Chapter 9

What the hell was that? I touch my lips and feel Luke's kiss still lingering there. I can't believe that happened.

"Is Luke going to be my new daddy?" A wicked grin is pasted across Marco's face, and it's kind of adorable.

"You hush." I make sure I lock the door out to the garage to be safe. After that, I double-check the alarm too.

I'm not sure what the next few days are going to have in store for us. Is Luke actually going to do whatever it is my father wants or are we going to be in hiding? I pray I don't get him hurt because of my family's mess.

"I like him." Marco shrugs. "This place is pretty badass."

"Language," I scold, and he rolls his eyes. I don't know why I bother.

"We're gonna stay here, right?" He shifts on his feet.

"For now."

I don't want to lie. I'm not sure what is going to happen, but what I do know is I don't belong in Luke's world. This is different from Paul. He and I were faking it together, but that's not the case now. I've pulled Luke into this, and for me there's no faking the way I feel about him.

But that kiss… Maybe he feels more too.

"Why is your face turning pink?"

"It's not."

Pressing my palms to my cheeks, I can feel how warm they are. Damn it. I shouldn't be surprised because my whole body lit up like a Christmas tree when Luke kissed me. I've heard people say a kiss could take your breath away, but I never believed it. Until now.

"I'm not going to call you out about the kiss."

"You already did! Twice," I point out.

"It's my brotherly duty."

"Duty?" I give him the same eye roll he gives me all the time. Actually he probably learned it from me.

"My right?"

"Don't you have homework?"

"That's why I came looking for you. I need help."

"All right. Let"s get to it." The quicker we get it done, the sooner I can peek around this place. I follow Marco downstairs, and when I hit the bottom of the basement stairs, I look around. "Wow." Luke wasn't kidding about the game room.

"Isn't it cool?" Marco grabs a basketball and tosses it into the Pop-A-Shot.

"Don't break anything." I walk over and check out the pinball machine.

"The TV is the whole wall." He picks up a tablet to turn it on, but I grab it from him.

"Homework first and then you can play all you want."

"All right," he sighs, grabbing his bag.

For the next hour, I help him go over everything, and it keeps both of us busy. Thankfully I forgot to watch the clock and wondered when Luke might return.

"Am I done now?" Marco asks, finishing the last math problem.

"Yes." I close the Chromebook for him and sigh in relief. Why the hell is there new math? The old math worked fine. You can even see the old math in the new math!

Marco grabs the tablet thing to power on the giant TV screen. Then he settles in on one of the leather gaming chairs, and I watch him play around for a while. He has to break everything down for me and tell me the whole backstory to each game. It's kind of adorable.

"I'm going to get a drink of water," I tell him before patting the top of his head and smoothing down his hair.

"Cool." He yawns, and I wouldn't be shocked if he passes out in that chair

I slip back upstairs and go to the main bedroom. Luke gave me a quick tour, but I didn't get a real look. Maybe it's being nosy, but he shouldn't leave me alone with all his things if he didn't want me to peek. I'm not sure what I'm hoping to find other than something that will tell me more about Luke and who he is. As I open cabinets and closets, I can't help but think that everything is extremely well organized.

"Don't think those will fit you." I spin around and see Luke standing in the doorway of the walk-in closet.

"I was...ah..." I lick my lips, remembering his taste. Did he get sexier while he was gone? "Taking a look around," I manage to get out. Wow, Kelly, real slick. Luke tilts his head to the side, and I swear he's fighting a smile.

"You can borrow a shirt if you want something to sleep in." He grabs one for me but then walks out of the closet. I follow him into the bedroom, and he tosses it on the massive bed. Who needs a bed that big? "You can change later, but right now I need to feed you." He snags my wrist, and I feel his thumb drifting back and forth, stroking me gently.

"I'm not a bad cook. I could make something for you. And I'm really great at cleaning. I can scrub a toilet like nobody"s business." Way to go, Kelly, let him picture you scrubbing toilets to make him fall in love. I'm sure he'll be dying to kiss me now.

"You don't need to clean," he says when we get to the kitchen.

"This place is pretty spotless." I glance around. "But I'd like to help. I don't want to be useless, and there has to be something I can do."

"You'll help by keeping your sweet ass inside this place where you're safe."

"Thank you," I say again. "I've been trying for so long to find a way out for Marco. I couldn't stand by and watch my father pull him into that world."

"And what about you?"

"What do you mean?"

He shakes his head. "I can't believe Paul almost had you for himself."

I bite the inside of my cheek because I'm not sure how to respond to that. Luke lets me go and then pulls out containers from a brown bag. I also see a pile of groceries on the kitchen counter.

"Let me help." I try to grab one of the bags, but Luke takes my hand and pulls out a stool.

"Sit," he orders and then waits for me to take a seat.

"You're bossy."

He pulls out a plate to put the food on and shrugs. "When I need to be."

"So how did your calls go?" I ask, fishing for information.

"Let's not worry about that tonight." He puts the plate in front of me, and there's a giant steak with a baked potato and macaroni on it.

"This is a lot of food," I tell him, and then I see he's buttering a roll for me. When he adds it to the overfilled plate, I laugh. "I can't eat all of this."

"Then no dessert." He winks at me.

"Hey." I pretend to pout, and he shrugs.

"Be a good girl and eat." He nods to my plate and the rest of the containers. "I've got more for Marco when he's ready."

I pick up the fork and dig in while Luke puts away the rest of the groceries. For a big man, he moves swiftly, and every movement is precise. Then I recall how easily he read me in the car that first day I met him.

I might not know who Luke truly is yet, but it's clear he knows what he's doing and is likely three steps ahead of us all.