Page 76 of Stuck in Paradise with You

‘That’s what you want? An explanation?’

‘That’s what I’ve wanted all this time, Luke.’ She looks around the room, as if she’s just remembered we’re not alone, that we’re in a storm bunker with a ton of other people and two dogs. ‘Look,’ she says, calmer. ‘What’s done is done. We need to get through today, then go our separate ways.’

No.I don’t even think about why I want to say that word but it seems to fit. Yet something stops me from saying it aloud. Something heavy. A weight I can’t describe.

Instead, hurt and frustration have me shaking my head and as I drag a hand through my dark hair, I say, ‘Fine. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay, for some reason, and I have my answer. You’re great. You’ve moved on.’ I start moving back to the kids and Joe. ‘Enjoy your coffee, Carrie.’

‘I will,’ she says huffily.

‘Great. Maybe you’ll be functioning like a normal human being once you’re caffeinated,’ I say, turning back to her and raising my arms from my sides.

She scowls, rolling her jaw. ‘If, by that, you mean someone like you, I’d rather not, thanks.’

I scoff. ‘Fine, so don’t drink the coffee.’

‘Maybe I won’t.’

‘Fine.’

‘Fine.’

God, the woman drives me crazy. Is there anyone in the world as stubborn as she is?

I slump down on the sofa next to Joe, who is wide-eyed and sort of looks like a GIF asking,What the fuck?

‘I take it everything’s fine?’ he says, amusement toying with the creases around his mouth.

I feel the muscles around my own face twitch for entirely different reasons as I bite down on my gums to prevent me dignifying his question with a response.

Joe nods. ‘Looks like this is going to be a really long day. I might as well go ahead and fess up to a thing or two…’

35

CARRIE

I genuinely can’t believe I wasted any more tears over that… that…ape. Thatman child. That total, completeassof an excuse for a human being.

‘Honey, come sit with us,’ Ella says, and though she doesn’tsayit like one of the Mean Girls asking me to sit with the Plastics for lunch, the way every woman around the table – Ella, Alisha, Jenny, Monique and now Lola – is watching, it feels a little like I’m the new girl in the high-school diner.

Beaming outwardly, sighing inwardly, I realize this ispreciselywhy I don’t want to, didn’t, or shouldn’t have, gotten sucked in by Luke’s charm again.

Throwing one last scowl in the direction of my ex, I find him slumped huffily on a sofa next to Joe – my billionaire client, my last gig before partnership, best friend of my nemesis who, despite every smart cell in my warped brain, I’m unable to stay away from. Apparently, distance and time are a cure for absolutely nothing.

Because even while we were arguing by the coffee machine, I was watching his lips move, seeing the signs of last night’s passion in the plump skin. I felt the skin of my neck tingle wherehe kissed it just hours ago, remembering how the day-old growth around his chin deliciously grazed my cheeks, my stomach, my inner thighs.

I sit at the table and find the silent curiosity has turned brazen… ‘So you and Luke slept together, huh?’ Alisha says.

Either my imagination is playing tricks on me or there is a genuine twinkle of mischievousness about her irises.

Horrified, I try to buy myself time to think of a response to Alisha’s outrageously invasive—Oh screw it.It’s written all over my face, evident from that blow-up Luke and I just had.

‘I’m not surprised,’ Lola says. ‘That man was looking at you all day yesterday like he was going to devour you.’

He was?I hate myself for the way the idea turns me on. Maybe I was too busy looking at him like I wanted to devour him to notice whether it was reciprocal.

But I’m not stupid. There’s insane chemistry between Luke and me. A lack of sexual chemistry was never the problem.

Still, I’m not used to this level of direct questioning from anyone other than Callum and, honestly, there’s rarely anything I have to tell on the romance front. So I fumble a response. ‘I— Ah—’ Blowing a raspberry like someone far younger than even a high-school girl, I shrug. ‘Yes. But look, I’m here for work, and I swear it doesn’t change anyth?—’

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