Page 22 of Lipstick Kiss

“Maybe another time. Let’s see if Jason’s in Edward Hall kitchens. He can make us breakfast.”

“Oh, good idea,” Freya said, her eyes lighting up.

Luke knew why she was instantly interested and was happy he could disappoint her. The elite endurance guys had checked out, vowing to come back again.

He wouldn’t let Freya know until she asked him where they were. He had to have some fun.

There was no fiancé. He was absolutely sure.

He took her hand and instantly dropped it and then strode ahead of her to cover his automatic contact without seeing her reaction. Luke didn’t know what was going on in his head and wanted to go back to when he was home when it was normal between them. He’d give her a piggyback, and she would throw an arm around his neck and kiss his head.

“Hey, wait up,” Freya called out.

He could hear her flip-flops flapping as she jogged to catch up. They took the long way around, not risking seeing Aunt Cynthia and entered Edward Hall via the front. Crossing the foyer, Freya looked up and around.

“It’s very quiet,” she said.

“Big place, babe.”

“Still, testosterone-fuelled men would make some noise.”

And there it was, Freya wanted to see the hot guys.

“They’ve been gone for a few days,” Luke replied with aplayful grin. “Why do you care, anyway?”

“Well, I don’t. It was an observation. When is your next booking?”

She was covering for her disappointment, poorly.

“More hot guys are coming next week. Never fret. The professional gig racers have booked out the place.”

Luke glanced at Freya to catch her beaming smile aimed at the floor.

“Will your fiancé be back by then?”

The smile slid off her face, and he could see the cogs whirring in her head at a response.

“He might have come and gone away by then. His work takes him at odd times for unknown periods. Difficult to tell.”

“Does he plan on staying in that mysterious job when you’re married?”

“Presumably. I’m not the type of woman who dictates what a man should do.”

“But you don’t want an absent father when you have kids, surely?”

Freya quietened as we entered the deserted kitchens. No Jason, meant no breakfast.

Freya remained quiet when we crossed the floor, pushed out of the emergency exit, and then walked across the lawns to Turner Hall. Freya was leading the way. I didn’t want to enter the grand house, but clearly, Freya did.

“Will Maggie have some Weetabix and coffee?” Freya asked quietly.

“Almost certainly,” Luke replied, now kicking himself for pushing the subject.

Now he thought the fiancé was real, and he’d hurt her feelings or at least had given her food for thought.

“I imagine it will be difficult with him away so much. If itwasn’t for your letters, I would have been constantly worried about you,” Freya said.

Luke stopped in the grass a hundred feet from the back door to Turner Hall kitchens. She worried about him? He loved getting her letters too. Often when he was abroad, he’d send postcards or a letter, but she always sent her letters to the rig with a kiss on the seal at the back. He knew she’d kissed it because the imprint of her lips in red lipstick was exactly like her lips. Her lips were equally plump. Her cupid’s bow was perfection, and when he got her letters, he looked to the seal first.

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