Page 46 of The Wake-Up Call

Oh. Graham. Yes. Graham the bigamist. The other major event of the day.

“That wasn’t a good thing for the hotel, though,” I say. “I’ve made Mrs. SB and Barty’s life even more stressful.”

Lucas shrugs. “Some things are important enough to cause a little drama.”

I raise my eyebrows. It’s not like Lucas to be in favour of drama.

“It’s early for bed,” Lucas says, checking his watch. “I think I’ll go for a walk.”

“A walk? In central Woking? In a snowstorm?”

Lucas turns his attention to the window, as if remembering the problem.

“We could go to the bar?” I suggest, sitting up on my elbows.

Lucas grimaces. Ah, right—no spending unnecessary money. I reach for the remote control and turn on the telly. It lands onLove Actually. I let out a delighted yip and shimmy up the bed so I’m propped up on the pillows.

“You’ve seen this, right?” I say to him.

He watches for a few moments. “No.”

“Oh my God. Sit down. That’s a crime against Christmas right there. Is this not a thing in Brazil? There’s even a super-hot muscly Brazilian guy in it and everything.”

His lip quirks. “Do you think us super-hot muscly Brazilian guys seek each other out?”

I flush. “No, that’s not—whatever. You have to see it.”

He looks slightly fatigued by this but perches on the bed beside me, and then, after a moment, swings his legs around.

“It’sLove Actually? My sister does tell me I must watch this all the time,” he says. “What have I missed? Who is that man?”

“Just watch,” I say. Because of course Lucas is one of those assertive males who talks over crucial dialogue.

On-screen, David meets Natalie for the first time. Lucas settles in beside me, fingers linked on his chest.

“So he is going to fall in love with that woman?” he asks as Annie appears on-screen.

“No, that’s his chief of staff,” I say, laughing. “It’s Natalie he falls in love with. Your romance radar is terrible.” Then I pause. Is that unkind? “Sorry,” I say just as Lucas says, “So they’re colleagues—that means they can’t be anything more?”

I keep my eyes on the scene playing out on-screen and give up on actually hearing anything.

“Well, I guess... the Prime Minister sleeping with his chief of staff would maybe be a no-no?”

“Hmm,” Lucas says, taking this in.

“What’s the deal with office romances in Brazil? Is everyone cool with it?”

“It depends,” Lucas says, “on how you conduct yourself at work. You have to be appropriate.”

“Yeah, kind of the same here.”

I think of me and Lucas, fully clothed in the swimming pool, splashing each other wildly. Not sure anyone would accuse us of conducting ourselves appropriately.

We watch the film in silence. I wonder why Lucas asked about colleagues being romantically involved. I wonder if it’s about me. I wonder if we’re about to cross a line that cannot be uncrossed, and whether I care about that, and I already know that I don’t.

Lucas turns onto his side, facing me. I shift my head to look at him. I let myself really take him in: the serious brown eyes, the straight brows, the faint hollow beneath his cheekbone. We’re close enough that I can feel his breath ghosting over my cheek.

“You have always told me what you think of me,” he sayseventually. His voice is low. Behind it, the telly chatters on. “You’ve always been honest.”

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