Free Heading East (Part 2 of 2) (The True North Series) by June Gray

face immediately clouded over. “Fine. Cross out number eight. Do what you want,” he said with a dismissive wave of hand and strode off to his bedroom, leaving me to stand there feeling like the most heartless bitch on the planet.

 
     
     
    8
     
    LUKE
     
     
     
    “You’re a chump,” Decker said as soon as I was done telling him about Kat’s contract. He sat down on the chair in front of my desk. “Completely pussy-whipped.”
    “I’m not too worried.”
    He leaned back and folded his arms behind his head. “So you’re telling me you’ll be fine if, one day, you come home and find her with another man?”
    “No. I’m not a saint,” I said. “But it won’t come to that.”
    “Oh?”
    I shrugged. “I’m just going to have to win her back.”
    “And if that doesn’t work?”
    “It’ll work,” I said, sounding more confident than I felt.
    “Hey, invite her out with us tonight,” Decker said, sitting up.
    “And how’s that supposed to help?”
    “Shower her with attention, show her that you only have eyes for her.” He grinned. “Then you can grind up on her on the dance floor. Women love that.”
    “Somehow I don’t think Kat would fall it,” I said, even though the idea had its appeal. If nothing else, the night out might help take her mind off what she’d lost.
     
    “I don’t have anything appropriate to wear,” was the first thing Kat said when I brought up the idea later. “I’ve only bought a few things so far to replace what I lost in the fire.”
    “Wear what you have, what you’re comfortable with. It honestly doesn’t matter. It’s just the guys,” I said, loosening my tie. “I’m going to change into something casual myself.”
    Kat looked around but, before she could come up with another excuse, I said, “Come on. Surely you don’t want to sit around here on a Friday night?”
    “That was my grand plan,” she said, but I could hear the uncertainty in her voice. When I held out my hand, she took it and allowed me to pull her up and out of the armchair.
    “Come on. It’s about time you experienced the New York night life.”
    I came back to her apartment a few minutes later, dressed in jeans and a v-neck tee shirt. When she came out of the bedroom, the sight of her knocked the breath from my lungs. Kat was decidedly not casual in her little black dress with a low scooped neck, a bodice that hugged her curves, and a hem that showed plenty of leg.
    “ Uhh…” was all my brain could manage.
    She looked down, adjusting the dress. “Is this okay?” she asked, performing a tugging exhibition that kept either showing too much leg or too much cleavage. “I made it last week for an assignment.”
    I walked around her, appreciating every angle. “You made this?”
    She fiddled with the three-quarter sleeve. “Yeah. But maybe it’s too dressy for a bar.”
    I stopped in front of her and took hold of her hands. “You look great,” I said. “Though now I’m a little underdressed.”
    “I can change.”
    I lifted her hands and kissed her knuckles, wanting to ease the lines of worry on her forehead. “Don’t you dare,” I said. “Just give me a second. I’ll meet you at my front door.”
    After I put on a button-down shirt, Kat and I went downstairs. “Is it far?” she asked when we emerged on the sidewalk. “I’m just not used to walking long distances in heels.”
    I held out my elbow. “It’s only two blocks from here.” I watched as she wobbled, then latched onto my elbow.
    She straightened her back and walked, if a little wobbly at first. “I need to get used to walking in heels sometime, right?” she asked, her voice wavering. “Fake it till I make it.”
    I patted her arm. “Relax. We’re just out to have fun.”
     
    Decker and another friend, Lowe, were already sitting at the bar when we arrived.
    Kat’s fingers dug into my arm as we walked closer, but once I began the introductions, she loosened her hold.
    “You remember Decker,” I