Page 42 of The Mechanics of Lust

Luke looked up from studying the beer he held in his hands. “In that case, I vote we should talk about where I can repair the couch that came with my rental.”

I froze with my mouth full of beer.Surely, he wouldn’t.

“Seems it wasn’t as sturdy as it looked.” His gaze landed on mine and his mouth tipped into a crooked smile. “The leg’s broken.”

I choked on the beer and it sprayed from my mouth in an impressive arc to splatter the front of my shirt.

Alek ran over to slap my back. “Are you okay?”

I managed, “Fine,” between slaps and coughs, and when I could finally breathe again, I looked up to find Luke watching me with a knowing smirk.

He raised his beer in a tiny salute and took a long swallow, the fucker.

“You’re a bit hard on your furniture, mate.” Holden went back to turning the blackening corn cobs. “Try the joiner on Garibaldi Street. He’s the best around these parts.”

“He gets my vote too,” Gil agreed, his curious gaze flitting between Luke and me like he was trying to solve a puzzle. “He did some work for us last year.”

While Luke noted the name in his phone, I caught Gil’s attention, hoping to distract the nosey psychologist. “Can I give you a hand with something?”

Gil’s lips twitched like I amused him in some way. “If you can slice up the two loaves of bread on the kitchen island, I’d be grateful. They should be cool enough now. And maybe ferry some plates and serving dishes to the outside table.”

“Consider it done.” I headed inside and was halfway through the first loaf when my phone rang.

“Hey, little bro.”

I smiled at Julian’s voice. “Will you stop with the whole little bro thing? To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Aw, but you’ll always be my little bro,” he whined sulkily.

“This is me rolling my eyes,” I informed him.

He laughed. “Just thought I’d let you know that I ran into your knight in shining armour today.”

I frowned. “My... what?”

“Luke Nichols. He flew some guests out to the station today.”

Oh God.“He’s not my knight in any way, shape, or form,” I blustered. Although to be fair, the idea of Luke dressed in all that shiny silver didn’t come without a certain appeal.

“You sure about that?” Julian teased. “He seems a nice guy.”

“And?”

“And nothing. Just that he’s gay and single and clearly interested in you, judging by that night in the bar. And you’re gay and single and—”

“Not remotely interested in him,” I finished on a lie. “And stop meddling.”

Jules chuckled. “I’m not meddling. I’m simply pointing out a fact.”

“Oh really. Look, much though I’d love to chat I—”

“Dad was his usual friendly, hospitable self,” Jules interrupted.

I blinked, thinking of Luke taking shit from my father. “Jesus, what did he say?”

Jules sighed. “Considering he recognised Luke from the bar, nothing too bad once he got the predictablewhat the hell are you doing hereout of the way.”

Shit.

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