Page 251 of The Black Trilogy

“Five minutes out, sir. Traffic’s worse than I’ve ever seen it.”

“I’ll be waiting by the door.”

The night before last, Luke had given in to Mark’s insistence that he needed to get over Ash and gone out on his first date since she left. The girl, a colleague of Mark’s girlfriend, had clearly looked him up on Wikipedia because she claimed to be an expert in every single one of his hobbies. Even bird watching, which he’d only put on there as a joke. He’d had a modicum of fun convincing her to perform the mating call of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in front of the restaurant’s patrons, but then she’d started talking again.

And her squeaky voice hurt. It actually hurt, and that was when his headache had started.

At half past eight, he’d got out his phone, feigned a server-related emergency out of desperation, and made a run for it.

Then the messages started. He politely declined her offers to meet him at home later, cook him breakfast, or meet up for lunch, then simply stopped replying. She hadn’t got the hint.

He sighed, feeling his stomach strain over his belt. He’d lost a few pounds before that horrendous charity thing, but he’d piled it all back on since. And last week, well, that had just sent him straight to the biscuit tin.

He’d stopped off at Mark’s place, hoping for a beer and a game of pool while planning to check on his little sister at the same time. She’d called on Monday to say she’d be staying with Mark’s sister to work on some school project, and he hadn’t seen her all week. She used to drive him nuts, but he’d found himself missing her. Go figure.

But Tia wasn’t there, and not only had she lied to him about that, she’d driven the knife in by going clubbing with Ash. Ash, his ex-girlfriend who’d turned lying into an art form then left him for a fiancé who cheated on her. She’d even had the gall to introduce the man to Luke before she hopped back into bed with him. Just the memory of it made him feel sick.

Ten days later, Luke was still fuming about Ash corrupting his sister. How dare she encourage Tia to go out drinking and who knew what else with her and a bunch of her cronies?

And when he called her on it, she’d accused him of being the irresponsible one!

Luke had grounded Tia, of course, and taken away her phone and laptop. He’d even unplugged the house phones and hidden them in his sock drawer. She needed to understand she couldn’t get away with lying to him. After all, she was only seventeen and even after being kidnapped, she was still hopelessly naïve. Luke worried that she’d get taken advantage of, especially by teenage boys. He’d certainly been no saint at that age.

He thought he’d done the right thing trying to protect her until he got home and found the note saying she’d gone back to live with the mother they both hated. That hurt more than he wanted to admit.

Luke’s phone chirped, and the sight of another message from Charmaine almost made him throw the stupid thing against the marble-tiled wall. What did she want now?

Charmaine: I have a surprise for you! It’ll be waiting for you when you get home!

In case he was left under any illusion as to what she might mean, she’d helpfully included a photo of herself dressed in a PVC nurse’s outfit with a lacy red bra peeking out the top.

That did it. His thumbs flew over the screen.

Luke: I’m not interested. Stop—

He got no further as he hit a warm body and his phone went flying. A flurry of red hair blocked his vision, and the woman he’d knocked into tumbled to the floor. Luke barely kept his own footing as he tripped over a pair of long, pale legs, which ended in a pair of black patent stilettos that made his trousers tighten. In the other direction, the legs led to a pair of slim hips and a slender waist, and Luke’s gaze lingered a little too long on a chest hidden by a demure neckline. Forcing his eyes upwards, he found a face that made Charmaine look like a Picasso painting.

“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking…” He trailed off as he came to his senses and reached down to help her up. As she put her hand into his, he was already changing his plans for the evening. A takeaway and a DVD no longer held the slightest attraction. Thank goodness he’d brushed his teeth after lunch.

He pulled the woman to her feet, surprised when she stood eye-to-eye with him. Sure, she had those shoes on, but even so, she was tall. Their gazes connected for a split second before she looked down and gasped. The contents of her handbag lay strewn across the polished tiles, and she crouched to pick the mess up.

Luke bent to help her, and their foreheads met with a bump.

“Ow!” Her hand flew to her brow.

Once again, Luke tried to apologise. “I really am sorry. For knocking you down and for walking into you in the first place. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“It’s all right, these things happen. Karma’s out to get me today.”

Her American accent caressed his ears. And those lips! Luke was already imagining them wrapped around things he shouldn’t.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, lost for words.

“D’ya know what this chaos is?” she asked, looking around.

“Tube strike. It was all over the news earlier.”

She swore under her breath, the words sounding foreign coming from such a beautiful creature. “Nothing’s running at all?”

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