Part 18

"Yes, that's fine and two waters with that." Luke said to the waiter without really glancing at him. Echo watched silently, taking in the details and frowning. She heard Luke give a lot of orders, demand a lot of things but please and thank you didn't seem to be something he said regularly. 


She waited, leaning back in her chair, brow raised- her fingers tapping rhythmically on the table. 


"Well?" She said after a few more minutes. He turned to her and reached out, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.


"You should wear your hair down, it suits you more." He said with a smile. "Although, I hope you won't mind me saying that this is already a huge improvement."


"You have a really bad habit of giving orders." She said, feeling very annoyed.


"Someone has too." He said with a shrug.


"Whatever. This is getting out of hand." She said, "I came to talk to you about my family, to understand what your business plans were. I'm listening."


"I don't like talking business with women I'm dating." He said simply and she let out the most unladylike snort.


"We're not dating!" She said in adamantly.


"I'm treating you to a nice meal, it's just the two of us, you're all dressed up for me... it sounds like a date." He said, loving how red she turned. What was it about that blush that fascinated him?


"You made me dress like this." She said accusingly.


"No, I didn't. You had a choice, get dressed and go to lunch with me or go home. You chose to get dressed." He said and she narrowed his eyes.


"Don't you do that. Don't turn this around and make it like I wanted to be here." She said.


"So why are you here?" He asked.


"Because I want to make sure you're not going to get my family in trouble." She said and he sighed.


"Listen, I already told you- the Ark is a perfectly legitimate business. Their involvement in a project like this will only benefit us both. It was something I planned to do anyway and eventually I would have asked them and a half a dozen other groups for a proposal. " He said, "this way we just skip he bidding war and I go with the best. Because I know, they're the best."


She stared at him for a moment.


"Luke, Why me? What's so special about me? Have you seen me? I don't even know how to speak to people." She said.


"You seem to do pretty well around me." He said with a shrug and then he turned to her. He'd been right, the dress looked amazing on her. "Besides, from this angle what I see is quite lovely."


She blushed again. She hated it, damn it. She could feel it every time it happened and this man was capable of making her blush on command.


"What if I don't want to be involved with you?" She said, "I was perfectly happy with the way things were before."


"I don't believe that." He said, reaching out and grazing her cheek with his fingers. "I felt how you reacted to me when we kissed... do you need me to remind you?"


"That doesn't mean anything." she said, sounding unconvincing.


"It means everything." He replied. He moved in closer to her, admiring the pretty lips and wishing he could just kiss her... right now. "I know, I know. The drive is a little long but I can drive out to you or we can meet in the middle."


Echo watched him completely dumbfounded. This man was just planning out an entire relationship without really giving her a say.


"I don't get it, I just don't get it. We just met..." She began but he shook his head. 


"What does that have to do with anything? It doesn't usually take me that long to know when I want to get to know a woman." He replied. 


"I think you're crazy." She said after a few moments.


"There's nothing crazy about two people who are very attracted to each other wanting to spend time together." He said, smiling at her.


"I'm at a loss for words." She said.


"Finally." He said, and she would have protested but then she realized he was referring to the food that was arriving. "I'm starving."


She looked at the plates in front of her, it all looked amazing... then she heard it. The most embarrassing thing... her stomach. Lord, why had she run off before lunch...


"Wow." Luke said, turning to her as he heard her stomach growl. She was bright red.


"Excuse me." She muttered, "I skipped breakfast... I'm used to eating early."


He shook his head with a grin and began to tsk tsk.


"Well here... try this." He said, holding out a spoon towards her and making her raise a brow. "it's amazing."


"You're joking?" She said.


"No, it really is." He said, still holding the spoon.


"No, I mean, the feeding me part." She said, staring at the spoon. He sighed and rolled his eyes.


"Do you have to make everything so difficult?" He asked.


"I'm making things difficult?" She asked, prepared to argue but then it happened again and she closed her eyes, absolutely sure she'd die from embarrassment.


"Eat." He said, trying to contain his laughter as he held the spoon to her. Then, afraid because she knew her stomach would do it again, she leaned forward and accepted the bite.


He watched as she took the bite, noticing how uncomfortable she looked over it. This girl was going to be very difficult, that was certain. Then he caught it, the way her lips curled in to a spontaneous smile at her surprise over just how good the food was... and he was floored. She really was something special.


"That's good?" He asked, watching her eat. It was actually a pretty sight.


"Yes." She nodded gently. "Thank you."


"I'm glad you liked it." He said grinning, "It's my favorite. Here."


He pushed the plate in front of her and turned his attention to something else. 


Echo stared.


This bossy, almost rude man who'd been slinging out orders and expecting everyone to follow without question was letting her have what was his favorite because she liked it??? 


"Here." She said, without really thinking. "Share it with me."


He looked at her, noting how she moved her chair closer without realizing she was doing it. She pushed the food around the plate with her fork, trying not to look at him. Then, when she finally did begin to lift it, he leaned in, his face very close to hers and he took the bite.


Echo only stared in surprised as he did so, trying, and failing, so hard not to turn bright red.


"So good." He said, noting how embarrassed she was and deciding to take a little pity on her. "So, Tell me about yourself."


"What do you want to know?" She asked.


"Anything. Tell me about your dog." He said with a chuckle.


"He hates me." Echo said.


"You don't like dogs?" He asked.


"I love dogs... they don't love me." She said with a frown. "Especially Rocko."


"Rocko?" He asked. 


"The dog." She said making him chuckle.


"Why did your parents name you Echo? It's a nice name, unusual." He continued. 


"Umm..." she said, trying to focus on the question and feel normal. She was aware that he was looking directly at her and she had his full attention. "They wanted all their girls to have four letter names."


Luke raised his brow.


"And do they?" He asked, thinking it was a strange thing.


"Yes. Romy, Vera, Echo..." She pointed to herself, "Lena and Maru. They say they wanted us to have simple names but I don't think any of our names are really simple or ordinary."


"No, there's nothing simple or ordinary about you at all." He replied and wouldn't you know, she was blushing again.


---


"What was that?" Vera said, raising her eyebrow as they heard something crash down from the hall.


She'd been sitting in the living room with Romy, Lena and Maru, speculating about where Echo had gone off too. It was so strange. One minute, Echo had gone upstairs to get sunblock and the next, Maru had come back to tell them that Echo had to run into the city, apparently for a last minute meeting with her editor. 


"Maybe it was the dog..." Romy said without looking up. 


"He's right here." Vera replied, noting Rocko with his head on Maru's lap.


Then there was another crash followed by a grunt. As far as the girls knew, there was no one else home. Their parents had gone out with friends into the city and the staff didn't really linger on that side of the house at that time. 


They could hear something tapping and scraping against the floor... what was that?


"Hello?" Vera called out, this time, all the girls staring at each other in a mix of confusion and apprehension. Nothing, it was quiet.


"Hello?" Romy said this time, putting her phone down and beginning to look worried. "Who's out there?"


"Hi! Hey! It's just me." Echo called out from the hall, making the girls release a collective sigh of relief.


"Echo...What are you doing out there?" Vera called out before they heard a loud smack followed by an OWWWW. 


"I... I have to go to the bathroom." Echo called out without appearing. There was the sudden sound of clicking, a few additional grunts and a thud.


"Echo?" Vera called out again but there was no reply.


"I'm going to go check on her." Maru said as they all exchanged confused glances.


"I'm a little afraid of what you'll find out there." Lena replied, standing to go see but Maru jumped in front of her.


"I'm going!" Maru called out to Echo before turning.


"I'll come with you." Lena said.


"No need... oww... I'm cool. Be down in a bit." Echo screamed out. They heard the sound of someone moving up the stairs and then, the steps faded away.


"She's getting weirder, right?" Lena said, looking at the others. "Like a lot weirder? I'm not hallucinating."


"I'm going to go make sure she's okay." Vera said with a frown but Maru stopped her.


"It's okay, I'll go. I was going to go grab something anyway." Then, before anyone could say anything else, Maru was quickly moving out the door.


"What do you think that was all about?" Lena asked a few minutes later. Romy let out an exaggerated sigh.


"Who knows? Echo has always been a little strange." Romy began as she stood. She moved to the doorway and peeked out, then she stopped. "Wow."


"What?" Lena asked, getting up quickly to see. "Holy shit."


"What?" Vera repeated, moving towards them. "What are you two... oh my."


There was a broken frame, scuff marks and a tipped over potted plant. The three just stared, unsure what to make of it.


"Are you serious?" Vera asked, moving to start picking things up. "What was that girl doing out there?"


"Was she drunk or what? What's that on the floor?" Lena asked, noticing the red marks. They walked around, inspecting the damage. Romy wrinkled her nose as she looked at the marks.


"I don't know." Romy replied, looking concerned for the first time. "Do you think she's hurt?"


"Maybe we should go check on her after all." Vera replied, moving in the direction of the stairs.

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