Intercepting Love (Second Chances #5)(72)

“Can I join you?” I asked, dropping into the seat beside Luke.

From the look on his face I could already tell he’d had one too many beers. “Well, of course, sweetheart. Where’s the boyfriend?” he asked, glancing behind me.

“He just left for California. According to the police, I shouldn’t be alone, so I figured I’d crash the party.”

My brother furrowed his brows in concern. “Why didn’t they want you to be alone?”

Behind the bar, Grayson smiled and placed a glass of wine down in front of me. “Thank you,” I told him, taking a huge sip. To my brother, I said, “Scott’s mother hasn’t shown up in Ohio since they let her go. They don’t know where she’s at again.”

His eyes went wide. “Are you shitting me? So she could still be in town?”

I took another sip. “Yep.”

“Well, then if that’s the case you’re staying with me tonight until Cooper gets back. I don’t want you alone.”

“Evan, that’s not necessary,” I insisted incredulously.

Smiling, he leaned over the bar on his elbows. “Well, if you don’t stay with me then I’ll just send Luke over to stay with you. Make the choice, Kate. I’m sure Cooper wouldn’t like it if Luke was there all night.”

Groaning, I downed the rest of my wine and rolled my eyes. “Fine, I’ll stay at your house.”

Luke laughed and put his arm around me. “You know, sweetheart, with you not wanting me to stay with you, I’m starting to think you’re afraid you won’t be able to control yourself around me. Is that it?”

“I can control myself, Luke,” I told him, taking his arm and sliding it off my shoulders. “I just don’t want to piss Cooper off. I wouldn’t like it if he was staying the night with another female.”

“Who says he’s not?” he asked. “Did he tell you where he’s staying? Who he’s going to go see?”

I could feel everyone’s eyes on me and I choked. In all honesty, Cooper never did tell me who he was going to go see or where he was staying. There weren’t too many people who knew of his past, and only one of them came to mind … the doctor he slept with. She was his lover and she lived out in California. What if he went to see her? What if something happened between them?

“You honestly don’t know, do you?” Luke asked curiously. “You must really trust him.”

I huffed. “Fine, he never told me, but I know that why he went out there is important.” I didn’t have to look at Luke to know he could sense the shadow of doubt creeping in over my words.

Luke moved closer to me and lightly touched my chin, turning me so I’d look at him. He was dressed in a Red Bull T-shirt and jeans with his hair in perfectly gelled spikes. His eyes, however, weren’t lit with mischief like they were two minutes ago, but now full of concern.

He looked around the room at everyone’s prying eyes and leaned down to my ear. “Come with me,” he commanded, taking my hand.

I followed him through the front door until he stopped in front of his bike. Taking my other hand, he pulled me in closer and gazed down at me with his emerald green eyes. “Kate, I’m so sorry for putting you on the spot like that. I was just messing with you, thinking you would pick back, but you didn’t. I could see it in your eyes that something’s wrong. Where did Cooper go?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, but I know it has to do with the The Star Report article.”

Luke nodded. “Yeah, I heard about that. I didn’t want to bring it up unless you did. Who else could be in on it other than Scott’s mother?”

“I’m not sure, but I know there are some people that Cooper suspects. One happens to be a woman he used to mess around with.”

“As in f*cking with?” Luke asked.

Cringing, I closed my eyes and didn’t reply. My silence was the answer he needed. “Fuck, Kate, really? And you let him go without you?”

“He didn’t want me going,” I exclaimed. “What was I supposed to do?”

Luke sighed and pulled me into his arms. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt, Kate. Evan keeps telling me to stay away from you, but I feel so protective of you … I always have.”

“I know,” I whispered, laying my head on his chest. If Cooper had never shown up, I was pretty sure my heart would’ve eventually belonged to Luke, but it was something I was never going to find out.

Luke held me tighter. “And it kills me that you’re going through all of this shit and I’m not the one helping you this time. I honestly thought Cooper would’ve screwed up by now and you’d be mine.” Gently, he kissed me on the forehead before pulling away. “Okay, let’s get back in there before they suspect something. I didn’t want to talk to you in front of everyone. The last thing they need is seeing me go soft on a girl. I have a reputation to uphold.”

Locking my arms with his, I shook my head and smiled. “And that reputation, Luke Collins, is what’s holding you back. If you want a girl like me, you aren’t going to get it like that.”

“Well that’s the problem,” he said, holding open the door for me. “I haven’t met anyone else like you.”

“You will, Luke. I promise, when the time is right she’ll be there.”