Luke raised a brow. ‘And Janet’s good with that look?’
Phil screwed up his face. ‘Not exactly. She told me to change out of the shirt I’d planned to wear with her because you don’t want to get it ruined. With such little advance warning,’ he added pointedly, ‘I couldn’t immediately locate my bar shirt so Janet found this. Apparently getting cocktails sloshed down it would be an improvement.’
‘She’s not wrong. And I might help that along if you don’t stop looking at me like that.’
‘Like what?’
‘Like you feel sorry for me,’ Luke grumbled, nodding to a customer and pulling him another pint. ‘Everything is going to work out with Mia.’
‘I have no doubt.’ Phil began to collect the empties off the bar.
‘I mean, it has to, because we’re so flaming good together.’
The bar now clear, Phil began to wipe it down. ‘You are.’
‘Jesus.’ Luke huffed under his breath. ‘Stop being so bloody agreeable.’
Phil finally turned to look at him. ‘You want me to say you’re not good together? That things won’t work out?’
‘No, of course not.’ God, it wasn’t just pulling teeth. It was trying to yank on them while the dude with the teeth had his mouth slammed shut. ‘I want you say it like you mean it. And not like you’re trying to placate a gnarly animal.’
The corner of Phil’s mouth twitched. ‘You are pretty gnarly tonight.’
‘Yeah well, so would you be if the woman you loved was avoiding you.’
Phil opened his mouth to say something, but an influx of customers arrived at the bar. Luke pasted a smile on his face and acted like the cheery bartender they expected. And not the pathetic lovesick sod he felt inside.
It was only as the last customer left and they began to clear up, that he was able to touch base with Phil again.
‘Thanks for helping out.’
‘Yeah man, we appreciate it,’ Mateo called out from where he was loading the dishwasher.
‘No worries, it’s great to see the place so busy.’
‘The crowds I could have coped with,’ Mateo yelled before Luke could get a word in. ‘It’s your brother’s hangdog expression I couldn’t handle.’
Phil barked out a laugh. ‘I hear you, mate.’
Luke cleared his throat. ‘Do I need to remind you guys who pays your wages?’ He flicked a finger at Phil’s shirt. ‘And from the look of your wardrobe, you need the money.’
Phil grinned and rested a hand on each of Luke’s shoulders. ‘I promise not to wear this shirt again to your bar.’ Slowly the grin left his face, and his eyes fixed on Luke’s. ‘And back to what we were talking about earlier, I also promise to always tell you the truth. You and Mia will make it. You just have to be patient with her. Imagine if she was the one with the ex who lived next door? The one who she’d wanted to marry but had turned her down. How comfortable, how secure would you feel?’
‘I’d hate it.’
Phil beamed like a proud teacher. ‘Exactly.’
‘You really believe she thinks I’ve still got a thing for Freya?’
‘Put yourself in her shoes. The first time she stays over, Freya barges into your flat using her own key. She nearly gets stood up the other day because you were fixing Freya’s tap. Add to all that the fact that she thought you guys were over years ago and then finds out you slept with each other recently.’
‘Four fucking years ago,’ he reminded Phil between gritted teeth.
‘But that’s recently compared to the sixteen years ago Mia thought it had been,’ Phil pointed out.
And damn it, Luke hated it when his brother was so calm, so considered. And so flaming right. ‘Okay, okay.’ He drew in a breath. ‘Patient. I can do that.’ Unconsciously he drew out his phone to check his messages. A big fat nothing. ‘This patience. How many days does it have to last, exactly?’
Phil chuckled and gave him a hard thump on the back. ‘You’ll work it out.’
Just then his phone began to vibrate and Luke’s pulse kicked in. When he saw the message was from Grace, not Mia, he was ashamed that he felt disappointed. But when he clicked it open, his heart almost detonated.
You need to come home ASAP. Message for you in Mia’s window. G xxx
‘Shit, what is it? You’ve gone pale as a sheet.’
His hand trembling, Luke showed Phil the message. ‘Do you think it’s good news or bad news?’
Phil gave him a push towards the door. ‘Only one way to find out.’
Chapter Thirty-Eight
As he unlocked the door to his flat, Luke’s heart was pounding so hard he was half afraid it would burst out of his chest and start bouncing round the floor.
In his desperation to get to the spare room, he almost tripped over Pickles.
‘Damn it.’ The rabbit gave him a wary look and Luke scooped her up. ‘Shit, sorry love. I didn’t see you there.’
She nudged her nose against his neck. ‘Guess I’m forgiven, huh?’
The bigger question was, had Mia forgiven him, too?
‘Okay then, let’s do this together.’ He clutched the lop-eared fur-ball against his chest. ‘Sorry for the heart hammering. Turns out I’m more terrified of going into this room than I’ve ever been in my life.’
Of course, since she was a rabbit, he didn’t expect Pickles to give him much in the way of encouragement. Still, she didn’t seem to realise how shit scared he was. In fact the way she was nudging him, he had a feeling she was more bothered about getting fed.
‘Okay, okay, but you’ve got to wait. There’s more important stuff going on right now.’
Still holding her like a safety blanket, he forced his legs to walk along the corridor and into the spare room.
‘Christ, I almost can’t bear to look, but I don’t suppose you’re going to read it for me.’
Striding up to the window, heart in his mouth, he stared at the window opposite. The one that would, perhaps, seal his destiny.
And as his eyes took in the message, his mind became stuck. He had to read the single sheet of paper again and again before it finally sank in.
I ❤ U 2
Knees buckling, he slipped to the floor. ‘She loves me,’ he mumbled against Pickles’ fur. ‘She loves me,’ he repeated, voice stronger. Then he started to laugh, lifting Pickles up in the air. ‘Can you bloody believe it!’
Clearly less than impressed, Pickles wriggled out of his arms and scampered off but Luke took a moment to just sit and look at the sign. His heart felt so full now, brimming not just with love but with hope.
His phone beeped.
Did you see it? G xx
He wondered how she knew, but decided it was a conversation for another day, so he simply messaged back a yes.
A second later he received another message from her:
Aw, true love ❤❤❤
Just as he was clambering to his feet, his phone beeped again. And this time his heart skipped a beat.
Grace tells me you’ve seen the message. Can I come round? M xx
This was quickly followed by:
I feel the need to kiss the living daylights out of you. M xx
Laughter rolled through him at her use of his phrase, but being emotionally wiped out, he was fresh out of witty replies so he went with a heartfelt one instead:
Yes please. L x
It seemed like hours before she arrived, though probably it was only minutes. He just about had enough time to feed Pickles, stroke her ears and tell her not to disturb him for the next twelve hours.
Then there was a knock on the door and he flung it open, lifting the gorgeous woman on the other side of it into his arms and carrying her through the flat to his bedroom.
‘Err, hello.’ Her hands were either side of his face, her mouth raining kisses over it.
‘Hello yourself.’ He threw her inelegantly onto the bed where she landed with a soft thump and laughed back up at him.
‘Are you in cave-man mode?’<
br />
‘I’m in I need to bury myself inside you so I can be absolutely certain this isn’t a dream, mode.’
Her expression softened and she reached for his hand. Tugging him down onto the bed before rolling over, she stared down at him. ‘I’m sorry it took so long for me to tell you.’
Emotion balled, clogging his throat. ‘Don’t be.’ With his finger he traced the curve of her cheek, the outline of the mouth he never wanted to stop kissing. ‘You had to be certain.’ His eyes found hers. ‘You are, aren’t you? Certain, I mean. Because if there are any doubts I want to know.’
Her lips found his, soft, teasing. ‘I’m one hundred per cent sure I’m in love with Luke Doyle,’ she stated solemnly.
His body relaxed, his heart filling. ‘I feel I should state, for the record, that I am also one hundred per cent certain I’m in love with Mia Abbott.’ As she sighed and snuggled into him he felt the need to add, ‘I do still think we need to make absolutely sure this isn’t a dream.’
The breath from her laughter fluttered across his skin. ‘I’m inclined to agree with you.’
‘Inclined to?’ He dug his fingers into her side, tickling her. ‘What are we, a Charles Dickens novel?’
‘Jane Austen, please.’ Her hand slid under his T-shirt until she found his piercing and the tweak she gave it travelled all the way to his groin. ‘So, are we going to do some basket making?’
He spluttered out a laugh. ‘Is that what she called it?’
‘No, she wasn’t so vulgar.’ She reached up until her lips feathered across his ear. ‘But I can be.’
And that was it, he was done talking.
Mia woke slowly. When she tried to move, the big arm draped across her tightened and she smiled, happy to stay where she was a while longer.
‘Morning.’ His voice was gruff with sleep.
She wriggled round. ‘Morning yourself.’
His eyes skimmed over her face, as if he still couldn’t believe she was there. ‘You have anywhere you need to be in the next few hours?’
‘Yes.’ His face fell and she kissed him. ‘Here, you muppet. This is where I need to be for the next few hours.’
‘Good.’ God, she could lose herself in his eyes. It wasn’t just that they were a beautiful colour. They told her so much about what he was thinking; glinting when he was amused, darkening when he was turned on, vivid and intense when he was emotional, like he clearly was now. ‘We didn’t get a chance to talk last night.’
‘No. Somebody threw me onto a bed and ravaged me.’
He grinned. ‘We made a lot of baskets.’
‘That we did.’
He brushed at her hair. ‘But perhaps we should talk now. About Freya.’
Mia swallowed. Following her chat with Grace, she no longer felt that burning jealousy, or the cramping fear that Freya was Luke’s real love. Still, she didn’t want to betray any confidences. ‘What about her?’
‘Grace said something in the car the other day, about Freya having a hard time getting used to you and me. It made me wonder if she’d been making life hard for you?’
She didn’t want to lie to him, but if she had any hope of getting on with Freya, she couldn’t tell him the truth, either. ‘Everything is fine,’ she reassured. ‘The only problem was in my head.’
He nodded, his hand in constant motion, trailing down her face, up and down her arm. As if he couldn’t stop touching her. ‘But now you know what I felt for Freya was a long time ago, and it was nothing like the all-consuming love I feel for you.’
‘Now I know.’ He opened his mouth to speak, then stopped himself. ‘Say it,’ she urged him. ‘We have to be able to talk about stuff that’s difficult without worrying if the other person is going to get upset.’
‘Okay.’ His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. ‘But I don’t want to upset you.’
With a laugh, she pushed at him. ‘I can’t promise not to get mad, but I can promise I will always stay and argue. I won’t run off.’
His chest heaved as he drew in a deep breath. ‘I was going to talk about why I slept with Freya those two times. To explain it wasn’t because of any rekindling of feelings. It was Christmas Eve. Her mum was in hospital and I’d just broken my ankle playing five-aside football, so I couldn’t drive anywhere. We were both stuck in our flats and feeling miserable. Two nights on the trot, when Grace had gone to bed, Freya got out the tequila. By Boxing Day we’d both had enough of each other and tequila.’
Mia pressed a kiss to his lips, silencing him. ‘You convinced me at tequila.’
He laughed softly, and she could hear relief as well as amusement. ‘One thing I’m confused about, and I’m not sure if you can help clear it up or not.’
‘Oh?’
‘Grace texted me last night to tell me there was a message in your window for me.’ His lips twitched in a wry smile. ‘The run from the bar to here nearly gave me a heart attack.’
She patted his cheek. ‘Aw, you poor old thing.’
He snatched at her hand. ‘Less of the old.’ Then his eyes narrowed on hers. ‘What I’m trying to work out is, how she knew there was one.’
Mia was crap at poker, but she tried her best to keep her expression bland. ‘She’s got a key to your place. Maybe she came in and saw it.’
‘Umm, maybe.’ His eyes searched hers. ‘Why do I get this feeling that you and my daughter have been talking about stuff other than maths?’ But then he smiled. ‘You know what, I don’t need to know. I love that my two favourite females are building a relationship.’
‘Your daughter is amazing.’
Another smile. ‘My girlfriend is amazing, too.’
Just then the door to his bedroom creaked open and Pickles jumped onto the bed.
Luke groaned and sat up, lifting her into his arms. ‘The deal was, you gave me twelve hours.’
Mia shifted so she could fully enjoy the sight of this sexy man lying in bed, muscled chest on full display, arms around a smug-looking rabbit. ‘She clearly heard you call me and Grace your two favourite females.’
‘Damn.’ He peered down at Pickles. ‘Are you jealous?’
‘She doesn’t need to be. There’s room for the three of us.’
His eyes caught hers and the smile he gave her caused a zing from her head to her toes and in all the places in between. ‘Not in this bed. She needs to understand the only person I want in my bed from now on, is you.’ And just as she started to melt, he waggled his eyebrows. ‘Though if you fancy putting on one of those hot bunny costumes from time to time, I won’t stop you.’
Epilogue
The following summer
Luke knew he was driving Grace mad but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. He was so stupidly, unbelievably, uncontrollably … shitting himself.
‘God, Dad, I swear if you ask me one more time if this is going to work, I’ll clock you one.’
He grimaced. ‘Yeah, that might not be a good idea, what with this being quite a public thing I’m about to do.’
They were stood in the centre of quadrangle, the garden area that was surrounded on all four sides by the flats. Luke looked up towards his flat and wondered whether this really was such a great idea after all. Not the plan itself, that was a no-brainer. It was the execution he was getting angsty about.
His phone buzzed with the call he’d been expecting and Luke jammed the thing to his ear.
‘We’re heading back.’ Freya’s voice drifted through to him, along with a bucket-load of car engines and background chat. ‘She’s just gone to the loo so I’ve only got a few minutes.’
‘What time do you reckon you’ll be here?’
‘We’ve been through this.’
‘Humour me and go through it again.’
Freya let out a long, frustrated breath. ‘Fifteen minutes, if she doesn’t want to pop into any more shops.’
‘You’ve been shopping all bloody morning.’
‘Because you wanted us out of the way,’ Freya reminded him mildly. ‘I
don’t think either of us really wanted to shop together, we hardly have the same tastes.’
‘Yeah, yeah, I know.’ But he’d been desperate to get Mia out of the way so they could rehearse what he’d planned. Getting Freya to ask Mia if she fancied going shopping had seemed the easiest way. He couldn’t say the pair of them were best buddies now, but they were a lot more comfortable with each other, which counted for a lot.
‘Thankfully we do have the same tastes in coffee houses, so that’s why we’re a little later than planned.’
‘Half an hour later,’ he grumbled, which caused Grace to sigh. ‘Okay, doesn’t matter, you’re on your way. That’s good.’ His throat began to tighten up. ‘It’s all good.’
The moment he ended the call, Sandy bound up to him, walkie-talkie in hand. ‘Are we set? Is the Eagle about to land?’
Grace giggled, and normal Luke (not the Luke who was currently shitting bricks) would have bust a gut laughing. But this Luke was too tense. ‘She’ll be here in fifteen.’
‘Okay, I’ll warn the troops.’
‘She’s kind of bonkers,’ Grace said, watching Sandy as she scurried off into Luke’s block. ‘I guess that’s why you’ve been mates for so long.’ She glanced over his shoulder and her face split into a grin. ‘Mia’s family have just arrived.’
‘Christ.’ All his nerve endings started to twitch. ‘What the hell was I thinking, inviting them along? If this goes tits up—’
‘Which it won’t,’ Grace interrupted. ‘So you can stop the meltdown and put a smile on your face.’
He glanced sideways at his now seventeen-year-old daughter. ‘When did you become the grown-up here?’
‘Since you fell in luuuuurve.’ Flicking him a smile, she started towards Mia’s parents, or more precisely towards little Jacob who was tottering between them; Elle, Dave and Caitlin bringing up the rear.
Mr Right Across the Street Page 30
