House Of Memories [CEO!Luke]

Chapter 13

You lost count of the many times Luke tried to talk you into letting him drive you home. And the many times he tried to pay for your coffee or your food, whenever the meeting lasted late into the night.

In the midst of seeing him of all those nights and laughing with him until the sun rose or the restaurant staff had to forcefully ask you to leave, you also forgot to remind yourself to stop falling for him.

Luke's wide smile was ever as charming, and his loud laugh ever as exciting. His blue eyes seemed to get deeper and deeper the longer you'd stared at them across the table, and his skin got warmer the more you'd touched it.

It'd be stupid to say Luke didn't feel the way you looked at him when you thought he was too busy talking on the phone, or the way you'd let his touch linger just above your skin for half a second longer each time. And it'd be even stupider to say he didn't fall too.

He no longer tried to stop himself from hungrily glancing at your lips whenever you leaned closer to him, or kept his distance when leading you to his car. He tried to convince himself nothing bad is going to come out of this and maybe it was naive, but deep down he believed this might turn into something good.

But it was when one day Luke called you in the early afternoon to inform you he'd have to cancel your meeting, did you finally catch yourself falling for him again.

"What's going on?" You asked carefully, feeling your stomach fall at Luke's monotonous voice.

"It's nothing, it's just... We can't meet," he paused shortly, not helping your racing heart. "I think I have a cold." He finally explained and you could almost feel the shyness that coated Luke's words.

He doesn't get sick. He's the CEO now, he can't get sick - or at least that's what he would always tell you whenever he'd get as much as a stuffy nose, come first cold of the year.

You felt yourself release a sigh, a chuckle following right after, "You scared me."

"Why?"

Pausing, you quickly gathered yourself together, thinking your answer over. "I thought something serious had happened."

It was only half the truth. But he didn't have to know that.

"And you don't think my cold is serious?" Luke's playful voice loudly rung through the speaker, eliciting another laugh from deep in your chest.

"It doesn't sound too bad, if you still have the energy to shout like that," you point out. "Do you want me to come over and bring you medicine? Or some soup?"

"Will you cook it?" You could almost hear him smile on the other end of the phone.

"Of course not."

"Then what's the point! The soup is supposed to be homemade, warm and full of love to work," he teased. "And I don't want you to get infected," you heard him shuffling - he must've been turning in bed. "Besides, we have been meeting almost every day these past two weeks. I need to give you a chance to miss me."

Luke's tone sent shivers down your spine and if the thought of smacking him wasn't distracting you, then you might've admitted to feeling the warmth spread in your chest.

"I'm coming over with soup." You finished.

"No!" Luke's voice was louder this time, "I will not answer the door-"

"I still have the keys. I'm coming over whether you like it or not, babe," this time it was you who grinned teasingly, even though you knew Luke couldn't even see it anyway.

Except your tease wasn't what caught Luke's attention. Instead, the warm nickname kept ringing in his ears.

It shouldn't have mattered so much - you've been calling him 'babe' for weeks now. Of course, it was always taunting, even threatening; always used to pierce Luke's heart or prick at his conscience, but never to soothe him and make him feel warm.