Green Card

4 On The Table (Lucas)

My phone vibrated again, the seventh time since I'd pulled into the driveway only twenty minutes ago, and I muttered a curse before muting it. Again.

Apparently, seeing my wife again for the first time in six years wasn't an occasion that Danny Abadía deemed worthy of going offline for. But I had nothing more to say to him on the matter. Four meetings over just as many days to assuage the fears of an antsy board of directors and he still wasn't satisfied. Well, I had better things to do. Like reacquaint myself with the woman who saved my life back in college, the one who made all of this even possible, the only reason there even was a board of directors and an upcoming video game release. I was more nervous to see her than I'd been for any one of those bullshit meetings and the half empty bottle of scotch in front of me was every indication.

"Luisa," I called to the maid that had served me for years. "Take this away."

I gestured at the scotch and she rushed forward to do as I bid, taking the bottle and bustling away before I could change my mind. I took a breath and glanced down at my phone, tapping the screen as if I were looking for something. Ten missed calls. Seven from Danny. Two from Ben. And one from Lola. I sighed, taking another sip of scotch.

"What? No cherry slurpees?" someone asked. I nearly choked on my drink, caught by surprise. I set the glass down and looked up to see Piper.

She was wearing a pair of ripped skinny jeans that hugged her legs in a way that made me unable to stop watching them as she took a few steps forward to join me at the table. Her grey v-neck was slouchy so that I good view as she leaned over to sit. Her golden necklace, the one I remembered from college, the one that her mother had given to her as a birthday present on her sixteenth birthday, glittered in its simplicity. Her ears were pierced again and again from lobe to helix and the hint of a tattoo poked out just over her breastbone. I narrowed my gaze and took another sip of my scotch, trying not to let my mind wander too far into the arena of how I might get a better view of that ink.

I had changed. I knew that because I had made an effort to do so. I'd gotten in shape, had my vision corrected, started wearing tailored suits and drinking twenty year old scotch. I could tell she'd noticed but was trying very hard not to.

But she had changed too. Thankfully, not as much as I had.

She'd always seen me as a friend back in college and we were, the closest friends. But I would never dare to tell her just how happy I'd been at the prospect of marrying her. And not just for the green card that I so desperately needed. If I was being honest, I'd always harbored a secret bit of disappointment that this marriage had never been consummated. Because she'd always been beautiful. Dark hair to match those big, dark eyes. Porcelain skin that I knew was smooth to the touch. Enticing curves accentuated by hip-hugging jeans and tight blouses. She was the sort of woman who had no idea how sexy she was and something about that made her even hotter. But I'd never told her that. I didn't know how. Because touching Piper felt like touching the surface of the sun. And I simply couldn't risk the burn.

"I'm sorry?" I asked, blinking as I realized that she'd asked a question and I, in my creepy staring, hadn't bothered to answer.

She smiled and I nearly swore at what it was doing to me. She nodded her head in the direction of my drink.

"Too mature for slurpees, now?" she asked again and I grinned.

"No one is too mature for slurpees," I replied. She chuckled and my smile broadened. Oh, how I'd missed that sound.

"So," she said from across the table, her tone taking on an air of business as Luisa delivered the empanadas. "I'm assuming you also got a call from the spirited Agent Janine Ashley?"