. We’ve talked a lot over the last several months. “It’s Kate. Is Doctor Shrewsbury available.”
“Kate,” she gushes. “You’re just in time. I’ll put you through.”
I draw in a cleansing breath as the line rings again.
“Kate?” Dr. Shrewsbury picks up. “How are you?”
“Good,” I answer, wincing. “You?”
“Wondering why you might be calling.”
He’s a cut-through-the-bullshit kind of guy.
“Yes. Of course. I went on a hiking trip, explore-the-area kind of thing, and my friend’s truck broke down.”
“You’re not calling me to pick you up?”
“No. No. I would never. But the truck needs repairs and it’s going to take us an extra day or two to return to Vegas and…”
“I beg your pardon?”
His tone could cut glass. “My apologies, Doctor Shrewsbury. I’m just as committed. I just?—”
“Kate. There are hundreds of students who would kill for this internship.”
“I know. I’m thrilled to be working for you.”
“You are no longer working for me.”
I wince, my hand coming to cover my face. “Doctor Shrewsbury, please. If there was any way I could make this up, I can assure you?—”
“You should never have to make up opportunities like this,” he cuts me off. “You should just be here. You have proven yourself unworthy of the opportunity before it’s even begun.”
“Unworthy…” I repeat the word, choking on it. I’d resigned myself to losing this chance. I knew Dr. Shrewsbury was not a compromising man. But that word is like sticking a hot poker in my eye. “No one has worked harder than me?—”
“I beg to differ. Every other candidate I interviewed would have made their first day of work. You were always a risk, your undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts, your personal credentials non-existent. I should have known better.”
He keeps talking but I only catch clips of it as I sink down in the bench, my eyes welling with tears again.
It’s not the missed opportunity. He’s saying everything I worry is true about myself. I hold the phone away from my ear, still able to hear but at least his words are not ringing so loudly.
I don’t even see Luke come up to his open window of the truck, all I can hear are the words “tactless and lazy” coming through the phone as I pull it even further away from my left ear.
Suddenly the phone is gone from my hand, Luke, reaches past the steering wheel and snatches it from my hand through the open window.
“Luke,” I gasp, sitting up in my seat.
“Hello,” Luke barks into the line.
“Who is this?” Dr. Shrewsbury demands.
“Luke Kincaid. Who is this?”
The line goes very quiet. I blink in surprise trying to understand as Luke walks away, his voice is low and with the whir of other cars pulling into the parking lot I don’t hear what he says. I scoot across the bench seat and open his door, intent on following but he’s already hanging up and turning back around. He stops just in front of me, his face taut with anger in a way that I don’t even remember seeing on that first night.
“Luke?”
He grabs behind my knee, pulling me further out on the bench as he wraps his arms around me. My legs naturally settle on either side of his hips, my arms around his chest.
I hug him back, well aware we’re making quite the spectacle.
“I’m sorry that asshole talked to you like that.”
“It’s all right,” I answer, shaking my head. “I’m used to it.”
He leans back, his lip curling. “That’s complete bullshit.”
I blink in surprise. “I’m sorry you think that, but it’s kind of the way it goes when you’re the one who needs someone to take a chance on you.”
He softens then. “Not you, kitten. Him. He doesn’t want to hire you anymore, fine. But he was a dick about it.”
“Is that what you said to him?” I really like Luke and his take-charge attitude, but this is my career. It’s bad enough I didn’t show. The last thing I need is Luke making the good doctor mad enough that he calls my advisor and tells him that I’m difficult. That would really mess up my chances.
“No. I told him that he needed to give my wife an extension or he’d answer to me.”
My mouth drops open. Which one of those phrases to unwrap first?
“Wife?”
“Men respond to that kind of claim.”
“And why would he worry about answering to you?”
“I got that big dick energy. He’ll let you start next week.”
Now, not only is my mouth open, but I’m speechless. That can’t be true…
But Luke is already sliding me across the seat, as he climbs in the truck. “Let’s get a few more days’ worth of groceries, just in case we don’t leave tomorrow.” Luke gives me his most charming smile. “I’ve got a few more errands to run. Can I drop you at the grocery store?”
“Luke… how…”
But he’s already backing out the truck from the parking spot. He hits the gas and takes a left, pulling into a high-end grocery store. Durango has all sorts of outdoor sport adventure companies. Whitewater rafting, fly-fishing, hiking, just to name a few. But it also seems to have some swanky boutique places. Probably for all the rich people who come here to vacation.
I barely have time to look at fancy stores, or the people coming out of them though, as Luke shoves some cash in my hand. “Get canned goods in case we’re leaving them, but get us some fresh stuff for the next few days as well? Something nice, okay?”
“All right,” I answer, with a shake of my head, pocketing the money and closing the door. “Where are you going?”
I sound like a broken, needy record.
“Just down the street. I’ll be back in forty-five minutes, an hour tops.”
“Sure,” I answer with a nod. I guess I could use a few minutes to sift through some of my feelings too.
I climb out of the truck, closing the door behind me.
I don’t know if I even want the position with Dr. Shrewsbury. But how did Luke…
He’s already backing out of the spot. I only watch him for a second before I head into the store.
Instantly, I stop. They have some of the most gorgeous fruit. The kind I can never afford.
I pull the cash back out and realize that Luke hit me with three one-hundred-dollar bills. How much food did he want me to buy?
I shove them back in my pocket and grab a container of strawberries.
I thought I understood Luke perfectly. He looks good in his beat-up boots and his old truck. He steals cars but he beats up criminals and helps strangers. Like he did me.
Yeah, he’s a little gray, but he’s got a great heart.
Then again… he stopped the doctor with the biggest chip on his shoulder in his tracks.
He hands me hundreds like it’s nothing. I grab a mango, thinking of a Thai recipe that I made once and loved. If only I had a phone to look it up.
Or, I could buy a sharp cheese maybe. A charcuterie night?
I try to concentrate on the groceries, but my thoughts keep wandering. I’m only on the third aisle, when the hair stands up on the back of my neck.
Turning, I look all around me.
I don’t see anything.
But that breaks my trance of wandering thoughts. I’m all business as I move through the rest of the store.
I see some wine, but I’d probably need an ID so I skip it. Instead, I make my way to the register, checking out, and then outside, where I find Luke’s truck already waiting.
He gets out and helps me put the stuff in the back and then he hands me in, closing my door behind me.
I’m quiet as we make our way back out of Durango and toward the cabin.
“Everything okay?” he asks, his hand coming to my thigh.
I give him a weak smile. “Good.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I had the weirdest feeling in the grocery store. Like someone was watching me.”
His eyes immediately go to the rearview.
Now he’s quiet too and as we drive, he spends more of his time looking behind than he does ahead.
“You buckled?” he asks.
“Of course.”
Suddenly, he takes a hard right, turning into a random dirt road that’s heavily treed, cutting the engine.
His eyes are on the rearview.
We sit there for ten minutes, silence falling between us.
I know what he’s doing. I don’t need to ask. He wants to know if we’ve been followed.
Finally, he seems satisfied that we’re not, and slowly backs out of the drive, continuing down the road.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” I say as quietly as I can with the windows open.
He gives me an easy smile. Reaching for my thigh. “Never worry about telling me something that’s bothering you, love.”
I let out a breath, grabbing his hand in mine.
There is a lot I’m still figuring out, but I know when this man touches me, I’ve never felt more grounded.