Chapter 13 Decisions

Camilla Cortes' Point of View:

I quickly made my escape out of Luke's office after hammering out all the details for our trip to his hotel in Germany. If I had stayed a second longer, I feared I would give in to him and I couldn't have that, at least not yet, he had to work for it. What he said two weeks ago really hurt me and I'm still trying to process it.

I gathered my things and locked my office door. I turned around to find Hailey locking her door as well. She smiled at me and waved me over to her. I strolled over and together we went into the elevator.

"Did Luke leave already?" she asked me.

"Umm, I don't really know," I mumbled. I looked down at my shoes allowing my hair to cascade around me, hopefully hiding my blush. Damn! I feel like a schoolgirl who's had her first crush.

It was silent for a moment before she spoke again, "he's sorry you know"

"Excuse me?" my head snapped up at this.

She smiled sadly, "he hasn't had the best of luck when it comes to romance but you're special to him"

My face reddened, "what makes you think there's anything going on between us?"

She gave me a smug look just as the elevator opened, "I have eyes love, it's about time you opened yours"

"See you when you get back," she beamed and walked away.

Stunned I walk out of the elevator and out of the building still trying to understand why I would be special to Luke and why did she say I needed to open my eyes? I quickly pulled out my phone and checked if my uber had arrived. It said it was one minute away. I looked back up to see the same uber that I took earlier today rounding the corner. Thankfully, he's here so I won't be standing out here like a fool.

The ride home was quiet which I was grateful for because I definitely needed some time to think. What was I going to do about Luke? He thinks he's slick with this impromptu trip but I'm not stupid. As his assistant, I handle all of his out-of-country trips and this one wasn't at all planned but who am I to refuse a free trip out of the country.

As soon as I arrived home, I kicked off my shoes and dropped my bag on the floor. I have no idea why I felt so drained. I headed straight for the kitchen where I found Alex sipping on a glass of wine.

"Hey mama," she grinned at me. She's a lot more bubbly than usual. I opened the cupboard with the wine glasses and grabbed one for myself. I took the bottle from her and dropped it into a chair.

"What's got you so happy?" I mumbled.

"What's got you so sad?" she snickered "is it, Luke"

I groaned as I filled the glass all the way to the brim, "that bad huh?"

I took a gulp of the wine before I bothered to answer her, "I don't even know what's going on... he's so confusing"

"One second he's pushing me away and the next he's acting all possessive of me"

"Then today Hailey said he hasn't had much luck with women, and I should feel special and whatnot," I huffed.

I looked up at her to find her fidgeting in her seat. She only did that when she was trying extremely hard to keep something to herself. If it's about Luke, I have to know what she knows.

"Alex?"

"Hmm," she hummed avoiding eye contact.

"Is there something that you want to tell me?" I pressed.

“No

"Are you sure?"

"Y-yeah I'm sure"

"Just give up Alex," I rolled my eyes "and tell me what you know"

"Okay fine," she breathed out "I know I shouldn't be telling you this, but Nate told me that Luke's last relationship almost destroyed him, and he was surprised to find his brother was interested in you since he's been avoiding the attention of every other woman"

I was stunned, floored even. Luke hasn't been with anyone but me in a while. I find that hard to believe with the sinfully attractive way he looks but now that I think about it maybe that's why he pulled away from me. I didn't know how to respond to that, so I said nothing, Alex and I sat in silence and drank our glass of wine. When we were both finished, I took both of the glasses washed them, and left them to dry.

"I'm going to Germany tomorrow with Luke for a work trip"

"Germany nice," Alex commented.

"Want to help me pack?" I asked.

"Sure"

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I was sipping on my coffee when there was a knock on the door. I was going to get up and open it when Alex yelled that she would get it.

Around ten seconds later Alex came bustling in the kitchen, "there's a cute guy named Carlos here for you"

I took a final sip of my coffee and rushed out of the kitchen, "that's Luke's driver"

I hurried to my room and grabbed my suitcase. I walked past Alex giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, "I'll see you soon"

"Be safe," she hugged me quickly.

"I'll take that Ms. Cortes," Carlos said as he took my suitcase.

"Thank you, Carlos," I smiled "and for the last time please call me Camilla"

He nodded his head in reply and opened the passenger door of the car for me. I eased inside to sit down almost jumping out of my skin when I saw Luke staring at me.

"Good morning," I muttered trying to hide my blush.

"Hello beautiful," he replied not breaking his stare on me.

"I've thought about what you asked me about a chance to explain yourself"

"And?" he asked patiently awaiting my reply.

"I've decided that I will give you a chance to explain yourself"

His lips stretched into a wide grin as he looked at me. I couldn't help but smile in return as I had no idea that me giving him a chance would make him this happy.

He leaned forward to put my seatbelt on me and planted a firm kiss on my forehead.

"Thank you"