The man nodded his head and walked back to her. “Here are your keys. I’ll get you a cab, ma’am.”
Naya smiled weakly, feeling old all of a sudden. The valet was probably only about twenty years old, most likely attending classes at the University of Washington and needed all the money he could scrounge up just to pay for beers and books.
She pulled a five dollar bill out of her wallet, then slipped into the cab he’d hailed for her. “Thank you,” she said and ducked into the back seat of the vehicle. She gave the cab driver her address, then leaned her head back against the seat, closing her eyes as she tried to come to terms with what she’d seen tonight.
Before she realized they’d arrived, the door to the back was yanked open. Her eyes popped open and she looked around. They were here? Already? And…
“Luke? What are you doing here?” she demanded.
Luke handed the cab driver some cash and took Naya’s hand, pulling her out of the back seat. “I saw you leave. We need to talk,” he told her and slammed the cab door closed. “Come on,” he urged and took her hand, leading her towards the parking lot. A moment later, he handed her into his black Porsche and slammed the door. His big body slid into the driver’s seat and Naya couldn’t stop the catty remark that slipped out. “What happened to Tanya? She looked good on your arm.”
Even saying the woman’s name hurt so she turned her head, looking out the window of his car. There was a long silence, but she was too tipsy to wonder why he wasn’t pulling out of the parking lot. Eventually, he backed up, but she still refused to look at him. She just knew it would hurt too much!
Closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the soft leather of the Porsche, she let the movement of the powerful car soothe her aching heart, unaware of the tears slipping out from under her closed eyelids. Several minutes later, her house keys were lifted from her fingers, and Luke was taking her hand, helping her out of his car.
“Thank you for the ride home,” she whispered, reaching for her keys, but he only turned away, pulling her up the short walk to her front door. He put a hand to the small of her back, opening her front door himself and then nudging her inside. “At least you had the sense not to drive home tonight,” he muttered.
Naya was getting angrier as he kept pushing her in one direction or another. When her front door was closed with both of them on the inside, she swung around, prepared to tell him exactly what was going on.
“This isn’t going to work, Naya!” he exploded, interrupting whatever she’d been about to say.
Naya had just opened her mouth to tell him that they couldn’t see each other when he said the words first. She froze, her tipsy mind trying to translate the words. When his meaning hit her, she had to fight back the tears.
“We’re through?’ she asked with a small, weak voice. A voice that she hated because it showed him how hurt she was by his rejection.
His eyes widened. “What? NO! We’re not through! Definitely not through! What are you talking about? Why would you think that?”
She shrugged, moving deeper into the shadows of her tiny sitting room. Crossing her arms over her chest, she stared at him, trying to understand. “Because you said that this isn’t going to work.” Her brain was fuzzy from all of the champagne, but she understood those words. They might hurt, but she got it. He wanted out. Better to get out now rather than later when she was more emotionally entangled with the man. Yes, this was better. It hurt. A lot! But she could leave with whatever…
Luke rubbed a hand over his face. “I have no idea what you’re thinking, but we’re definitely not over, Naya. Don’t even try that crap! We’re not over!” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Hard!
He didn’t let up until she was trembling in his arms. When he lifted his head, he was glaring down at her. “Don’t even think that we’re over,” he commanded in a rough whisper. “We might never be over.”
She shivered, feeling the heat from his body and loving the way he was holding her. It felt like he never was going to let her go and she loved that idea. “But you said…”