Page 29 of Beautiful Storm

“It’s not happening.”

“Sure it’s not.” She waggles her eyebrows and I groan again, knocking back the drink Hayley already had waiting for me.This is all new for me.I don’t talk about my sex life. Then again, I’m still trying to work out who the real me is. So, what do I know?

The night flies by, but the later it gets, the more obnoxious my yawning becomes until I can no longer hide it. This day…no, thisweekhas kicked my ass. From the early mornings to late nights of planning and then today answering question after question, I’m done.

“I don’t mean to be a party pooper, but I’m freaking exhausted. I need to go home.”

“It’s only nine,” Hayley teases but at the same time she stands. “I get it. You’re a big-name director now. You need your beauty sleep.”

“Ha. I wish. But I do need sleep. I can’t believe how tired I am after my first production day.”I need to start looking after myself better. Now’s the time to be on my A game. “I promise I won’t make a habit of this. It’s just been a big week. I need to start eating better. Next time, be ready for an all-nighter.”

Hayley snorts out a laugh but doesn't call me out on the fact that I have never been an all-nighter kind of girl. Instead, she kisses my cheek and pulls me into a side hug. “Sweet dreams, sweetie. I’m going to go and find me a man.”

Ilook like garbage when I wake the next morning, but it’s nothing a little makeup won’t fix. On the drive home last night, I realized I could attribute all of my tiredness to stress. Ifelt the same exhaustion when I first left Preston. I know that once things settle down, I’ll feel better, and it makes pushing through so much easier.

When I pull into the stadium parking lot at seven a.m., I find one of the guys from the team, Easton heading inside. A hint of uncertainty settles in my chest when I remember hearing his negative stance on the show, and when he fakes a smile and picks up his pace to get away from me, the feeling deepens.

So far, I’ve only had a handful of enthusiastic players, and if it continues to be that way, I’m going to struggle to make a decent production. The idea was that we’d focus on the entire team, not a few random players. That’s been done. Many times.

And I need this show to be a hit.

I’m the first to arrive at our newly created Storm stadium office, but before I can dump my oversized bag onto my desk, the door swings open again. I lift my gaze to say hi to whoever it is, but am startled when it’s Luke.

“Uh, hi?” I question, dropping my bag as he locks the door, my chest tightening at the sound of that little click. “Unlock the door, please. I have crew members arriving shortly.” I smile, working hard to mask the nervous energy coursing through me until he turns the lock again, eyeing me curiously. “What do you want?” I ask, my voice curt.

He frowns before snapping out of it, his face suddenly neutral. “I thought we could have a chat.”

“Okay.” He walks forward and when he reaches my desk, I move around the opposite side, heading over to the makeshift kitchen they put in for us, making a show of pouring myself a coffee, even though I don’t drink it.I’m fine. Luke being here is fine.“Chat away. How can I help you?”

“You know why I’m here,” he rasps, standing right behind me, making me jump at his close proximity.

“I don’t know—”

“Don’t bullshit me, Amelia. I just want to know you’re not going to use the fire to gain ratings.”

“What?”I knew that’s what he was alluding to, but now that he’s said it out loud, I’m offended. “Why would I do that?”

“Oh, I don’t know—to advance your career?To help yourself. Just like you did when you told the cops I might have had something to do with it.”

“I didn’t… That’s… God, you have no idea what I went through.” I know I shouldn’t have mentioned his name to the police but I panicked. I didn’t know they’d arrest him for it. “You were never charged. It’s not a big deal. I don’t know what you’re worried about.”

”I just want your word that you’ll keep it to yourself.”

“Or what?” I stare him down, trying not to appear shaken by the threat dripping from his tone. And when he doesn’t say anything, I continue, needing to fill the silence. “I would have thought you’d love it. You’d be the star of the show. Or wait…” I fake a gasp and cover my mouth with my hand before whispering, “Are you worried it will ruin your reputation?” I exaggeratedly grimace. “I guess it wouldn’t be a good look when people find out you set me up and then ran away when shit got real. Leaving me inside aburningbuilding.” My heart races as the fire once again burns through my mind, but I subtly suck in a breath to calm down.

“You had David.” Luke waves off my comments as though I’ve barely rattled him, but I don’t miss the anger in his eyes. “You got out. You were fine. I sav—”

“I wasn’t.” I pause, refusing to rehash a part of my life long buried. While it’s not the event that kicked off my hatred toward Luke, it definitely cemented it, and I’d prefer not to fall down that rabbit hole of emotions. He played me that night and then I let myself get dragged back into his world a third time when I slept with him. I should have learned my lesson by now. “Iwon’t mention the fire. It’s not exactly something I like thinking about.”

“Good.” Luke fakes a grin before leaning in close, his hard body pressed against mine as he enters my personal space, forcing me back until my ass is digging into the metal edge of the counter. “As long as you stay quiet, I’ll be the perfect subject for the show. You want me to smile, I’ll fucking smile.” As if I need a demonstration, his expression easily morphs to give him a boyish charm, like he has a default setting ready to go, and it’s completely unnerving.

“I’m sure we can keep this professional,” he adds, his smile turning cocky once more. “That’s what you want, right? Unless you were thinking about another night of fun.”

As he whispers, his lips hover so close to my skin that I swear I feel his touch below my ear, sending an electric current through me. My heart pounds in my chest, threatening to break through my ribs, and I wish I could say it was due to the anger I hold and not because I’m imagining him settled between my legs.

“I can stay professional,” I whisper back, my lips purposely brushing his cheek as I turn my head, hoping to rattle him even half as much as he’s rattling me. “And I’ll keep the fire a secret, but make no mistake.” I shove him back and step aside, putting some much-needed space between us. “You will never be touching me again. That’s a promise. They both are. In fact, let’s pretend we don’t have a past. We don’t know each other. Period.”

Luke raises an eyebrow before shaking his head with a laugh. “Works for me. Pleasure doing business with you.”

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