Girl of Mine (2 page)

The witnesses smiled and waved as if her plight was amusing. Not one person appeared to be calling 9-1-1. Not one person even had their cell phone out.

She turned on Luke. “This isn’t okay. What if this was the real thing?”

He pressed on the gas and his tires squealed as he took the corner. “This
is
the real thing.”

Exasperated, Jill said, “Really, Luke? Really?” Her tone implied his actions were foolish.

“Really. Desperate measures are in order. I don’t have time to mess around,” he said dryly. His serious tone took her by surprise. He really wasn’t kidding.

Still, he knew very well his roguish actions were outrageous—and that she wouldn’t respond well. Most people don’t enjoy being taken against their will. Shocker.

“Take me back to my car. I have groceries in the trunk. The ice cream will melt.” Even as she said the words, she knew the trivial details didn’t matter one iota to Luke. It also meant her plans for drowning herself in chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream this evening were dashed.

He didn’t answer.

“My purse. My phone. They’re in the front seat of my car.”

“In the back of the truck. Locked in one of my trunks. Your car’s locked. It’ll be fine.”

Until you got to know him, Luke was a man of few words. The strong-silent type. If something didn’t need to be said, he didn’t say it. When he did have something to say, it was either vitally important or hilariously funny. No in between. His quiet nature and sense of humor had attracted her at first. Now they irked her. “It won’t be fine. Nothing is fine. Take me home. You have no right to do this. I’m engaged to another man.” Ouch. That had to hurt.

His jaw clenched and he sped up, obviously having a destination in mind. “So I heard.”

“Luke! Let me go. You can’t do this,” Jill blurted in frustration.

“Too late. I’ve already done it,” he said between clenched teeth. “Sit back and enjoy the ride. There’s no going back now, baby.” Then he had the audacity to smile at her, a toothy fake grin that bespoke, “I win.”

Now that he’d succeeded with his nefarious plan, his sense of humor made itself manifest. And she loved his huge smile, even when it was fake.

Jill wasn’t laughing. This was no Sunday drive they were about to embark upon and she had no intention of enjoying the scenery. She tugged at the handcuffs as if pulling on them would free her hand of the nasty little device. Her wrist turned red and began to ache from her efforts. Next, she fused all her fingers together tightly and tried to ease her hand out of the vise.

It was no use. Her hand wouldn’t budge.

“Give it up, Jill. Even the most hardened of criminals haven’t defeated ‘em.”

Again, her left hand reached for the door, swiftly unlocked it and engaged the door handle. The door flying open ought to catch the attention of passersby, maybe even the authorities.

Nothing happened.

“Child proof locks,” Luke confirmed. “Amazing invention.”

His flippant attitude grated on her nerves. Jill reached for the steering wheel, intent on making him lose control and pull the car over to the side of the road. He caught her hand with a steel-like grip. “I
know
you don’t want to do that, Jill.” All signs of humor vanished.

No, she didn’t. Not really. Crashing the car would only endanger both of them. Jill harrumphed and threw her head back against her seat with disgust. “I don’t want to talk to you, I don’t want to see you, and I don’t want to go anywhere with you.” She cringed. She sounded so . . . childish and sulky. Perhaps being kidnapped brought out her bad side. Go figure. Not to mention, every single sentence leaving her mouth was a big fat lie.

Jill wanted to see Lucas Graham. She wanted to spend every single precious moment of time she’d been granted on this green earth with Lucas Graham.

Just not like this. Never like this.

“So I gathered,” he said, showing no signs of changing his crazy plan whatsoever.

“Then why bother?” Jill asked.

“I need to talk to you. It’s important. I think you should at least hear me out.”

Jill swallowed and held her emotions at bay. The Luke she knew was laid back and unassuming. Today, he was relentless and unyielding . . . almost desperate, a side of him she was unfamiliar with. “I don’t owe you anything, Luke. I don’t want to do this. Just take me home. Please.” Jill hated the anguish apparent in her words. She told herself to grow a backbone and said, “And I certainly don’t want to hear anything
you
have to say.” She infused her words with as much disdain as she could muster. Yep, something about being taken against her will definitely brought out her snappy side. In truth, she wanted to hear everything he had to say. She’d hang on every word like the besotted woman she was.

That is, on her terms. She would determine when and where. Still, the simple fact that he wanted to talk to her left her feeling slightly giddy.

But the side of herself she decided to present to Luke didn’t even hint at her soft feelings. “And for the record, if you want to talk to a girl, this is
not
the way to go about doing it.” That was good. It held the proper amount of indignation for the occasion.

“Really? Nothing else worked. I tried, Jill. I already wasted one day. You wouldn’t give me a measly two minutes. You wouldn’t even look at me. I don’t have much time. What else was I supposed to do?”

Never give up. Please don’t give up on me, Luke.
Instead she said, “Kidnapping is not one of the answers that pops into my mind. One entire day of trying to see me hardly qualifies as trying very hard at all. I would’ve given in eventually.” It was true. She longed for Luke’s presence. “But now, well, I hope you like orange.”

“Orange?” He sounded confused.

“Yeah, an orange jumpsuit to be exact. Plan on wearing one for a really long time. It will soon be your only wardrobe choice.”

He didn’t laugh. Her jokes always fell flat. Always. She simply wasn’t a funny person. Luke often said her persistent-yet-failed attempts at humor were one of the quirky things he adored about her.

He used to adore her and she adored him right back. She’d been head over heels for this man. He made the mundane seem fascinating. Jill loved the masculine way in which he tucked his hands in his pockets, the way he squeezed his earlobe when he was deep in thought, the way he finger combed his hair as if it made any difference whatsoever, and sometimes she even loved the simple sound of his breathing. It was comforting in a way she couldn’t explain.

He braked hard at the stoplight and looked at her, his expression granite. Jill returned his gaze with a withering stare of her own. It was time for a much needed showdown. The problem is, when you’re a twenty-three year old, four-foot-eleven, blond-haired, brown-eyed wisp of a girl, it’s extremely hard to appear tough.

“Orange is not my color,” he said, opting for levity.

Perhaps Jill ought to let humor dominate this ridiculous scheme of his. Bursting into tears was not an option. They were both silent for a moment, challenging each other with their stares. With his light brown hair, startlingly blue eyes, and olive complexion, she begged to differ. Anything looked good on Lucas Graham. His military short haircut left her missing the usual length on the top of his head and the way each strand artfully stood up and curved backwards. It gave him a well-manicured yet natural I-wake-up-and-my-hair-looks-like-this appearance. Jill also missed the perfectly trimmed stubble that usually covered his chin.

“I hear prison is a barrel of laughs for a cop. A good looking guy like you will be quite popular.” Jill oozed sarcasm into every word, wishing she could just once say something remotely funny.

“Popularity is overrated,” he said, his eyes blinking long and slow.

For once hating his ever-calm demeanor, Jill tore her gaze away and stared out the windshield morosely. Luke was an inordinately handsome man. No doubt about that. But his good looks wouldn’t be enough to get him out of kidnapping charges. Jill couldn’t believe he’d resorted to abducting her. How had they come to this?

Luke was the man she’d once loved with every fiber of her being. He’d been her entire universe; her sun, moon, and stars. Then he’d broken her heart. Not just broken it, he’d stomped on it and shattered it into a million tiny pieces.

He’d jilted her one month ago, almost exactly one month before their wedding. A portion of the invitations had already been mailed, the ones she’d finished addressing. Her mother had promptly sent out “postponed till further notice” cards—a polite way of saying “the wedding’s OFF.” The “further notice” gave everyone hope that all would soon be remedied, when everyone knew it wouldn’t be.

The bride had been dumped.

Okay, maybe dumped was too harsh of a word. Life circumstances had prevented their marriage. Jill had no idea if “further notice” had a snowball’s chance in a very hot place of ever happening or not. Luke had been deliberately vague where their future was concerned. His actions had left her wondering about the level of his commitment. Had he ever been in love with her as much as she’d been in love with him? The answer seemed obvious to Jill. When it came to Luke, confusion dominated her thoughts. She’d been so confident in their love. Luke had quickly destroyed that confidence.

Perhaps their broken engagement could be labeled as “Possibly prolonged.” Or “Maybe, baby.” How about “Someday soon?”

Never mind. No two ways about it. She’d been dumped.

The alterations on her stunning dress had been complete. The flowers had been ordered. The cake had been chosen, the venue reserved.

All cancelled.

Details. Details.
A bunch of minutiae that suddenly didn’t matter.

Looking at him, talking to him, brought it all back. And it hurt. Luke was “the one that got away,” the man she’d always love with all of her heart.

That fact alone explained her ignore-and-evade actions. But she certainly wasn’t about to announce her feelings.

Luke, I’m still in love with you. I can’t see you because it hurts too much.

Why did he want to see her anyway? Nothing had changed. Their circumstances were the same.

He
had
spent Thursday—yesterday—trying to reach her. She’d give him that. Jill remembered lying in bed in her mom’s guestroom, the insistent sound of the doorbell and determined knocking awakening her from a deep sleep. She often slept late. Working as a chef for the dinner shift at
Chateau
kept her up until two a.m. most nights. Ten a.m. was bright and early for her. Eight a.m. was practically the middle of the night.

2

Luke and Jill
April 2003

One Day Earlier

The muffled sounds of voices from her mother’s front doorstep, one distinctly male, made her slowly raise her head from her much-sought-after pillow. Leaning over, she peeked through the slats of the blinds to see Luke’s truck parked outside, angled crookedly next to the curbside as if the driver was in a hurry.

Luke?

The sight made her sit up much too quickly, causing a major head rush. Feeling frozen, she stared forlornly at nothing in particular as if in a trance, seeing nothing, her mind going on warp speed. What did he want? Why was he here?

How
was he here?

His Army Reserve unit had been deployed to Iraq a month ago. He was going to be gone for at least a year. Maybe more. Currently, his orders were open-ended.

She could hardly think beyond the one year mark. Life was easier when taken one day at a time. Three hundred and sixty five long days. Every single minute would be the equivalent of a football minute.

Of course one year, or even more, seemed like nothing when compared to an entire lifetime without Luke.

Jill couldn’t handle the “lifetime” thought and dismissed it from her mind. She had barely come to terms with the fact that she wouldn’t see Luke for a year—that her eyes wouldn’t rest upon his handsome features, that her ears wouldn’t hear the soothing sound of his voice, that her lips wouldn’t experience his tender kiss—and now here he was, banging on her mother’s front door.

Her heartbeat settled in her ears, her hands and feet tingled as if they’d fallen asleep. She couldn’t act, she couldn’t move, she couldn’t even think straight.

Shock got the best of her and Jill couldn’t face him. No way.

Her mind wandered to a glorious reunion wherein she ran into the living room and jumped into his arms, straddled him, and smothered his face with kisses.

Sadly, that wouldn’t happen. He’d ended things between them before he left. The last she’d heard from him was through a generous check, reimbursing herself and her mother for the cancelled wedding expenses. If it hadn’t been for the fact that her mother was involved, she would’ve torn the check into a million angry pieces.

Her mom offered a perfunctory knock on the door, then entered. She stopped short when met with Jill’s glazed eyes.

“He wants to talk to you,” her mom said, making no explanations as to who “he” was.

“No,” Jill said in no uncertain terms. “No, I can’t.”

“He said it’s vitally important, Jill. He’s come a long way. Perhaps you ought to . . .”