She didn’t know him well if she thought he could be dismissed so easily. He quietly followed her into her room and shut the door behind them both. She turned around at the sound of the door shutting and glared furiously at him.
“You just don’t listen, do you?” she shouted. “I told you I have things to get done today. I’m more than willing to let you be the boss during the week but my personal time’s my own and I don’t owe you any explanations,” she finished, losing some steam.
Lucas barely even heard her words. Her room was almost homey. He didn’t think there was one speck of dust anywhere in there. It was small, very small. His walk in closet was bigger than her room but he was impressed with how neat and tidy everything was.
She had a wire hanging up against the far wall with clothing hanging on it, some of which was going to give him more sleepless nights. She also had some sort of bucket in the corner with laundry soap next to it. On the other wall was a small dresser with a little fridge and burner on top of it. The walls were painted a nice shade of lavender.
In the middle of the room, just a couple feet in front of him, stood her twin sized bed. It was made up with a very appealing quilt on top. The bed seemed to be sitting on some sort of blocks.
He could see that she’d put some real effort and time into her little area but unfortunately placing a china bowl into a sewer didn’t make the sewer any better to be around. You didn’t see the beautiful bowl; all you saw was the muck around and on it. His only thought was how could anyone live in a place like this?
Well, that was his only thought until he looked at her bed again. Her bed, which she'd just gotten out of a few hours ago; the bed he wanted to throw her on right then. His pants were far too tight and there was a bead of sweat breaking out on his forehead the longer he stood there.
Lucas took a step towards Amy. He was losing his internal battle and was about to take her right then and there. He’d sworn he wasn’t going to start anything until he could finish it and as disgusting as the house was, there was a clean bed in front of him, which would work just fine.
Suddenly the door was thrust open and in walked her drunken, mostly naked roommate. Lucas was close to punching the guy, which was something he hadn’t done since his college days.
Lucas was getting ready to push him back out the door he’d come in through, when he spoke.
“Well Amy, since it looks like you’ve been lying to me,” he slurred. “Your rent just tripled and I want it all right now or you can get your rich ass out of my house.”
“I don’t have that kind of money…” she began.
He quickly interrupted her “you’re always walking around here like you’re so much better than the rest of us. You’re picking things up and have that look of contempt on your face. Seeing your boyfriend here I know you have plenty of dough. That car he’s driving is worth more than three of these houses. Now I want my money!” He shouted and took a menacing step in her direction.
Lucas quickly stepped in his path and the look in his eyes stopped the man from coming any closer. Normally Lucas would’ve stopped the guy from speaking to her that way but things were working out better than he could’ve hoped for. He’d been planning on demanding she leave the place but now he wasn’t the one who had to look like the bad guy.
The worthless piece of trash was making Lucas into the hero. He would be getting her out of the house right then and the drunken slob was the responsible one.
“You drunken bastard, I’ve never once put you or this piece of crap place down. I’ve always paid you on-time each month just so you could take my money and get high. I’ve stayed here only because I’ve had no other choice and for your information I was leaving here in a couple of weeks anyway. I’m sick of your stench!” She finished with tears in her eyes.
“Get out now you snobby whore…” he shouted before he was interrupted by Lucas.
“That’s enough. You’ll leave this room now. I’ll help Amy get whatever she wants but you won’t speak to her that way again or you’ll deal with me,” Lucas said. The man stepped back and made a quick retreat. Even he knew better than to disobey Lucas at that moment.
“Amy, you don’t need to take anything from here. I’ll replace everything. Let’s just get out.” Lucas was trying to be kind but it came out sounding like her stuff was worth nothing, which embarrassed her.
“You may make more money in one day than I’ve made in my entire life but I still take pride in my belongings,” she snapped at him.
“Amy, I wasn’t trying to put you or your things down. I just don’t feel this guy is stable and I want to get you out of here as quickly as possible.”
She finally broke down into tears. “I don’t take handouts!” Amy spat through her tears.
Lucas moved towards her and pulled her into his arms. She tried to push him off but it was like moving a two ton boulder. She stopped fighting him and then sobbed on his shoulder for a few minutes.
Finally, when he could tell she’d calmed down enough, he helped her gather her belongings together. He made a phone call and by the time they finished packing his brother was there with his truck.
“Hey bro, am I interrupting something?” Amy looked up to find another Adonis in her room.
“Is it a rule in your family that all children are born better looking than the Greek Gods?” Amy spoke before thinking. When she realized what she’d said her entire face turned bright red.
Lucas looked at her with shock. She thought he was gorgeous? Well, well, he thought, his assistant was keeping things from him. She wasn’t as immune to him as she was trying to lead him to believe. He really liked that and was definitely planning on exploring it further.
“You must be the famous Ms. Harper who’s causing my brother many sleepless nights,” Alex spoke as he walked right up to her and lifted her up in a huge bear hug. Amy was too stunned to say anything.
She was also shocked to find that when Alex placed her back on her feet, she hadn’t felt any chemistry with the guy. He was as gorgeous as his brother, with a body to match and yet there were no fireworks going off at his touch, unlike how she felt in Lucas’s arms.
The fact didn’t please Amy. She didn’t want to be attracted to Lucas but her traitorous body wasn’t listening. She would just have to make sure her mind was in charge and not her hormones.
“Alex, would you please quit manhandling her? Amy this is my obnoxious younger brother Alex, he just happens to have a truck and was available, so I couldn’t pass up his help,” Lucas said.
Before Amy knew what was happening they had her room cleared out and loaded into Alex’s truck.
“I’ll see you guys at the house,” he said to both of them, then turned his full attention on Amy. “I can’t wait to steal you away from my big brother Amy. You’re stunning and way too good for this gigolo. Don’t break my heart.” He finished talking, gave her a quick kiss on the lips, again lifting her off the ground, then turned and trotted over to his truck.
Amy was so stunned; she didn’t know what to do. She’d never been around such confident men before. Finally she gave into her natural good humor and started laughing. How could you not enjoy the company of such a fun guy? She knew he didn’t mean what he said but she wasn’t used to men flirting so openly with her, even if it was harmless like what he was doing.
Lucas on the other hand didn’t look so amused. “You need to ignore my little brother. He lets hormones run his entire life and he does like pretty women but he’s harmless.” He took her hand and led her towards his car.
He wouldn’t admit to her how he’d wanted to smash his brother in the face for daring to kiss his woman. He also wouldn’t admit how jealous he was at that moment that she hadn’t slapped his brother in the face for kissing her. She’d seemed to enjoy it. He made himself calm down, because he knew his brother had just been trying to get a rise out of him.
It had worked.
When they reached the passenger side of his car, Amy suddenly hesitated. “Wait a minute.
Where’s all my stuff going? I don’t even know where I’m going yet. This happened so fast I haven’t had time to think about what happens next.” Lucas could see she was starting to panic.
“Amy, calm down. I’m going to take you up to the family house for now. My brother told my father what was going on and dad wanted to speak with you.” She started to shake her head no when he looked into her eyes. “Amy, it’s not smart to tell my father no,” was all he said.
Amy sighed, knowing she’d been defeated with those words. Joseph Anderson wasn’t only the family patriarch but he was the man who’d taken a chance on her and there was no way she would deny him anything.
Amy said nothing else; she just climbed in the vehicle and buckled her seat belt. Lucas chuckled as he walked around the car. He knew how she was feeling. When his father beckoned, you came. You didn’t come because he was the head of the family; you came because the man earned respect. You came because he was the type of man you’d bend over backwards for.
He’d been an exceptional father. He’d never placed work ahead of his family and he was always the first one any of the kids came to with a problem, or with good news. That’s why he’d been notified so quickly of Amy’s situation. The family always told him everything.
Lucas didn’t speak to Amy on the ride to the family mansion. He knew that she needed time to compose herself. She’d been through a lot during the last few hours. And he was happy to think he wasn’t the bad guy in the current situation.
Amy needed the time because she was about to be thrust into the chaos of his family. Everyone was up at the manor this weekend for his mother’s birthday. Any holiday was cause for the family to celebrate together but his mother’s birthday was definitely a huge bash.
His father always said that his wife’s birth was a great cause for celebration. She was the light of his life and his world would’ve been empty without her. He felt her birthday should be a national holiday.
“Mr. Anderson, it looks like you have company right now. This is probably not the best time for me to be here. Will you please just let me use your phone so I can call a cab and get out of your hands?” she spoke barely above a whisper.
“Not a chance,” was his only reply.
Amy looked down at herself and then back up at him. “I’m wearing old jeans,” she pleaded with him. “Please don’t make me go in there looking like this.” He just laughed at the panicked look on her face and her horrified voice.
“Amy, you act like we’re all a bunch of snobs. We’re normal people too. So what if we like fancy things. You’re the one being a snob right now, judging my family on what we have,” he said accusingly.
His words worked like a charm. She hung her head down in shame and just nodded at him. It was almost enough to give him a pinch of guilt but at least he was getting what he wanted. And one thing that Amy needed to learn about him was that he always got what he wanted.