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Yours,
Luca
I smiled as I read the email, even as my heart sank. I’d have to decline since I’d already made plans to meet Miller—which I was dreading like getting a filling without Novocaine. I’d already been pissed at Miller for being such a shithole husband his wife had asked me to intervene, but now I was doubly mad because I was going to miss out on spending time with Luca.
I couldn’t knock the grin off my face, though. It had become something of a constant since the week before when Luca had thrown out the rules. Clara had gone to stay with her parents on Saturday, which I thought would mean I’d be returning to my bedroom. But when I tried, Luca scooped me up and threw me on his bed.
We didn’t talk about the change. It just...was.
“Tell me the joke.”
I jerked back, surprised by Miles’s voice. I shouldn’t have been. We shared an office, and I’d let him into the condo only a half hour ago. I’d known he was in the room with me, but I’d been so busy daydreaming about Luca I'd forgotten I wasn’t alone.
“There’s no joke,” I said.
He parked his butt on the edge of my desk, a habit he’d carried over from his days working with Elise at Andes. Miles and I were both talkers. We quickly realized in order to get anything done, we had to learn to ignore each other or else we’d spend hours chattering instead of working.
“It might be me being paranoid, but I see you smiling at your computer like a little loon, and I think you’re talking trash about me.”
Laughing, I leaned back in my chair, folding my arms over my chest. “That isdefinitelyyou being paranoid. There’s no question.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to tell me?”
I would have, but he was amusing me, so I drew out the torture. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings.”
“That’s it. This partnership is dissolved.” He picked up a blank piece of printer paper and ripped it down the middle.
“That wasn’t our contract.”
He crumpled the piece while staring me dead in the eye. “That was symbolic. It’s dissolved in my heart.”
I fell sideways in a fit of giggles. Working with Miles Aldrich was one of the best decisions I’d ever made.
He scowled at me through my laughter. “I’m not amused, Sershie.”
Sobering somewhat, I waved my hands between us. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I would never talk trash about you other than your abysmal taste in food trucks.”
His chin jutted. “I stand by Ludwig’s taco stand.”
“That’s because you’re a maniac. No one else wants sauerkraut tacos.”
“More for me.” His hand came down on my desk. “Now, tell me what had you grinning before I order sauerkraut tacos every day for the next month and eat them in front of you.”
I almost dry-heaved at the memory of the smell. One time was enough. They were banned from the condo.
“Just a sweet email from my husband, that’s all.”
He threw his hands up. “You couldn’t have said that?”
“I could have, but we were having fun.”
“Youwere having fun. You know, I see why you and Elise are friends. Both of you have demon hearts. It’s a good thing I get along well with evil women.”
“Go back to your desk and rest easy with the knowledge that I would never trash-talk you.”
He hopped up and shot me a dimple-popping grin. “I never doubted you, Sershie.”
When I was alone again, I replied to Luca’s email, stretching the truth as far as I could. I wouldn’t lie to him if I didn’t have to.
