Luke and I didn’t get much sleep that night. It seemed his phone rang every hour-waking me and him. He would get up and go into the next room to talk, but I stayed awake until he came back each time. When my alarm went off at seven o’clock, I felt like I had just gone to sleep. I drug myself into the shower, hoping the hot water would wake me. I wandered what had become of the man that broke into the clubhouse and why did he do it? Tonight I would see Red and squeeze as much information from her as possible. When I came out of the shower, Luke was still asleep in bed. Not wanting to wake him, I slid into my closet and closed the door behind me. I dried my long hair as quickly as possible, curled the ends, and applied my makeup only using some light blush and mascara and coral colored lip gloss. I chose a sleeveless white crepe dress that came just above my knees and was accessorized with a thin orange belt around the waist. I grabbed a pair of bright orange pumps to match the belt, some diamond studs for my ears, and my usual watch and bracelet. Satisfied with my appearance, I packed a quick bag for tonight consisting of some jeans, a white fitted t-shirt and my black ankle boots with a low heel. I walked out of the closet to find Luke no longer in bed.
“Luke?” I called. Wondering where he had wondered off to.
“I’m in the kitchen babe,” he answered. Luke was sitting at the bar with two steaming cups of coffee in front of him. As I approached he turned to stare at me and his eyes shot in surprise, but he quickly recovered giving me a smirk. “You look good babe. Real good. The color orange suits you.”
I walked into his arms, planting a kiss on his lips with a loud smack and sat down to join him. “Well, what’s the news?” I asked, picking up my coffee and taking a big sip. Damn, Luke could make some good coffee, just how I liked it; strong and dark.
“Nothing yet. The guy took off. We don’t even know who it was.” He looked like he was thinking hard, and I didn’t want our morning to be anything like last night so I quickly changed the subject.
“Where are we going tonight?” I asked, flashing my best smile. His eyes softened and he smiled back.
“Shenanigans. Ever been there?”
“Once, a band I like played there. The Glitter Boys.”
“Ah. Gotta love The Glitter Boys,” he said playfully. Luke seemed to be in a good mood, but I could tell he had a lot on his mind. I was hoping having a break from me would give him plenty of time to handle it. I still felt like a jerk for lying to him, but I kept reminding myself that it was the right thing to do. I knew in my heart he would have done the same for me.
“I have to go. Make yourself at home. I’ll see you around five.” I leaned over giving him a quick kiss and left.
Chapter 14
At nine o’clock, just as I was about to start my first meeting of the day, a large bouquet of flowers were delivered to me. The card read “missing you already.” My heart fluttered at such a sweet gesture. Luke always knew how to brighten my day. At ten o’clock, another delivery was made. This time it was a dozen white roses, a balloon that had a picture of a black lab on it, and a card that read “Neo misses you too. He also watered the roses.” I giggled like a schoolgirl and inhaled the sweet scented roses.
The situation at Luke’s was bad, but still he managed to let me know that he was thinking of me. I decided to send him a message. Picking up my phone, I texted him- *you are amazing-thank you.* He never responded, but at noon another bouquet was delivered and it took my breath away. It was so big, two men carried it in. The arrangement was full of bright, colorful flowers and roses. It smelled wonderful. This time the card read, “These flowers hold no comparison to your beauty. The smell of them, even as intoxicating as it is, smells nothing of the sweetness that is of you. The soft, velvety petals are not as pleasing to touch as the satin of your skin. You have captured my heart and it now beats only for you. I hope your day is as wonderful as you are- Luke Shakespeare.” I laughed out loud at his signature.
Tears fell down my face as I grabbed my phone once again. Who was I kidding? I was in love. I was head over heels in love with a man I hardly knew. I didn’t care that it sounded preposterous or that things were moving faster than I ever could have imagined. I didn’t care what people thought or what they had to say.