Page 277 of The Black Trilogy

Luke stepped backwards, further, further, until he sagged against the opposite wall. How could the best evening of his life have turned into such a disaster? He may have only known Mack for a week or two, but he’d already lost his heart to her.

How could he get her to give him a chance?

The situation only got more awkward the next morning, and the atmosphere in the house turned cold enough to ice skate on. Luke was fifteen minutes into his battle with the coffee machine when Mack walked into the kitchen, and the flipping thing was still flashing an error message at him. In Italian. According to the translation app on his phone, The filter is broken. Fix it.

Luke couldn’t even find the flipping thing.

“I’d offer you a coffee, but the machine isn’t playing ball.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll stop at Starbucks.”

“You’re going to the office?”

When they’d spoken about it yesterday, she’d planned to work from home all day.

“I haven’t been in for a while.”

That wasn’t a proper answer. “What time will you be back?”

“Don’t know.” She shrugged. “Late.”

“Want me to get a takeaway for dinner?”

Ruth had another day off, and Luke’s pitiful attempts at cooking wouldn’t help in his quest to win Mack over.

She sat on a stool at the breakfast bar and sighed. “Look, I’ve been thinking. It’s best if you go home. Emmy’s coming back today, and after last night…” She trailed off and stared out the window.

“Emmy’s coming here?”

“No, to the East Coast. Sloane’s booked her a flight to Dulles. But it’s probably a good time to draw a line under this…this…thing.”

“By ‘thing’ you mean the best thing ever to happen to me?”

“I guess.”

Luke took a seat beside her and cupped her cheek, turning her to face him. “Tell me you didn’t feel it too.”

“You know full well I did,” she snapped. Then she closed her eyes and her voice softened. “Sorry.”

“Don’t throw it away. Please.”

“Look, I like you. I really like you. But Emmy’s been my friend for years, and I don’t want to hurt her. Don’t you realise how much she’s been through already?”

“No, because nobody will tell me the whole story. But we can fix it. I promise, we—”

“I won’t add to her problems.”

“Mack, let’s—”

“I’m going. I can’t talk about this anymore.”

Luke’s heart seized as she strode out, leaving him short of breath. First Emmy, and now Mack.

Why did the good ones have to be so complicated?

Luke almost cancelled his morning meeting, but it was an important one so he dragged his sorry backside into the office. With Mack kicking him out, he packed up the few belongings he’d left in the guest room and took his suitcase with him in a taxi.

After months of thought, weighing up the costs and benefits, he’d chosen where to base the new American branch of HC systems, and the relocation specialist was sipping a cup of tea in reception when he arrived. Now Luke needed to convince his key staff to assist with the setup out there.

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