Free Deceived by Kate Serine Page B

like it,” he said with a grin. “Walk me through it.”
    * * *
    Luke’s eyes were burning by the time he finally pulled into the parking lot of a roadside motel that looked like it would fit his needs—a place that wouldn’t be crawling with bugs and God knew what else but where no one would bat an eye at people just needing to hole up for a few hours. Even better that it had a greasy-spoon diner a parking lot over and a gas station down the road, where he could fuel up before they continued on the next leg of the trip to his personal residence.
    â€œAre you sure you don’t just want me to drive?” Sarah asked.
    He offered her a grin, knowing damn well that what she was asking was more along the lines of Are you sure we won’t catch something if we sit on a chair here?
    â€œWe’ll be fine here for a little while,” he assured her. “I wouldn’t take you somewhere I thought would put you and your son at risk. As soon as I check us in, we’ll grab something at the diner, and you and Eli can hang out while I catch a couple hours of sleep.”
    She cast a hesitant glance toward the rows of cheap motel rooms with bright red doors, but nodded. “Okay.”
    Ten minutes later, he was leading them into the diner and sliding into a booth at the back of the room so he could keep his eye on the front door as well as the kitchen, where he assumed there was a second exit.
    â€œHow you folks doin’ this morning?”
    Luke lifted his eyes to the middle-aged waitress standing beside him. “I’d like coffee and your country breakfast.”
    The woman blinked at him. “Well, alrighty then. Guess that answers my next question.”
    â€œI’m sorry,” Sarah said gently, reaching across the table and placing a hand over Luke’s. “He’s not usually so surly. We’ve been in the car a long time. He’s just tired. Isn’t that right, honey?”
    When he caught her gaze, her eyes widened slightly, giving him what he assumed was her “teacher look,” silently chastising him. “Sorry, ma’am,” he muttered to the waitress, suddenly feeling like he was back in school and getting in trouble for not turning in his homework again.
    â€œWhere you folks headed?” the waitress asked.
    Eli sent an expectant look Luke’s way, waiting for an answer, but before Luke could get a word out, Sarah stepped in.
    â€œMichigan,” she said with a friendly grin that brought her dimples to her cheeks. “Visiting family there during my son’s fall break from school. It should be a lovely drive this time of year, don’t you think? Hopefully we won’t hit any snow. . . .”
    Luke watched in amazement as Sarah chatted easily with the waitress, feeding her a cover story he couldn’t have invented any better had he tried. Soon, the waitress was plying Eli with chocolate milk and fresh donuts and bringing Luke and Sarah freshly baked blueberry muffins that were mouth-wateringly good.
    â€œWhat was that all about?” Luke asked after downing half his coffee and his second muffin.
    Sarah glanced toward the lunch counter, where their waitress was bustling about helping other customers. “Well, I assumed we needed a cover story.”
    â€œThe less you say, the better,” he told her, realizing just how shitty that sounded the minute the words left his mouth.
    â€œIs that right?” she snapped. She leaned toward the table, hissing, “Well, an ill-tempered man and a rather rumpled woman traveling with a school-aged boy at this time of year deserves some explanation, don’t you think? The way she was looking at us, it seemed to me that she was curious. Places like this probably don’t get a lot of kids as customers.”
    He had to admit she was right, and had his brain not been half-numb with sleep deprivation, he probably would’ve drawn the same conclusion and come up