Like a Boss - Annabelle Costa Page 0,26

for things—it wouldn’t be negotiable. But the way things are, it’s still not a piece of cake.”

“Did you go to rehab after your injury?”

He hesitates. “Not right away. It may shock you to hear this, but I did not do a great job adjusting after I got hurt. I was one of those guys who didn’t want to hear my diagnosis. There was no way I was going to spend the rest of my life as a quadriplegic, dependent on a wheelchair. I was going to walk again, dammit—all that shit.”

I can just imagine that. “So what happened?”

He rubs at his jawline with his knuckles. “My parents enabled me. They let me move back in and had people wait on me hand and foot. I only got out of bed to do therapy, and all of it was focused on unimportant things, like trying to get my stupid legs to move again. I… I could barely feed myself. I couldn’t roll over in bed on my own. I needed help getting dressed. Shit, it’s embarrassing to think about it.”

“Well, you obviously turned things around.”

“Eventually,” he sighs. “It took me two goddamn years. Two years of lying in bed and getting every complication you could imagine. Finally, one day I was lying in my bed and I was hungry. Simple enough, right? So I reached for the call button for my nurse, but because my hands don’t work, I accidentally knocked it off the bed. There was no way for me to get it on my own, so I just started yelling for her. Yelling my lungs out for my nurse just so I could get a bite to eat. And I was like, ‘Is this really my life?’” He shakes his head. “I was done. I talked my parents into putting me in an inpatient rehab program, and that was the start of a new life for me.”

“So I guess it all worked out,” I say.

He flashes me an unreadable expression. “Yeah,” he finally says. “It worked out.”

I clear my throat, desperate to change the topic. “I think Irene has a crush on you.”

He rolls his eyes at me. “I don’t think so.”

“She was totally flirting,” I insist.

“Of course she was flirting,” he says. “Do you know how much commission she makes off me each year? I probably single-handedly pay her rent. There’s a difference between someone liking you for your money and liking you for yourself.”

“See, I don’t have that problem,” I say. “Anyone who likes me for my money is very deluded.”

“Well, it sucks,” Luke says. “Especially when it’s a woman and you don’t realize it right away.”

He looks kind of sad all of a sudden. I wonder how many of his recent past relationships have been with women who were only interested in him for his money. By the expression on his face, I’m guessing it’s a lot.

_____

Luke’s house is amazing. Please excuse my language, but holy shit.

Compared with my one-bedroom apartment or even my parents’ house in Jersey, this place is like a mansion. It’s huge. The estate stretches out over the length of practically an entire block. The furniture all looks brand-new and obscenely expensive, and he’s got the most high-tech entertainment system I’ve ever seen. And did I mention his house is enormous? I feel like if I wander too far away, I’ll get lost. I’m glad I’ve got my cell phone.

Luke grins at my expression. “So what do you think?”

“It’s…” I clear my throat. “Okay. Very nice.”

“Wasn’t cheap,” he says. “I don’t want to give numbers, but trust me, it cost a little more than your dress.”

I believe him. He lives in Lexington, which is known for being a fairly wealthy neighborhood with expensive houses. I was considering living there way back when, but it’s a little too far from Boston and the rents are insane. I guess that isn’t much of an issue for Luke, though.

God, how can I go back to my tiny apartment after seeing this house? It’s so unfair! This place is amazing.

The house is two stories and I notice a staircase in the living room with a seat attached to the banister. “What’s that?” I ask him.

“Oh,” he says. “That’s in case I want to get upstairs. I’ve got an old spare wheelchair up at the top. But I’ve got my bedroom, my office, and everything down here. Upstairs are just the guestrooms. I wanted a one-story place but I didn’t see any I liked as much as