Lukas (Ashes & Embers 3)

“What’s so funny?” I ask him.

He nods his head at Talon. “Tell him.”

My cousin just shakes his head and says nothing. “Tal, tell me,” I say. “What’s up?”

“He’s getting married!” Katie yells excitedly.

“What? To who?” I don’t even remember him having a girlfriend.

“In a month or two, I’m not sure yet.”

Vandal nudges him again. “Tell him all of it.”

Talon makes a face, and I can tell Vandal is pissing him off. “It’s a social experiment that a group of psychologists and relationship experts are running. My mom is friends with the director.”

I squint at him. “Social experiment? What’s that mean?”

“He’s gonna marry a total fucking stranger,” Vandal interrupts. “Like a lab rat.”

My gaze rivets on Talon, shocked. “Wow, really? A stranger?”

He nods. “Yeah. We don’t get to meet or see each other, or know anything about each other at all. We see each other for the first time at the wedding.”

“Holy shit.” I don’t know what else to even say. It’s crazy, but also, kinda cool.

“We have to fill out all these quizzes and talk to the shrinks, and they match us up with what they think is our perfect match. So, we get married and have to stay together for six months. After that, we can stay together or split up, and we each get fifty thousand dollars.”

“So you’re doing this for the money, right?” Vandal asks.

“No, asshole. I don’t need money. I have shit luck with chicks. I want to see if this works.”

I lean against the wall, captivated with this idea. “I think it’s wild,” I say. “Is it televised? Like a reality show?”

He shakes his long brown hair. “No. We just journal everything.”

“Well, I think it’s cool, and I’m really interested to see how it goes.”

“Aren’t you supportive?” Vandal teases.

“You’re a dick.”

“Boys! I cannot even count the amount of money you owe me right now. Do you think I can’t hear you just because I’m over here making meringue?”

“Sorry, Gram,” we all say in unison.

“And you,” she points to Vandal. “Leave your cousin and your brother alone. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to find love.”

“They’re gonna find themselves buying Divorce for Dummies, Gram. Don’t you care?”

She throws a bowl into the sink. “Of course I care. But I want you to be nice to others.”

“I can’t, Gram. The darkness lives in me.”

Gram shakes her head, but I can tell she’s laughing. Vandal is gonna make her insane. And rich.

“I’m outta here,” I say. “Van, I’ll see you on Monday?”

He nods without looking up at me because he’s coloring a butterfly black in Katie’s book. “Yup,” he says.

“Talon, good luck, man.”

“Thanks.”

Katie stands up on her chair and puts her arms around my neck. I hug her back tightly. “Uncle Lukas, do you want to come home with us tonight?”

Kissing her forehead, I gently place her back down on the chair. “Not tonight, baby. But when Daddy needs me to babysit, you can come to my place.”

“Yay!” she yells.

“Tonight, we’re watching cartoons, Katie-bug,” Vandal says, and then glances to me. “Lukas, you can come hang out if you want.”

“Thanks, but I’ve got some stuff to do.” I grab another cookie and give Gram a hug as she hands me a big Tupperware container filled with cookies and brownies.

“Take these, honey.”

Well, damn. I’m going to be on a sugar high for the rest of the weekend.

IVY

I STOP AT MACY’S BEDROOM DOOR and peek inside to see what she’s doing. She’s laying on her bed, reading with her ear buds in. Her room is actually clean for once, which is a huge difference from a few months ago when she had so many clothes thrown around that I couldn’t see the floor. I hope this is going to be a new habit.

She suddenly looks up and pulls the ear buds off. “Hey, Mom. What’s up?”

“I’m heading out, but I won’t be home late. What time is Shelly coming over?”

“She’s on her way here now. Did you talk to that cute guy? Maybe kinda hint around that I like him?”

I get an instant stress headache and a strange feeling in my stomach. “No, sweetie, I really don’t talk to him. He’s just my tattoo artist. He only stopped by to fix the shed.”

“Well, maybe at your next appointment you could sorta say something?” she asks hopefully.

“Macy, I’m not sure I feel comfortable with that. I’m your mother, and that would be kinda inappropriate. Just behave yourselves while I’m gone, please. There’s food in the fridge.”

“Whatever. Have fun.” She puts her ear buds back in and goes back to her book, dismissing me for now.

Fun. I have no faith that tonight will be fun at all, and I wish I could just stay home. Waiting in the living room, I watch the street from the window until I see Tim’s car pull into my driveway. With a heavy sigh, I put my coat on and head outside into the frigid night air, not even giving him the chance to come to my front door. Do men even do that anymore for a date? Not that this is a date, but I’m curious.

“I would have come to your door,” is the first thing he says when I get in the passenger seat of his SUV, so I guess some men still do show up at the door

I shrug. “It’s all right.”

“I thought we’d try that new bar and grill place,” he says, backing the car out into the street.

I force a smile at him. “That sounds great.” I’m not even hungry, because my stomach is still in knots over Lukas. I tried to distract myself all day by cleaning the house and doing laundry to get my mind off him, but instead, I found myself daydreaming about him randomly throughout the day. Suddenly, I was having quick flashbacks of how his lips felt on mine, sending warm shivers coursing through my body.

“I’m glad you finally agreed to go out with me. I’ve thought you were attractive since the day you interviewed me.” Tim smiles over at me and then averts his eyes back to the road. “I was disappointed to find out you were married, to be honest.”

Ugh. How do I even reply to that? I’m a little disturbed that he was checking me out during the interview process. That seems a bit unprofessional to me. I really should not have agreed to this dinner. I already know that there is no chemistry here, and I’m not going to want to go out with him again, so it’s going to be really awkward if I ever have to fire him. I’m sure he won’t be attracted to me then.

“Well, like I said, Tim, I don’t believe in dating co-workers.”

“I’m hoping I can change your mind.”

Saying nothing, I turn to stare out the window, just as we are driving past Lukas’ tattoo parlor. Could the timing be any worse? Red holiday lights shine from around his business sign, and little lights glow amber in the upstairs windows of his apartment. As we drive further away, a sense of sadness creeps up on me. If I had said yes to Lukas earlier, we’d probably be having dinner together right now. I could be smiling at how his hair falls over his face, covering those dark sexy eyes of his.

The new restaurant is packed. Even with the reservation that Tim made, we have to wait thirty minutes to get a table. It’s so loud, from the music playing over the speakers and people talking around us, that we really can’t talk while we wait, which he takes as an opportunity to play around on his phone.

“The emails never stop,” he finally says to me. “It’s hard to get away from work.”

I smile sympathetically at him. Tim is an electrical engineer, and a good one from what I’ve heard. His performance reviews have been consistently excellent since he was hired five years ago. He’s definitely not a slacker.

“It’s okay. I understand,” I reply.

Finally, our little pager goes off and we’re taken t

o a table not far away from the bar. There aren’t many places to eat in this small town, so it appears that everyone is flocking here to eat and hang out.

“You look great,” Tim says after I take my winter coat off and sit down across from him at the tiny table. I notice his eyes lingering at the v of my sweater. I normally don’t wear anything that shows off even the tiniest bit of cleavage at the office, but when I go out, I like to look a little more human and less like an office worker. Now, though, I’m afraid I’m sending the wrong message. Not that my boobs are huge or really very visible, but there is a bit of cleavage showing, which he has managed to zone in on.

“Thanks,” I say, opening my menu and strategically holding it so he can’t look at my chest anymore. I hate this awkwardness. Tim is not a bad looking guy at all, to be honest. In fact, he’s actually pretty good looking. His short brown hair is perfectly styled in the latest men’s do, with a little bit messed up at the front. He’s tall and lean, with bright sky-blue eyes. He always dresses well, and looks as though he has stepped out of a men’s clothing ad. A lot of the women at the office flirt with him and hang out in his office for unnecessarily long periods of time. I peek up at him as he peruses the menu. Maybe I’m being too hard on him and need to drop my defences a little. He is a nice guy—a little annoying sometimes, but still a decent, hard-working guy. Lindsay is right; I need to give people a chance and not run away from everyone just because Paul hurt me.

“What are you going to have?” I ask him while I attempt to narrow down my own choices.

“I think I’m going to get the rib eye. I’ve been dying for a good steak. How ‘bout you? Please don’t get a salad,” he jokes.

I smile over the menu at him. “I think I’m going to have the vegetable ravioli. That sounds really good.”

He nods in agreement. “It does. I’ve heard everything here is good.”

The waitress arrives to takes our order, and I order a white wine with my dinner, hoping it will calm my nerves.

“So, how have you been doing?” Tim asks. “You know, after everything that’s happened?”

The way he says it makes me feel like I’ve been in an accident or something. Like there was an incident. I wonder if people in the office have been talking about me, feeling sorry for me. I want to crawl under the table and hide.