“No, this is highly unusual for her. I guess she will start now that I have given her an inch, I’m sure she will take a mile.”
“That’s not fair Dallas. I’m sure she had good reason to take off to call you on a Sunday and ask. Why are you so hard on her?” he asked, making me feel like shit.
“I’m not hard on her,” I responded, my defenses going up. “I pay her very well to do her job. I’m more than fair and I never ask her to do anything that I myself have not done. What’s the big deal about picking someone up from the airport anyway?” I asked, mostly to myself. I realized then how little I knew about Lindsey. I didn’t even know her mother lived out of town.
“Give her a break. I’m sure she deserves it. Everyone does every now and then,” Luke stated, making me feel even guiltier
“Do you mind stopping somewhere? I am in desperate need of some caffeine,” I said, dropping the subject completely.
“No problem,” he said, turning into a service station just off the highway.
“You need anything?” I asked, opening my door to get out.
“No, I’m good,” he responded with a mischievous smile. What was that about? I walked inside, browsing the items that I did not need. I selected a candy bar and a soda and made my way to the cashier. I looked outside to see Luke looking down at what I assumed was his phone. He was so breathtakingly gorgeous even from a distance.
“Thanks,” the cashier said handing me my change. I smiled in response and headed back to the truck.
“Lindsey texted,” Luke said as soon as I sat in the truck.
“I’ll text her back later,” I responded with absolutely no intention of doing so.
“I already did,” Luke said, pulling back onto the highway. I jerked my head around towards him.
“You did what?” I asked, trying to remain calm but failing to do so.
“I messaged her back. I told her to just take the whole day off tomorrow.”
“Why would you do that?” I asked calmly, too calmly.
“Because we are making each other better people, Dallas. I want to be a better person when I am with you and I can tell you do too. I want you to act towards her the way you act around me. I bet she’s never seen the playful and fun Dallas that I know,” he stated, making eye contact with me as much as possible without running us off the road.
He had me. This sexy man knew he could do or say nothing that would keep me mad at him, and without knowing it he had used this new found knowledge to benefit someone other than himself. I wanted to be mad, but I couldn’t. He was right, and as much as I hated saying that anyone other than me was right I couldn’t help but smile. He had won me over with his good looks and charm and now he was making me feel better about helping someone even though I had not done anything.
“You're welcome,” Luke said, grabbing my hand and pulling me across the seat next to him. I snuggled into his side and let out a sigh of contentment. “Sometimes we who are fortunate tend to overlook those who are not. I promise by doing this you will benefit more than what you ever thought possible. Trust me, I know from experience,” he said, sliding his arm around my waist pulling me closer and kissing my head.
“So, you were once a crude self-centered bitch too?” I asked all the fight out of me. He threw his head back and laughed. “I guess you could say that. I took out my own misery on others. It never ends well.”
I glanced down at my phone, reading the message of thanks from Lindsey. I wasn’t real happy about what had happened, but I knew in my cold heart it was the right thing to do and just by acknowledging that was a great accomplishment for someone like me. I opened my candy bar and took a huge bite, letting the chocolate soothe my worries and chased it with a large drink of soda. I continued in my own thoughts of selfishness ignoring the world completely, consuming the entire thing in only four bites.
“I like chocolate too,” Luke said, interrupting my thoughts.
“I’m sorry, did you want some?” I asked innocently, staring up at him with pure satisfaction on my face.
“I guess not,” Luke said, seeming hurt. I rubbed my tongue across my lips moaning to myself.
“It was so delicious too,” I said, closing my eyes and dramatizing the moment.
“You’ll pay for that,” Luke said giving me his dark bedroom stare. “Looking forward to it LLC.”
Chapter 6
We pulled into Luke’s driveway around two-thirty. I took notice that everyone else seemed to have left and that it was just the two of us. Luke grabbed my hand and led me through the house into a room I had never been in. The entire room was covered in brick and the floor was concrete. The walls were decorated in black and white pictures of motorcycles. The ceiling was painted into an American flag and there were French doors that led outside. The one item that took my breath away was the huge motorcycle that was parked in the middle of the room. I had never seen one so beautiful. It was solid black and covered in chrome. The gas tank had orange flames outlined in white that ran all the way to the leather seat. The saddle bags were hard plastic and had a chrome bar that ran all the way around them. Road King was inscribed on the front fender.