Page 24 of Hothead

That earned him a laugh. “I don’t think you need to worry about that—there’s no way he’s gonna turn up. Not after what happened. Trust me.”

“Hate to break it to you, darlin’, but he’s coming. He called me just yesterday to check what time it starts.”

“He did?” She squeaked. Fairly sure she was now gaping at her host. And conveniently ignoring the heart palpitations.

“He did.”

Oh shit.

***

Bella had a plan. Shewas going to turn up fashionably late to the barbecue. Grab a burger. Avoid Luke Cappelli. And then sneak off without anyone noticing. Simple. What could go wrong?

Currently an hour late, she had just rounded the main house to the backyard where the barbecue was being held.

So far so good.

She totally had this. And she actually believed that right until she got her first glimpse of Luke. Who had somehow already spotted her and was in the process of marching over.

Abort! Abort!

She couldn’t just run. Could she?

She didn’t run. Mostly because her legs weren’t working. She’d frozen in place. Panic not the only thing rising as the man she’d spent the past three days—since their kiss—trying her hardest not to think about got closer. It was a toss-up over what scared her more, the very real possibility she might hurl or the look of pure determination on his face.

“Were you seriously gonna run?” he barked, still striding toward her.

Wait, how did he know that?

“Uh, what?”

Good save.

“You were gonna run, weren’t you?” he repeated as he came to a stop, close enough for leathery peppery musk to fill her lungs.

“No.”Liar.“What are you even doing here, Luke?”

“I could ask you the same question, darlin’. You’ve delivered your letter. Answered my questions. Made itdamn clearnothing is gonna happen between us. So ... why areyoustill here?”

That was a good question. Why was she still there?

Marco.

Feeling deflated, she let her shoulders sag. “Your brother wanted me here, I don’t know why, but he did. And after all the shit he did for me, this is the very least I can do. So here I am.”

Luke took a step closer, his dark brown stare penetrating her. “How long did he ask you to stay?” Was it just her imagination or had his voice gotten deeper?

“A month.” She found herself gulping.

“Good, ’cause we’re not done.”

She had a feeling he wasn’t referring to the questions she promised to answer about his brother, but she needed to distract him. Or herself. Especially now that he was looking at her like he was a minute away from swallowing her whole.

“We can still talk ... about Marco. While I’m here. I won’t let what happened between us stop you from finding out more about your brother. That wouldn’t be right.”

Another step and he bowed his head. Their faces just an inch apart. Making it hard to think. “And you’re all about doing the right thing, aren’t you, Bella?”

Was he going to kiss her? Surely not. There were people everywhere. His friends. Wade. Wade’s family. The other guests.

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