Sam didn’t say a word, but she nodded her head, her eyes darting back and forth between Sierra and Luke. Without further hesitation, Sierra grabbed her purse and walked away. Maybe she was being petulant, or maybe she just wasn’t willing to play these juvenile games. Either way, she’d reached her limit tonight.
Sierra would have thought that the pounding bass and the consistent chatter would have drowned out the sound that had her stopping her tracks. The husky, sexy voice that called out to Luke was familiar. The same voice that had spent two days telling Sierra she was none too happy with her designs.
Susan Toulmin, better known as Susie Mackendrick apparently, seemed to know her way around the club, which told Sierra everything she needed to know. Despite the warning bells sounding off in her brain, she turned toward the voice, just in time to see the beautiful Dallas lawyer wrap her arms around Luke’s expansive chest. That wasn’t a platonic hug… nor was the kiss that followed.
Oh, God. Sierra forced her feet to move as her stomach lurched, the nausea making her dizzy. She was going to throw up, and it had nothing to do with the alcohol she had consumed. Thankfully her brain functioned enough to convince her feet to move toward the door, but the second she stepped out into the cool night air, the dam broke, and the tears burst free. Choking on a sob, Sierra lowered her head, hoping no one would see the woman who was having an emotional breakdown. She’d only gone two steps out the door before she came face to chest with a hard, unmoving form.
“I am so sorry.” She sobbed, glancing up into familiar ocean blue eyes.
Why her? Why today?
“Sierra?”
Oh, great. The pity she saw in those exquisite eyes was nearly her undoing. When Cole gripped her arm, pulling her out of the path of the crowd, she wanted to just slink into a corner and die.
“Honey, what’s wrong?” The tender tone of his voice didn’t help the steady flow of tears, but somehow Sierra managed to pull away from him.
Everything. “Nothing. I – I need to – to go.” With that Sierra skirted past Cole and down the narrow corridor that would lead her to the underground parking garage. Her feet didn’t seem to move fast enough, but the further she made it away from Luke, the stronger she began to feel.
Chapter Twenty Five
Luke was caught off guard when Susie walked up to the table, her sultry, southern twang a complete distraction to the fact that Sierra had just up and walked away. He stood, fully intending to go after Sierra, only to find Susie walking right into his arms. He abruptly wrapped his arms around her to keep from losing his balance, but before he could pull away, Susie planted a scorching hot kiss firmly on his lips.
Based on the death glare his brother shot him, and the look of horror on Sam’s face, Luke knew Sierra had been witness to everything that just happened. And being the dumbass that he was, Luke didn’t chase after her. Instead, time slowed to a crawl as the four of them stared at one another in fascinated shock. Well, everyone except Susie who appeared to be oblivious if her constant rambling was anything to go by.
Minutes later, Luke found himself sitting at the table with the three of them while Susie continued her incessant talking. “And you wouldn’t believe this interior designer I hired.” Susie stated, capturing the full attention of everyone at the table.
“Since I met her at the conference in Vegas, I figured for sure I would be getting top notch when I hired her. She’s new to the interior design world and green as hell. Unfortunately, she’s much more inexperienced than I originally gave her credit for. The woman just doesn’t seem to get it. I’m not sure how she intends to make it in that business if she is too stupid to take any sort of direction. I mean seriously, how hard is it to understand when I’m telling her exactly what I want?”
Sam abruptly stood from the table, pushing her chair back so hard it nearly tumbled over. “It’s time to go.” She told Logan pointedly, not making eye contact with Luke.
If she expected Luke to say something she had another thing coming. Oh, he knew he should defend Sierra, he knew he should say anything that would make Susie put a lid on it, but he couldn’t seem to come up with the words.
For the last few days, Luke’s emotions had been all fucked up, and he didn’t know how to even talk to Sierra. As it would appear, the night the three of them spent together had had a shocking effect on Luke. Unable to get his shit together, he’d successfully managed to keep her at arm’s length all week. It appeared the arm had just turned into a football field.
Luke could only watch as Logan and Sam walked away, his brother’s death stare boring a hole into him and promising retribution later. That was par for the course these days or so it seemed. If his conversation with Cole earlier was anything to go by, Luke had successfully morphed back into the world class asshole.