Lucifer's Lover by Tracy Cooper-Posey Page B

I’m any judge when there’s a master craftsman in the room.”
    He shook his head. “Followed by a compliment. I should distract you more often, Lynds.” He frowned. “You did it again. What was I saying?”
    “You were commenting on the adequacy of my distraction. More than, I believe you said.”
    “No, I mean what was I saying before the distraction itself?”
    She turned her head a little, avoiding his gaze. “I don’t remember.”
    He was silent for a long moment. She felt his hand under her chin, turning her face back to look at him. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.”
    “I can’t help not remembering.”
    His eyes had taken on the dark, glittering intensity she remembered from before they had made love the first time. He shook his head a little. “You remember, Lynds. You just don’t want to discuss it. So tell me why can’t I take the directorship? Tell me how it will screw up your life if I do and maybe we can work it out.”
    “We can’t.”
    “Tell me,” he coaxed. “You know I’m a good listener at the very least.”
    It was so tempting to tell him. The need to explain herself, so that someone would understand all that she had achieved and everything she was working toward, was almost overwhelming.
    But it was the small, nagging doubt that Luke wouldn’t understand that stopped her. She couldn’t risk being belittled, or worse, seeing condescension in his eyes.
    “Tell me,” he murmured and kissed her forehead. “I won’t laugh. I won’t tell anyone else.”
    She closed her eyes. It was easier that way. “I have to make general manager of the hotel by my birthday.”
    “ Have to ?” There was no incredulity there. Just simple interest.
    “Yes. And it doesn’t count if they take PR away from me and give it to you. It’s all laid out, you see. Director of marketing—including PR—then general manager by twenty-eight, head of the PR department at head office in New York by thirty-two, vice president by thirty-seven, CEO by forty-three.” She’d had the stats memorized years ago and rattled them off with very little thought.
    Luke was silent and she opened her eyes a little, alarmed at the silence. His eyes were narrowed.
    “That’s…a pretty well defined career path, Lynds. What do you get if you pull it off? A lifetime supply of terry-towel bathrobes?”
    She looked away. He wasn’t going to understand at all.
    “No, Lynds, don’t turn away,” he said gently. “I’m trying, really but you’re going to have to explain it a little more.”
    She couldn’t look back.
    “Okay. So, what do you get if you don’t pull it off? What makes this so critical for you?” he asked and his hand smoothed its way down her arm and tucked itself under her hip in a way that eased her and gave her courage enough to answer.
    “If I don’t pull it off, I won’t have done what my mother did.”
    She heard a sound that was half sigh and half a verbalized “Ahh” spoken softly, as if he was speaking to himself. She turned her head quickly to check. He was staring off into middle distance, a small crease between his brows. Then he refocused on her.
    “That’s what your mother did. You said she worked at the hotel. You didn’t say she had the same job as you but… All those positions and ages…they’re your mother’s resume.”
    Now that it was out, spoken aloud, Lindsay felt a touch of unease. Embarrassment, almost. But it was leavened by a fear that he would ask the next obvious question, why? And she wasn’t ready to tell him that yet.
    So she remained silent, neither confirming nor denying his summation.
    But Luke just grinned and turned her over onto her side to face him. “If that’s the problem, then it’s no problem at all.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “You want to follow your mother’s footsteps. That means getting the same promotions she did at the same age she did, right?”
    “Well, yes.”
    “And the next one is General Manager before