Page 19 of How Good It Was (Excess All Areas 3)

Luke laughed. “I’m not a baby expert, but I’m pretty damn sure half the babies in England are born with tea in their veins. Sounds like a load of tosh.”

“Well, maybe English guidelines and American guidelines differ.”

He shrugged and put the kettle on. “Maybe. But I’ll put my money on an occasional cuppa being fine. Want me to pop out and try to find something decaffeinated?”

“No. I’m fine.”

“The fridge is a mess, so I’m going to start tidying here so we can put all the food away when we go shopping later, okay? Put the TV on or, you know, do whatever it is you usually do.” He began to run water into a bowl in the sink.

“What I normally do is film everything going on around me, make videos of my day.”

“Do me a favour and don’t do any of that until I’ve at least cleaned up. In fact, do we have to include my home at all? Not sure I want the world seeing the private side of all this.”

“What do you normally do on a Sunday morning?”

He eyed her. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

“Right. Things I’m asking you to stop doing. Women, sleeping in after a party or concert. All that stuff. Not cleaning your home for a pregnant one-night stand. I’m asking a lot, aren’t I?”

Luke turned the tap off. “Yeah. You are. You’re going to need to give me time to figure out where my boundaries are, flower.”

She walked over to him and placed her hand on his forearm. “I’m sorry. About all of this.”

Doe. Fucking. Eyes. He realised this was even harder for her than for him. “There were two of us there that night. And we took precautions. Shit happens. It’s how you deal with it, right? But this contract of yours is making me itch, not going to lie. And what you do for a living ... It’s not my style to share everything with the world. Hell, I barely share shit with my best mates.”

Willow took a deep breath. “I understand.”

“Hey, when’s the due date?”

“Sixteenth of November.”

Water sloshed as he rinsed the cloth. “Can you feel it move or anything yet?”

“Not yet. That won’t happen for another couple of months.” She grabbed her phone out of her pocket. “Here,” she said. “You want to see our baby?”

Luke dropped the cloth back into the sink. “Sure.” He leaned back against the counter, and she stood next to him, offering him her phone.

Their child. The grainy image every parent-to-be was familiar with. “It’s the size of a large plum about now.”

“Holy shit. It’s got hands and feet.” He slid his arm over her shoulder, pulling her closer. “Look at that.”

He could feel the warmth of her, smell the lingering fragrance of her body wash and the lemon-scented cleaner he’d been using on the fridge.

It would be so easy to kiss her.

But that wouldn’t help either of them out of the mess they were in.

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