“Now? Can’t it wait until after we’ve eaten?” Lucah nudged my leg under the table. It was now or never.
“No, it can’t wait. Um, so Lucah informed me that, well . . . ” I trailed off. I couldn’t say the words. Before I could ask him to finish for me, Lucah opened his mouth.
“There really isn’t a way to put this delicately, Mr. Clarke. The Board of Directors wants you gone and has been meeting in secret to try to figure out a way to oust you.” Well, I couldn’t have put it better.
Dad put his fork down, steepled his fingers and rested his chin on them.
“I know.”
Seven
“You know?” I nearly fell out of my chair. Lucah was just as stunned beside me. Mom wore a grim smile on her face.
“I’ve known for a long time. I might have been in the dark about all the recent unpleasantness, but there is no way I wouldn’t be aware of this. I expected it. Why wouldn’t they try to oust me? Some very illegal things happened on my watch. In their eyes, it was my fault for being incompetent. So. I know, and I’m doing what I can to take care of it.”
“Meaning what?” Was this why he was spending so much time in the office? It all made sense now.
“You don’t need to worry about it. I have it under control. Now how about we eat and talk about much more pleasant things?” He picked up his fork and that was the end of the discussion.
Mom asked Lucah about the visit to his brother’s house, flipping the conversation onto safe ground. The food was fantastic, as usual, and I ate too much, as usual. What wasn’t usual was Lucah. He’d recovered from the initial stumble of the announcement that didn’t need to be made and the he was ON. I swear, I’d never seen him so fucking charming. Not even when he was trying to charm his way into my pants. He made my mother laugh and complimented Dad and managed to make me blush and fall even more in love with him.
“He’s fantastic, Rory,” Mom hissed in my ear as Lucah and Dad discussed camping.
“I know,” I said, and my heart squeezed a little.
“I wasn’t sure at first, but the way he looks at you and the way he talks about you. Just the way he says your name. You can tell a lot about how someone says your name.” My mother was a wise woman.
“So Dad knew?” I seized my moment to ask her about it.
“Shh, you need to take that up with your father. I don’t want to get in the middle of it, hmm?” To which I nodded and agreed. Her tone didn’t invite argument.
~*~*~
“So he knew,” was the first thing Lucah said when we got in the car. After Dad had gone over and gushed about it to Lucah and the two of them had reverted to five-year-olds with a new toy.
“I can’t believe that never occurred to me, but of course he would have known. He’s not an idiot. He’s been doing this for longer than I’ve been alive, and doing it damn well. I’m just wondering how he’s handling it, and I hope that the handling doesn’t get in the way of his health. That’s my biggest concern.”
Lucah nodded and shifted into a higher gear. There really wasn’t anything to do about it. We’d just have to wait.
“This sucks.”
“That’s a pretty accurate assessment.” Once again, I was exhausted, and I had to go to work tomorrow. Sometimes I wished I had a less-intense job where I could call in sick and watch movies in my pajamas all day, but it was not to be.
“I have an idea,” Lucah said after we got back to the apartment, finding it Sloane-free. “Why don’t you sit here and I’ll get a bath drawn for you, and then I will give you a massage that may or may not end with me fucking you with my mouth. How does that sound?”
“Amazing,” I said, flopping on the couch and lying back on the pillows.
“Okay, I’m gonna get that going.” He gave me a peck before going to the bathroom and turning the water on in the tub. I missed the tub at his old place. It was much nicer than mine, but sacrifices had to be made when we moved in together.
A few minutes later Lucah came out and picked me up from the couch and carried me into the bathroom. He’d lit every single candle I probably owned, including the scented ones. The smells all blended together, like a bouquet of flowers, and cast warm light over us. Lucah set me down and undressed me before lifting me up and depositing me in the tub. The water was almost scalding hot, just the way I liked it.
“Wait there.” He left the room. I’d hoped he would be naked so he could join me in the tub, but he came back with his guitar. Je-sus Christ. A hot bath, candles and a serenade? Was this real life? Was I hallucinating?
Lucah started strumming and playing random slow, romantic songs. Nothing heavy, just mellow tunes. I wanted to close my eyes, but I didn’t want to stop watching him. He always closed his eyes when he played, as if to give all his senses over to the music. Even without his voice, the music had power, and I could feel the tension and stress melting away from my body, leaving contentment in its place.
By the time we got to the massage, I was going to be completely boneless and spineless. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to work tomorrow. I rested my chin on the edge of the tub and watched Lucah play. Best part of my day.
The guitar abruptly stopped.