Page 23 of How Good It Was (Excess All Areas 3)

“It has a large brew head so the water flows through the grounds more effectively.”

Luke huffed. “It’s big enough to take a shower under.”

Willow bit back a grin and focused on frothing the foam. She’d tell him the beans were decaf later. Or maybe never, if he couldn’t tell the difference. With the double espresso shot in the cup, she added mostly the foam and a splash of milk. “One cappuccino. You’ll never want to drink anything else.”

“You’ve clearly never had a pint of Boddingtons at the perfect temperature.”

Willow placed the drink down in front of him. “Given it will be a while before I can compare the two, I suggest you just shut up and say thank you.”

“Thank you.” Luke tipped the cup to his lips and took a sip.

She tried not to pay attention to the way his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. And, geez, she’d read about preggo horny hormones, but lord, since the moment Luke had walked into the room, it was as if someone had let off a pheromone bomb, and she wasn’t immune.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the papers she needed him to sign, and they doused the low-grade tingling in her underwear.

Probably for the best.

“That’s good coffee,” he said, a whisper of white foam on his upper lip.

Willow gestured to her own lips. “You’ve got a little something.”

Lazily, Luke ran his tongue over his upper lip. She followed every delicious millimetre. Shit, there went those tingles again.

“Better?”

“Much,” she said hoarsely. “How was London?”

“You want the simple version, or do you want the truth?”

Neither sounded good. “A lie, or something that will likely hurt, right?”

Luke shrugged. “Neither are great options. Which seems to be a trend between us.”

“I think given we are hopefully about to set up one giant lie, I feel like the truth between us might be the very thing that grounds us and makes all of this possible.”

“Recording the show went great. We played together flawlessly. Then, I got blind drunk and, after watching this redhead who was fit as fuck for half an hour, I decided to go chat with her and see if I couldn’t get her to come back to the hotel with me.”

Willow swallowed, her stomach churning, and she tried to figure out her emotions. What did this mean for their deal? Did he not feel like he could do it?

Did he sleep with her?

Is that why he looked so damn exhausted?

Willow looked down at her coffee, and she suddenly didn’t feel like drinking it any more than if it was sour milk. Instead, she tipped it down the sink and rinsed the cup.

“Nothing to say to that, Will?”

She placed her hands on the edge of the sink and breathed deeply. Once, then again. She didn’t have a plan B. If he didn’t sign the papers, there was no way to pull this all off. She’d lose her sponsors and likely a fair chunk of her followers. The tears that stung the corners of her eyes were nothing more than tears of frustration, because a man like Luke couldn’t actually hurt her, right?

With a sigh, she pushed off and faced him. “I don’t know what you want me to say. Did I hope for better from you than that? Sure. At least we know now that you won’t be able to keep it in your pants. Better to learn that now before I not only pretend to be in a fake relationship with you, but also get humiliated for real. I’ll go pack. I’ll be out of your hair by lunch.”

She turned to head to her bedroom but was stopped when he gently gripped her wrist. “You think I slept with her.”

It was a statement. “Wasn’t that the whole point of telling me that?”

“You’re jealous.”

“I’m disappointed. Get over yourself. You let me down.”

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