Page 23 of Backroom Boy
I kissed her forehead. “We will. There are going to be bumps ahead, but we’ll make this work. I promise.”
We walked back to the pool house in the dark and Delta came inside.
Neither one of us saw her dad standing inside the glass door of the main house, his gaze locked on us.
10
Delta
“I better get home,” I whispered against Lukas’s skin.
His arms pulled me in tighter like he couldn’t bear the idea of letting me go. My limbs felt sleepy as hell and I knew if I didn’t get out of Lukas’s bed, I would end up falling asleep and spending the night. Pretty sure my parents would have a shit fit if I didn’t come home tonight. Twenty years old and still following my parents’ archaic rules about curfews.
Lukas groaned, but he finally let me go and rolled away to pull some sweatpants on. The only reason I even got up was because I knew we had a whole lifetime to be together and my parents putting a stop to my college funds was not in the plan. It was that inspiring thought I kept in the forefront of my brain the whole time I got dressed and then headed to the front door. Lukas kissed me quick, his chest bare and his hair rumpled, looking entirely too yummy to say goodbye to. He opened the door for me and I stepped out, feeling him following me.
“Want to make sure you get home safe,” he whispered, his voice already hoarse with sleep.
I smiled into the dark, loving that he was such a gentleman when my house was only twenty feet away. We took the short path to the pool area hand in hand, the moonlight guiding us. I stopped short and Lukas stopped a second after me.
My father sat in the lounge chair next to the pool.
In the dark.
With an empty wineglass in his hand.
“Daddy!” A deep dread replaced all the sleepy hope that had sedated my limbs this evening.
He pursed his lips and twirled the glass in his hand. “Someone care to tell me what the hell’s going on under my own nose?”
Fuck. The secret appeared to be out now.
“Listen, Daddy. It’s not—”
Lukas stepped forward and cut me off. “Sir, I’m in love with your daughter. Which I’m sure is not what you hired me for, but I won’t apologize for it. She’s amazing in so many ways, I couldn’tnotfall in love with her. I can promise you, though, nothing about loving Delta will interfere with my job.”
My knees went weak, and if my father hadn’t been sitting right there, I would have jumped on Lukas and begged him to take me back into that pool house where I could show him exactly how grateful I was for his support.
Daddy stood up abruptly, pulling my attention from Lukas. He swayed a second on his feet before righting himself. “You work for me. You live on my property. And now you’re sleeping with my daughter?”
Lukas pulled himself up even straighter and looked at my father head-on. I needed to intervene before this thing got nasty.
“Daddy, stop.” I put my hand out toward him. “I love Lukas. He treats me better than any boy I’ve dated. This is a good thing between us. Please don’t ruin it.”
Daddy glanced at me, his eyes softening slightly when they found me, but the pinch of his lips told me he was still extremely angry. I’d always toed the line, keeping any rebellions small and out of sight. He wasn’t used to me standing up for myself and I wasn’t exactly sure how this would go over.
He swung his head back to Lukas and pointed his finger at him. “When this summer job is over, so will this…thing…between you. Mark my words.”
Daddy spun around and marched back toward the house, tossing over his shoulder, “Tick-tock.”
Rage filled my chest. How dare he insinuate that what Lukas and I had was shallow and flimsy? He had no idea how I felt about this man who’d shown me more respect than my own family. Lukas listened to me. He saw every part of me and loved me for me. That was more than I could say for my own father. Daddy only loved me for what I could do for the company image.
The back door closed and the lights flipped off, plunging Lukas and me into darkness. He reached for me and I wrapped my arms around his neck, desperate for his touch.
“I’m so sorry, Delta,” he whispered against my hair.
A lump lodged in my throat. I pulled back to look him in the eyes. “No.I’msorry. I’m sorry my parents don’t understand.”
Lukas shrugged, but I could tell by the haunted look in his eyes he cared about their opinion very much. “I get it. I’m the hired help who preyed on their daughter’s emotions.”
