Page 74 of How Good It Was (Excess All Areas 3)

Fake. All of it. It wasn’t Luke. Hell, it wasn’t even really her.

“You okay, Willow?”

“I’m not sure,” she murmured.

“You look like you just got hit by a cricket bat. Come here.” He pulled her into his arms and enveloped her, running his calloused palms up and down her chilled arms. “You’re cold.” Luke studied her face. “What’s going on?”

It would be too easy to just lean into him, to tell him what was on her mind.

“No, I’m good. Maybe a lot of excitement and adrenaline or something. Look, let’s take our pictures. I’m probably hungry because Lord knows I’m eating enough for four of us.”

“You sure?” He ran a knuckle along her jaw.

Don’t lean in.

“I’m sure.”

“What do we do?” Luke asked.

“Smile. Look lovingly at each other. Make it swoony and believable.”

“Not that hard, flower.”

Luke pulled her against him, his hand over her shoulder as they both smiled. Then, he took her hand, spun her out, then pulled her back again where she fell against his chest. Laughter bubbled over. “Luke,” she gasped.

“What. You said make it believable. And you’re laughing, right?”

His playfulness relaxed her.

He placed her in front of him, slid his fingers between hers, then placed both of their palms on her stomach, his hands splayed over their child.

And goddamn, the ache in her heart that wanted it to be real was back. A dark whisper that his attention was ...

Fake.

She gasped, and grinned while her eyes stung, grateful he couldn’t see her as they both looked at the camera that clicked each time it took a photograph.

His hands moved over her, leaving goosebumps across her skin, making her thighs tighten with excitement. His thumbs brushed the underside of her breasts that ached for something more. His arms wrapped around her until she was pressed up against him, until her dress was pulled tight over her bump, leaving her feeling like a sexual woman with needs instead of a pregnant mother-to-be.

Luke pressed his nose against the side of her neck. “I’d forgotten just how good you feel in my arms, flower.”

His lips brushed the skin of her neck, and she momentarily tilted her head to give him room before she remembered.

This wasn’t really about her.

Taking another breath, allowing herself just another second in his arms, she stiffened and stepped away. “That should be perfect. Let me just go look at them and touch it up real quick.”

Too scared to look Luke in the eyes, she hurried to her room. Within seconds, she was looking at the images on the screen.

Stiff, at first.

Then, laughter. So real and free as her hair spun and she didn’t care about angles and shadows.

And, heat. Photographs she could never show anyone. Photographs that revealed what she already knew.

It had meant as much to Luke as it had to her. Only, for different reasons.

They were flammable.

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