With so many things on his mind he had tossed and turned most of the night so finding any peace within his dreams wasn’t going to happen. With Sierra still sleeping soundly beside him, Luke decided to get up so she could rest a little longer.
Sneaking out of bed and into the kitchen required stealth that a man of his size didn’t have, but he tried. He was thankful that he knew his house so well because his thoughts were still on the fritz and he was practically moving around while lost inside of his thoughts entirely.
As with most morning’s, Luke’s first thought was about the club and the current turmoil it was in, and he knew he couldn’t give one hundred percent until he had a cup of coffee. He wasn’t a big fan of the stuff, but he’d learned in recent months that the caffeine did wonders to clear the fog from his brain.
Not that coffee was going to make him come up with some brilliant plan to counteract the result of his actions. If it would, he’d have been in much better shape long ago. After closing the doors on the fetish club, he had taken a substantial hit from all angles, financially being the least of his worries, although with a baby on the way, it was another factor that was beginning to weigh heavily on his already overloaded brain.
He would be the first to admit that he was prone to rash decisions. He just couldn’t help but feel that this one wasn’t rash. After finding out most of his members were nothing more than sanctimonious assholes who felt as though he actually owed them something, he’d decided enough was enough.
So, that left him in the rebuilding phase, only he wasn’t exactly sure what that meant for him yet. With Kane Steele now handling the memberships, he was getting much more in depth than ever before, digging even further into the member’s background – those that still remained – which meant remarkably little escaped him, and it was probably easier to get into the White House than it was to get into his club these days. But even he knew Kane was not going to be able to make that a full time job.
Unfortunately, Luke was at a standstill on what to do from here, which meant his brain was working overtime. He was at the point he just wanted someone else to take over, to make the damned decisions, to figure out what the best approach to take was. For the first time in his life, Luke was about ready to relinquish control to someone else.
“Mornin’,” Cole greeted from his seat at the breakfast bar as Luke moved into the kitchen.
He allowed his gaze to drift over the taut, firm muscles of Cole’s bare back and as with any morning, Luke appreciated that he was able to wake up to someone as incredibly sexy as Cole. The man had the ability to turn him on like a fucking switch and this morning was apparently no different than any other.
“What are you doing up?” Luke asked, forcing his thoughts from sex and back to what his plans were for the day.
“Alex asked me to go meet with Carson Throckmorton this morning,” Cole answered, sipping his coffee. Luke felt Cole’s eyes on him, which didn’t help the current state he was in.
“What time?”
“Ten,” Cole said as he stood from the bar stool before carrying his cup back to the sink and rinsing it. “What are your plans for the day?”
Luke wasn’t quite sure what his plans were. He knew he needed to go to the club. He needed to have a conversation with Serena, better known as Mistress Serena, before Trent Ramsey made another appearance. From what he heard, the two of them went toe to toe the night they’d allowed the Walker brothers to visit the club. It hadn’t been a good run in either, or at least that’s the story he’d gotten. With Serena, he had absolutely no idea. The woman was in a league all her own, and for a man who didn’t get scared easily, she sometimes freaked Luke out.
“I’m going to talk to Serena and Kane today.” Luke needed to talk to Cole, but he wanted to do it at the club, he just wasn’t sure how to go about bringing up the subject yet. Convincing his lover to quit his full time job and come help him manage the club wasn’t an easy conversation to instigate. He wasn’t sure how Cole would take the request, so he kept putting it off.
“Well, once I’m done with my meeting I’ll come back and keep Sierra company.” The grin that split Cole’s too handsome face quickly forced the weariness from his brain and got his blood pumping. That mischievous glint in Cole’s eyes said he had something much more compelling than an afternoon of meetings planned.
“Speaking of,” Luke began, glancing down the hall to their bedroom, checking to see if Sierra was awake yet. “You think she’s doing all right?”
“Why?” Cole looked perplexed as he turned to face him, standing just a few feet away. “I don’t know, I’m sure it’s the pregnancy,” Luke admitted, turning away to face the counter again. Luke knew Sierra was more fatigued than usual, she’d told him as much. But for some reason he wasn’t sure that was all it was with her.