Luke took a step toward her chair, his smoky gray eyes flickering with anger and disbelief. His dark brown hair was a little longer, falling onto his forehead in a way it hadn’t the last time she’d seen him. When had that been?
Bitterness tugged at her throat. Right, two years ago. At her and Scott’s engagement party. He’d been in the middle of an assignment, but he’d made a brief appearance. Stopped by before any of the guests arrived, wished her and Scottie well, and then disappeared. She hadn’t seen or heard from him since, which meant he really had no right storming into her life like this and making demands.
“Are you going to answer the question?” he demanded, standing in front of her with his hands on his lean hips.
“Are you going to answer mine?” she shot back.
Luke’s body stiffened in a sexy way that made his wide chest contract against the snug black T-shirt he wore. He was still as broad and powerful as ever, a fact that didn’t escape her. She’d fantasized about that hard body many times during her teenage years.
“Why are you dressed up like that? Why the hell are you in this damn town? Why are you strutting around half-naked on the stage of a second-rate club?” His questions fired out like bullets from a rifle.
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She’d also forgotten how commanding—and demanding—this man could be. “I’m not answering anything until you tell me why you’re here.”
His eyes darkened. “I’m here to take you home.”
“Forget it.”
Rising from the chair, she walked to the other side of the room, where she grabbed her robe from one of the hooks on the wall. She wouldn’t talk to him while wearing this skimpy outfit. She wouldn’t give him the upper hand.
She slipped on the robe and tightened the sash, then turned to glance at Luke. He looked furious.
“This isn’t the time to be stubborn, Elenore. Get dressed. We’re going back to San Francisco.”
“No, we’re not, Lucas.”
She didn’t appreciate him talking to her like an insolent child. He’d always treated her like a kid, since the day she’d met him. And sure, she was only twenty-four, six years younger than Luke, but that didn’t give him the right to order her around.
“Seriously, Ellie, you won’t win. I’m not leaving this goddamned town until you pack up your things and come home with me.”
“Then I guess you’ll be staying around for a long time, won’t you?” She used the sweetest voice she could muster.
He let out a growl and she almost grinned at the sheer exasperation in his eyes. Riling him up had always been one of her favorite pastimes. She’d had such a crush on him when she was younger, and since he’d never paid a single morsel of attention to her, the only way she’d gotten him to notice her was by irritating him. As the years passed, she hadn’t been able to kick the habit of getting under Luke’s skin. Making him crazy. Not so much for the power trip it provided but for the satisfaction she got knowing she affected him.
“So,” she continued, strolling back to the vanity and reaching for a hairbrush, “you can tell my brother he’s wasted everyone’s time by sending you here.”
Luke didn’t answer.
“What, you think I don’t know Joshua is behind this?” She ran the brush through her long hair and arched a taunting brow in Luke’s direction.
“He’s just worried about you,” Luke finally said, his husky voice quiet.
Her hand faltered for a moment, nearly dropping the hairbrush, but she tried to regain her composure. She knew Josh was worried about her, had been ever since the car accident that had put a screeching halt to her ballet career. And after Scott had broken off their engagement, Josh’s worry only increased.
Rather than being supportive and patient, however, he’d kept pushing her to get over it. Like she ever could. Josh didn’t know the whole story, but the parts he did should’ve made him realize she wasn’t ready to forget. In one split-second her entire world had crashed down around her, and her brother wanted her to pretend it never happened?
She’d grown so tired of Josh’s pressure, so tired of waking up every morning knowing the grim reality of her future. So she’d left. Packed up her bags and moved to a place where no one knew her, where no one had any expectations of her, where there were no reminders of what she’d lost.
She should’ve known her peaceful existence would be disturbed.
“He doesn’t need to worry about me.” She set down the hairbrush and reached for an elastic band, then tied her hair up in a loose ponytail.
“Really?” Luke raised one dark brow. “After what I just saw, I’d say Josh has plenty to worry about. How could you put yourself on display like that?”
Her lips tightened. “I was just dancing.”
“Dancing? You call shaking your ass dancing? You call flashing your tits in the faces of drunken men dancing?”
Fury began pumping through her blood. “Excuse me? I did no such thing!”