Page 96 of The Love Hack

It was respect.

‘Sounds like your mind is made up then,’ Greg said. ‘And it certainly sounds like it’s a great decision for you and for Max!.’

‘I’m confident it is,’ I said.

‘Well, in that case I’ll let you get back to work, Lucy. Ross, we can have a chat about next steps, if you can spare a little more time.’

‘Sure,’ Ross said. ‘Catch you later, Lucy.’

‘Later,’ I said, and we smiled at each other in a way that must surely have told Greg what was going on between us, if he hadn’t already guessed.

And I returned to my desk. I created a new document, pasted in a letter from my inbox again and started typing.

THIRTY-SEVEN

Six months later

‘Raaah, game over.’ Ross dumped the X-Box controller on the sofa. Astro, who’d been snoozing on his lap, looked up, startled and affronted. ‘Suppose I should get in the shower and head home.’

‘There’s no rush.’ I sat down next to him. He slipped his arm round my shoulder and I leaned in for a kiss. I could hear Astro purring – and the feel of Ross’s lips on mine made me want to purr myself. ‘We’ve got another half an hour before anyone comes.’

‘Half an hour, you say? Sounds like enough time to me.’

‘We could shower together.’

‘Maximise efficiencies, as Greg would say.’

‘Exactly.’

Our eyes met and I smiled. Even after so many nights together, in spite of seeing him every day at work, although his body had become as familiar as my own, I still felt a tingling thrill of excitement when he looked at me like that. Sometimes it happened in the lift on our way up to the office, and we’d exchange a sneaky snog before arriving on the sixth floor. Sometimes it was as soon as he arrived at my flat, and we’d have taken our clothes off and be in bed (or on the sofa, or even, once, the kitchen worktop, although I can’t entirely recommend that). Sometimes it was on the Tube home after we’d been out together, and the journey would seem to last an eternity.

‘Come on,’ I said to Astro, ‘I’m afraid you’re going to have to move.’

Twenty-five minutes later, we were lying on my bed, slightly out of breath, still damp from the shower. Astro had joined us and was looking on disapprovingly from my pillow. Reluctantly, I peeled myself out of Ross’s arms and opened my wardrobe, rifling through the hangers until I found the short, purple velvet dress I’d bought in a vintage shop a couple of weeks before.

It was the first garment I’d ever chosen because it was sexy, instead of just because it was cheap or practical or comfortable. In fact, it was none of those things, and it attracted cat hair so badly I had to spend ages lint-rolling it every time I wore it. But I didn’t care – it made me feel fabulous.

‘Look at you.’ Ross slipped his arms round my waist from behind, moving my damp hair out of the way to kiss my neck, then eased the zip up. ‘You look beautiful. I love the way that makes your eyes look the same colour as Astro’s.’

‘Sometimes I wonder if it’s me you’re here for or him,’ I teased.

‘I’ve got kind of fond of both of you.’ He turned me around and kissed me again, on the lips this time.

‘Just as well, since you’ll be living here from next week. And just as well I quite like you, too, otherwise I might not be too happy about finding space for a bicycle and a load of vinyl records.’

‘Love me, love my stuff. Although I’m going to sort through the LPs and take a load of them to the charity shop, like I promised.’

I leaned up to kiss him again, my hands behind his neck, breathing in the clean man-smell of him. I’d never tire of this, I thought – but then I heard the doorbell and had to stop.

‘You can stay if you like,’ I said.

Ross followed me out of the bedroom and to the front door. I opened it and saw Nush and Eve, half-hidden behind a massive arch of pink and blue balloons.

‘How exciting is this?’ Nush squealed.

‘You look amazing, Lucy,’ Eve said. ‘Hey, Ross. Are you going to play fairy godfather? Bet you beat us all in the blindfold nappy-changing challenge.’

Ross looked alarmed. ‘I was just leaving. I’m all for gender equality but I think baby showers are a female-only safe space, right?’

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