Lucifer's Lover (8 page)

“Would you have said yes?”

Her glance dropped to the floor.

“I rest my case,” he told her and left.

* * * * *

The closer the day came, the more she didn’t want to go to the Christmas party. Even Gormley’s insistence that she be there was not enough to compel her into going.

What
was
driving her was the utter certainty that her mother would have gone all out for this affair. She would have waded into the “prime networking opportunity” with a cry of joy and poured on charm and grace that would have stunned everyone there.

So Lindsay gritted her teeth and made preparations, grimly pleased that at the same time she was fulfilling this obligation she would also be getting rid of another one—her date with Luke.

* * * * *

Luke lived in an anonymous row of apartments, pleasant and neat. Lindsay hadn’t really thought about what his home might look like but when she saw it, it struck her as appropriate. Only the most temporary sort of accommodation would do for him. She was pretty sure he had an apartment in Manhattan and suspected the apartment would look as transient as this short-term place.

Luke was waiting out the front of the apartment building and jumped into the passenger seat of her black Land Cruiser as she pulled up. “Nice,” he remarked, looking around the interior.

“It works well in snow.” She pulled out onto the road and settled down for the fifteen minute drive into the downtown area where the hotel was located. Snow was falling again and the temperature had lifted a little. The night was still, cool and muffled. There was very little traffic on the streets.

“Well, what I can see so far looks great,” Luke said.

Puzzled, she glanced at him and realized he had swiveled in his seat to study her.

“You mean
me
?”

“Of course, you. I can’t see much under that thick coat of yours but the hair and the makeup look wonderful.”

She touched the carefully arranged pile of curls on her head self-consciously, swallowing hard. Suddenly her heart was beating in her throat.

“You say
thank you
,” Luke added.

“Excuse me?”

“It’s a compliment, Lynds. You’re supposed to say thank you. Didn’t your mother ever teach you that? Guys compliment, girls say ‘thank you’. Blushing is optional.”

“My mother died when I was sixteen.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not. You didn’t even know her.”

“No but I’m sorry you missed out on having a mother around right when you needed it.”

She realized she was clenching the steering wheel in a death grip and forced herself to loosen her hold. “Thank you for the compliment,” she told him stiffly.

He didn’t reply and she concentrated on driving the already treacherous streets. It was only when she was glancing to the right to check for oncoming traffic that she realized he was still staring at her.

“
What
?” she demanded.

“You’re gorgeous. Did you know that?”

Suddenly her heart was back in her throat again. “Luke, you don’t have to do this.”

“Do what?”

“All the usual date stuff. Compliments. Charm. You won your date with me and I’m living up to my side of the bargain but there’s no need to pretend this is anything other than what it is. I’m not here voluntarily.”

“I know.”

“Flattery just gets my back up.”

“No, it doesn’t. You like it.”

“It makes my skin crawl.”

“No, it makes you wonder what I want.”

“Yes.”

“Afraid I might try to kiss you?”

“No!” But her heart leapt anyway. That leap of expectation annoyed her. She was too intelligent to be swayed by such banter.

“No?” he responded. She could hear laughter in his voice. “Does that mean I can kiss you without fear, or that I’m not permitted?”

“No. Neither. I mean, both. I mean…don’t do it.”

She heard his almost soundless laugh. “It’s so ridiculously easy to get you rattled,” he said. “And you’re a manager of a people-oriented department. You’re a walking contradiction.”

“You, on the other hand, are completely predictable.”

“Ouch.”

The silence grew again and Lindsay was uncomfortably certain that he was still watching her. Her already shredded nerves couldn’t stand it.

“Why ‘Lucifer’?” she asked finally.

“Why not?”

“Named for the devil? Most people find that an unholy name. An unpleasant one.”

“That’s the whole point. Well, that’s the point my father was trying to make anyway. I was a curse on his life. Unlooked for, unwanted. As unwelcome as the Grim Reaper himself.”

“Your father named you Lucifer?” Lindsay frowned. “That’s…atrocious.”

“Most people who know me well tell me it’s fitting. I drive people to hell, after all.”

“No, don’t joke about it. Why did he call you Lucifer?”

There was a long silence and Lindsay spared a second to look at him. He was frowning, looking down at his gloved hands in his laps. They were curled into loose fists.

“Why?” she repeated.

“My mother wanted to call me Luke. She was tied up in hospital with complications, so my father, in a lucid, sober moment, filed the registration. He called me Luke, all right.” The bitterness in his voice was deep and painful to listen to. “My mother understood. Completely. They were divorced within a year.”

Lindsay stared through the windscreen, appalled. “I don’t know what to say,” she said at last. “I’m sure there’s something perfect one is supposed to say in response but I don’t know what it is. I don’t know what to say that would help ease the sting of it.”

There was another soundless, loaded pause. “You just did. What you said was perfect,” he answered softly. “Thank you.”

For the first time ever, Lindsay was able to believe him unconditionally.

He moved in his seat and rubbed at his hair. “Agh…it was all such a long time ago, anyway,” he declared. “Now I live up to the name, so what the hell, huh?”

He had deliberately broken the mood. Lindsay didn’t know why but she understood that with astonishing clarity. It was another first. The first time she had ever been able to read a person’s actions in that way. The novelty of it riveted her thoughts.

The rest of the drive downtown was almost completely silent. Lindsay pulled in under the hotel portico and let the valet take the car and park it.

Luke held out his arm and Lindsay mentally sighed and tucked her hand under it. If he insisted on maintaining the charade for the night, she was obliged to follow suit.

Upstairs in the Helena Suite, most of the management staff had already arrived, as far as she could tell. And quite a few of the special guests too. There were a couple of waiters collecting coats and one came over to take theirs.

Lindsay found herself suddenly reluctant to remove her coat. If simply her hair and makeup had been cause for comment, what would Luke say when he saw her dress?

But there was no way to avoid it. Reluctantly, she removed her coat, scarf and gloves and handed them to the waiter and tried to give him a gracious smile.
Remember Mom
, she told herself.

She went to turn to face Luke, bracing herself.

“No! Don’t turn yet,” Luke said, right by her shoulder.

She froze. “Why? What’s wrong. Is there a stain?”

“No, I just want to take it in by degrees. A little at a time. The back view is worth a few moments.”

Lindsay kept still as commanded, while her whole body began to vibrate with a singing tension. “Luke…”

“Okay. I can stand the rest now. I think.”

She turned, swallowing dryly. Luke was wearing a very modern dress suit, the jacket one of the longer, fashionable ones that hinted of days gone by. And he was staring at her, the black eyes absorbing every inch of her.

“Please…” she whispered, trying to articulate how truly uncomfortable his scrutiny made her feel.

“You’re stunning,” he said, simply.

The electric blue silky dress was stitched with hundreds of stones and sequins that swirled and swept the length of the dress in waves and ended in a hint of a train that brushed the ground behind her. The tiny straps over her shoulder supported a plunging neckline and the waist and hips of the dress hugged her figure.

She had seen dresses like this on countless Academy and Emmy award shows and had deliberately gone shopping for something just as glamorous…as distracting…as those she had seen on TV. By Luke’s expression she judged she had achieved the results she’d been aiming for but it didn’t make her feel any more secure. For while she had been preparing to dazzle everyone the way her mother would have, she had forgotten that it would draw attention to her and that she would have to deal with that attention.

Luke lifted his hands in a small, helpless gesture. “I’m speechless.”

“That makes a nice change. Shall we just get on with this? I’m already a nervous wreck.”

“About what? You’ve already made a good impression.”

“This is a working affair, remember? We’re here to dazzle the clients and keep them happy for another year. God forbid we lose any more major accounts.”

“Right. Business. You’ll have to keep whispering that in my ear every five minutes, Lynds. Every time I look at you, thoughts of business evaporate.”

“Don’t,” she snapped.

“Sorry. Forgot again. See?” He grinned and picked up her hand. His hand was warm, big and comforting, which surprised her.

He tugged her toward the biggest concentration of people. They stood drinking champagne and chatting, oblivious to their approach and Lindsay could feel her heart thudding heavily and a high singing in her mind. She opened her mouth to get more air in her lungs.

Luke was pulling her closer.

They were starting to look at her now. Appreciative glances. Expectant ones.

Luke was talking to one of them, shaking hands. His other hand let hers go. Adrift, she looked at the man in front of her. He had said something to her but she didn’t hear it. The singing was in her ears and the pounding of her heart was thudding at the back of her brain. She could feel herself gasping.

The man was looking at her, puzzled. Staring at her expectantly. She was supposed to speak now. She understood that but it was too much. She couldn’t do it. Despite three days of talking herself into it, she couldn’t do it.

She turned and fled.

Chapter Five

When he couldn’t find her in all the logical and obvious places, Luke slowed down and put himself in Lindsay’s shoes. Where would she have headed?

Her office, of course. Her home away from home.

He made his way to the top floor, glad to put the noise behind him for a little while and slipped into the marketing department.

It was dark and still in there and for a moment he wondered if he had guessed right. He pushed open the door to her office, his heart sinking when he saw there were no lights on.

She was sitting on the edge of the coffee table, perched like an awkward schoolgirl, with her knees together and her feet splayed anyhow. She was sitting upright, her hands braced on either side of her and her head bowed. The golden curls glowed on the top of her head.

Panic attack
. She looked like she was ready to bolt at the smallest disturbance.

“You just don’t get the same quality in crowds these days, do you?” he said softly so she wouldn’t startle. “All that staring and pawing. They’re much more civilized in New York, of course.”

It was a full moon. The ghostly light was filtering through the tinted window, catching every movement of the stones and sequins on her dress. He saw her take a deep, wobbly breath.

“I can’t do it,” she said and despite the grown-up gown she sounded just like the schoolgirl he had first thought of.

He settled himself next to her on the coffee table and made his body relax into a nonthreatening posture. “How long have you had agoraphobia?” he asked.

“I don’t.”

“That was a pretty convincing performance you gave out there.”

She stiffened. Luke reached for her hand and grasped it in both his and willed her to relax. It didn’t surprise him to find her hand was trembling.

“You make me sound like I’m clinically…disturbed or something. That’s not it at all.”

He stayed silent.

“It’s my mother,” Lindsay added very quietly.

“I know she was very successful in the hospitality industry.” He tried to remember what else he had learned. Very little, surprisingly. But the little he had heard had been tinged with awe. Catherine Eden had been a legendary figure, even before she died.

“I’m surprised you don’t know all about her,” Lindsay told him. “You seem to be so good at soaking up gossip. Did you know she worked at this hotel?”

He hid his surprise. For some reason he couldn’t quite fathom, the fact seemed to be terribly significant to Lindsay. It was as if she had revealed a deep secret. “No, I didn’t know.”