Back To Luke

“So you’d have ammunition against Jayne.” Wearily, Jess sank behind his desk.

After a moment, Luke dropped into the chair in front of it. “Listen, I’m just worried about Naomi.”

Jess shook his head. “This is all wearing so thin. You know what I’ve been thinking about? When you have to keep doing penance for a sin you didn’t commit, you start wondering if you might as well just do it.”

Luke felt his blood pressure rise. The thought of Jayne and Jess together, like that, like Luke had been with her, enraged him. Damn it, he never got jealous. “Oh, great, she’s back in town only a few days and she’s got you thinking about screwing her.”

Jess didn’t say anything. Often his best weapon was silence.

“Tell me the truth now.” Luke was thinking about how pretty Jayne was, how passionate she’d been in his arms, how great she’d always made him feel in bed. “In the cold light of day. What if you could have more? Have Jayne in your life permanently?”

“You know, maybe if people would let me have her in my life, without insisting it was going to turn into something sexual, then you’d see nothing has happened—or ever will happen.” He stood. “I’m tired of rehashing this. I’m going out to find her. I hope she hasn’t left the site.”

Guilt, deep and heavy, had Luke standing, too. And something else. Residual feelings for Jayne he was forced to acknowledge. Damn! He could understand the white-hot attraction that kept coming back, but how could he still care about her after all this time, after how she’d left him? “No, let me go find her. I’ll apologize.”

Jess watched him with eyes full of real pain. Luke cursed himself for hurting his friend. Maybe some soul baring was in order. “If it helps any, she reminds me of who I used to be, Jessie. Who I was when I knew her in New York.”

“You say that as if she’s committed a crime by choosing the life she has.”

“I hate her world.”

“I think she does, too. You have more in common than you think.”

Luke frowned.

“Be careful with her, Luke. I mean it.”

Outside, the air had gotten even warmer, or maybe it was being on the hot seat that made Luke sweat. He scanned the area and didn’t see Jayne anywhere. Oh, man, he hoped she hadn’t left. Sometimes Luke could kick himself for his tendency to bully, to orchestrate things, to fix them in a way he thought they should be fixed. In times of stress, he couldn’t seem to control that fault. He crossed to the foundation and was relieved to find her in the basement, inspecting the work that had been done.

Seeing her down there catapulted him into the past. One Saturday morning, when the crews had been off and the site where Madison Conglomerates was building the condos was empty, he and Jayne had been walking around the perimeter, and he’d gone down into the foundation. She’d followed him down the ladder and jumped on his back, her legs banding around him. It was about three months into their relationship and she’d gotten more playful by then, her caution because of asshole Ben Scarborough diminishing. Luke had given her a piggyback ride for a few feet. Then he stopped, pivoted suddenly and anchored her against the cinder blocks. She’d encouraged him, and he’d kissed her senseless. He had her shirt open before he realized where they were. They giggled all the way back to her father’s corporate apartment, where she was staying, and they made playful love the rest of the morning.

After seeing her and Jess together this morning, after hearing Jess talk about committing a sin, Luke realized he wanted to murder anybody who got to touch her. Including his best friend. What exactly did that say about him?

No matter, he thought, picking up a hard hat. He had to go do his least favorite thing—eat some crow.

LUKE’S WORDS PLAGUED Jayne.

Why? So she can screw up more buildings?

Against her will, she remembered how he used to be her champion: You were right to stand up to the building inspector…Good for you, insisting the plumber change what he’d done wrong…Man, you are so smart about these plans. Nobody else saw what you did.

Now he thought she was a screwup.

On top of that, Luke’s pithy comment in the trailer had given her a preview of what she’d face if she was guilty…or maybe even if she wasn’t. Reputation was everything in the architectural world. When she started to panic at the thought of losing the most important thing in her life, the only thing in her life, she took deep breaths and tried to concentrate on the building around her. But Luke’s accusation hammered inside her head and she felt ill.

From the corner of her eye, she saw someone climbing down the ladder. Expecting Jess, Jayne was surprised to see Luke. He descended gracefully for such a big man. She’d always loved that about him—his agility, his gentleness for someone his size. When she began to remember what that meant in bed, she adjusted her hard hat over her eyes to cover her expression as he strode toward her. She had to stand up to him, but he’d taken the wind out of her sails earlier—which hadn’t been hard, because her self-confidence now was only a whisper of a breeze. Still, she steeled herself as he reached her.

“I’m sorry I said that. It was mean and uncalled-for.”

She hadn’t expected an apology, knew he hated to make them, and waited to hear what he’d say next.

“I was out of line, but what are you thinking to even consider working with Harmony Housing? I can’t imagine what Naomi will do when she finds out.”

Jayne shook her head. “I can see how sorry you are.”

“I’m not very good at apologizing.” He rolled his eyes. “I don’t do it very often.”

“I remember.”

“I’m overprotective of Jess.”

She looked away. “My coming to Riverdale was a mistake.”

“Isn’t there somebody in California you could go to?”

Keeping her gaze averted, she shook her head.

“Why, Jayne?” His tone had softened, making her go mushy inside. “Why didn’t you ever find anybody out there to share your life with?”

“I won’t talk about that with you.”

“Why not?”

Because, once she’d left Luke and dated other guys, she’d realized if she couldn’t make it with him, she probably couldn’t make it with anyone else. And after two failed relationships, she’d thrown herself into her work and only dated casually.

He lifted a hand, dropped it in a helpless gesture. “Never mind. I don’t want to know about you and other men, anyway. Do what you want about staying. Especially if you have nowhere else to go.”

“Before Jess convinced me to stay, I was planning to go to my condo in Florida and work on new projects. Perhaps that was a good idea after all.”

“And be alone while the architectural board is making a decision?”

“I’m used to being alone.”

“I can’t fathom that.”

“Because you’ve always had your family and friends to depend on. You have no idea how lucky you are.”

“I’m sorry about that, Jayne.” He pulled off his hard hat to reveal spiky, wet hair. “I always hated how your family treated you.”

She lifted her chin. “Yes, well. None of that matters.” To change the subject, she pointed to the foundation. “I see you used concrete instead of cinder blocks. It’s not that popular in California.”

He tracked her gaze. “It sets faster, so we can get on with the house quicker.” He was silent a moment. “Look, stay in town if you want, but try to stay out of my way on the site, and I’ll do the same with you.”

She eyed him carefully, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

It did. “And try not to cause trouble between Naomi and Jess.” He shook his head. “I hope you both know what you’re doing.” He started toward the ladder without giving her a chance to respond.

As she watched him walk away, she wondered how she was going to be able to avoid Luke on the site. Given the current state of her affairs, she wasn’t sure she had the strength to take him on, too.