Page 48 of One Last Thing Before You Go

He shrugs with a lopsided smile. “I’ll make an honest effort. I don’t want to push you away. Plus, it’s not like you’re wrong; we do need to still work together. Can you imagine finally giving in to this sexual chemistry we have? We’d never get anything done.”

I snort and laugh in earnest. “I love your confidence.”

“What? It’s true!”

Shaking my head, I put a hand on his chest and push him away from the coffee maker.

“Now, get out of here. I need to make myself some coffee.”

It’s hard to pay attention to Luke, our contractor, as he walks Knox and I through the final demo strategy and budget. All I can think of as he talks about knocking a wall down is what the place meant to me, how it took this moment right now to realize that this store might’ve been responsible for saving me when I came back to town.

I wince as Luke talks about breaking down built-in bookshelves, I stop myself from objecting when he discusses getting rid of the current register for something more generic, and I do my best to keep a straight face when we agree to remove any signage pertaining to Adams’s Bookstore today. But when we discuss gutting Walter’s office, I nearly lose it.

I look away and blink back tears, blocking out whatever it is the two men are discussing while I try to gather myself.

What is wrong with me? I mean, it’s just a stupid office. I know⁠—

Luke snaps his fingers in front of me, bringing my attention back to him. “Hey,” he does it again, and Knox’s hand comes flying in front of my face, slapping Luke’s fingers away.

“Hey, don’t ever fucking disrespect her like that again. She’s a fucking person, not a dog, asshole.” His voice is vicious in a way I could’ve never imagined it could be.

“Whoa, whoa. Let’s calm down, okay?” I slide in between the two of them, suddenly on high alert.

Luke glares at Knox, moving to stand squarely in front of him, clipboard in one hand, a fist in the other. Fear skitters down my spine in a cool chill. Luke is as dumb as a rock, but he’s also built like one. A giant boulder of a man, he stands a couple of inches taller than Knox, and more than a few inches wider. With his buzzed hair, tattoos covering almost every inch of his body, and ripped muscles, he is exactly what you’d see if you googled “smoking hot construction worker.” He could definitely take Knox if he wanted to.

“Hey guys, hold on.” I put my palm on both their chests, trying to ignore the way Knox leans just a little bit into it. It’s fine. We’re fine. “Luke isn’t going to do anything like that again, right Luke?” I look to him, who’s still glaring at Knox. He grits his teeth and nods once.

“Sorry, babe,” he replies, enjoying the way Knox rolls his eyes at the pet name.

I press on, ignoring them both. “And Knox, you’re going to apologize to Luke, right?”

Knox’s head snaps to look at me. “What? Are you joking? He was an ass to you!”

“He was. And Luke knows that, as I’ve reminded him nearly every day I’ve seen him since we broke up in high school.”

“You dated this clown?” He throws a thumb in his direction.

Shit. That was definitely the wrong thing to say. I also happened to sleep with him when I first came back to town. I was at my lowest of lows. But I don’t mention it since there’s no point in stirring the pot. Instead, I sigh and say, “Ages ago. But he’s also the best contractor around.” The only one, really. I feel rather than see Luke’s smug grin spread across his face. “So we need him even if he is as big a tool as the sledgehammer currently hanging from his belt.”

Luke grunts in anger, but Knox smirks, light slowly coming back into his eyes.

“Okay. So we’re good?” I ask Luke.

He rolls his eyes once, but nods.

“Cool, let’s forget this silly testosterone competition and start the demo, shall we? But we’re leaving the office as is. It’s still our mission base. Now let’s get to work.” I clap my hands once and Luke walks away over to his crew, muttering something under his breath about “crazy exes.” Unfortunately, Knox hears this and takes a step toward him. But I stop him with a strong grip around his bicep.

“Don’t.”

“He’s a jerk. If he’s gonna act like that then I don’t want him working anywhere near you.”

I snort and shake my head.

“What? I don’t like him. He doesn’t treat you right.”

“Newsflash, buddy. He’s the only game in town. And don’t worry about him. I know how to handle Luke.”

“I don’t know.” He sighs, looking over at Luke as he goes over the blueprints with his crew. He runs both hands through his hair looking torn. “I don’t like the way he looks at you.”