Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Luke
I walk up to the open window, leaning against the frame of the door.
Kate has her face against the steering wheel, crying.
I want to touch her so badly, it hurts. “Babe.”
“Don’t call me that.”
She lifts her face, tears staining her cheeks. “Please, sweetheart.”
“Don’t call me that either.” She reaches for the handle of the truck, and I back up so she can get out.
“What do I call you then?”
She snorts. “Kate is fine. Katherine better. All those nicknames were part of faking me out, weren’t they?”
“Faking you out?” I’ve got a bad feeling about this.
“Even before I realized you were rich, I should have known a guy like you wouldn’t ever want me.”
I cross my arms. “Why wouldn’t I want you?”
She gestures down her front. “We’ve been over this. I don’t look like the girl who gets a guy like you. Brown hair. Skinny hips. Deadbeat mom.” She waves her hands and my T-shirt rides up, giving me the tiniest peek between her legs.
Maybe I should carry her into the house and make her cum until she forgets this whole thing. Tempting…
“That’s bullshit. You’re the hottest woman I’ve ever met.”
She shakes her head.
“And my dad was definitely as bad as your mom. I get it.”
Her shoulders go limp as she turns, starting down the driveway. “Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving,” she fires back.
I’ve got her by the waist in a second, hauling her up over my shoulder.
“Put me down,” she hits my back with her small fist. I barely feel it.
But when I smack my hand across her bare ass, she jumps like it stings. “Do you want your spanking first or would you rather that I eat you out until you scream?”
“What?” she gasps, her hands splaying out on my back.
“Look…” I’d like to set her down, but she’s not leaving in nothing but a T-shirt. “I get parents who are a mess. But I had one bad one and one good one. And my mom taught me that when you care about someone, you work shit out and apologize when you’re wrong.”
“I’m pretty sure that means you’re getting the spanking,” she huffs.
That makes me grin. “We both know I’m the alpha in the bedroom, baby.” And I smack her ass again. “But for you, I’ll take a beating if you need to give me one.”
I feel her wilt against me. “Is that your way of saying sorry?”
I’m up on the porch, and back in the house before I set her down, but I keep a good hold on her. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the whole truth. And I’m sorry that you’re stuck here playing dead with me. And I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about my family.”
“They’re sacrificing my future for theirs.”
“I made Doctor Shrewsbury…”
She shakes her head. “He’s never going to give me a good rec or help me get the next coveted spot. I may as well not go.”
Fuck. She’s not wrong. That’s how big dicks work. “Kate.”
Her shoulders curl in. “Was it all a lie? What we said last night?”
I pull her into my arms, burying my face in her hair. I can tell her the truth. None of it was a lie, but I also know she’s not going to believe me. “No. And all I ask is that you stick around long enough for me to prove it.”
She shakes her head against my chest. “It’s not the same now.”
“Well, I will tell you what is the same, Gorilla is still on our tail. And I don’t want you meeting him alone.”
That makes her stiffen and she leans back, her eyes wide as they meet mine. Had she forgotten about the giant ape following us?
“Besides,” I curl a palm around her naked ass. “You can’t go walking down the road in your bare feet and no pants.”
Her cheeks flush with color. “I know that.”
I plant a kiss on the top her head and then her temple, the bend of her jaw, down her neck. “I know I fucked up. I did warn you I’m not the brightest.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit,” she scoffs. “I know how good you are at a ton of shit.”
I smile into her neck. “But I nearly cost my family everything. I was trying to make it right.”
She draws in a deep breath, pushing those fantastic tits against my chest. “I know.”
“But give me a chance to make it right with you too.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t see how. I know you lied to me about why we stayed, and I know you lied about New York.”
That makes me lift my head. “I did not lie about New York.”
“You’re not leaving your family to be a poor student with me.”
“Who said anything about being poor? I would like to start a garage. Maybe work on old cars. I’m shit at real estate anyway. You would not believe how much paperwork there is. Makes my head hurt.”
Kate’s mouth drops open. “You’re serious?”
“Very.”
I slide my hand over her ass, splaying my fingers over the small of her back under the T-shirt. “Now how about that spanking? Just for fun? The idea of your ass all red…”
She pushes out of my arms, glaring at me. “I don’t think so.”
Shit. She’s still upset. “You need more space. I get it.” Then I cock my head to the side. “I could just eat you out, baby. You can leave me with a giant boner as my punishment.”
“Warmer, but no,” she says as she heads for the bathroom and grabs a towel. “I’m washing up. Think you can fix the truck? I really do need to do laundry.”
“You got it, love.”
I see her mouth pinch at the nickname, but at least she’s not telling me to fuck off. I’m going to have to figure out how to make things right with Kate.
Because honestly, I can’t imagine my life without her at this point.
She stops in front of me, with her towel in hand. “I wouldn’t have really left.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” I want to pull her close again, but this time, I drop down on my knees, pressing my face to her belly, as I hold her bare thighs in my hands. “I would have been crazy with worry.”
“I don’t date, Luke. I mean, obviously. You know that better than anyone. But the reason is, I’ve always worried that I couldn’t trust myself. And now I’m worried that you just proved my worst fears about myself true…”
Fuck me. “That’s what happened with me and the tunnel. Everything I hated about myself bit me right in the ass. Roman got hurt, tunnel project gone, enemies got me on the run.”
Her hands come to my shoulders. “I get that. But how long is it going to take you to trust yourself again?”
Is she saying she won’t be able to trust me? Or herself around me?
My teeth clench together as my jaw goes granite hard. Here I am, fucking it up again.
But I push up, her body folding over my shoulder once again. “What are you doing?”
“Carrying you down the bank,” I grunt. “If we ever come back to this cabin, I’m building stairs.”
“You can do that? Build stairs?”
I’m back out the door and heading toward the stream. “Can’t do the math, but I get by. It’s when I start thinking about shit, I mess it up.” And that is the truest thing I’ve ever said.
She wiggles on my shoulder, her ass pushing up into my hand. I hold her a little tighter, my fingers digging into her ass cheek, not wanting her to fall.
“We’ve both got our shit, don’t we?”
“Truth.”
“What would you do if you didn’t really think about it? Right now?”
I trot down the bank, skipping over a few rocks. “Fuck you until you forget everything but the feel of my cock.”
“Okay.”
I stop at the bottom, on the edge of the water. “Okay?”
“I have no idea how to fight with a guy. My mom is my only example, and the move I just pulled, getting in the truck, was all hers. So, let’s try it your way. What have I got to lose?”