Oh, I bet you are.
“Thank you,” Paris says before hugging her goodbye.
She gives me a fake smile before leaving us. Not soon enough as far as I’m concerned.
“Why was she here?” I ask Paris once we’re alone. “Did she look after Sean today?”
Paris shrugs. “No, she didn’t, and I’m not really sure why she dropped by. I think she just wanted to see that we were doing okay and to ask if we needed help. Alanis is just like that—always looking out for Luke. It’s nice that even after she lost a best friend through all this, she’s still close with our family.”
I’m not sure what to make of Alanis. Maybe she really is just looking out for Luke, but I can’t help think that she’s interested in him. The less I see of that woman, the better.
Luke: I have tonight off work.
Me: You’re taking a lot of nights off lately. Your boss might get cranky.
Luke: He knows what’s at stake if I don’t have time off.
Me: Oh, what’s at stake?
Luke: You might get bored and take up internet dating again.
Me: Mmmm… let me think about that.
Luke: No need to think. I’ve got everything you need, including the night off.
Me: Is there pizza involved in this night off? A girl would never go back to internet dating if she was assured of pizza. Just sayin’
Luke: Is that code for cock?
Me: You’re a funny man, Luke Hardy. No, I just want pizza.
Luke: Pizza is at seven.
Me: I’ll be there. And Luke?
Luke: Yeah?
Me: I’ll take a side of cock with that.
Luke: So demanding.
I knock on Luke’s front door just before seven that night and hope like hell not to see Alanis here again. Last night was enough for a long time.
Luke opens the door and hits me with a sexy smile. I trail my gaze down his body, taking in the long-sleeved black shirt he’s wearing that sits firm against his muscles. This shirt isn’t as thin as his other T-shirts that do good things to me, but he still can’t hide those muscles. Meeting his gaze, I say, “You just shouldn’t wear clothes. I mean, I don’t see the need for them when what you do wear doesn’t even hide what’s underneath.”
He grins. “I’ll give them up if you do, too.”
“Could get tricky. I’m not sure what Sean would think.”
He nods as if he’s putting a lot of thought into this. “True.” He scoops me around my waist and pulls me in for a kiss. “When it’s just you and me, no clothes. Deal?”
“Deal.”
He lets me go and closes the door behind me. “How was work?”
“It’s getting better. They gave me another article to write. Seems the sugar tax one was popular. This time, they want me to write about refugees.”
“They like to give you the hard stuff, don’t they? Is this one for Sunday’s paper?”