Book of Luke (Book 2) (7 page)

Sullivan shrugged. “Thanks.”

As expected, Burke’s mocha hair was a mess,
his jawline was covered in stubble, and his friendly blue eyes
twinkled. He wore black dress pants, a white shirt, a black tie,
and an overcoat. A smile crossed his face. “Hello, young lady,” he
said to me, in his heavy German accent.

“Hi, Burke!” I said enthusiastically.

He put his hand out for my father, and when
Dad reached to shake, Burke pulled him to his feet. “Ah, and it is
very nice to see you again, Paul,” Burke said, grinning.

“Likewise,” Dad said with a light smile,
eyeing Luke.

Then no one said a thing.

Dressed in khaki pants, a white tee shirt
and his black leather jacket, Luke looked seriously hot. And
nervous. “Hi, Mr. Morrison,” he said with a light wave, breaking
the silence.

My dad’s smile had evaporated, and by now he
was glaring. “Hi, Luke.”

“
Paul,”
Mom scorned, shooting him a
look. She smiled at Luke’s mom, who seemed to know what was going
through Dad’s paranoid head.

Mrs. Jacobson reached up and hugged Luke.
“Behave yourself,” she hinted, her eyes gliding toward my
father.

Luke grinned. “Do I ever not?”

Mrs. Jacobson pinched his cheek, turning it
red. “Lucky for you I won’t answer that, Lukasz.”

Burke laughed and patted Luke on the back.
“Leave the boy alone! He’s a… ah…” He struggled as usual to find
the right word, spinning a finger toward the ceiling. “He’s a
saint!” he said, with a snap of the fingers.

Luke pointed to Burke. “And
he’s
always right.”

“Well,” my father grumbled. “I hear you’re
staying in Swiss Montana, at a ski resort there. I got my daughter
her own room.”

“Awesome!” Luke said. “Now I won’t have to
sleep outside.”

Burke chuckled. “They will be all right,
Paul. No worries, yes?”

Dad nodded and looked at me. “I’ll be
checking in often,” he assured me.

“Dad, I’ll be skiing.”

Dad’s eyes ballooned. “At night?”

“
Paul
,” Mom scorned again, eyes
wide.

“Lukasz is a good boy. He’ll take care of
her,” Mrs. Jacobson told Dad. Then she hugged me. I could feel her
tears on my neck—tears I hadn’t even noticed. She kissed my cheek.
“I’ll miss you, honey.”

She’s so motherly, I couldn’t resist but to
squeeze her tight. I closed my eyes; her scent was relaxing,
too.

When I next glanced at Mom, she looked
almost hurt.

“Mrs. Jacobson?” I breathed, letting her go.
“Take it easy on Lilly.”

She shook her head. “I’m
always
easy
on Lilly. I think for once maybe I should be more strict.” Her hand
touched my cheek. “You’re such a good friend.”

They announced over the loudspeaker that our
flight would be boarding soon. My heart skipped a few beats, and I
looked at Luke. He looked at me almost hungrily—I could tell he was
trying to hide it.

“They’re boarding,” my father said in a
desperate, quaking voice. He looked to my mom. “Mary, they’re
boarding.”

Mom rolled her eyes and hugged Luke. “You
have a safe trip, Luke. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to
call, day or night.”

Luke hugged her uncertainly, still looking
at my dad. “No problem,” he said. “And thank you.”

Dad’s hand went to his chest. “They’re
boarding,” he wheezed. “He’s taking my little girl away. They’re
boarding…”

Mom glared at him. “Yes, Paul, they’re
boarding
.
She’s not a little girl, she’s eighteen years old.
Get a grip,
” she growled.

Sullivan gave Luke a high-five and chuckled.
“Don’t worry, Dad, Luke packed a blow-up doll! Didn’t you,
Luke?”

Utter. Silence.

Luke turned white.

Mom gasped.

Burke looked like he was trying to figure
out what a blow-up doll was.

Dad stooped over to catch his breath.

And Sullivan’s smile shrank.

“Is her name
Megan
?” I taunted.

Sullivan put his hands up in defeat.

Mom smacked him over the head. “Guess who’s
cleaning his room all weekend, young man!”

Sullivan knitted his eyebrows. “Who?”

Luke snuck up beside me and took my hand,
almost uncertainly. He smiled at my dad. “I’ll take good care of
her, Mr. Morrison. I promise.”

Dad stood up and forced a smile. “I’m sure
you will,” he grumbled.

After another of Mom’s glares, Dad said,
“Thank you, Luke.”

“Have a fun trip, Luke.” Mom nudged her
glasses down the bridge of her nose and looked at me over them.
“That goes for you too, sweetheart.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

On the second announcement, Burke grabbed my
duffel bags. “It is time to go, young lady.” He patted my dad on
the shoulder. “My lecture is only one day. I will ah… look after
her personally. She’ll be okay.”

Dad nodded. “I appreciate it, Burke. I will
call you to check on her, then.”

Burke nodded. “Anytime, Paul, anytime.” He
kissed his wife. “See you in a few days, yes, Gwen?”

Mrs. Jacobson nodded and wiped her eyes. She
waved as we stepped in line to go through screening.

Luke gripped my waist and glanced back at my
parents. I was
elated
. Nothing could describe how I felt at
that moment—free? Adventurous? Unable to believe it was
happening?

Unwilling to ever return?

“Lukasz,” Burke lectured, slapping Luke’s
arm. “Keep your hands to yourself until we are out of her father’s
view, yes? We don’t want the man to have a heart attack.”

Luke let go of me, peeking back at my dad.
“Sorry, Burke.”

“Your dad hates me,” Luke mumbled with a
glance and a shy smile.

“No,” I said. “I think he’s mostly just
paranoid.”

He squeezed my hand tighter, leaned into my
ear and breathed, “About stuff that’s already happened?”

I chuckled. “Yeah!”

“I take it you still didn’t tell him we’re
moving in together.”

“Not yet.”

“Can’t imagine what his reaction to
that
will be;
this
is just five days.” His eyes
rolled down my body and he licked his lips. “You look amazing.”

I blushed. “Thanks. You, too.”
As
always.

Luke grinned and walked through the metal
detector. I followed him.

Burke grabbed our carry-on bags and we
checked our luggage.

“Adonia, are you okay?” Burke asked as we
waited in line to board.

“Never been better,” I said, although I felt
a bit nervous. It just sunk in that I’d be traveling halfway around
the world, without speaking a word of anything but English.

As we boarded the plane, the flight
attendant checking tickets also checked out my boyfriend. No
surprise.

To my delight, our seats were in back of
first class—and comfy black leather—three rows behind Burke’s. I
got the window seat!

I sat in it anxiously and gazed at the
mountain range outside the window.

Luke sat beside me and buckled his belt.
“You look a bit antsy,” he noted.

I looked at him. “I just can’t believe I’m
here!”

He grinned. “Well I’ve done this a lot.” Our
eyes brushed. “Travel, I mean. To me it’s just another trip, except
with a beautiful girl.” He leaned back in his seat. “And a really
cool stepdad.”

I breathed deeply. “So we’re going to
Zurich?”

He nodded. “Then it’s about 120 miles to
this place in Crans-Montana.” He leaned into my ear. “The hotel is
awesome.”

I grew even more excited, if that’s even
possible. “You’ve stayed there before?”

“Yup.”

I fell silent, and he looked at me. Then, as
if he’d read my mind, he added,

“When I stayed at the resort, I stayed
alone. Even the time my Dad went, he got me my own room in case he
met a lady.”

“And he did?” I expected.

Luke pursed his lips. “Yeah.”

I laughed. “I can easily believe that.”

He took my hand just as the seatbelt light
came on at the front of the plane. Everyone started buckling up.
“It’s one of the few times we went skiing together, and he barely
even skied.”

I squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. After a thoughtful moment, he
wrapped an arm around my neck. “It’s okay. Now I get to go with
you, and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather go with.”

I rested my head on his shoulder. He smelled
seriously freakin’ delicious.

“Did you ever go with friends?”

“Sure,” he breathed, resting his head
against mine. “I usually stayed with their grandparents when I did.
It felt nice to have a real family for a while.”

The flight attendant gave instructions on
use of the oxygen masks, and before long we were taking off. My
breath stopped as the plane glided along the runway. I felt a rush
of emotion, namely excitement and fear. Excitement because I was
leaving with
him
; fear because we might crash to our
deaths.

That would ruin my vacation.

“Care for a drink?” a thin, blonde flight
attendant asked a few minutes later. She stopped her beverage cart
by our row and eyed Luke’s… everything.

“Coffee?” Luke breathed.

“Sure!” She handed him a cup and looked to
me. “How about you?”

“Hot chocolate, please.”

She fixed my drink in silence and gave it to
me. Her eyes rolled down Luke’s arms one more time and she headed
to the next row.

“She was checking you out,” I whispered,
looking for a reaction. You would think he’d notice, but he doesn’t
really
act
like he does, even when the girls swoon in the
hall. Maybe he just acts like he doesn’t when I’m around? Or maybe
he doesn’t know he’s hot.

Stranger things have happened.

He laughed, but didn’t look at me.

“What?” I asked, grinning ear-to-ear.

“Most girls will check out anyone.” Our eyes
brushed and he shrugged. “I’m just your average Luke.”

“
Average” in a room of male
models!

He pulled my neck in with his bulky arm. “I
see guys checking you out all the time.”

I laughed. Yeah, right!

“It’s true,” he said, breathing in my
ear.

I put my hot chocolate down and nestled my
head against his shoulder. His scent was comforting. The adrenaline
from takeoff made me sleepy—my eyes were closing.

He kissed my forehead. “I love you.”

~ ~ ~

Luke’s beeping phone jolted me awake. I caught a
glimpse of something on its screen, but he put the phone away
before I could process it.

“Hey, Beautiful. We’re in Seattle.”

I sat up and grabbed my aching neck. “How
long will we be here?”

He unbuckled his seatbelt, got to his feet
and grabbed our bags. “Ninety minutes.”

Burke came up to us with his bag. “Are you
hungry, Luke? Adonia?”

I nodded.

“We can grab something to eat in the
airport, yes?”

“Sure,” Luke said. He reached into his
pocket for his beeping phone and turned it off.

I stressed about who was on it, because it
seemed like he didn’t want me to see it.

We walked through the terminal to a burger
joint, where a graying old lady with a husky voice took our order.
“Drinks?” she asked dryly.

“I want a milkshake,” I said, digging
through my wallet. Dad gave me five hundred bucks for spending, but
I had no clue if they’d take a hundred-dollar bill.

“What’s wrong?” Luke breathed.

“I don’t know if they’ll take a hundred
dollars,” I whispered, just in time to find a five.

“Um, well I was going to pay for it.”

“I got it,” I said, and the lady rung me up.
“Thanks anyway.”

Luke and Burke ordered their food, and Luke
was the first to sit next to me at a tiny round table. “You’re not
eating?”

I looked at him uncomfortably. “I’m just
thirsty.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Is something
wrong?”

This conversation was beginning to feel all
too familiar. But I couldn’t tell him his phone was making me
anxious—I didn’t want to be a pain in the ass girlfriend.

I smiled and shook my head, but I had the
feeling I wasn’t very convincing. I had that feeling because I
wanted to cry, and he was bound to notice.

“Oh,” he said, looking confused.

Burke sat with us, distributing our food. “A
burger for you, young lady.”

I stared at it, then looked at Luke. He
smiled and nudged my foot under the table. After a moment, I gave
in and nudged his back.

“Thanks, I guess,” I said to Burke.

“God knows what they will be serving on the
flight to London; it is nine hours long. You should eat, just in
case,” Burke said, adding mustard to his burger.

I smiled weakly. “Okay.”

“Is everything all right?” Burke stared at
me.

I looked to him, and my eyes glided to Luke.
“Where is your astronomy lecture going to be?” I asked, to get off
the subject of
me
.

“Zurich. It’s a guest lecture, it will not
take long.”

“So they’re paying you to travel there just
for one lecture?”

He nodded. “In the past, I have been paid to
travel twenty-four hours to South Africa to watch a solar eclipse
for an hour and fly home.”

“Wow,” I said, impressed.

He nodded. “Yes, the flight was very… ah…
very boring. But it was worth it.”

“I’m sure,” I said, noticing Luke’s lustful
glance. It’s hard not to love that look in his eyes—and it helps
that I only see it when he’s looking at me.

I sighed, kind of hoping he’d lose his
phone.

When our eyes met again, Luke blew me a
kiss. Unable to help myself, I grinned.

“When do you start college?” Burke asked,
biting his burger.

I cleared my throat. “I’ve changed my mind.
I don’t think I’m going to attend.” Not since the chancellor
called.

“That’s a shame,” Burke said. “What are you
going to do, then?”