Need 2 talk.
She sucked in a breath, ignoring the dip in her stomach. Maybe he was finally going to open up to her.
Picking up a sheet, she scrawled.
10 a.m.?
Figuring he was still asleep – it was only half eight, she’d woken early to put the final touches to his website – she was about to head off to grab a coffee when she saw movement in his window. A moment later, he’d put up his reply:
Thx
She tried, and mostly succeeded, to get her head down for the next hour or so. There were the occasional glimpses at his window to check him out as he did his usual weight routine. An hour early today, it was impossible to resist now she’d seen his body close up. Touched the hard muscles of his chest and seen them quiver in response.
Heat washed through her and Mia had to take a moment to breathe. To squeeze her legs together to stop the ache between her thighs.
Just friends … yeah, she’d totally mucked that up. Why couldn’t she have stuck at liking him? Why did she have to go and fancy him, too?
But it didn’t matter, because she wasn’t going to act on it. She didn’t want to always be worrying about the women he’d told her about, and the ones he hadn’t. Those in his phone book, and those who sidled up to him in the bar. A magnet for the opposite sex, a man who loved women so much he went to the trouble of looking good to attract them.
That was not a man a smart woman would fall for.
By the time she knocked on Luke’s door, Mia had her hormones firmly locked up.
Then he opened it, and the sight of him freshly showered, his skin glowing, his muscles looking huge beneath the tight white T-shirt … those damn hormones burst free.
‘Thanks for coming.’ He ran a hand through his still-damp hair and gave her a rueful, endearingly uncertain smile. ‘I wasn’t sure you would.’
‘It doesn’t mean I’m not pissed at you.’
‘I know.’
He stepped aside to let her in, indicating for her to sit on the sofa but she stood her ground, not ready for that sort of chumminess yet. ‘I thought we were friends.’ She stared up at him, letting him see how hurt she was. ‘But friends talk to each other; they don’t evade, they don’t lie.’ They don’t sleep in the same bed with their arms wrapped around each other.
God, she had to stop thinking of that night.
Guilt crossed his face. ‘I’ve never lied to you but yes, I should have said something about Freya before now.’
‘It’s not just Freya though, is it? I saw another woman in your flat.’ Damn, why had she admitted that? ‘Not that you can’t have women visit you, I mean you’re a free agent, it’s just…’ she trailed off, aware she couldn’t say the next words out loud. I’m massively, stupidly, painfully jealous.
His eyes narrowed. ‘You’ve been spying on me?’
‘No.’ She’d just accused him of lying and here she was, being a total hypocrite. ‘I didn’t buy binoculars, though the thought did cross my mind,’ she admitted. ‘But I do look over at your window, you know I do. And that evening I saw you laughing with a woman who was pointing at where you keep the paper and pens.’ Her voice started to shake and Mia had to pause to regroup. ‘I figured you were taking the piss out of me.’ Finally she met his eyes. ‘You know, the weird girl who lives opposite and won’t give out her phone number.’
‘No, God no.’ He looked genuinely horrified. ‘Jesus, Mia, how could you think that? You’re not weird, you’re bloody adorable. I love the way we communicate. It’s unbelievably cool.’
A boulder lodged in her throat, making speech impossible.
‘Grace thought so too,’ he added quietly. ‘She wasn’t laughing because it was daft, she was laughing because it was, and I quote, too cute for words.’ He let out a long exhale. ‘Grace is my daughter. Freya is her mum.’
‘Your daughter?’ The explanation was so unexpected, Mia struggled to get her head around it. ‘I guess at least that explains the tattoo.’
He exhaled sharply. ‘Christ, you thought it was the name of an ex, didn’t you? Trust me, the only names I’ll ever have tattooed on my skin are those of people I want to keep in my life permanently.’ Not Freya then? While she was working through that nugget, he nodded over to the sofa. ‘Can we please sit down? My legs were feeling wobbly enough after today’s workout. They’re about to give out now we’re talking about personal stuff.’
‘Personal stuff? I’ve known you for three months and you’ve never mentioned you had a daughter. Nor that you were living next to your ex.’ She let out a harsh laugh as she walked towards the sofa, her own legs needing some support now, too. ‘God, I’ve not known you at all, have I?’
She watched him sit down next to her and briefly close his eyes, as if in pain. When he opened them again, she could see the regret. ‘I’m sorry. I know I should have told you when we were talking about our past, but…’ He let out a humourless laugh. ‘It sounds stupid now, but I didn’t want you thinking badly of me, not until you got to know me more.’
‘You thought I’d not want to carry on our friendship because you had a child?’ She gaped at him in disbelief.
‘No, not because of that.’ He hung his head. ‘Shit, Mia, I’m saying all this wrong.’ Drawing in a deep, shuddering breath, he turned to look at her. ‘I’ll tell you everything you want to know, but can we please start this conversation again, from the beginning?’
He was a man of effortless charm, yet he clearly wasn’t finding this easy. In fact he looked like he was struggling to tell her something important, something he wasn’t sure how to articulate. ‘It’s your story, so tell it however you want.’ Relief flashed across his handsome face and she instantly regretted how hard she’d been on him. ‘Just know that I’m sorry for being a bitch earlier. I was upset because I felt you’d kept stuff from me, but that’s on me.’ She was acutely aware she was the one holding him at arm’s length. ‘I’ve no right to your full life history.’
Luke stared at Mia incredulously. Had she really no clue how he felt? ‘The woman I spent last Saturday night kissing has every right to know about my past.’
Her cheeks flushed and she gave him a small smile. ‘Fair point.’
He shifted so he was facing her. ‘I met Freya at school. I guess you could say she was my childhood sweetheart, though at the time it felt like a lot more than that. Sure, I was only sixteen, but it felt like IT.’ How naïve he’d been, or as his parents had often pointed out, how stupid. He’d been the same age as Grace was now, yet his daughter was so much more together than he’d ever been. ‘It got serious between us very quickly, too quickly.’ Embarrassed, he glanced down at his hands.
‘Was she immaculately turned out even then?’
He laughed softly. ‘No, that came once she started work. Back then she was a natural beauty, no need for make-up.’ He searched Mia’s eyes. ‘Similar to someone else I know.’