Page 43 of The Switch: A Friends To Lovers Romance

Ashanti waved goodbye and then headed out to catch a taxi. She was on her way to the bar when she got a call from Luke.

She picked up immediately. “Hey, I was just thinking about you.”

“You were?”

“Yeah…” She drew the word out and then paused. “Are you okay? Your voice sounds scratchy.”

“I’m fine.”

Maybe that line would have worked with someone else, but Ashanti had known Luke for as long as she’d known herself. “Luke, what’s wrong? Did your parents try something else? Did Eddie change his mind about the store?”

“No.” He sighed. “Look, I have your car at the café. I wanted to drop it off after work, but I realized you might finish before me so… you can come and get it.”

“I’ll pass for it now.”

“Okay.”

“Thanks for—” The dial tone thundered in her ears. Ashanti pulled the phone away from her cheek and stared at it in shock. “Did he just hang up on me?”

The phone went blank.

Ashanti shook her head and bottled her irritation as she asked the cab driver to head to the café instead.

How dare Luke hang up on her? That was plain disrespect.

By the time his café rolled into view, she was seething.

Ashanti shoved her money at the driver and stormed out of the car, barely holding herself back from slamming the door. She crashed into the café and stalked straight toward Luke, ignoring the customers who spun to watch her entrance.

Luke glanced up. When he saw her, his face went pale.

Ashanti didn’t bother analyzing his strange reaction. She opened her mouth to tell him off when her gaze casually slipped to his lips.

They were pink, rounder at the bottom. Thin on the top.

She froze, her throat tightening until she could barely breathe. Her body trembled. Adrenaline pounded through her veins and throbbed in her stomach. A memory flashed in her mind.

She’d seen those lips before. Felt them against her mouth. Melted at their warmth.

She’d kissed Luke.

Just this morning.

In her very, steamy dream.

Chapter Thirteen

He’d kissed Ashanti. Well, technically, she kissed him first. But that wasn’t the point. She had a valid excuse, namely the alcohol running through her veins. If some other schmuck had taken her home, she would have smacked one on him too.

But Luke hadn’t been drunk last night.

He kissed Ashanti sober.

And that was bad. Very bad.

Ashanti seemed equally horrified. She stood stiffly, her shoulders rigid and hiked to just below her ears.

“Ash?” He poked her arm. “You alright?”

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