Page 94 of Strictly the Worst

In fact, I can’t stop smiling.

“Go pack a bag for you and Zoe,” Linc says when we walk out of the living room.

“I’m not moving into a hotel because we have no water,” I tell him. “It’s fine, I’ll ask the neighbors if I can use their bathroom for a couple of days.” They already offered to help while the bathroom is being updated. I’m pretty certain they won’t mind me extending it a few days earlier. “And anyway, Zoe’ll be at her dad’s after tomorrow.”

“You’re not staying here without water,” he says again. “Not when I have an apartment big enough for all of us.”

“Are you asking me to move in with you?” I ask, fluttering my eyelashes at him. “That blow job must have been better than I thought.”

“It was perfect.” He kisses me again, smiling at the memory. “But no, not yet. I’m just offering you somewhere with water for a couple of nights.”

I tip my head to look at him, the ‘not yet’ echoing in my ears. “And where exactly will we sleep?”

“My apartment has three rooms,” he tells me. “Enough for all of us.”

I press my lips together. It’s a kind offer. One I would jump at if it was Angela making it. And if I called her now, she probably would offer. “I was thinking of asking Jared if Zoe could go over there tonight,” I tell Linc.

“And miss out on your Sunday with her?”

Oh this man gets me. My heart does a little leap. “He’ll throw a fit if he finds out I kept her here with no water.”

“What’s it got to do with him?” he asks.

“He’s her dad,” I say. “He does get to have an opinion.”

“Hmm.” Linc doesn’t look impressed. “Well either way you’re staying at mine. Until the bathroom is done. Think of it as Exuma part two. But without the pigs.”

“I loved the pigs,” I say smiling.

We argue good naturedly for another five minutes, and then he chases me into my room where I pack my bags. I message Zoe that we’ll meet her at the pizza place where Maisie’s mom has taken them. Luckily, she’s already packed her bag for her dad’s – and she has a lot of stuff that stays there – so she tells me the few things to add to it, and then Linc is taking her bag and mine and carrying them to his car.

“Are you sure about this?” I ask him. Because I’m not.

“Deadly. It’s either this or I drive over every hour to supply you with a bucket of water.”

“How would you stop it from spilling in your car?” I ask as he pops the trunk open and loads our bags in.

“I wouldn’t. That’s how much I want to keep you hydrated. Now get in the car and let’s get Zoe.

The pizza place is jammed when we arrive. Linc stops at the counter to pick up the order he had me place online as we drove because in his words, he’s ‘fucking starving’. And I walk over to where Zoe is sitting. She grins at me as I say hi to Maisie’s mom.

“Where is he?” Zoe asks me.

“Just picking up some pizza for us.”

Actually he’s already walking over, carrying two giant boxes. “Hey ladies.”

I introduce him to Maisie’s mom, who blushes profusely as he leans down to kiss her cheek.

“Are you ready?” he asks. “I can wait in the car if you’re not.”

I know he wants to eat some pizza. I remember from Exuma that the man loves his food, plus he’s been very active all afternoon.

In every way.

“I’m good,” Zoe says jumping up and hugging her friends. I try to pay for her dinner but Maisie’s mom refuses. “Already got it,” Linc murmurs to me as we leave.

“The tab?”

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