Chapter 27 #2
I wasn’t really buying it. Ash was a complete stranger to me.
Plus, Luke and I weren’t technically together, so I wasn’t sure why she was even here.
What? Did she have a baby and then realize, “Oh, I suck as a human being. Let me try to make it better?” I was not falling for it.
Nope. And I didn’t really have to, because a loud, rumbling engine and squealing tires suddenly grabbed my attention.
Luke’s car flew into park, and he was out of it in seconds, stomping toward my porch.
He was enraged. His face was reddening, and his chiseled jaw was clenched. Ash straightened her shoulders as soon as he was inches away from her.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Ashley?” he yelled. I took a step back and watched her roll her eyes.
“I came to make things right, per your request.”
“Bullshit! You had your chance.” He pointed at her. “You aren’t allowed to be here!”
Now, that had my head spinning. Allowed to be here? What was he, her father? We really did belong on Jerry Springer , I’m tellin’ ya.
“Jesus, calm down. I just came to tell her that you were telling the truth.” Ash’s face was relaxed, as if she couldn’t care less that Luke was trembling with anger.
“If you don’t get off this porch in less than five fucking seconds, I’m calling the police.” My eyes widened, and my mouth slowly fell open.
Ash rolled her eyes again and looked over at me. “Good luck with this one…”
I grimaced and found myself wanting to punch her for the seven hundredth time since meeting her. That was saying something, because both times I had encountered her were for less than five minutes each.
Luke was breathing heavily when I looked over at him. He watched as his ex-wife lazily walked down the porch steps and opened her Jeep door. She looked back and forth between the pair of us before she zeroed in on me.
“He was telling the truth. We’re done, and I’m sorry for causing problems.”
Then, she got in her Jeep and shut the door. Luke watched her all the way until her red taillights faded around the corner. Once they were gone, he turned around. Worry was etched on every part of his face.
“I’m sorry, Cammie. She isn’t supposed to come near you.”
“What do you mean?”
He briefly closed his eyes and then opened them again, showing the beautiful color that I may or may not have had constant dreams about. “I had my lawyer take out a restraining order on her after I got your email in Afghanistan. ”
My mouth formed an “O,” but I was at a loss for words. Was she really that dangerous?
I finally regained the ability to speak again. “But why?”
He snarled, “Because I know how fucking psycho and conniving she is. I wouldn’t put it past her to do something crazy to you.”
I wrapped my arms around my middle and tried to stop the pull in my stomach. My eyes raked down Luke’s frame. He looked so strong and so much like a man I could lean on when times were rough. Hell, I had leaned on him when times were rough.
“I’m sorry, Luke.”
His head snapped up to mine. “For what?”
“For not hearing you out.” I sighed. “And for her being a cheating whore.”
He chuckled, and I grinned. Then, we just looked at each other—for a really, really long time.
My heart was begging to be near him. My entire body was begging to be near him. Everything about Luke pulled me in like the eye of a tornado. I’d been caught up in the Luke storm since the moment I first met him, and for every second after.
“You know I meant it, right?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.
I narrowed my eyes. “Meant what?”
“When I asked you to marry me.” My heart stopped, and my eyes grew wide. “I was only half-joking when I emailed you that. I really think I would have married you.” He looked down at his feet for a second. “I think I—” He stopped himself, and an awkward silence filled the air.
Was he going to say he loved me?!
I broke the silence quickly, my heart pounding in my chest. “You don’t want to marry me, Luke.
” I paused. “And after everything you’ve been through with Ash…
how could you ever want to marry someone ever again?
” If I were him, I wouldn’t want to marry ever again.
Let alone me —someone who had given up so easily.
He turned his head toward the road, taking a deep breath. “Well, after I got the news about Ash on my previous deployment, I wanted to kill her and kill the guy who knocked her up. I was so fucking angry.”
I felt sick knowing she’d done that to him. I wanted to kill her, too. How dare she hurt him? Didn’t she realize what a worthy man he was?
“Then, after I got over the shock and started to hound her for a divorce, I went back into my Marine ways and set a rule for myself. You know us Marines, we love structure.”
I laughed. “And acronyms.”
Luke chuckled. “And acronyms.” He swallowed, and I watched in awe as his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “I made up this rule that I would never marry again. Actually, I think my exact words were, ‘I will never be committed to someone, ever again.’”
Oh. Okay, then.
“But… life’s all about bending the rules, right, Doc?
” He turned away. “A certain somebody taught me that.” My head was spinning.
He gave me a smug smile, and my heart all but exploded.
Before I could wrap my head around what he had said, he walked down my steps and over to his house.
I watched him the entire, agonizing time.
The second he was through his door, I melted onto my porch floor. I was caught up in the Luke storm once again.
Except, this time, I was welcoming it with open arms.