Outrageously in Love by Jen Morris

28

Luke takes me somewhere on the Lower East Side, and when our cab pulls up he opens the door with a secretive little smile. In his hand is a folder he grabbed from his office before we left, but he hasn’t told me what’s inside. In fact, he hardly said anything on the drive over and I’m not sure what to make of it.

We step from the cab and I glance around, trying to figure out what he has planned, but nothing catches my eye. I’m even more confused when a guy in a shirt and tie grins at Luke and wanders over to clap him on the shoulder.

“Hawkins!” he says, then turns to me, extending a hand. “You must be Harriet. I’m Isaac.”

“Er, hi.” I shake Isaac’s hand, bewildered.

“Isaac is in real estate,” Luke explains, but that only raises more questions than it answers.

“Here’s the ring.” Isaac pulls a familiar velvet box from his pocket and I lunge on it, relief rushing through me. I pop it open and check all is as it should be, then turn back to Isaac.

“Thank you so much. But…” I glance at Luke in confusion.

“It was Isaac’s wife, Julia, I took the ring to last night,” he explains. “And when I was over there chatting with them, I had an idea.”

I draw a breath to ask for more information, but Luke gestures for me to follow Isaac, who’s pulling out some keys. He leads us to an empty shop and fiddles with the lock before swinging open the glass doors and guiding us inside. It’s dark, then I hear a switch flick and a row of lights along the ceiling illuminates the space.

I wander down the length of the store, taking it in. It’s long, receding back from the street, with exposed ceilings. The walls are a mess, with peeling paint and half-demolished drywall in places. There is what appears to once have been a bar, stacked with crates, and a door behind it that I can only assume leads to a kitchen or something. In one corner is a stack of chairs and tables.

I turn to Luke, wondering why on earth we are here. He says something to Isaac, his voice low, his eyes on me, and Isaac nods.

“Okay, well, I’ll leave you guys alone for a while,” he says with a smile, and heads back out the door.

Luke wanders towards me with a half-smile on his lips, and for a second I think he’s going to kiss me, that he’s brought me here to have sex. I’m not saying I wouldn’t consider it, but it does seem a bit odd.

Unless… Oh God, maybe this is some kind of kinky sex club? Maybe it’s like those secret speakeasies you hear about, where it looks like nothing and you have to do a special knock somewhere and a door opens leading you to a basement. My mind floods with images of sex dungeons, walls lined with whips and chains, and my stomach knots with apprehension. I might have loved our adventurous time in the kitchen this morning, but there are only so many sexual achievement badges I want to unlock today.

I watch Luke warily, but he pulls up a couple of chairs and motions for me to sit. So I do, setting my bag down beside me.

“What do you think?” he asks, placing the folder on his lap.

“Um…” I glance around and back at him. “For what?”

“For a board game cafe.”

What?

Surprise steals my breath. I open and close my mouth, but no words come out.

Luke chuckles. “I’ve been thinking about what you said, that you wanted to do it but didn’t know where to start. When I saw Isaac last night, I remembered he works in commercial real estate. I ran the idea by him, and he had a look through his listings to see what might work.” Luke grins as he gestures to the space around us.

I stare at him, stunned. First of all, he went out of his way to get the ring sorted for me because he knew I was freaking out. And now, he’s brought me here…

When I don’t say anything, his smile recedes. “I know it doesn’t look like much right now, but there’s a lot of potential here. I don’t think it would take much to do it up. You would have to invest in some stock, but”—he taps the folder—“I did some initial projections, and I think after about six months you should be able to turn a decent profit.”

I swallow, trying to process this. He thinks this could work. He thinks this is possible.

His face is uncertain as he watches for my reaction, but I don’t know what to say. My heart is doing something strange inside my chest. I can’t believe he did this. It’s one thing to say a few encouraging words about my dream, but he went out of his way to show me that it’s not just a dream. That it could be real.

“Luke,” I murmur. “I can’t…” I trail off, searching for the right words. He looks crestfallen and I shake my head vigorously. “No—” A laugh tickles my throat. “I mean, I can’t believe you did this.” I rise from my chair and sit in his lap. I probably shouldn’t, given we aren’t in private, but at this moment nothing could stop me from touching him.

A grin breaks across his face and he wraps his arms around me, visibly relieved. “Oh, shit. I thought you were mad at me or something.”

“No.” I take his face in my hands and press my lips hard against his. “How could I be mad? You went to all this trouble.”

“So what do you think?”

I look around the place, seeing it through new eyes. It is a great space, and I could absolutely see it working. My body buzzes with excited energy as I visualize how my floor plan would work in here, what the walls would look like painted a warm, golden yellow. All those details, scrawled on that napkin in my bag… I can see them coming to life in this space.

Luke places the folder in my hands and I flick it open, running my eyes over the contents. There are pages of numbers and notes, some typed, some hand-written, all—more or less—unintelligible to me. There are a few numbers I can make sense of, though, and I’m pretty sure I’d have enough money to set this place up and get it running. One of the good things about having next to no social life over the past decade is that I’ve accumulated a very healthy savings account.

“This is great, but…” I glance up at Luke and sigh. “There are already board game cafes in the city.”

“There are, but none in the East Village or Lower East Side. I think it would do really well around here.” He pauses before adding quietly, “You could totally do this, Harriet. I’m happy to loan you the money to get set up if you need.”

I glance at him in surprise. He would loan me the money? Why would he do that for me?

I shake the thought away, not daring to let myself think it. “That’s really sweet, thank you. But I have enough.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “That’s fantastic,” he says, squeezing me. “Did you ever think of what you might call the place?”

“Not really. But I like the idea of a play on words. Like… Cakes and Ladders.”

He looks puzzled. “Cakes and Ladders?”

“Yeah, like the game Snakes and Ladders, where you go up or down depending on—”

“Oh, right. We call it Chutes and Ladders here, so it would have to be something else. Like…” He rubs his chin, thinking. “Chutes and Lattes.”

“I like that! What about Noughts and Coffee?” I’m pretty pleased with this one, but Luke looks confused again. “Seriously? Noughts and Crosses! It’s the game with the crosses and zeros, and—”

“You mean Tic-Tac-Toe.”

I huff in mock indignation. “You Americans and your weird names for things.”

A warm laugh rumbles in his chest, and he presses his mouth to mine.

“Game of Scones,” I murmur against his lips.

He draws away with a chuckle. “I think that’s the one.”

“I know you’re kidding but I kind of love it. Game of Scones,” I repeat to myself, looking around the place again, imagining it as my own. When I glance back at Luke, his mouth is curved in an affectionate smile. “Why have you gone to all this trouble for me, to show me I could do this?”

He shrugs. “I guess I know what it’s like to not have someone support your dream. It’s pretty soul-destroying. I wanted to give you what I didn’t have.”

“You really believe I could do this.”

He tilts his head to one side, raising a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “Absolutely. I think you should do this.”

I look down again at the folder, feeling my heart swell. I’m struck by a sudden, powerful sense of how much I want this. Really want this. Not just that I want this, but that I could do it. I could.

But…

I release an uneasy breath and stand from Luke’s lap, clutching the folder. “You do realize I live in New Zealand,” I mutter, inspecting a wall to avoid looking at him.

“Well, yes. But you could move.” He pushes to his feet. “Your sister already lives here. She’d love to have you here permanently.”

I smile to myself, because he’s right. Even though she’s been busier lately, I’ve enjoyed getting to spend time with her. Things feel different between us over here, and I’m sad at the thought of going home without her.

“And, you know,” he murmurs from beside me, slipping his hand into mine, “Alex isn’t the only one who might like you to stick around.” I turn and meet his gaze—tentative, searching, hopeful—and my heart trips and stumbles. When he breathes a tiny self-conscious laugh and looks down at his feet, I have to bite back a grin wider than the East River.

Is he for real? Is he seriously suggesting he wants me to move to New York, and that he and I could—

“So, what do you think?” Isaac’s voice makes me jump and I drop Luke’s hand.

He laughs, turning to Isaac with an easy smile. “She’ll take some more convincing, I think.”

“Fair enough.” Isaac hands me his business card. “Call me if you change your mind.”

I take the card and turn it over in my hand. They head out onto the street, chatting and laughing, and I stand there staring after them, my mind racing.