“Oh, you’re a charmer, Luke Leighton. A real charmer.” I dismiss his words and dig back into the food in front of me.
“Are you still up for a movie?” Luke asks as he finishes his sandwich and reaches for a piece of cheese.
“Sure. But I’m warning you, it might be a snooze fest instead. I absolutely love meeting my fans. I wouldn’t be here without them, but book signings always wipe me out.”
He nods his head in agreement. “I can imagine.” Then he reaches out and pats my thigh beside him. “I just want to be here with you. I don’t care what we do.”
That. Right there is why I’m falling for this man. He knows how to say just the right thing, and I know without a doubt he’s sincere. I love that he can take me hot and heavy as well as simply enjoy the quiet times we share.
Within a few minutes, our meal is devoured, and Luke covers what we’ll save for later. We snuggle into the couch, and he orders a movie to watch. His steady breaths and the scent of everything that is uniquely him pulls me under in record time. I don’t even fight it.
I awake sometime later to the ringing of a phone and groggily hear Luke answer.
“Hey, Tanya, to what do I owe this pleasure?” His tone is thick with sarcasm but drastically changes to one of concern. “What? Seriously? Give me a second.” This has me instantly alert. I sit up, and Luke gives me an apologetic smile. “I have to pull up my laptop. Hold on.”
It’s déjà vu. I’m immediately brought back to that night at his house. What the hell has another player done now?
As Luke bolts off the couch to grab his laptop from the bedroom, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out, see it’s Stacey, and immediately answer. I don’t even get a “Hello,” out before she ambushes me.
“Luke Freaking Leighton was your assistant today?” Her tone is high on the verge of screeching.What the hell is she freaking out about?Didn’t she know this? They spoke for quite a bit. She mentioned his name… or I thought she had.
“What’s going on, Stace? Why are you freaking out about who my assistant was?” Clearly, I’m not firing on all cylinders and am unable to connect the dots.
“You don’t know?” she asks incredulously. “Ohmigod. I thought you knew.”
“Know what?” Of course, I know who Luke is. I get that she didn’t, but what’s the big deal?
“You haven’t been on social media, have you?” she accuses, instead of making it a question.
“You know how signing days are. I’m exhausted. We got back to the hotel, and I fell asleep while Luke watched a movie.”
“You’re at a hotel with Luke Leighton? I thought you were on a dating hiatus. When the fuck did you meet a man like Luke Leighton?” she quizzes me like only a best friend can do.
“Why do you keep calling him by his whole name?”
Stacey groans loudly into the phone. “Grrr… Danika Marie Fallon. You have some explaining to do. I wantallthe details… NOW!”
“Geesh, Stace. I’ve dated people before. Why are you freaking out about this?”
Stacey takes a deep breath, and I can picture her fortifying herself to speak clearly. Her hand is likely on her hip and her chin jetting out. “Are you sitting down?”
“Uh… I am. But why do I need to be sitting?” What the fuck is she about to tell me? The hairs on the back of my neck tingle. Whatever she’s about to say, it’s not going to be good. I can tell from the tone of her voice.
“It’s made the national news…” she whispers.
“Come again?” What the hell is she talking about?
“Luke Leighton Being Romance Writer Charlotte Ann’s Boy Toy.”
I nearly choke on my own spit, and my mouth drops open wide.
No. I didn’t hear that correctly. I couldn’t have. “Wh… What?” I sputter.
“Oh, yeah. It’s literally on every news broadcast and every sports and entertainment channel.”
“What is?” My mind’s still reeling.
Thankfully, I don’t have to wait for Stacey to continue, “There’s a photo of him lifting up his shirt to show off his abs and one of the two of you with your arms around each other, holding your book.”
