Sunset Seduction - By Charlene Sands Page 0,57
kiss went on a good, long time.
Finally, Luke allowed her to come up for air.
The impact of his passionate kiss pleasantly stung her lips. She stared at him, trembling. “Wh-what was that all about?”
“Sweetheart,” Luke said, his brows gathering and a question in his expression, “I wish I knew.”
* * *
“Good news,” Logan said, walking into Sophia’s office at Sunset Lodge and interrupting Luke’s conversation with his good friend. Sophia not only managed the place but was now a full partner. “Justin will be home in time for our wedding. He’ll be here in a few weeks.”
Luke was glad to hear it. Justin had been gone for too long. Luke and everyone else at Sunset Ranch missed him. “Don’t you knock?”
“Why should I knock on my fiancée’s door?” Logan asked with a wry smirk. “I didn’t expect to find you here wasting her time.”
Luke caught Sophia grinning at Logan. The two of them were ridiculously happy. “She was my best friend before she was your fiancée.”
“Old news, bro. I’m so tickled about our little brother coming home, I won’t even let you rile me,” Logan said.
“You mean the little brother who could probably whoop both our butts without breaking a sweat?”
“That’s the one. Just don’t let him hear you admit that.”
“You think I’m crazy?” Luke asked.
Logan strode over to where Sophia was sitting behind her desk to give her a kiss.
“Looks like there’s good news for all three of the Slade brothers,” Sophia said. She shot a quick look at Luke, giving him the opening he needed. “Luke was just about to tell me something important.”
He sat in a comfy leather seat at an angle to her, his legs stretched out, his arm braced on the edge of the desk as he toyed with a ballpoint pen. Click, click, click.
“Oh, yeah?” Logan took a seat beside him and shifted his gaze to him. “Our wedding, Justin’s homecoming and what else?”
Luke had to face his brother with the truth and it pained him to admit that doing the right thing by Audrey wasn’t in his hands. She held all the cards. “Audrey and I are having a baby.”
Logan’s mouth dropped open. He blinked a few times, absorbing the shocking news, and Luke couldn’t fault Logan his reaction. Audrey had always been off-limits. It was an unspoken rule, a code of honor between friends. At least in the Slade world it was. “You and Audrey? I’ll be damned. Does Casey know?” Logan examined his face. “Oh, wait a minute, is that what happened to your cheek?”
Luke’s mouth twisted. The bruise was barely visible anymore but his brother was as sharp as a tack. “He wasn’t too happy about it. But it’s not his concern. This is between me and Audrey. I’ve asked her to marry me.”
A smile formed on Logan’s face, and he put out his hand. “Well, congratulations.”
Luke didn’t make a move to shake his brother’s hand. His fingers gripped the pen tighter. Click. Click. Click. “She turned me down.”
Logan’s hand dropped to his side. “Why would she do that? Anyone with eyes in their head could see she’s crazy about you.”
“Logan,” Sophia said, her voice sweet with warning. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”
“How complicated can it be?” he asked.
Luke tossed the pen down. “You’d be surprised.”
Without going into the intimate details, Luke painted a picture for Logan and Sophia, explaining the situation between Audrey and him. Logan could be an ass at times, but not today. Today, both he and Sophia listened and gave their support.
“Well, you gotta give her time,” Logan said. “You can’t blow this. There’s a baby involved.”
“Not too much time, though,” Sophia said. She appeared thoughtful. “Women need reassurances.”
“Go after what you want,” Logan said. He’d been persistent with Sophia and it had paid off.
“Be genuine,” Sophia said.
“Got it,” Luke said. Maybe getting Audrey to agree to marry him wasn’t as impossible as it seemed. Maybe he hadn’t tried hard enough.
Or maybe you don’t want to hurt her anymore.
Luke gave his head a quick shake. He’d been reeling from Audrey’s rejection and stressed out about how to change her mind. He couldn’t lie to her and tell her what she wanted to hear. That would be cruel. And she’d see right through it.
Sophia walked around the desk to give him a hug, her embrace tight with affection. Logan congratulated him about the baby if not an upcoming wedding. Luke strode out of the lodge, grateful to both for their advice. A sense of relief