Page 102 of I Knew You Were Trouble

‘Right, so, picking up where we left off: whatareour plans for the rest of the weekend?’ I ask.

Before responding, he captures my hand in his, making my pulse quicken. I never knew how erotic handholding could be until I met Willem.

Looking across the backseat, he says, ‘I thought we could go for dinner and…’

…go home and shag each other senseless.

‘…talk.’

‘Oh,’ I say, taken by surprise.

He breaks into a grin. ‘You don’t want to talk?’

‘No, I do. I just…’ My cheeks heat up and I look away. It’s one thing to unleash my inner sex goddess within the confines of a hotel room; it’s another to be caught out practically begging for sex.

Willem leans across, his mouth close to my ear. ‘And after dinner… after talking… I want to take you home and pick up where we just left off.’

Tingles. Everywhere.

I quiver with anticipation –andrelief – because it seems thisisn’tone-sided. Willem wants me as much as I want him. Physically, anyway. I’m not sure what he wants to talk about, but I’m fully prepared for the let’s-just-be-friends-with-benefits talk.

All right, that’s an abject lie.

I do not want to be friends with Willem. Well, notonlyfriends. God, this is a lot. Maybe Poppy and Margot were right. Maybe itistoo soon to get involved with someone else.

‘How does that sound?’ he asks when I don’t respond.

I send him a smile. ‘It sounds perfect,’ I reply, and he beams at me.

But almost instantly, his smile falls away and he’s suddenly serious. ‘So, what do we do about Lucia?’

‘Honestly,’ I say, giving in to the momentum of this situation, ‘it might be good for all of us to be together – Jon’s… “menagerie”? Is that the right word?’

He lifts one shoulder in a half-shrug.

‘Doesn’t really matter what we call it,’ I continue. ‘But Lucia’s right – wedohave a lot to talk about. Even with Adriana, I’ve only scratched the surface.’

‘Hmm,’ he says, his expression pensive.

‘What did she say, by the way? When you told her I’m coming to Amsterdam with you.’

‘I haven’t had the chance to tell her yet. I was going to message her after we changed our flights.’

‘Right.’ Somehow, this information makes a dent in how cheery I felt only moments ago. But rather than dwelling on that, my pragmatism kicks in.

‘Okay, how about I say yes to Lucia and tell Margot she shouldn’t come? The three of us spend some time together this afternoon, talking things through, then later, you and I go to dinner. How does that sound?’

He nods, giving me a weak smile. ‘Okay, I’ll message Ady. And, Kate, I’m really sorry.’

‘Sorry?’ I ask, surprised. ‘For what?’

‘Wanting you all to myself when you’ve got so much going on.’

There’s a lot to unpack in that apology, but it will have to wait. Because Willem’s right; there’s too much going on right now.

24

KATE

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