“Lucas Stark, I do not owe you,” I shouted at his back but he was gone.

Chapter Twenty-One

Earning Retribution

After Luke left, I made coffee, poured myself a cup then I went to get my phone and walked back to my porch.

First up, I called Shirleen.

“Oowee, girl!” Shirleen yelled in my ear. “You are workin’ on bein’ the Premier Rock Chick, what with Luke Stark fightin’ in a parking lot over you. I heard there was blood. Was there blood? Oh wait…” she stopped and I listened as she shouted, “Oowee!” again but not in my ear, to someone in the office. Then she came back to me. “Luke just walked in. Girl, you are the Premier Rock Chick. Even with that nasty gash, that boy looks like the cat who just got his cream. He musta got the cream if that hickey is anything to go by. A hickey! I love it!”

Shit!

Why did I give Luke a hickey? Why? I was never going to live it down.

Shirleen kept on in my ear. “Did he get his cream? If so, how many times. I want details.”

I wasn’t going to talk about Luke getting his cream, not any of the three times he got it.

“Shirleen, I’m calling about Bobby. Any updates?”

“Fit as a fiddle, except that fractured skull. Functions coming back, two and two make four again. If all keeps goin’ good, they’re releasin’ him tomorrow to finish recuperatin’ at home.”

“Thank God for that,” I said and I meant it.

“Now, details,” Shirleen returned.

“No, now I want to know what’s up with my car.”

“Car’s bein’ delivered this mornin’, any time now.”

“Do they expect payment on delivery or are they going to invoice me?”

“Luke’s taken care of it.”

I went silent.

“Ava, you there?” Shirleen asked.

“What do you mean Luke’s taken care of it?”

It was Shirleen’s turn to go silent. Then she muttered, “Uh-oh.”

“You say he’s there?” I asked.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Can you please put him on the phone?”

“Maybe you need to deep breathe,” Shirleen advised.

“Please put him on the phone.”

She sighed and put me on hold.

For some reason, of all the shit that had gone down between Luke and I, this was something I could not allow. I’d let him be a pretty pushy, tough guy, macho man with me but I could pay my own goddamned way.

“Yeah?” Luke said.

“It’s Ava,” I told him, sounding snippy.

“I know, beautiful,” he replied, sounding like he was smiling.

I ignored the melty feeling in my belly at his calling me “beautiful” when he sounded like he was smiling. I liked it even before I knew he meant it in every way it could mean. It was way better than “babe”.

“Did you pay for the repairs on my Range Rover?” I asked him.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Why not?” he answered.

I felt my hold on my temper slip. “Luke, it’s my car.”

“Ava, you’re my woman.”

I ignored the melty feeling that gave me too. “So?”

“So you’re my woman, I take care of you.”

“Luke –”

“This isn’t up for discussion.”

“It sure as hell is!”

“I’m thinkin’, as payback for the hickey, I want you in that pink teddy thing tonight.”

Was he for real?

“Luke!”

“Later.”

Disconnect.

Argh!

I fought the urge to throw my phone through the window but instead I called Ally.

“Hey,” she answered.

“Yo,” I said.

“You okay after last night?” Ally asked.

“I’m officially Luke’s woman after last night.”

“Yep, that’s the way since the dawn of time. Two men want the same thing, they fight over it and winner takes all.”

“What with struggling with Iron Man Mace, I wasn’t keeping close track but it didn’t seem like anyone was winning.”

“Luke won when he behaved like a Neanderthal, elbowed you in the head and still, without a peep from you, you got in his car with him.”

Yikes.

I had to admit, that was true.

“What was that about Luke thinking about someone else when he was with you?” Ally asked.

Shit.

I knew I’d have to get into that.

“Luke explained I had the wrong end of the stick,” I told her.

“Well, chickie, just to warn you, the girls have been chewing over that all night and all morning. Roxie thinks you think it’s her. Jules is pretty certain you think it’s her. Who was it?”

“Jules,” I answered. “I saw them together and got the wrong impression.”

“That’s what I figured. Listen, Jules and Luke had a thing. It was brief, she thought Vance had broken up with her. Once she found out that Vance –”

My stomach plummeted. “What?” I whispered, interrupting her.

Silence for a beat then, “Oh shit.”

“What did you say?” I asked.

“Ava –”

“What kind of ‘thing’ did Jules and Luke have?”

“It was nothing.”

Oh… my… God.

“What kind of thing?” I repeated.

“It only lasted a couple of days.”

My heart was racing and I was pretty certain I was going to throw up.

“Ava? You there?”

“I have to go.”

“Ava.”

“Later.”

I disconnected then I punched in Luke’s cell number.

“Babe,” he answered, sounding amused. “I want you to call in but you don’t have to do it every five minutes.”

I didn’t dilly dally. “You had a thing with Jules when she thought Vance broke up with her.”

Silence, then he hissed, “Fuck.”

He didn’t deny it.

Shit!

I felt an ugly feeling slide through my body, a feeling I’d felt once before in my life. It was the day my Mom sat Marilyn, Sofia and I down and, while crying and carrying on, she informed us Dad had left us.

I pulled myself together and said, “You forgot to mention that last night.”

“Ava –”

I heard a knock at my front door. “My car’s here. I have to go.”

“Leave it, we have to talk.”