Page 85 of Say Yes to the Death

Claire glared at her.

Luke came up beside her and grasped her arm. A rush of heat hit her at his touch. Her skin tingled. He was more tan than he had been in Paris, but the tan couldn’t hide the dark circles under his eyes. He looked as though he hadn’t had a decent sleep—or meal—in a week.

“Can we talk?” he asked.

“Now isn’t a good time. This is Nicole and Kyle’s day.” She tugged her elbow from his grip. The sun was too bright, but irritated as she was, she wouldn’t have put sunglasses on for anything. She couldn’t stop pouring over every inch of his face, like a comforting book she had read a hundred times. If the book was about a stupid megalomaniac with an affinity for sadism.

Rosie yipped from her tree tether, standing on her back legs and fighting to get to Luke.

“Sawyer, my man!” Kyle called from next to Nicole. “How crazy was that game last night?”

“Hey, Kyle,” Sawyer said, lumbering over to where he stood. He kept his eyes on Claire even as they talked.

“You haven’t called,” Luke said quietly. There was sadness in his sea-green eyes.

Claire raised her eyebrows. She didn’t have time for this. “I’ve been busy. And I don’t want to talk to you.”

He nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Did you at least play Rosie my bedtime voicemail?”

“I didn’t listen to any of them. I couldn’t.” Her face was hot.

Rosie was fighting her leash, running in half circles and barking to get Luke’s attention.

“Claire, I’m sorry,” he said, turning to face her and holding both of her hands in his. “I’m sorry I asked you to relive that night. You have every right to be upset with me. You are more important to me than any project. But don’t throw away everything we have on one act of stupidity.”

She bit her tongue, holding in the flood of words that she had pent up since she ran away in Paris. Tears pricked in her eyes, but she was not about to waste any more bodily fluids over this idiot. “This really isn’t the time or place to discuss this. I refuse to overshadow Nicole’s gathering with our relationship troubles. We can talk later.”

When Luke withdrew his hands, relief and dismay hit at the same time. He nodded and walked toward the table, greeting Kyle.

Okay, so maybe he hadn’t forgotten about her. There was no evidence of a new girlfriend along with him either. What was she supposed to make of that? And why wouldn’t her stomach come back up to its normal position?

“What happened?” Mindy asked, from behind her.

Claire jumped. Replacing her customary heels with sneakers had rendered Mindy a ninja.

“We’re going to talk later. Maybe.”

Mindy grunted and stared in Luke’s direction. “Do you need me to put some bees in his car? Because I’ll do it. He would never know.”

“I have no doubt. But I’m good, thanks.” Who knew what the universe would do to her next if she put bees in her ex’s car?

Claire crouched next to Nicole, head down and one hand pressed into the grass. Luke’s eyes burned into her, but she refused to look. If Nicole wanted to play football, she wasn’t going to let anything distract her.

Nicole bent over, resting the football on the ground. The red plastic flags attached to her waist danced in the wind.

She snapped the ball back to Mindy, who caught it and sprinted forward like she had been shot out of a cannon. She ran almost to the sideline at full speed, twirling to evade Kyle’s grasp. All the vigorous lovemaking must have kept Mindy in tip-top shape, because she didn’t even look winded when she hit the end zone unimpeded. She took a bow, and Nicole and Claire clapped.

“Impressive,” Kyle said, rolling up the sleeves of his T-shirt. “Our turn.”

Kyle bent over, looking to each side as he formulated his play. He glanced behind him to where Luke waited, hands outstretched. “Kamikaze?”

“Kamikaze.” Luke confirmed.

Kyle tossed the ball backward to Luke, who let out a terrifying yell and stormed straight through the middle of the field. The girls were so startled by the yelling that they didn’t even reach for him until he was five yards beyond them.

Claire slowed down, allowing Nicole to reach Luke’s belt and yank a flag off. She didn’t need to be that close to his quicksand crotch.

“Damn it. First down, though.” He tossed the ball back to Kyle to repeat the process.

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