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I’m impressed—she’s gone way beyond the call of duty. “Great work. With the way things have gone today, and how badly my brain’s fried, I could well need some of that knowledge.”
Her gaze follows me as I sit down next to her with a groan. “
Sooo . . . I guess we’ve both had long, boring, kind of shitty days huh?” I wink at her. “But at least it started off kind of good?”
She blushes a little, and it’s super goddamn cute.
“Luke,” she starts, “about that. I’m sorry for the way I acted this morning. I was just kind of . . . freaked out.”
“That we fucked?” I ask.
She looks taken aback by my brazen statement. “Uh…well, yeah, if you want to put it as bluntly as that.” She giggles. “Because we fucked, and we probably shouldn’t have.”
“Why? Didn’t you like it?”
She hesitates. I can almost hear the gears turning in her head as she tries to come up with something. “It just wasn’t the right decision to make, considering everything else that’s going on.”
So she still wants to unmarry me. Great.
I’m too tired to think about this now. Luckily, she seems to notice.
“You look like you could use some sleep,” she says. “And probably some food. Why don’t you head on home? I’ll take a cab back to mine.”
“No way,” I say. “I’ll drive you.”
She frowns. “That’s . . . probably not a good idea.”
I wave a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to ravish you against your will, if that’s what you’re worried about. Anyway, we do need to talk. About . . . whatever it is that’s going on between us now. After a shower and bite to eat I’ll be good as new, and we can have it out.”
She still looks uncertain, but she’s not going to say no. I can tell. She thinks she should, but she won’t. “Okay then. Talking. Talking is good.”
Tessa
He’s coming back to my place. Again.
This is starting to become a habit of mine—a bad habit.
We pull up outside my place . . . and I know that I should just thank him for the ride, go up, and get some sleep.
But . . . I can’t.
Luke obviously wants to come up and I feel like I owe him at least an explanation for my behavior earlier in the day. Plus, there’s just this magnetism between us . . . like, I rationally know that I should be pushing him away, and getting that distance between us, but my heart just doesn’t want me to do it.
He slumps down on the couch as soon as we’re inside, looking absolutely exhausted.
I’ve been watching him work all day, talking animatedly on the phone, a procession of people entering and then leaving his office. They all need to talk to him, relying on the decisions he makes.
It seems like a lot of pressure to be put on one set of shoulders, but he’s handling it well. And from the discussions I heard around the office as his plans progressed, he did a good job and averted what could have been a disaster.
“I’ll make us some food,” I say. “Any preference? I’ve got instant ramen, or instant mac and cheese. This isn’t Paris, I’m afraid.”
“Hey,” he smiles, “you’re can never be too rich or famous to enjoy some mac and cheese. That sounds so damn good right about now.”
I start preparing it as he stares around my tiny apartment. It’s still a mess—it feels like I’ve had no time at all to even finish unpacking since I moved in, let alone put my own stamp on the place.
“I’m spending so much time here I should bring over a change of clothes and a toothbrush,” he quips.
I roll my eyes, and he grins.
As the water boils, thoughts of telling him about the baby bubble up in my mind.
I feel like I haven’t given him enough credit—he might freak out, he might not. But he does deserve to know, and at least once the marriage is annulled I’ll know for sure that the baby can be provided for.
There’s always the risk that he’ll try and fight me for custody, but I get the feeling that, playboy or not, he hasn’t got it in him. He’s not evil, and hell, he’d even make a good Dad, probably.
The words are on my tongue and I’m ready to blurt them out, but when I turn back he’s fallen fast asleep on the couch. Sleeping like a baby.
It’s been a really long day for him—the baby news can wait. He’s got enough on his plate with this regulatory crap from the government and I shouldn’t burden him more.
I debate letting him sleep there on the couch, but two nights in a row probably won’t do his neck or back any good. I kneel next to him.
