Intrigued

3

Luke's POV.

After getting back to the Collins house, I said goodnight and walked into the guest room and got settled.

I removed my shoes and clothes and slipped on a pair of shorts. I lifted the soft covers and settled into the bed.

I picked up my phone and began to scroll through it. I checked my e-mails. There were a few from this business in Japan that I'm planning on taking over.

And a few more from my branch in Dubai.

Hayley's POV.

Monday morning. Ugh

I'm sure I'm not the only soul who, if Monday was a person, would beat the crap out of it.

I slowly got out of bed and rubbed my eyes lightly. I walked to the bathroom to prepare myself for the hectic day ahead.

I had to meet with a client at the local coffee shop to settle the color scheme for their house and after that, I have literally a ten-minute gap before I have to be at the local community hall where a birthday party is taking place.

I slipped on a pair of skinny jeans, a loose floral top and flats. I lined my eyes and put on a light shade of lipstick. A few spritzes if my favorite lavender scented perfume and I was good to go.

I picked up my handbag and walked out of the room. I entered the kitchen to see my family enjoying their breakfast of eggs and sausages.

Simon was all dressed up in his standard black suit. Luke was seated next to him also wearing a black suit but In a more casual way.

He didn't have a tie on and the top buttons of his dress shirt were open, giving a slight view of his light chest hair.

"Good morning dear. Joining us for breakfast?" My mother asked, still sounding tired.

"Nope. I have a client I need to meet in 5 minutes. I'm meeting them at the coffee shop next to Wanda's so I'll most probably pick something up from there when I'm done." I informed her as I walked towards my dad and kissed his cheek softly and hurriedly pulled my mum into a one arm hug and headed out.

Staying with my parents wasn't a bad thing. When I graduated I insisted on moving out but dad refused. He said that I'm his only daughter and I'm, and I quote, "still his my baby."

Simon was allowed to move out though because my father thought it wasn't appropriate to bring his conquests home. Well, that and Simon insisted on moving out.

He's staying with us now because mother said she missed him and he was forgetting about them.

I arrived at the coffee shop and got out feeling the cool breeze blow towards me. I slipped off my shades and placed them in my bag before I walked into the coffee shop.

I met the client as well as her husband. Grace and Cole. They settled on a neutral look with a slight pop of colors which I suggested be done with paintings, carpets and pillows and basic accessories.

I got back in my car and sipped on my coffee carefully. After I was finished I started the car and drove off.

Next stop. Avery Hills.

So basically my day finished at 5:30 pm. I was extremely tired and my feet were killing me. I'm sure I looked like hell with my hair clung to my face and neck because of the perspiration.

I really enjoyed what I do. The satisfaction of seeing the happiness on the face of a pleased client was the best feeling. It made all the exhaustion worth it.

I drove into the garage and got out, making my way inside the house. I was greeted with the delicious smell of grilled chicken.

My mother only makes that when there's a lot of people because it was too much for us to eat. Which means we're having more guests. Great.

I found my mother in the scullery standing on a ladder getting her fine China dinner set down.

"Mom, what's all this ?" I asked waving my hand around.

She got down and I took fine China from her. She sighed a sigh of relief.

"Wow, don't you look beautiful." She said sarcastically obviously acknowledging my appearance.

"Chris and Emma are coming for dinner along with their two daughters. So you might want to freshen up if you're going to join us." She stated.

It would be rude to just go to bed when there are guests in the house so looks like my sleep was being pushed back.

Oh, and to summarise who's coming for dinner is basically Luke's family. My parents and his parents schooled together. His sisters and I went to the same university's but majored in different fields of course.

I got along with the Kate and Kasey really well. They were easy to be friends with and their mother, Emma adored me to bits.

Kate was my age and she was married to her high school love. This made me jealous because my high school sweetheart is probably a snail that got lost.

After sorting out my appearance I walked down and began to help my mother with what was left.

The table setting was always left to me. I gathered fine China and began to place them on the table. I set the wine glasses closely along with the standard glasses for juice/ water. The napkins were gracefully folded and styled with rings that were decorated with small clear crystals.

A few minutes later Simon and Luke arrived. Simon kissed my mother on her cheek and walked over to me and nuzzled my hair.

"Evening short stuff. How was your day?" Simon inquired as I was neatening my hair.

"It was productive and how was yours?"

"It was might fine. My take over in Brazil was successful." He beamed.

"Congratulations," I said excitedly and gave him a hug.

Luke walked in a few minutes later with two bottles of wine. His hair was dishevelled and his suit jacket was folded neatly over his hand. His sleeves were folded up slightly and his buttons were still open.

"Stop staring sis. It's rude." Simon said softly to me.

My thoughts were interrupted as my father along with Luke's family walked in.

Emma and my mom ran to hug each other like school girls. We all let out a laugh at the two.

I walked over to Kasey and nudged her arm and she pulled me into a quick hug.

Kasey and Kate were gorgeous, no surprise. They got their looks from their parents. They all had the same blue eyes that Chris has and the same thick dark brown hair that Emma had.

After I greeted Kasey I moved on to greet Kate and saw that she looks like she ate a whole watermelon. She was heavily pregnant but she still looked beautiful.

Without wasting any more time, we made our way to the dining room and got seated. My parents sat across Mr. and Mrs. Basset. Kate and her husband Ronald sat next to Luke and Simon and Kasey and I sat across from them.

"How's work going, Hayley?" Emma asked me with a smile.

"It's been great lately. It's tiring but it gives me joy." I said smiling back at her.

"It's about time you get married? You don't want to be wheeled down the Isle dear." Chris said jokingly. Simon laughed and I pinned him with a stare causing him to stop.

"Well if your son wasn't such a .. err what's the word we used before? Oh oh, rake. If your son wasn't such a rake I'd make him marry Hayley." My mom stated while looking at Emma and winking.

Luke choked but covered it off as a cough. "Excuse me?" I asked slightly hoping I heard wrong.

"Oh relax you two, we're just making jokes okay. Don't take it seriously." My mother said smirking.

After some more light conversation, we were done with dinner and we moved to different parts of the house to relax.

Our parents moved to the porch at the front of the yard and the rest of us went up to the balcony. I always lit lanterns on the balcony because it looked beautiful.

I fetched a few lanterns and walked to the balcony to get it lighted before they all came upstairs.

I tried to carry the lanterns and the ladder up the stairs it was too heavy. I sighed in frustration.

"You look like you could use your help." Luke's voice said softly.

I looked up and was startled at how close he was. He looked so much more alluring in the dim lighting.

"Yes, please. If you don't mind." I said stepping back.

He smirked and carried the ladder on one hand.

"Lead the way, Hayley. " He said.

We reached the balcony and he set the ladders down. I stared at him and waited for him to go away.

"You're welcome." He said sarcastically.

"Excuse me?" I asked confused.

He just stared at me in disbelief and then I realized what he was saying.

You're so stupid Hayley.

I groaned. "I'm sorry," I said feeling embarrassed. "Thank you so much for the help," I said sincerely.

He still stood there, making no attempt to move.

"Do you want something?" I asked. He said something under his breath that I couldn't pick up.

He sighed. "There's no use me going back down only to come back up with the rest of them. I'll wait here."

I nodded at him and set up the ladder and began to hang the lanterns up.

I got down and moved to the second spot and started to climb with the lantern in my hand. I took the second step and the lantern fell from my hand.

I went back to pick it up but before I could do that it was held up to me. I looked at Luke and took it from him and hung it up.

"Hayley?" Kasey yelled probably trying to find me.

I quickly jumped back and walked a few feet away from him.

"Out here, Kasey," I said and immediately they all walked out.

Simon spotted Luke standing there and they exchanged these weird tight eye contact.

That is starting to get old.

We settled on the huge bean bag chairs.

It was a beautiful starlit night. The air was cool and you could hear the crickets making sounds.

"Who's up for a game of Truth or Dare?" Kasey chirped excitedly and we all groaned.