Chapter 26
Clarabella
“Hey.” Presley sticks her head into my office. “Shelby and I were going to go grab some dinner. Did you maybe want to come with us?” she asks, and I nod my head.
“That sounds great,” I say, pushing away from the desk and looking down to see that it’s just after six o’clock. “Where do you want to go?” I ask, walking around the desk and going to grab my purse.
“What the hell are you wearing?” Presley asks, and I stop midstep to look down and make sure I didn’t get something on my outfit today. “Are those jeans?” She puts her hands on her hips, and I see that she is wearing jeans, so I don’t know why she’s giving me such a hard time. Especially since none of us had any appointments today.
I get to my purse and put my phone in it. “These jeans cost me three hundred dollars,” I huff, looking down at my white jeans.
“Oh, trust me, I know how much they cost,” she states, putting her hands on her hips. “What I’m asking is why are you wearing clothes that aren’t black?” I open my mouth to say something but nothing comes out because I didn’t even notice. When I can’t come up with any words, all I do is roll my eyes at her.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I pick up my purse, avoiding looking at her when she laughs out loud and claps her hands together.
“Are we going for dinner or what?” Shelby asks, coming into my office and looking at me standing here looking at Presley. “What’s going on?”
“We are discussing the fact that Morticia here”—Presley points at me—“is wearing white pants and that she hasn’t been wearing black for a while.”
Shelby gasps and glares at Presley. “I thought you said we were going to discuss this at dinner.” Shelby huffs, “You are the worst.”
“I couldn’t help it.” Presley shrugs. “She’s even wearing a peach shirt.”
“Ugh, you suck,” Shelby says. “Now, where are we going to eat?”
“Is that even an option anymore?” Presley says. “Imagine we went to another restaurant and Luke found out.”
I roll my eyes. “He’d be fine,” I assure them, and my heart starts to speed up a touch when I think about seeing him. The three of us walk out of the office and head over to the restaurant, all of us hopping in one car.
“I love the summer,” Shelby says as we make our way to the restaurant. The sound of live music fills the air, and the sound of kids’ laughter is off in the distance as families walk together down the main road.
Walking in, I see that some of the tables are free, and it’s not as busy as it is on the weekends. I look around as Shelby and Presley talk to the hostess, who nods her head and grabs three menus as she leads us to the corner booth. I slide into one side while Shelby and Presley slide in front of me. “Is Luke here?” Shelby asks while I look around and see the kitchen door open as a server comes out.
“He should be here,” I say, ignoring the way that my heart is beating. “But it’s not like we keep track of each other.” I ignore their looks by grabbing a menu that I know by heart, just to avoid looking at them.
The server comes over, and she recognizes me from when I’ve come in beforehand with clients. I smile at her as I order a wine, and not two seconds later, I see him come out of the kitchen. I try to hide the smile that fills my face, but I can’t. If I see him, I smile. If he walks into a room, I smile. When he kisses my neck in the morning, I smile. It’s the smile each and every time. “I heard we had special guests.” His eyes light up when he sees my sisters and then slides in beside me. “Hi there,” he greets and leans in to kiss my lips.
“Hi,” I say, putting my hand on his leg. He slips his fingers in with mine, and I can’t even put into words what I feel. It’s the strangest thing every single night we slide into bed together, and it feels like it’s always been like this. Like he was always holding me to sleep, like he was always waking up with me and making me coffee while I got ready.
He talks to my sisters, and nothing feels forced, and it’s probably because we worked together before, so they know him. He gets up, going to the kitchen to continue working, and when it’s time to get the bill, the server tells us it’s taken care of. My sisters get up to leave, and I follow them but stop instead of walking out of the door. “Are you not coming with us?” Shelby asks me when I look over my shoulder.
“I think I’m going to just wait here for him.” I hold my bag in front of me nervously.
“Of course you are.” Presley winks at me. “Also just so you know, car sex is not all it’s hyped up to be.”
“Well, he has a truck,” I counter, and they both just laugh. “I’ll see you both tomorrow.” I hold up my hand before turning and walking back over to the bar. I pull out an empty stool by the end of the bar.
“Hey, what can I get for you?” the bartender asks as soon as he spots me.
“I’ll have a soda water,” I say, and he nods at me before walking away.
He comes back over a couple of seconds later, placing a napkin on the bar and then my drink on top of it. “Let me know if you need anything else.” I nod at him, picking up the glass and taking a sip of it when I feel a hand on my back. I turn around and see him there smiling down at me. “You waited?” he says, sitting on the stool beside me, turning his body to face me. “You didn’t have to wait.” His legs open.
“I know I didn’t have to.” I smile at him. “I wanted to.” I turn on my stool to face him, my legs inside of his legs. He moves his hands from his legs to mine. “What time are you done?”
“I can get out of here now if you want.” He winks at me, getting up from his stool, holding out his hand for me so I can get up. “Besides, I think you have to work off a certain tab.”
I laugh as I slip my hand in his and get up. “Is that so?” I ask, and he just nods his head.
“That is so,” he confirms and looks over at the bartender. “She’s with me,” he tells him, and he just nods his head. “Let’s go out the front.” He puts his hand on my lower back as we walk toward the front door. The hostesses smile at us as we walk out. He opens the door for me to step out. The heat hits me right away as he walks out with me. “So my place or yours?” he asks in the middle of the crowded street. More people are outside walking around than when we arrived. The ice cream store two doors down has a line forming outside.
“You’re pretty sure of yourself,” I joke with him when I start to walk and come face-to-face with Edward. My whole body goes stiff as he glares at me. He looks at me and then over at Luke beside me. The warmth of Luke’s hand on my back stops me from shivering.
“Well, well, well.” His voice goes a touch louder when he comes closer to us, and I see that some people have looked over. “Isn’t this a nice surprise?” My mouth is suddenly dry, and there isn’t any way I can say anything, nor do I want to say anything. The last thing I want is to bring attention to myself. My heart is hammering so hard in my chest I don’t know if he’s yelling or it’s just the echo. “My runaway bride with the hired help.”
“Watch yourself,” Luke warns, his voice low as he stands up straight beside me, and he’s advanced just a touch, so he’s almost in front of me.
“Watch me?” Edward sneers. “Watch me?” He points at his chest, and I can’t help but look around and see that people are not only looking but I also see a couple of them pointing. The back of my neck starts to get hot, and I want to just walk away from him.
“Luke.” I say his name, putting my hand on his arm. “Don’t bother.” Luke looks at me, his eyes dark with anger.
“Yes, Luke, why should you bother?” He laughs bitterly. “I mean, she left me at the altar!” he roars. “Without even giving me a second to explain myself.” I just stay quiet, not even willing to give him anything. “In the end, you left me for this piece of shit. You are a cheater.” He points at me, and I swear my head flies back as if he hit me in the face.
He takes one foot to advance, and Luke steps in front of me. “I think the pot is calling the kettle black.” Luke takes another step forward, their chests almost touching. “You had everything you could ever have, and what did you do?” Luke asks. “And what did you do? You fucked around and had a baby with someone else. Instead of telling her that, she has to hear it from the woman who knocks on her door a minute before she is supposed to walk down the aisle.” I can hear gasps from around me, and I want the street to open up and swallow me. My stomach turns, and my eyes just look down at the ground to avoid everyone looking at me.
“There is no one else to blame for anything besides you.” Luke points at him. “So you better check yourself. You coward.” Luke slips his hand in mine. “And if you ever come at her again.” His voice goes low. “I’m going to put you to the ground.” Edward just looks at him, his chest moving in and out as he pants. His nostrils are flaring. “I’d love nothing more.” Luke smiles at him, then turns to look at me before leading me to the back of the building and away from the prying eyes.