Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
DEIDRE
V ictoria places a few photos in front of me. “Who’s this?”
“Who?” I lean in to check the pictures.
“Him,” she states, pointing to Luke.
“He’s a part of my security team.”
“Security team?” she repeats with a hint of snippiness.
“Yes.”
“Really?” she asks, as if she doesn’t believe me.
“Really.”
“Then, why is he here?” Victoria asks, pushing the top photo away, revealing another one where Luke and I are talking at Flirt’s birthday party.
“You know why I’ve hired a security team,” I say, deflecting the question.
Victoria eyes me before shuffling through the images. “This one is not at an event.”
“Creepers are everywhere.”
“He shouldn’t be so close,” she counters.
“He should be if there’s a potential threat."
“How many men are on your security team?” she asks.
“That’s a need-to-know basis.”
“I need to know,” Victoria claims.
“Why?”
“He’s presenting himself as a challenge,” she states.
“How so?” I ask.
“He was too close the night of the party and appears as such in several other instances.”
“When I want my friends protected, one or more of the team may be closer than you’d like,” I state.
Victoria’s finger taps on the table. “There are many events your friend Maria didn’t attend.”
I get up and grab a cup from my cupboard. “First off, her name is Mandy. Second, the team rotates their duties.”
“I want to speak with him,” she states.
“He’s currently off duty, visiting friends for the week.” I pour some tea from the fridge.
She clicks her tongue. “I want to speak with your entire security team in five days or less.”
“That’s not going to happen,” I inform.
“Why not?”
“For starters, that’s a security measure.” I regard her for a long moment, realizing this is a battle of will. “Are you insinuating something?”
“No,” Victoria replies.
A giggle bounds out of me. “Do any of these pictures give the impression that he and I are dating?”
“No,” Victoria says with a clenched jaw.
“Do any of these photos look like anything that resembles even half of the stuff you and your team have leaked to the press about me with any of the other fake dates you set me up with?”
“No,” she confirms begrudgingly.
“Then, what’s the problem?” I take a sip of my drink.
There have been a variety of scenarios I’ve played out in my head regarding the potential of this conversation.
When I struggled, Tony was willing to vouch that Luke is a part of my security detail.
He’s got at least ten different guys who’ve rotated with him when we’ve traveled, most of them keeping a distance.
Victoria takes a large breath in and releases it very slowly. “Nothing as long as it is nothing.”
“He’s a part of my security,” I state slowly, enunciating each word. “Nothing else…nothing more.”
Victoria studies me carefully.
After several long moments of silence between us, I ask, “Are we done?”
Victoria hesitates. “Yes…for now.”
“Good. I’ve got work to do before the holiday comes. I’m sure you can see yourself out.”
Victoria gives me a defiant glare, but doesn’t comment further.
The second the door closes, I lock it to make sure she doesn’t get back in. It’s not like she has free access to my home anyway, but I’m not interested in her coming back in without warning or being invited.
I’ve been hearing rumors about how she’s handled clients. I’m starting to wonder if any of it could be true. She’s changed over the months and has been more demanding and controlling. Plus, she’s been saying we and our more often when referring to Flirt and my app.
I scoop up Vix and plop on my bed, letting out a nervous breath from the revelation that she’s had pictures of Luke taken and was asking about him.
I have to be more careful with her seeing him—with anyone seeing him here, me at his place, or just anywhere in public.
This might be a sign that I have to end things, whatever they are.
The friction between Victoria and me has been growing.
She’s been pushing me to sign a bunch of contracts with many of the advertisers we’ve met with over the past several months.
I’m not excited about doing any blatant marketing pieces with me scantily posing with any product.
Our user numbers have plateaued, not really hitting past twenty-four point two million people for the past few weeks.
I know marketing needs to be revamped, but Victoria’s vision is not lining up with mine at all. It’s making me start to resent the app.
I’m hoping the holidays coming up solve the challenge. Thanksgiving is in six days. We saw this same kind of thing last year, where the numbers taper off just before Thanksgiving and then spiked between then and Christmas, particularly with our college-to-young-adult age demographic.
I’m sure Victoria’s pushing because she’s been having challenges with a few of her other clients, two of whom left within the past few months.
I get it. She’s stressed and nervous about her business, but pushing me isn’t going to help the matter.
It just makes me retaliate with the way she goes about it.
The holiday time is not enjoyable for me anymore. It hasn’t really been since Mom and Dad’s divorce. Mike always guilt-trips me about not coming home, whining about only getting to see me when he comes down here. I’ve always used work as an excuse to avoid everything, even Luke.
Unless I randomly feel inspired to head back home, which isn’t even home anymore, I won’t see Luke until sometime after the new year.
Thanksgiving will be here with Mandy and her family.
The few weeks before Christmas, Victoria has me attending a variety of holiday parties between Cali, Vegas, and New York.
Tonight will be the first time seeing Luke in a few weeks. I got tied up with some work events that stopped me from seeing him after he came back from his birthday weekend.
“Hey,” Luke’s faint voice calls.
“Hm,” I return after realizing that I’ve been staring at the blank television screen.
“Everything okay, Dei?”
“Yeah,” I lie.
“Come on,” Luke coaxes. “I can tell when something’s bothering you.”
“It’s just work stuff.”
“You sure?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I sigh. “I’ll be fine.”
Luke looks at me funny, so I console him again. When he doesn’t settle down, I realize that something’s bothering him.
“What’s wrong?”
“I…I um…don’t want you to be mad at me,” he states oddly.
“Mad at you? Why would I be mad at you?”
“I kind of got you something.”
“Kind of? How can you kind of do anything?” I tease.
Luke smiles nervously. “I got you an early Christmas present and I wanted to?—”
“What? Why?” I gasp, feeling guilty for not having anything for him.
“Because I wanted to.”
“This isn’t because I gave you the football, is it?”
“No,” he chuckles.
“I really wish you didn’t. I?—”
“Don’t,” Luke interrupts. “I got you something because I wanted to.”
I half smile and nod.
“I know that I won’t see you for a while and wanted to give it to you now,” he adds.
My stomach churns as a swirl of confusing emotions floods my body. We need time apart so things can cool down with Victoria’s suspicions. Work is a great excuse, but my stomach churns at the thought.
Luke reaches behind me on the bed and then hands me a small, rectangular box.
“Luke,” I huff, feeling even more guilty.
“Just open it.”
My hands shake a little as I undo the white ribbon surrounding the red velvet box. The lid gives with a little force, and my eyes fall upon a beautiful round quartz stone, half surrounded by gold with a gold chain.
“It’s beautiful. You shouldn’t have.”
“I wanted to,” he says. “Do you like it?”
“Yes,” I confirm with a smile. “Thank you. Will you put it on?”
“Sure.”
The crystal lies nicely against my skin, only a few inches above my cleavage.
“You sure I can’t convince you to sneak back and visit?”
“Yeah,” I giggle. “I’ve got a bunch of parties that Victoria arranged for me to attend.”
“When will you be free?” He picks up the crystal of my necklace.
“Two days after the New Year.”
Luke pouts.
“It’s not that long.”
“It’s long enough,” he states. “It’s practically two months.”
“You can always take the edge off if you need it.”
“Edge? What edge?” he asks.
I don’t comment.
“You mean sex?” he states more than questions. “Dei, I have not, nor will I, sleep with someone else.”
“It’s….” I begin, but my voice fades.
“Don’t say it,” Luke scolds sternly. “This is not just sex. You and I both know that.”
“Luke,” I sigh.
“Don’t. I’m just…going to miss you.”
The corners of my mouth curl up slightly, but they won’t form a full smile. This is too sensitive of a subject for me. God, I want to tell him that I’ll miss him.
“Things will be quiet for me after New Year’s and until mid-February,” I inform.
“I’ll be back down here the day after New Year’s, waiting for you,” he declares.
My mouth opens to say something, but nothing comes out. Luke cups my face and kisses me. He deepens the embrace into something I’ve never felt with him or anyone else before. It doesn’t take much time for me to be naked again, only wearing my new present.