Page 41 of Anything To Be With You

"The chance of that happening is very slim." Luke reassures and lays down on the floor with me. It makes this feel more intimate than it should be.

"But it could." I utter.

Luke stretches one arm over his head and rests the other on his stomach. He looks more relaxed than he did a few minutes ago. "I’m not going to lie and say it won’t, but it’s highly unlikely."

The car drops suddenly, I scream as my stomach plummets to the floor and slam my eyes shut. Large hands cradle my face.

"Daniella, look at me."

I keep my eyes shut tight and attempt to shake my head. The car jerks to a stop again and the emergency lights flicker.

"Sweetheart, look at me," Luke’s voice is soft, but the tone is one of authority.

Slowly, I open my eyes, finding him on his side, watching me with concern. "You’re okay. The car has stopped again." His thumb brushes over the scar on the side of my face.

I swallow thickly. "Keep me talking, o-okay? Help me keep my mind off what’s happening."

Luke’s ice blue eyes roam over my face. "What would you like to talk about?"

He’s being so comforting and sweet. This is not the Luke Archer I know. This must be a case of body snatchers, why else would he be acting so…caring.

I exhale and ask, "why is this case stressing you out?"

Luke drops his hands and scratches his forehead. "I can’t talk about the case."

"Why not?"

"Client confidentiality."

"You do realize that, one: you asked me to read over part of the case not long ago, and two: I’m the one who types everything up," I give him a pointed look. "Do you really think I’m not reading every. Single. Word." I raise my brows.

Luke closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose, rolling onto his back. "It’s a giant game of he said/she said and neither one of them are letting up." he says and rubs a hand along his jaw, the scratching of his stubble sends a shiver down my spine.

"She caught him cheating, he says she was the cheater. She has proof, he says she hacked his phone. It’s just a lot of back and forth between myself and Doug's lawyer."

"Now you have the numbers for all the women, you can get the correct story from them," I yawn. This floor is starting to become way too comfortable.

"Yeah." Is all he says.

Lifting myself onto my elbows, I glance over at him. His eyes are closed, long thick lashes fan his cheekbones. His body’s relaxed, he looks…peaceful.

God, he’s beautiful.

"Stop staring at me, Daniella." He opens one pale blue eye.

"I wasn’t staring. I was trying to figure out if I could suffocate you with your jacket," I say with a smile.

Luke shakes his head and closes his eye. "You do that and you’re out of a job."

I snort. "Nah. I’ll just Weekend at Bernie’s ya. No one would be the wiser."

Luke chuckles and my stomach drops. Who would ever think a sound could do that.

"Until my body starts to decompose, and the smell becomes too much for you to handle," he replies.

I slap him on the arm and laugh. My fear slowly fading away. Luke is kind of funny. "Well, looks like Mr. hard ass has a sense of humor."

"I always did."

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