Behind the cover of the closed door, Luke snickered to himself. Shayla’s demeanor had changed in a flash as soon as he’d stopped paying attention to her. Why were people so easy to play with? These were schoolyard tactics, and yet they’d had her singing his tune in no time. He was a little disappointed that she turned out to be so predictable. After all, she was more than likely the smartest person in the whole building. But he’d read her body like a well-worn paperback, and she hadn’t even realized it.
Then again, not many guys who ran in the kind of crowd that he did had such a keen eye for body language and facial expressions. It was something that gave him an edge when it came to defusing fights and starting them. The best part was that he’d learned it all from the books that his rivals so often scoffed at.
Well, maybe not that often. You could only scoff so much with a broken nose.
Today’s reading was The Aeneid—the story of Aeneas of Troy’s flight from the Trojan battlefield and the founding of Rome. At first he didn’t empathize as much with Aeneas as he had Hector and Achilles. He had fled the burning ruins of his home as the Greeks caught and enslaved his people. He had broken the heart of a powerful queen and made an enemy that would last Rome until the end of its days. But he had done it all because of a duty he held to his people. And a duty he held to the gods.
Luke liked that. He figured there were stages of his life, and his stage as the dutiful Aeneas had not yet arrived. He’d cut through swathes of rivals as the blood-thirsty Achilles. Currently, as the honorable Hector, he was returning a kitten that he’d grown quite fond of to its rightful owner. And, in a broader sense, he was making decisions to benefit his family—his motorcycle club.
He wondered when he’d reach his Aeneas stage; when he’d fulfill his destiny. And, indeed, what that might be.
Sparky would laugh his balls off if he knew any of this had passed through Luke’s head. The guy was a good friend and a great right hand man, but his philosophical capacities were for shit.
Anyway, Luke was glad that the librarian at his branch had recommended The Aeneid to him after seeing the script on his arm. He wouldn’t have thought to look for another epic from Antiquity otherwise, besides The Odyssey, anyway.
Dido was in her death throes when the door opened next. Achilles, who had been snoozing on the crevice between Luke’s legs, immediately perked up and scrambled across the table to where a little girl with dark pigtails scooped him up and cradled him in her arms.
Luke’s eyes slid up to the doorframe, where Shayla was holding a microphone, a man holding a camera on his shoulder just behind her. He could tell the smile on her face was fake. Curious. He wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that it was nearly midnight and she was stuck reporting on a lost and found kitten.
The camera panned to Luke, and he retracted his feet from the table and stood, sliding the book back in his pocket. He smirked as he saw the angle the camera man had to tilt his equipment to reach Luke’s face.
Luke squatted down to the little girl’s level. “Hey Jacklin,” he said. “I’m Luke.”
The girl’s parents barged into the room past the cameraman, apparently sensing that their child was in danger. Luke rolled his eyes. They stayed back, at least. Jacklin wasn’t afraid. She shone a gap toothed smile on him.
“Thank you for saving Bubbles!” she exclaimed.
Luke bit back a grimace. “Bubbles?”
She nodded.
He leaned in closer to her, careful so that he wasn’t overheard. He whispered in her ear and she nodded her head heartily.
Leaning back on his heels, Luke shot a cheeky grin toward Jacklin’s parents. “So, Jacklin,” he said, though his gaze was directed at them. “Think I could come visit sometime?”
“I think he’d like that! And I would too!” Hearts all over the world were probably breaking. Well, maybe nothing quite so dramatic. He was certainly melting the heart of Jacklin’s mom, however. The ire he was getting from her dad made up for it.
“So there you have it,” said Shayla, dipping into the frame. “A kitten found, best friends united, and new friendships forged. All in just one day in the beautiful town of Templeton.”
Luke tried not to snort. He wondered if she had come up with that line on her own or not. He hoped for not, but judging by how pleased she looked with herself, that didn’t seem the most likely. Everyone had to have some sort of flaw. Maybe hers was just to err on the side of cheesiness and drama. She was certainly physically flawless.
He felt a tiny jab in his gut as the cameras shut off and Jacklin took Achilles away. That kitten was going to be one lazy and adorable cat one day. He was just sad that he wouldn’t get to see it. He wasn’t so sentimental that he would actually visit a cat he’d known for less than twenty-four hours, but it was tempting. If only for the reactions of Jacklin’s parents.
The cameraman followed Jacklin and her parents out, but Shayla stayed in the room.
“You okay little guy?” she asked.
The moment his eyes hit her, he saw that she had realized her mistake. Her eyes widened, lips parting ever so slightly. Luke Cinder was many things, but a man you could speak to with condescension was not one of them. If it had been one of his gang’s rivals, the guy would’ve been down for the count already. If it had been Sparky, or one of his own guys, they would’ve been on the receiving end of a stern glare and on thin ice.
Luke didn’t know how best to approach such an affront when it came from a girl, not least Shayla. He wasn’t talked down to often, and he most certainly was never talked down to by a woman who’d been giving him the eyes moments before. He saw the humor in it, and knew she meant nothing by it. But it was an opportunity to have a little fun, nonetheless.
“Say that again,” he challenged, his voice a low growl. He walked toward Shayla and she stepped back, pressing her slender frame against the wall and fixing him with wide eyes.
“I didn’t say anything.”
He smirked and crowded her, pressing his hands on either side of her body. She was trapped.
“I think you called me little guy,” he purred. “I just want to be sure I heard you correctly.”
He leaned down, inching his face toward hers. She smelled of flowers and something sweet, like honey. Or coconut. He’d never been great with smells. Whatever it was, it was drawing him in. And he desperately wanted to taste her.
But he couldn’t. Not yet.
He held her gaze, watching the pupils of her eyes as they dilated. Her arousal nearly caused him to break, to take her right there against that wall. But he couldn’t fuck up this job for her. He was rooting for her, after all. He always rooted for the underdog.
Luke let out an abrupt laugh and stepped back, watching the air fill her lungs again. Shayla came back to life, shaking her head and shooting him with a glare. “That’s not funny,” she said. “I was—”
“Turned on?”
“Scared.”
“Liar.”
She gave him an impetuous glare but didn’t respond.
Luke grabbed his coat from the table. “So where are you taking me for dinner?”
“What?” She furrowed her brow. “Dinner? It’s past midnight.”
“Do you have anywhere to be in the morning?”
“That’s beside the point…”
Luke slid his arms into his jacket and pulled it over his shoulders, giving the collar a flick. “I’m hungry. You owe me. Dinner. Questions?”
But Luke didn’t wait for questions. He swept out of the room like the wind, knowing full well that she’d be jogging along after him within moments.
Click, click, click.
There she was.
“Wait,” she said, coming up beside him. “What do I owe you for, exactly?”
He glanced down at her but didn’t slow his gait. She was tall for a woman, but even her long legs were having trouble keeping up.
“Your big break, of course,” he said. “Nothing’s for free in this town, sweetheart, and my favors cost more than most.”
Shayla groaned in frustration. “I never asked you for any favors!”
Luke reached out for the handle of the door back to the lobby, but angled his body toward hers and stopped. “Body language,” he said, dragging his eyes up and down her delectable frame. “Yours has been telling me all kinds of things. Earlier it asked for a little help.”
She crossed her arms of her chest. “You can’t call in your chips when the other players don’t know that they’ve laid down their cards.”
Luke opened the door, grinned, and gestured for her to walk through first. Shayla let out another groan and rolled her eyes, but went through without further protest.
“Word of advice, sweetheart,” Luke said. “Don’t lie to me. I’ll know.”
“Word of advice, dickhead.” She frowned at him. “Don’t call me sweetheart.”