What Happens After Dark Read Online Free Page A

her, he would make her come. Then he would hold her in his arms, and there would be no rushing out of the bed. He would stay until the morning.
    Before he could give rein to fantasies of the evening ahead, he had work issues to manage. He punched in an extension number on his desk phone.
    “Yeah, Luke?” Beeman’s answer came only seconds later.
    “I need preliminary numbers for the board meeting on Wednesday.”
    Beeman sighed. “Luke, you know that’s impossible.” No Yes, Master from him. As CFO, Beeman said everything was impossible, then it looked like he was a miracle worker when he came across with what Luke asked for.
    “We’re talking prelim, Beeman. They know it’s subject to change.”
    “I don’t have an answer from the auditors on that reserve question yet.”
    “Put it in a footnote, worst case, best case.”
    “And there’s something wrong with the currency conversions.”
    They’d built a manufacturing plant over in Germany two years ago, and while the product shipped out of the German facility, the billing was done in the United States. It had given accounting nothing but headaches. The Germans didn’t like being told what to do. He understood the issues; they didn’t change the facts. All he said was, “Beeman.”
    “Shit. All right. Prelims by Wednesday.”
    “Tuesday night, Beeman. I will review them before the board meeting.” He never went into a meeting blind.
    His CFO growled assent.
    “Thank you, Beeman.” He was actually a good guy, did his job extremely well. A CEO was only as good as the people he had supporting him, and Luke had assembled an exemplary team.
    His cell rang again. A phone, be it cell or landline, had become almost another part of his anatomy. His heart skipped a beat anticipating that it was Bree again.
    But it wasn’t her number when he picked up the phone. “Hey,” he said.
    “Dad?” His eldest, Keira. She was a sophomore at Cal Poly down in San Luis Obispo.
    “Who else is going to answer my phone, sweetheart?”
    “Your secretary.”
    “She doesn’t answer my cell phone.”
    Keira sighed and he could actually hear her roll her eyes. “I just called to tell you I broke up with Billie.”
    “I’m sorry, sweetie,” he offered. Keira started dating Billie at the beginning of the fall quarter. Luke hadn’t met him.
    “It’s a good thing.” But she punctuated her words with another sigh.
    “I’m glad you’re handling it well.”
    “He started pulling all this dominant crap.”
    For a moment, Luke bristled. No one took advantage of his little girl, but one thing he’d taught both his daughters was to stick up for themselves. Keira went on. “He actually told me that he didn’t want me seeing Stephie anymore because she was a bad influence.”
    Luke held his tongue.
    “Does he think I’m lame enough to start smoking dope just because my friend does? Like I’m some weakling?”
    Keira had been friends with Stephie since middle school. In high school, when Stephie fell in with a bad crowd and started smoking marijuana, Keira stuck by her, hoping to get her back on the straight and narrow. His daughter had always had a good head on her shoulders. She was strong, knew her own mind, and what she wanted. He truly believed that if it weren’t for Keira, Stephie would have started using hard drugs, gotten hooked. God only knows what her life would have been like now.
    “I’m proud of you for sticking by your friends, sweetheart. There’re plenty of other fish in the sea.”
    “God, Dad, that is such a cliché.”
    He laughed. “I’m a walking cliché. When are you and Kyla coming home for a visit?” Of course, they’d only been back at school for a week since the winter break ended, but he missed them.
    “We’re hoping in a couple of weeks. After we settle into the new quarter.”
    “Okay, honey, let me know for sure. I’ll tell your mom.”
    She blew him a kiss before she hung up.
    He liked the short phone calls and text messages