Luke sits down on the piano bench next to me, careful not to disturb my movements, and I welcome the solid warmth of him pressing against my left arm. The apartment is quiet and peaceful as I continue to play, and my stress and doubt begin to ease out of me the longer I go. When the song ends, I let my hands fall from the keys and merely contemplate my existence. Could things be more perfect than this?
Then, the man next to me speaks.
“Patty, that was beautiful,” Luke says in a low voice. “I’ve never heard anything so perfect.”
With that, my heart lurches as I stare into that sincere blue gaze. Of their own accord, my hands lock around his neck and he brings his lips to mine. It’s a devastating kiss, one that I feel all the way down to my toes, and I wrap my arms tightly about his shoulders and kiss him back. Simona’s words continue to echo warnings in my mind, but I push them away. Right now, there’s only Luke Montgomery, and he makes me happy.
7
Luke
Montgomery Holdings is a company that specializes in kitchen and bathroom fixtures. When I say that out loud, it doesn’t seem particularly sexy or impressive, but then again, money is money. Our company is incredibly successful because not only do we design and manufacture, but we sell in chain stores as well as our own retail outlets. Our company is the real thing, and I’m proud to be a part of it.
But running Montgomery can be trying, and after a morning full of meetings, I step outside to take a break and clear my head. Unbidden, my hand reaches into my pocket for something that I no longer keep there. I used to smoke, a habit I picked up from my father, but I quit a few months ago, right around the time that my dad passed away. Smoking is a dirty thing, and it’s literally the equivalent of burning your lungs. Still, I love everything about lighting up, and when work becomes stressful, sometimes I still crave that nicotine hit.
Instead, I stand in the shade of the building, just people watching. Manhattan hums and buzzes around me with corporate drones hurrying by, the hot dog guy on the corner, and various retail stores hawking their wares. Inevitably, my mind drifts to Patty once more.
The sweet girl was bundled up in the covers this morning as I got dressed, and still dozing when it was time for me to leave. I pushed her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead, and she gave me a sleepy smile. It’s these fleeting moments that make me want her, the ones where she’s comfortable and unguarded. When she’s fully awake, she’ll smile and laugh, but this morning, it just felt real. This isn’t just a woman I hired; this is someone I could really fall in love with.
Plus, sometimes when Patty doesn’t think I’m paying attention, she looks at me. Not in a bad way. Just like she wants me, and yet doesn’t want me to know. I can understand because beneath it all, this is a transaction, and yet there’s a yearning present that wasn’t there at the beginning. So what are we doing together?
To Patty’s credit, all I wanted in the beginning was for her to help me get Jocelyn off my back, but now it’s metamorphosed into something different. The relationship’s completely changed, to be honest. I’m used to women throwing themselves at me whether I ask them to or not, but with Patty, it’s the opposite. Instead, I go out of my way to make her happy, and my heart leaps when she bestows one of those beautiful smiles on me.
Don’t get me wrong because this isn’t just about unicorns and rainbows; the sassy girl’s in the mood to have sex just as often as I am, but it’s also gone beyond that. I don’t want something that’s only physical. I want to see that gorgeous smile first thing when I wake up, and I want to get in bed with her at the end of the night and hold her close after a bout of passion. Is that wrong? Yet what should I do? Let her return to her old life after our arrangement’s done? Even crazier, should I ask Jocelyn to keep harassing me, so that Patty never leaves?
God. I reach again into my pocket for an imaginary pack of cigarettes and come up empty once more. Then, I sigh and lean my shoulder against the brick building, uncaring of my pristine suit. It’s only then that I sense a presence behind me. It’s probably just a coworker hoping to bum a smoke, but when I turn, my blood goes cold.
Jocelyn slinks toward me like a snake who’s cornered her prey. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her so close, and her appearance is physically jarring. Don’t get me wrong because she’s pretty in a serpentine way. She’s blonde and slender, with pixie-like features and green eyes. She’s wearing a low-cut green summer dress and matching python heels, as well as a necklace in the shape of a snake. How fitting.