Sweet Satisfaction

I blinked again. “Luke?”

Jake had hissed at me like a snake on the phone, insisting the Warriors had set up the entire hospital ambush. For a brief second I pictured him with a forked tongue. I wanted Luke to tell me Jake was a paranoid ass as usual. There was no way that he would have set me up like that .

And that kiss. I had felt it down to my toes. He wanted me. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other. And for a few hours I thought he was the sweetest, hottest guy on the planet to entertain the kids. He was in it. I saw him. He joked with them. Tossed the ball and signed autographs. He was some kind of an unreal mix of bad-boy-sweet-sexy-dish that I wanted more of .

“Alexa.” He turned toward the stove, dialing the burner to a low number. I didn’t care about food right now. I cared about an answer .

The whiskey burned in my empty stomach .

Every second that ticked by with Luke’s silence, I had a sinking feeling I knew what the answer was. Damn it. If Jake was right about this, I’d never live it down. Add it to one more of the mistakes he threw in my face on a regular basis. The silence grew to an uncomfortable level .

“I-I can’t believe you aren’t denying it.” I waited. “What would make you do something like this? You have plenty of press. You have paparazzi. Why would you want us to be caught kissing? Why ?”

I saw a hint of regret in his eyes. He didn’t deny it. I had accused him and he never fought back. Luke didn’t seem like the kind of man to take wild accusations lightly. All the more reason I was suspicious .

“Luke!”

“Fuck.” He whipped around. “I didn’t have anything to do with it. Ok ?”

“Except you had everything to do with it. You knew it was going to happen. You were there. It is not ok. My manager is having a heart attack trying to do damage control .”

“It was supposed to be good for my image,” he tried to explain .

“What? How?” And then I realized what he was saying. How the pieces clicked into place .

I was what made the image complete. A kiss with me somehow righted the balance of his bad boy reputation. For the same reason he pulled me down, I lifted him up. He used me. And he got what he wanted .

I had to get out of here. I looked for my bag, frantic to get out of Luke’s house. I’d call a cab. I’d call Jake if I had to. I wasn’t going to spend another minute under the roof of a man who would trade me in for his own benefit. Dragging and kicking me into the mud. Using my name with ease as if I were his property to dictate. I had enough of that with Jake .

“Alexa, wait .”

Luke followed me to the next room .

“I’m an idiot. A naïve, stupid, girl,” I huffed. “The country sweetheart who got fucked by the bad boy. Got it. I won’t make the mistake again .”

There it was. I spotted the bag where I had dropped it on the leather couch .

“You’re not stupid. It was a dick move .”

I laughed. “Dick? That’s it. Dick move ?”

“I’m sorry. Ok? I shouldn’t have let it get that far .”

“Which part?” I steamed. “What part exactly went too far, Luke? The part where you led me to believe you gave a shit about sick kids? The part when I agreed to come back here with you today? The part when I let myself think we had some kind of connection after I spent the night with you?” I stood with my hands on my hips. My cheeks were hot and my hands started to shake. “I’d love to hear it. Which part exactly should you have reined in ?”

I don’t know why I felt as betrayed as I did. It wasn’t as if I was in some kind of serious relationship with the quarterback. We had one night together. One amazing, change-my-life kind of night, but nonetheless—only one night. I was overacting to the level of deception. Too late to dial that down now. I was in full-blown Alexa mode .

“The press. That part.” He moved in front of me to grab my shoulders. I almost stumbled into him with the impact. “And I do care about sick kids,” he added. “And you .”

I glared at him. Nothing he could say at this point was going to soften me. I was angry and there was a violation of my trust he couldn’t heal with sexy bedroom eyes and sweet apologies .

“Well, you suck .”

I threw the bag over my shoulder, shaking his heavy hands from my body. I wanted out from under this .

“Don’t you want to hear what happened?” he asked .

I was three steps out of the living room, but I slowed down before I made it to the garage .