Page 37 of Love Like Lightning

“Okay, no problem at all. And if you’re flexible, we can always meet at the bed and breakfast. I have a nice seating area in my room.” Cam offers the alternative but refrains from offering up my room.

He knows better than anyone that I can’t keep my room clean enough for those kinds of meetings. And his is always pristine.

Wait a second…

“We will make it work,” Marc agrees.

Gina plucks one of the muffins off of the plate in the middle of the table, breaks off a piece, and pops it into her mouth. I consider just giving in and grabbing my popover, but my brain is still locked onto the fact that Gina just said something about Hammer being her son.

Hammer, as in what Henry was called when we were out to dinner. What are the chances that there's another Hammer in this town?

Probably slim to none. Still, I have to ask.

“Hammer’s an interesting name. What does he do?” I figure this might be an easy way to confirm the sinking suspicion I'm having. If he's a lawyer, I can calm down.

“It’s a nickname.” Marc confirms my suspicions.

Tendrils of nerves spread through my limbs at the confirmation, and I do end up reaching out and snag that popover. Taking a small bite, I force myself not to moan out loud, which is a lot harder than you would think when the perfectly flaky pastry melts on your tongue. I almost ask who baked these, but Marc decides to give us some more information about their son before I get the chance.

“He does handy work around town. He goes by Hammer, but the name we gave him is Henry,” Marc adds.

My heart stutters in my chest. I blink over and over again as my brain seemingly short circuits. A piece of the popover gets lodged in my throat.

Choking, I cover my mouth and bend over at the waist. Tears burn my eyes, and I vaguely feel Cam smacking me on the back. After what feels like forever, I can finally breathe again. I drop the rest of the suddenly unappetizing popover on the table, and Gina comes around with a glass of water.

“Okay, hun?” Gina places a hand on my shoulder and looks at me with concern. “Was it dry? I didn’t love the way the popovers came out this morning.”

“No, no.” I swipe a hand under my eyes, trying to dry my face, and take a gulp of the water. “It was really tasty, I promise.”

“Are you okay?” Cam asks me, his tone concerned but stern.

“Fine, I’m fine. I’m sorry.” I give them all a weak smile and try to work out what I just found out.

And what it means.

Hammer is Henry. Henry is Hammer.

And that means…I had sex with our clients’ son.

Twice.

15

Gianna

“Simone? Are you there?” I pull my phone away from my ear and look to make sure the call is actually connected.

It did.

“Yeah, shit. Sorry. Hold on.” Simone finally speaks, and a rustling sound followed by a crash comes through the phone.

“Uh, are you okay?”

“Fine, yup.” She sounds slightly breathless, and I immediately think I’ve caught her at a bad time.

“Are you? I mean, am I interrupting?” I whisper the question, hoping I’m wrong. It’s only around five o’clock here, but that means it’s later on the east coast.

After the revelation at that meeting, I have to talk to someone, and the only person I want to talk to is Simone.

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