Come Away with Me (With Me in Seattle, #1)(18)

“Umm…” I’ve never told anyone this. Except Jules.

“Look, Nat, I feel something here too, and you can bet your sweet, beautiful ass that I’m going to make love to you tonight. I’m not going to f*ck you. So I think it’s pretty important that we’re honest with each other now. No surprises.” His handsome face is so sincere, and sweet.

“Last night you said you wanted to f*ck me.”

“I did. I do. And I will. But not tonight.”

“Oh.” I breathe.

“Yeah. So, what happened, baby?”

I pull my hand out of his and twist my fingers in my lap. Luke changes lanes and I try to gather my thoughts. Oh, this hurts.

“When I was seventeen, I dated a guy for a few months who I thought was pretty nice. I was a virgin, which he would tease me about, but I didn’t care.

I was only seventeen for Christ sake.

“Well, long story short, he took things too far one night. We were at my house, my parents were at some party, and we were alone, and he…” I stop talking and look out the window, not seeing the buildings and trees, swamped in shame.

“He raped me.”

Luke inhales sharply, his face contorted in anger. “Motherf*cker.”

“That’s not even the worst part.” I laugh mirthlessly with the memory.

“This isn’t f*cking funny.” He’s glaring at me now and my face sobers.

“Trust me, I know.” I swallow.

“You’re very sweary.”

“You haven’t heard sweary yet. What happened next?”

“My parents came home.” It’s a whispered confession. Again, Luke inhales loudly.

“My dad almost killed him. The cops were called. He was punished. His dad was a senator, so along with the legal crap, my parents sued his parents and won. My dad was a very high profile lawyer. I have quite a large trust fund from the lawsuit, which will never be touched by me. I don’t need it, my parents made sure I was very well taken care of, and I don’t want it anyway.”

He doesn’t say anything for a long time. He just drives and seems completely lost in thought.

“So,” I interrupt the silence, “that’s why I had so many issues with guys in college. It took a few years of counseling and my parents’ death to wake me up and pull me out of some destructive behavior.”

“Tattoos?” he asks.

“No, ironically, the tattoos had nothing to do with my past, and everything to do with healing.”

He still won’t look at me. Fuck, it was too soon!

“Hey,” I grab his hand in mine. “I know that was a lot to dump on you, and we just met. If you’d rather just drop me off at home and cut our losses, I understand.”

“No, Natalie, you’re not getting rid of me that easily.” He squeezes my fingers in his and the relief I feel is incredible.

“You seem a little quiet.”

“I don’t honestly know what to say.”

He frowns and glances at me.

“I just…” I pause to collect my thoughts. “I feel this heading somewhere intimate, and I thought you should know.” The last two words are a whisper.

“You’ve never dated anyone, ever?”

I shake my head.

“Honey, we have a lot of catching up to do.” His voice is tender again and I feel hope slowly spread through me.

“We do?”

“Oh, yeah. I have one question, though.”

“Okay.”

“Where is that f*cker?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

“Because I’m going to kill him.”

I can’t believe he just said that! I chuckle softly. “No need. I’m sure he’s a miserable man, Luke.”

“He should be in hell.”

“He will be.” I grasp his hand tighter with mine. “Trust me, he’s not an issue anymore. My dad saved me.”

“Thank God.” He kisses my knuckles, and I feel him start to relax beside me.

Wow, I told him the worst, and he still wants to see me? How did I get so lucky?

Luke pulls up in front of my house and turns off the car. He opens my door for me, and lifts my camera bag out of the back, following me to the house. I unlock the door and motion for him to come inside.

“Jules!” I call out for my roommate, but the house feels empty.

“I don’t think she’s here.” I smile at him and take my bag from him, setting it on the floor and my purse on the table. I take his keys from him and lay them on the table as well.

“Can I show you around?” I suddenly feel shy.

“Sure, after you.”

I grasp his hand in mine. “Thank you for joining our tour today, Mr. Williams, we’re delighted to have you with us.”

Luke laughs, a full-on belly laugh, and I feel my shyness melt away. “Oh, I do love your sense of humor, Natalie.”

I pick my camera bag back up off the floor and he raises a brow. “I’ll show you the studio and put this away too.”

He nods and I lead him through my house.

“I see you have a great view too,” he motions to the floor to ceiling windows off the great room and I smile.

“I do. This is obviously the living, dining and kitchen.” I glance at the reds and browns of our couches, dark wood dining furniture, and the simple elegance of the kitchen.