“Hey baby!” I said my voice coming out too high pitched-a sure sign of guilt.
“Find something?” he asked eyeing me warily. Shit. What was I gonna say? I could lie… yes, I would lie.
“I dropped my um…” Fuck it. “Yes. I did. I was leaning up against the tool box looking at the motorcycle and it moved and I found your secret hiding place,” I said hanging my head in shame as if I had just been scolded.
“Secret hiding place?” he asked biting his lip to hide his smile.
“Yeah, but I didn’t look I swear,” I said trying to confess my innocence. How old was I twelve?
“I know. I have been watching you for some time.” Oh shit. “I went to grab some milk and it seems it was missing.”
I handed him the jug quickly and he took it raising an eyebrow. “I live alone so I always drink out of the jug. Sorry. Sometimes I forget how to act.” Why was I acting like this? Because you just made an ass of yourself, you idiot.
He stood there staring at me, his face in an amused smile. He put the jug to his lips and took a big swallow.
“It tastes better now anyway,” he said replacing the cap and reaching for my hand. “Do you want to see what’s inside?” he asked leading me to the trap door.
“No.” Yes.
He pushed the tool box out of the way and knelt down on one knee in front of the latch. “You sure? I can put your little curious mind at ease.”
I shook my head at him. Shit this was humiliating. Why not just scream at me, give me a punishment fuck then let me be on my way. He turned the latch and pulled the door open. I peeked inside and half expected to hear loud music and see smoke boiling out of the top, but instead I seen the top of a hot water heater. I was actually a little disappointed that it wasn’t some underground drug operation. The disappointment must have been evident on my face.
“Surprised are we?” Luke asked laughing. I just stood there speechless. A hot water heater. A fucking hot water heater. “When I built the house I decided to add this room at the last minute, so I had to put this thing somewhere and I told the builders that helped me to just figure something out. I took one day off-one day and I come back to find that they couldn’t find anywhere in the plans to put it and make it look right, so they put it here.”
“I thought you were running an underground sex slave trade,” I said- out loud.
He threw his head back laughing. “No baby. The only person I want to make a sex slave out of is you.” He walked up to me and kissed me on my head. “Let’s grab some supper and then I want to show you something, if you are up to it.”
“I would love that,” I said still reeling from my embarrassment.
“Well come on nosey rosy,” he said laughing and pulling me into the kitchen. Asshole.
“What we eating?” I asked trying to change the subject and hopefully I could do something to make him forget what just happened.
“My specialty!” Luke said excitedly.
Hmm, his specialty. I was thinking something on the grill-a steak or some kind of chicken or maybe even a smoked tender-loin. “Sounds delicious! What is it?” I asked enthusiastically. I really didn’t care, but I was so anxious to move on to something other than my previous escapade, that I would have said anything.
“Ham sandwiches with potato chips,” he said laughing.
I didn’t have an appetite any more. I just wanted to crawl in a hole and die, but I forced a smile and decided to try and choke down the sandwich. Luke was in a really good mood and I wondered what had made him so happy. “You sure are in a good mood,” I said taking a seat at the bar and digging into my sandwich.
“I’m just happy you’re here,” he said smiling and taking a seat next to me. I knew there was something else, but I figured it was some kind of inside joke and I wasn’t too interested anyway.
“I’m happy too.” I leaned over and gave him a peck on his cheek and was rewarded with his gorgeous smile that always made my heart flutter.
We continued to make small talk, mostly about his business and I was surprised to find that he owned the Country Tavern. “Some of my security guys were out of town for a bachelor party so I brought the club in to help out.”
“Is that why you were in your truck?” I asked, wondering why I had not thought of that before.
“Yeah, I wore my cut because just the image it gives makes people think twice before they do something stupid,” he said standing and clearing the bar of my plate and his. That made sense. Had he seen me in there before the incident with the cowboy? I wanted to ask, but it sounded stupid in my head so I kept my mouth shut.