He filled the lonely hours when Ava decided she wanted to stay with a friend or Luna. Tag satisfied her sexual needs and that was about it. She wasn’t on the same page as him and she had been telling him this for months. Maybe it was time to end it. She had been thinking about it for a while but if she did it now…it would look like she was doing it because of Luka coming home.
She sighed. Exasperated that he was now home. Tired because she didn’t want to go out but tonight was something she had to do to. She had to make concessions for Tag.
He wasn’t a bad guy. A little arrogant. Sometimes controlling. Nice looking but he didn’t have her heart. No one did and no one would ever have it again. Not even Luka Shaw. She had to remember that when he was around.
She had been thinking about breaking it off with Tag because they weren’t on the same page. She wanted to keep it causal while he was starting to talk about a future. Skylar knew that she couldn’t handle his arrogance on a regular basis even if he were better with Ava.
She only saw him regularly on Friday nights right now from Spring through Fall when they had the dances in the square. That wasn’t a relationship.
They were more like fuck buddies or friends with benefits. She co
uldn’t remember the last real date they had when they went to dinner and a movie. Six or eight months ago? Before the dances started for sure.
After seeing Luka this afternoon, she felt the familiar longing and locked that bad boy down tight. She wasn’t giving him anything but her back as she walked away from him this time.
She did have to break down and give in to Ava though. Her daughter wanted to see her father again. Get to know him. Skylar was afraid at first. Afraid of losing her daughter to Luka Shaw. A common fear she assumed but not really rational.
She had to finish getting ready or she was going to be even later than she already was. Her dress was barely pink with two inch straps that sloped gently off the shoulder. It had a flouncy skirt that Skylar loved.
She wasn’t showing off too much but her knees and a little cleavage. Her tan cowboy boy boots came up to mid-calf. Her hair was pulled to the side in a lose ponytail and she wore very little makeup. She didn’t need it. Skylar grabbed her tan jean jacket as she left her bedroom.
She ran down the steps knowing she was going to be at least ten minutes late which drove Tag crazy. He always told her, if you weren’t so damn sexy your punctuality would be a problem for me. He was trying to be smooth. She always laughed like she was amused then turned away to roll her eyes at him.
Ava had needed some time with her after seeing Luka. She couldn’t just up and leave her child. She had questions that were delicate and needed answering.
Skylar really needed to figure out why she had been with him so long. Sex, no matter how good, was not a reason. At times it seemed to be her only reason.
Skylar walked into the living room and stopped short. What the hell was he doing here? Luka was standing in the middle of the living room talking with his mother and Ava. Her daughter’s hand was loose in his. Their connection natural as if they had known each other for a lifetime.
He turned and the expression on his face turned her insides to jelly. She looked down at the floor to avoid the heat in his eyes. Ava released Luka and ran to Skyler. She wrapped her arms around Skylar’s waist and hugged her. “Momma, you look beautiful.”
“Thank you,” she replied. Skylar bent over and kissed Ava’s cheek. “You be a good girl for Grammy.”
Her dress was low cut when she bent over she was facing Luka and Luna revealing the fullness of her cleavage. He cleared his throat. She didn’t bother looking at him. She knew what he was thinking and didn’t care. She would rather swim with a thousand alligators in the Florida everglades than let Luka Shaw back in her bed.
“I will. Grammy and I were planning to watch a Disney movie together. Daddy was deciding if he was up for something with princesses.”
“Frozen for the thousandth time?” She asked Luna keeping her gaze focused on his mother not the man still eyeing her intently. She was ignoring him.
“Probably,” Luna agreed. “Ava is right. You look stunning sweetheart. Have a good time.”
“Night.” She turned on her heel and walked out the front door. Ignoring Luka completely. She knew he was behind her. The familiar stomp of his boots was obvious on her hardwood floors.
“Where are you going?” He asked.
She glanced briefly over her shoulder but kept going. “Where I go every Friday night Luka.”
“You leave Ava every Friday night?”
She shook her head at the tone of his voice. The hint of accusation. Well he wasn’t going to get to her. Where the hell was he when she pushed Ava out of her body after fifteen hours of labor? Where was he when Ava broke her arm? Skylar had been terrified at the thought that she could have been killed. The horse threw her when his two idiot brothers had put her on it when she was too small to begin with. She still cringed when she thought of that day.
He was god knew where enjoying his life; that is where he was. Sleeping with god knew who not that she wanted to think about that part of Luka’s life. She didn’t stop to think that he hadn’t know about Ava. Her attitude wasn’t really fair to him but she didn’t care at that particular moment.
“Do you have a date? They told me you were dating somebody. Doesn’t he pick you up? What kind of guy doesn’t pick up his girl?’” He kept firing the questions at her until she halted in her tracks. She turned on him suddenly.
“Stop, just stop.” She was facing him now. He towered over her even in her boots with the one-inch heel. “I do not answer to you Luka not now, not ever again. Got that?”
He watched as she slammed through the screen door and headed to her truck. That skirt flowed around Skylar’s body giving him a peek of her toned thighs. Luka wanted to push the dress up to her waist and yank her panties down. Then he wanted to paddle her behind. Damn she was an obstinate woman.