Page 38 of Best Laid Plans

She wasn’t sure this was possible for her. But if she wanted a baby, she was going to have to pretend that she was okay about the “only friends” part of their arrangement.

Cicadas started their deafening chorus outside in the trees and in the soft, pink-plumed grasses, as they did every evening in spring and summer, calling to each other in the last of the daylight.

Lucy cocked her ear to the almost deafening choir outside. ‘Those cicadas are just like us.’

Will’s eyebrows lifted. ‘They are?’

‘Sure. Listen to them. They wait till the last ten or fifteen minutes of daylight, till it’s almost too late to find partners, and then they go into a mad panic and start yelling out –Hey,I need to pass on my DNA. I need a mate. Who’s out there?’

Will laughed and topped up their wine glasses.

A startling image jumped into her head of his white shirt slipping from his broad, brown shoulders, of the fastener on his jeans sliding down.

Consumed by flames, she gulped too much wine. ‘This would be so much easier if we were aliens.’

Will almost choked on his drink. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘Oh, you’ve seen the movies.’ She held out her hand to him, fingers splayed. ‘If aliens want to have a baby, they just let their fingertips touch. Or they hook up by mental telepathy andvoila! One cute triangular baby.’

Shaking his head, Will stood. He wasn’t smiling any more as he collected their plates and took them to the sink.

Slightly dazed by this abrupt change, Lucy watched him with a mixture of nervousness and longing. His long legs and wide shoulders –everythingreally – made him so hunky and desirable.

‘Shall I put the leftovers in the fridge?’ he asked.

Goodness. He was hunky and desirableandunafraid to help in the kitchen.

Lucy was so busy admiring Will she almost forgot that this was her kitchen and she should be helping him.

She jumped to her feet. ‘My dogs will adore that custard in the morning.’

They made short work of clearing the food away, then Will snagged the wine bottle and their glasses. ‘Why don’t we make ourselves more comfortable?’

‘C-comfortable?’

He smiled at her. ‘If you stay here chattering about mating cicadas and alien sex you’re going to talk yourself out of this, Goose.’

Well yes, she was aware of that distinct possibility.

‘Where do you want to go then?’

Amusement shimmered in his eyes. ‘I thought we might try your bedroom.’

Lucy gasped. ‘Already?’

‘Come on.’ Will was smiling again as he took her hand. ‘We can do this.’ He pulled her gently but purposefully across the room. ‘Which way?’

‘My room’s the first on the right.’ Lucy was super aware of their linked hands as she walked beside him on unsteady legs.

Think about the baby. Don’t fall in love.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

WILL stopped just inside Lucy’s bedroom doorway. ‘Very nice,’ he said, admiring the brand new claret duvet with silvery greypillows. She’d chosen the pillow slips because they were the colour of Will’s eyes.

She was glad she’d turned on the bed lamps and drawn the new curtains. The room looked welcoming. Not too girly. Smart. Attractive.

Will put the bottle and glasses down on one of the bedside tables, then came and stood beside her. He took her hands.

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