Say Yes To The Fake Date (How To Win At Love #3)

11. Luciana

11

LUCIANA

I drop my bottle of makeup into the sink basin and cringe at the loud sound of it hitting the porcelain. I hold my hands up, waiting for shards of glass to go everywhere, but instead, the makeup spills out, making a mess. I grip the edge of the sink, close my eyes, and it takes everything in me not to scream. This morning is not a good one. After tossing and turning most of the night, I finally gave up on sleep and spent more time researching Walker’s rehabilitation center online. I’m as prepared as I can be. I’ve looked at everything, and I have some great suggestions for him.

Now if only I could feel as confident about my personal life.

Besides studying Walker’s current websites, I spent a lot of time thinking about everything Dom said to me yesterday. Can I believe what he said? How can I? I mean, has he really gone seventeen years without having sex? That doesn’t seem possible to me unless he’s telling the truth. He just wasn’t physically able to perform.

And then that opens a whole other can of worms. He couldn’t get it up… but he can now… that I’m here.

I reach into the sink and gingerly start to wipe away my mess, but there’s something that I can’t get out of my head. Twice now, since I’ve been back, people have mentioned my parents having something to do with the relationship between Dom and me. And yeah, my parents were always protective, but could it have been more than that?

I finish cleaning up, forgo the foundation, and put on a pressed powder to try and hide the dark bags under my eyes.

It’s still another five minutes before Dom is supposed to get here, but I don’t want him to have to wait, so I head to the front of the house, my briefcase in hand.

My mom looks up from her knitting. “Where are you off to?”

I look at the stone fireplace behind her instead of looking in her face. I’m angry at her, but I’m doing my best to keep the peace since I’m staying here for the foreseeable future. “I have an appointment with a new client.”

She moves to the edge of her seat. “I hear you’ve been hanging out with that Dominic Evans again.”

There’s no denying it. This is Whiskey Run after all, and even though I want to keep the peace, I’m also a full-grown adult that can do—or see—whoever I want. “Yes, he made some room for me in his office to work. I’m doing his website in exchange for him fixing my car.”

She harumphs, shaking her head. “Maybe you forgot, so let me remind you. He is a convicted felon. He cheated on you, and he broke your heart. He hurt you once, and he’ll hurt you again—”

“Mom,” I say pleadingly.

She shakes her head. “No, listen to me, Luciana. He tried to ruin your life before, and I’m not going to stand by and let him do it again. Your dad is gone, but he’d be rolling over in his grave if he knew I let you get mixed up with that man again.”

I take two steps toward the door before stopping suddenly and looking at her. “Mom, did you and Dad have something to do with Dom breaking up with me?”

Her mouth falls open, and her eyes shift, and before she even says a word, I know the truth. “What did you do?”

She leans back in her chair and pulls her craftwork back to her lap. Suddenly, she’s more engrossed in it than me. I walk over to her and sit down. I take a deep breath and do my best to remain calm. “Mom, what did you do?”

She finally looks up at me. “If he was worth anything… if he loved you, he would have fought for you. He’s the one that ended it, Lucy. You need to remember that.”

“What did you do?”

She’s gripping the needles so tightly her knuckles are turning white. “We knew the night he got arrested. Your daddy talked to the sheriff and went to see him in jail. He told him the truth… he told him what he should do if he was any kind of a man.”

My hands form into fists, and I feel hot all over. “Tell me, Mom. What did he do?”

She sets the knitting needles aside and clenches her hands in her lap. “Your daddy told him that he couldn’t offer you any kind of a future. He told him that if he stayed with you that you would be the joke of the town and your future would be over. He told him that if he was any kind of man at all, he would let you go.”

All I can do is stare at her in shock. All this time and I had no idea. Are they why Dom told me that he didn’t want to be with me and that he cheated on me? I probably wouldn’t have believed it then, but now… could this be true?

Speechless, I get up and walk to the door. I’m about to walk out when she stops me. “Luciana… where are you going? Did you not hear a word I said?”

With the door held open, I see Dom’s truck in the driveway. He’s standing next to it, waiting for me, and I know he’s doing it because he doesn’t want to come to the door and cause me any problems with my mom. All this time, has he been trying to protect me?

I look at my mom, unable to hide the anger from my face. “Mom, you say you love me.”

She gasps. “I do love you.”

I softly smile. “But you don’t want me to be in a relationship with a man that would love and protect me… you want me to be with Ray, the man that stole from me and hit me. That’s not love, Mom. ”

Before I say something I can’t take back, I walk out of the house, letting the door slam shut behind me. Dom meets me at the front of his truck and puts his hands on my shoulders. “Hey, hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

I push past him. “Yes, can we go, please?”

He walks around me, opens the door to his truck, and carefully helps me in. I buckle my seatbelt as he walks around and gets into the driver’s side. He grips the steering wheel and lets out a breath. “Honey, I’m sorry. I should have known me picking you up was going to cause problems for you.” He turns in his seat and looks at me. “Look, what do you need from me? I want to help you and to be here for you, but not if it’s going to cause you to be unhappy or ruin your relationship with your mom.”

I sniffle, holding back the tears. Why does this man have to be so nice? I’ve held so much hate for him for so long, and I’m starting to realize that maybe I shouldn’t have. I reach over, but instead of reaching for him, I put my hand on the empty console. “I never thought I’d say this, but I need you, Dom. To be my friend… I don’t know. All I know is that you’re the only one I feel like I can talk to since I got home, and I don’t want to lose that. ”

He smiles at me. “Okay… I can do that. Anything you need or want from me, just ask. I’d give you anything, Lucky. I want you to know that.”

I nod and think about what my mom told me. “Yeah, I think I’m figuring that out.”

He starts his truck and backs out of the driveway. I can see my mom standing in the doorway, watching us, and even from here, I can feel the disapproval coming off her.

We get almost to the edge of town when Dom fills the silence. “You ready for this?”

I blow out a breath. “As ready as I’m going to be.”

He just laughs. “You’re going to be awesome. You got this, Lucky.”

As we pull into the parking lot for the rehabilitation center, I look out at the building and the gardens surrounding it and realize that the pictures on the website don’t do it justice. I’ll definitely add that to the list.

We don’t have to wait long at all. As soon as we get to Walker’s office, we’re led inside where he’s waiting for us. I’ve seen him one time before when I was in town for a brief time, visiting my parents. He stands up, walks around the desk, and comes toward me with his hand out. “Luciana Raven. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

I put my hand in his. “Walker, it’s so nice to finally meet you.”

He then moves to Dom and shakes his hand with a squeeze of the shoulder too. “Dom, good to see you, man.”

“You too, brother.”

Walker releases Dom and walks back around to his chair. “Have a seat. Thanks for coming so soon, Luciana. I’ve been meaning to update the website, but it keeps getting put on the back burner.”

I wave my hand in front of me as I sit down. “Oh, it’s my pleasure. Thanks for meeting with me.” I reach into my briefcase to pull out my notepad. “So I looked at your online presence, and I have quite a few ideas on updating the website.”

When I raise back up, Walker holds his hands up. “I want to hire you.”

My mouth falls open, and I look over at Dom, who’s just openly smiling at me. Walker continues. “I’ve seen your work. I look into anyone that I’m thinking about hiring. You’re innovative, creative, loyal, and a hard worker. Your websites have been known to increase productivity, social attention, and the bottom line.” He reaches for a piece of paper and hands it over to me. “Everything is on there. Your duties, what would be expected of you and your pay, holidays, insurance, etc.”

I look at the large amount, and my mouth falls open. “But…”

“Give it a day to think about it. I know you didn’t plan on moving back to Whiskey Run, and even though you can work in an office here or at home or anywhere in town, I would like to have you close because we do have fundraisers that will need coverage for social media.” He gestures to the paper. “But any of this is negotiable. Take a look at it and let me know if you have any questions. My personal number is at the bottom. Just give me a call with your questions and when you make your decision.”

I just stare at him wide-eyed before I pull myself together. “Thank you for this. I’ll look everything over and let you know.”

Walker leans on his desk. “As a future employee, I feel like I should let you know that your partner is stealing from you.”

My cheeks heat, but I’m not shocked. “You mean now… he’s trying to steal the company from me?”

He shakes his head. “No, I mean he’s been laundering money out of the business and stealing from you for years.”

Today has already been a roller coaster of emotions, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. “Okay, thanks for letting me know. I just… thanks.”

Dom reaches over and wraps his hand around my arm and squeezes it before taking the attention off me. “So, Walker, you got that check for me to sign?”

Walker laughs. “You mean a check for you to take with you and deposit into your account?”

Walker shoves a check toward Dom, and he flips it over and signs the back of it before sliding it back to Walker.

Walker just shakes his head. “I’m not sure what kind of business you’re running, but you make more money when you actually accept payment for services.”

“And I told you that I’m not going to accept your money. I’m perfectly happy that you make the donation to the women’s shelter each month.”

Walker taps his knuckles on the desk. “When I asked you to do a class every month about standard car maintenance for women in town, I didn’t mean for you to do it for free. ”

“Trust me, Walker. I’m fine with volunteering my time.”

Walker nods and gives in. “Okay, fine. Are you coming to the fundraiser this weekend?”

Dom grumbles but nods his head. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

Walker turns to me. “You’re invited, of course. It would be a great way to meet everyone.”

“Come with me,” Dom says. He reaches for me but pulls back at the last second.

Because I don’t know what to say, I look at Walker. “I’ll be in touch, Walker. Thank you so much for this opportunity.”

Dom walks with me to the door but stops before we go out. “Do you care if I talk to Walker for a minute?”

I smile. “Of course. I’ll be down in the gardens.”

He opens the door and closes it behind me. As I make my way outside, instead of thinking about the job offer, I think about Dom and the fact he volunteers his time to teach women in the community about car maintenance. I’m not surprised, and it explains the amount of women that come into his garage.