Revved Up Soul

Chapter 14

Luke

It tugged on the strings of his heart, no matter how much he tried to ignore it – even though having to come back was Robert's fault, it felt like fate – if one could even believe in that kind of crap – was moving him on the great board. His heart tapped a little faster, his surrounding became a little brighter, and because he might run into her, everything felt a little more real.

Luke had a massive spanner in the works that he needed to fix, and it had to be done by the day's end or Earl would give them all hell to pay. You need to leave her alone, you're just gonna cause her nothing but pain and trouble – sometimes that's all the Life felt like it was good for. Getting shit shoveled around and graves dug six feet deep.

Stalking the halls at a brisk pace, Luke Reynolds was on the prowl for his connect. It hadn't taken him long when he was first at St. Augustine to establish a rapport with one of the pharmacists.

That and the fact they were cutting a fat slice of the profits for themselves, helped things immensely.

Luke moved with purposeful strides up to the pharmacist counter, the corner of his mouth twisting into the slickest smile that he could manage. He lifted his chin when he made eye contact with Janet, "You got a minute?"

She murmured something to her coworker and slipped outside of her workstation, following Luke to a secluded corner of the hall. Janet batted her eyes all pretty, and she laughed sweetly when he gave her his personal smile – not that he actually meant it. He could smell the infatuation on her, the way her eyes couldn't get enough of him; the way that she had to look away and brush her strawberry blonde hair.

But he felt nothing, not a single stoke below the belt – not an ember or a spark; she just didn't cut the mustard. Few women did compared to her. The smallest painful little pang shot through his chest.

Janet inched closer to him, "Back to see me so soon," she purred, giving Luke a sultry look. "Did you miss me that much?"

You? Never. "Of course," he crooned, shifting his weight and moving closer to the woman, letting the electricity of intimacy guide his movements – he cupped her chin in one hand and brushed off a curl of her hair in the other. "You know I just can't stop thinking about you, it's embarrassing but I . . ." he trailed off and looked away, sucking in a breath through his teeth.

Janet stood there completely enraptured, as if his next words would shatter a web of lies in the woman's life and reveal some grand universal truth.

Luke leaned in close, touching the woman's waist and whispering ever so softly in her ear his usual line. He could feel her twitch beneath his hand when the last silvery words left his tongue, a lustful little moan hitching in her throat.

She looked up at him, just starting to bite down on her lip; shades of pink blossoming on her cheeks. In that moment, she was his.

Luke brought his hand to the small of her back, pinioning the woman against him – letting the heat of their bodies smolder against one another. He leaned in close again, letting his hot breath lick against her supple neck, "I just need one. Small. Favor."

She placed a hand around his waist and whimpered almost imperceptibly, "Anything."

A soft rumble escaped his chest, "Don't be so quick to agree now," he teased. "I need a couple more Oxycotton's, dollface, you think you can do that for me?"

Janet batted her lashes, "I just got you so many," she whispered in disbelief, the lines of her face turning quizzical. "How many more . . . do you need?"

This wasn't going to blow over well. "Not many babe," he brushed his nose against her own softly, a sickly warmth flooding him – he hated having to feign such things, hated not having something real. "Can you do sixty?"

"Sixty?!" She said entirely too loudly, placing a hand over her mouth and shifting her eyes in paranoia.

"Jesus," he murmured, "why don't you just fucking deep throat the intercom and while we're at it I'll get the boys in blue down here. If you thought I was big just wait 'till you feel ten blue inches."

"I can't do that many Lyle!" She hissed, "don't be so mean," she whined.

"Come on Janet," he pressed, his voice turning hard. He entertained the idea of forcing her into doing it, if it were anyone else that'd be their first line of thought. Luke dismissed it; it would be cruel to do such a thing, and wouldn't make sense to risk her getting caught.

"I can't," she repeated in a whine, "I want to baby but I'm already getting grilled for earlier."

Luke sighed in surrender, "You're right," he admitted, "I was asking too much of you," he stepped away from the woman. "I'm gonna get going alright?"

"But," she started, "w-what about what you said?"

"Don't worry," he said, "next time baby, next time." It was always the same promise, and he was sure it always ended in the same heartbreak for them. Marks were marks, no matter what. Getting invested in anyone wasn't his style; the Life was too hectic for that. Except for the woman that was his weakness . . .

Now he needed a plan B.