Page 56 of Summoning my Grumpy Demon Boss

I glance up at Luke who is watching me from across the counter. He gives me a grin.

“What!?” Again, I hold the phone away from my ear when Tegan’s shriek nearly bursts my eardrum. “Yessss! Get it girl! I am getting out the pinot as we speak and I want all the goss!”

I can’t help laughing at the easy way she accepts this news. Luke reaches across and squeezes my hand.

“I can get a motel if it’s going to be a hassle.”

I shake my head. Tegan is already talking on the other end. “Is that him now? Please tell me it’s the kraken tradie. It’s the kraken tradie, isn’t it?”

Luke, who can clearly hear her, raises his brows and his grin grows wider. “Kraken tradie, huh?”

I giggle. “I may have mentioned you a few times.”

“I like that.” He comes around the counter and spins me on my stool so he can step inside my thighs. “I want you talking about me. Thinking about me. I’m always thinking about you. The last ten years I’ve never stopped thinking about you.”

I blush, squirming on my seat at his words. “Really?”

“Didn’t you get that when you met my family? I thought they were going to ruin my chances, letting you know howmuch you had me wrapped around that little finger of yours already.”

I laugh. “Never.”

“Hey! Are you even listening to me?” Tegan’s outraged tone from the other end of the phone makes me jump and I realise I’ve been totally focused on Luke.

“Sorry! I’m a bit distracted. I promise we’ll talk when I get there, OK? We’ll be about three hours.”

Tegan huffs a huge sigh, but I know she’s faking. “Ugh, fine! You owe me drinks, though.”

I laugh. “Yeah. Definitely. Anything. Thanks.”

Luke chooses that moment to lean in and kiss my neck and I can hardly form the words to say goodbye to Tegan. I think I might have just hung up on her.

Next thing I know, my phone is on the counter and Luke is nudging in closer. “I’m going to be whatever you need me to be, OK? You just tell me. Because I never stopped wanting you since the first moment I had you in my arms. Since the first time I spotted you on that jetty. And I won’t stop wanting you. Not ever.”

He grabs my arse and hauls me closer and I get lost in him for a moment. My phone buzzes and I glance down to see the last thing I want to see right now. Something that makes me freeze in Luke’s arms.

Oliver: spoke to ur parents and they want the coast house back now the wedding’s off

I stare at it in horror. Do I even really know him? How is he intent on turning this breakup into such an ordeal? Now what—he’s gone and told my parents? Like a kid in the playground.

I’m seething. And then the next message comes through.

Oliver: You owe me back all my out-of-pocket costs for the renovation

I can’t believe this! This was a project we started together. Because he suggested it! Now he wants me to front the costs? I suppose he figures Dad will pay.

Luke follows my gaze to my phone screen and grunts. “Might have figured that asshole wasn’t done, yet. Don’t you worry. Your dad’s a lawyer, right? He’ll sort this out.”

I grimace. “Yeah, but Oliver is, too. And Dad taught him everything he knows.”

TWENTY TWO

Luke

The minute we get to the outskirts of Sydney, I’m reminded why I hate the place. Mia and I agreed to drive separately, since she doesn’t know when she’ll be coming back to Kraken Cove. As much as I hate it, I’ve got to admit it makes sense. A client could call with a last-minute emergency, and I have a job I’m supposed to start next week up at the Lewellyn place.

I’m driving behind Mia’s little Audi on the M5 when a guy in a lowered sports car cuts me off and slides between us, probably without even glancing in his rear-view mirror. When I give him the finger, he responds by slamming his foot on the brake so I have todo the same. Then he speeds up so quickly he almost ends up right up Mia’s arse when traffic gets heavier.

I grit my teeth and ignore him, refusing to do anything else to set him off. I’m supposed to be making Mia’s life easier coming to Sydney with her, not getting her into an accident.

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