Feels Like Falling (Dangerous Love Book 5) Read online

  Luke closed his eyes as her plea registered. He leaned in and kissed her, but not on the lips…never the lips.

  Chapter Two

  Peyton

  “Hey, honey. I’m so sorry I’m running late. I just went twelve rounds with the car rental guy at the airport, but I’m on my way.” Peyton switched lanes and pressed on the accelerator of her modest four-door sedan.

  “No worries. If you want to cancel, I’ll underst…”

  “Oh no. Nice try, Lainey. You are not getting out of this that easily. The Lucrezia Winery is supposedly the place to have a wedding. I’ve never been there before, but every magazine boasts about its…”

  “Peyton, I said I would go with you to look. I’m not making any promises.”

  Peyton held her breath and waited. Any second now, her twenty-six-year-old sister would backpedal and then call the whole thing off. Lainey was always the shy one, the sister who was content to fly beneath the radar and blend in. It didn’t appear to bother her that she only had a couple of friends and rarely went out and let loose. She would rather stay home, write stories and drink coffee. Peyton used to believe that her sister’s agoraphobic tendencies were unhealthy, but who was she to judge? Her life wasn’t exactly picture perfect. At twenty-eight years old, she herself was downright unhappy with her career and her shitty, nonexistent love life. At least Lainey was living out her dream of being a writer and creating worlds that middle school kids and young adults could escape to.

  Surprisingly the rejection never came, and Peyton seized the opportunity and distracted her sister with the one subject she didn’t mind talking about. “Was Walt able to get off work tonight?”

  Lainey sighed and then said, “No, but he told me to go for it if I like the venue.”

  “That man of yours would marry you in a landfill if that was what you wanted.”

  Lainey giggled but didn’t contest the statement. Walt was the real deal. The man was kind, handsome, and a firefighter, which was hot as hell…and patient. Peyton still couldn’t get over the fact that Walt and Lainey hadn’t had sex yet and that it had been his idea to abstain. He was a traditional guy and wanted to wait until his wedding night to make love to his wife. It was sweet and refreshing to know that men like him actually existed.

  But what was absolutely adorable and swoon-worthy was how they had met. In Lainey’s senior year in college, her roommate had left for a party while Lainey stayed in and worked on one of her stories. Unfortunately—and fortunately—her roommate had forgotten to blow out the Yankee candle burning in her room and because it was unattended for so long, the room and half the apartment had gone up in flames. Walt and his squad had arrived within minutes and battled the fire, but not before he found Lainey and rescued her like one of the heroes from her novels.

  “So what happened with the car rental guy? Let me guess, he didn’t believe you? He thought you were a Peyton Matthews impersonator?”

  “The man made me produce five forms of ID. Which, like an ass, I provided. But he still wasn’t happy, and the next thing I know his supervisor was called over and confirmed my identity in less than a second.”

  “I take it the supervisor is a fan of yours?”

  “I guess,” she said, growing uncomfortable. Peyton wanted to get off this subject quickly. Tonight belonged to Lainey. “Hey, you’re going to love my new set of wheels. Be prepared to ride in style.”

  “Oh no. It’s not too flashy, is it? You know I hate…”

  “Relax. You’ll love it. No one will recognize us…trust me.” If her so-called friends could see her now. Riding around in a car the color of split pea soup. Peyton chuckled and sat back, making herself comfortable in a driver’s seat that was neither heated nor made of leather. Peyton looked down at her attire and her smile grew. Dressed in jeans, boots, sweater, and a puffy white jacket, she no longer looked like she was about to strut down the runway. Her outfit didn’t scream money or highlight her celebrity status. She looked normal and that felt great. “And to put your mind at ease, I booked our appointment under your name, not mine. Just to be safe.”

  “Good thinking. I hate paparazzi.”

  Hate was not a strong enough word. Lainey loathed them. “Alright, sweetie, just getting off at your exit. I’ll be there in a few.”

  Chapter Three

  Luke

  Luke peered at his cell phone and checked the time. He didn’t care that his appointment had stood him up. He wasn’t in the mood anyway to give a tour and plaster on a permagrin. He thought that his trip to Atlantic City the night before would have taken the edge off, but it hadn’t. Actually, the encounter, the meaningless fuck he had engaged in at Eden, only made his frustration grow.

  Luke shook his head and slipped his phone into his pocket. He had changed out of his suit and tie, the typical attire his dad would wear when receiving guests, threw on jeans, boots, and a gray t-shirt and had decided to blow off some steam by chopping firewood. In the past, the activity had the ability to calm him and take his mind off things. Luke looked over at the side yard and stared at the dozen or so iron racks stuffed to capacity with layers of chopped wood. The sight depressed him, but he lifted his ax anyway and started chopping wood that he didn’t need.

  About a half a cord in, Luke heard a car creep along the gravel driveway. He wasn’t expecting any deliveries and his employees had all gone home for the night, so he could only conclude that his appointment had shown up after all. He secured the ax in a tree stump and gave himself a once-over. Despite the frigid temperature, he was sweating like a pig. His gray shirt was soaked through from his “calming” activity and his hands and jeans were covered in dirt. For a split second he thought about running into his house, which sat only fifty yards from the winery and at least change his shirt, but he quickly dismissed that idea.

  Fuck it. They’re the ones who are late. They’ll just have to deal.

  A puke green sedan came to a halt a few feet from him. He had enough time to wipe the sweat off his brow with his forearm before a blonde and a shorter brunette exited the car. He was just about to greet them when the blonde approached and said, “Hi, we have…had…an appointment with Patrick McGinnis to see the winery.”

  At least that was what he thought she had said. His mind stopped processing the words that were coming out of her mouth the moment he saw her eyes. He had seen them before. “Um…is Mr. McGinnis still able to tour us? I’m so sorry we’re late. It’s all my fault…and extremely rude of me.”

  That magazine cover.

  Holy fuck!

  Say something. Anything would be better than just standing here looking like a complete jackass.

  “I’m sorry, but Patrick McGinnis isn’t available at the moment. But I would be happy to show you around.”

  Okay, not great, but not bad.

  “Oh…yeah, sure.” She extended her hand and said, “I’m Peyton and this is my sister Lainey, the beautiful-bride-to-be.” He was in the process of brushing off his dusty hands on his pants when she said, “I don’t mind a little dirt.” His breathing hitched as a playful smirk tugged at her lips. The fact that she didn’t shy away from him in his sweaty, grimy state was the biggest fucking turn-on. He also loved that she looked and spoke like a normal person, not some supermodel who grossed more money than anyone could know what to do with.

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Luke.” He drew back his hand and then introduced himself to the brunette. With her curly, shoulder-length hair and warm chocolate brown eyes, Lainey was definitely pretty, but she looked nothing like her sister. Peyton’s blonde hair flowed in waves down her back and those fucking eyes…he couldn’t get enough of them. They weren’t exactly aqua, but somewhere between emerald and sky blue.

  “Like Peyton said, I’m Lainey, the bride-to-be.”

  She shook his hand, but there was something lacking when he touched her. Confidence. Lainey didn’t exhibit the same level of self-assurance as Peyton did when she spoke. Maybe it was because Peyton was used to being in
the limelight and in front of cameras…in front of men who gawked at her. He quickly dismissed that disturbing visual and said, “Well, welcome to Lucrezia. Let’s go in.”

  Luke led the women into the main ballroom. He was certain that he wasn’t following his dad’s tour guide script. Knowing his dad, he probably took the time to engage in small talk, ask the bride her expectations regarding the big day and shit like that. But he couldn’t bring himself to do what came so naturally to his dad. All he wanted to do was show these women the venue and send them on their way…far away from him. Like a robot he spat off the room’s dimensions and how many guests it could accommodate. He was just about to provide more detail about the winery’s layout when he noticed all the color rush from Lainey’s face. He looked down and saw that her petite hands were shaking. It took less than a second for Peyton to read her sister. She grabbed Lainey’s hand and walked her over to the wall of windows. Although they were over ten feet away, he could still hear the gist of their conversation.

  “I…I need to get out of here, Peyton.”

  “No, just give it a chance. I know it’s big…a little overwhelming, but can’t you imagine how beautiful your wedding could be here, with the vineyards as a backdrop, your guests dancing…”

  “That’s just it! I don’t want hundreds of people staring at me! I just want to marry Walt, not participate in some grand performance!” Lainey’s face regained its color and now it was a fiery red. Her hands still shook, not from fear or anxiety this time, but from what looked like pure rage.

  “But I want to give you the wedding of your dreams. I want you to have everything because you deserve that…you deserve to be happy,” Peyton said.

  The desperation in her voice struck him as if he had been physically assaulted and before he knew it, he was walking over to the two sisters and interrupting what was supposed to be a private moment between them. “Lainey, there is another room I would like to show you. It’s much more…intimate…than this one. Do you want to have a look?” he asked, offering his arm. “Wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t take it though, being that I’m all sweaty.”

  Lainey wiped away a tear and then gave him a sheepish smile. “My fiancé is a firefighter. I’m not afraid of a little sweat.” To his surprise, Lainey took his arm and he led her to the Winter Room, but not before glancing over at Peyton. With her mouth hanging open, she stood in stunned silence as he walked Lainey into his favorite room at the winery.

  “My God, it’s absolutely beautiful!”

  He didn’t want to brag, considering it was his winery after all, but this room was stunning. Hearing Lainey’s approval meant a lot to him. He and his dad had worked hard to ensure that this space was built for what it was intended to be. A room where two people could pledge their love, vow to love each other until death without the pomp and circumstance and whistles and bells. It could hold up to fifty people, but Luke recalled most of the weddings celebrated in this room catered to far fewer. A typical wedding in this room, like the one that was held last week, had consisted of the bride and groom, their parents and a handful of friends. A minister had pronounced the young couple husband and wife in front of the large fireplace. Immediately after, the small party had relaxed with hors d’oeuvres and cocktails as they took in the view of the vineyards. White lights and candles had been the room’s sole source of light as the guests moved on to dinner and slow dancing. It had been eloquent and tasteful and every bit about the bride and groom.

  Lainey let go of his arm and rushed down the small aisle. There were about twenty chairs set up, ten or so on each side of the aisle leading up to the fireplace. When she reached the end, she turned and smiled. “This is it, Peyton. This is where I become Mrs. Walt O’Connor!” Luke heard Peyton’s sudden intake of breath. He wanted to look over and gauge Peyton’s total response, but he didn’t for some reason. A few seconds later, Peyton cleared her throat and joined her sister. Lainey was all smiles and happy tears as she talked a mile a minute about the room’s picturesque views and the charming touches that she couldn’t wait for Walt to see. Luke was just about to duck out and give the sisters a moment to themselves when he saw Peyton walking toward him. Lainey was now on her cell phone and telling the person on the other line that she had found “our place.” He could only assume she was talking to her fiancé.

  “Thank you,” Peyton said.

  The appreciation behind those two words did something to him. He could have said that he was only doing his job, that he had planned all along on showing her and Lainey both rooms, but he didn’t.

  “She looks happy,” Luke said, looking over at Lainey. She was still on the phone and was now on the move and taking her conversation outside to the connecting patio.

  “Yes. And her happiness is everything to me,” Peyton said.

  Her words snapped him to attention and he met her gaze. Her tone was absolute but somber at the same time. It was painfully clear where she stood. Her sister’s needs trumped all. There was nothing in this world that was more important. “Well, let’s get her married then.” He pulled out his phone and scrolled to his dad’s Outlook calendar. “The first available date is next November.”

  Peyton’s face fell. “That’s almost a year away. I know she was hoping…” Her voice trailed off as she looked down at her feet. “I’m sorry. I should have expected that, being how popular it is to get married here. Please pencil us in. We’ll be in touch.”

  Luke watched Peyton retrieve Lainey from the patio and walk toward her car. He thought he would begin to breathe normally once she was out of his presence and had put some distance between them. But his anxiety didn’t lessen nor did his arousal. He had been fighting off a hard-on since she had arrived and that needed to be taken care of immediately.

  ***

  Peyton

  “Seatbelt on,” Peyton mouthed to her sister.

  Lainey was still talking to Walt on the phone as she slipped into the passenger seat. Peyton was just about to put on her own seatbelt when she saw Luke trotting across the grounds and entering what appeared to be a residence.

  “Shit, I forgot to ask,” Lainey told Walt.

  Her sister’s expletive grabbed Peyton’s attention since she rarely cursed. “What’s wrong?” Peyton asked.

  “Is the Winter Room even available? I was so excited that I didn’t bother to ask.”

  Peyton didn’t want to tell her that the first available date was nearly a year away. Something had to be done. There was no way she was going to let her sister down. “Um…yeah, it’s available. I just need to confirm something with Luke. I’ll…I’ll be right back.”

  Lainey nodded. The trust in Lainey’s gaze only fueled Peyton’s determination to get out of the car and speak with the man she’d had trouble breathing around for the past thirty minutes.

  Peyton knocked on the door and waited impatiently. She thought of how disappointed her sister would be if she didn’t find a way to move up the wedding date, and that prompted Peyton to ring the doorbell this time and follow it up with a few more knocks.

  The door abruptly swung open bringing her face-to-face with Luke. Although he was still wearing those beautiful ass-hugging jeans of his, his boots and sweaty shirt were gone and she fought like hell to remember why she was on this man’s porch. “Um…I uh…I’m sorry to disturb you, but I was wondering if there was any way…any other wedding dates available? I’ll do anything. Maybe if I could speak with the owner, he would…”

  Although he was shirtless and barefoot, Luke stepped out into the cold, frigid air and closed the door behind him. She thought it was odd that he would rather freeze than ask her inside to talk. “You want to speak with the owner? Go right ahead.” Luke stood there with a slight smirk on his face. “Patrick McGinnis, the man you previously spoke with when making this appointment, is my father and the co-owner of Lucrezia.”

  Part of her wanted to be pissed at him. For some reason she felt betrayed, like he had intentionally kept his owner status a secret
from her. But then shame moved in and diluted her anger. She was embarrassed that she had assumed he was just some employee, an accommodating one who showed them around and extinguished Lainey’s mounting attack before it took over. She was better than that. She shouldn’t have assumed just because he was dressed casually and chopping wood like a sexy lumberjack that he couldn’t run a successful winery.

  “You live here?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  He didn’t offer anything else. Like if he lived alone or had a wife and kids. No, he gave her nothing but a penetrating gaze that made her knees want to buckle beneath her. She didn’t like how he affected her. No, scrap that. She hated that he made her feel anything at all. She needed to leave, but first she had to get what she had come for and if that meant playing dirty then so be it. “Listen, money isn’t an issue here. I will pay anything to give my sister the wedding of her dreams.” She never resorted to such a tactic to get what she wanted, but when it came to Lainey, all bets were off.

  “Peyton, I know who you are. This has nothing to do with money. Maybe some people would use your celebrity status against you, make you feel that you need to whip out your credit card in order to get what you want, but that’s not how I work.”

  He knows who you are. And he doesn’t give a shit that you’re famous.

  “I…um…I don’t know what to say. I promise you that I don’t typically try to buy or bully people. I just…well, Lainey is just so happy. I know you might not understand…”

  “I do understand, Peyton,” he said quickly. Luke raked his fingers though his thick dark hair. “And that is why I’ll take a look at the wedding schedule again and see if there is any wiggle room, a cancellation I’m not aware of.”

  She wanted to hug him. Hell, she wanted to do a whole lot more than that but gave him a smile instead. “Thanks, that would be great! Your dad took my contact info when I booked tonight’s appointment. The appointment is under Lainey’s name, but I’m kind of handling things…the wedding stuff. So, yeah, if you come up with another date feel free to call me.” She knew she was rambling. But she wasn’t at all used to a man looking at her the way he was right now. He wasn’t staring at her boobs or her ass. He wasn’t showering her with compliments or feeding her one bullshit line after another. His focus remained on her eyes as if he was trying to see through her, to the woman who everyone thought they knew. The woman the media had made her out to be. “Or maybe we could talk more this weekend since I’ll be here for the shoot.”