We probably should have talked about where this would go after we did the deed before we did it. I didn’t typically put the cart before the horse, but for whatever reason, Luke short-circuited the rational side of my brain.
But boy, did it feelgood.
CHAPTER 13
Mina
Being in lust with someone wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
Crossing my legs to ward off the pulse of need as a replay of the other night ran through my mind, I glared at Luke’s name in my contacts. I don’t know why I was even looking at it. I opened my phone to call a supplier while I ate lunch, which now soured in my stomach.
It had been three days. Three! And he hadn’t called yet. Oh, he’d texted, but it was to tell me he’d been slammed with work and as soon as some time opened up in his schedule, he’d call so we could get together again.
I wasnotsome floozy who was at his beck and call, ready to jump back into his bed at a moment’s notice. While I understood work was busy for him—he was running the company in his father’s absence and still playing the role of architect, after all—I wasn’t a booty call whenever he wanted it.
You shouldn’t have given it up so easily, my inner voice reminded me.
Rolling my eyes, I told her to shut up. It was the same voice who told me to jump his bones.
The phone rang in my hand, and I jumped, letting out a soft squeak. It was Claire.
Heart thumping in my chest, I answered. “Hello?”
“Hey. Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?”
My eyebrows twitched in a slight frown. “It’s Friday. Don’t you and Ozzie want to go out?”
“No. I think he has info on your case. I just got off the phone with him, and he said he couldn’t talk because he was busy chasing a lead. I want to pick his brain at dinner, and I thought it might go better if we both attack him.”
I chuckled. “That poor man. Okay, I’m in.”
There was a short pause. “You said yes fast. I take it Luke still hasn’t called?”
Any amusement I felt fled. “No.”
“You should call him. Invite him to dinner with us.”
“What? No. That’s a terrible idea.” I refused to beg for a man’s affection.
“Why? Relationships aren’t a one-way thing, Mina. And some men are dense and need a push. Call him. Make him aware Tuesday wasn’t a fluke.”
I huffed, leaning back in my office chair, a creak filling the room. The sound grated on my already tightly strung nerves. “I thought he knew that.” We hadn’t parted Wednesday morning like a one-night stand. There had been cuddles and pillow talk and a tender goodbye kiss that left me aching for more.
The “more” had turned into crickets.
“Well, either you call and invite him, or I will.”
My chair creaked again as I abruptly sat up. “No, you won’t. Claire?—”
She cut me off. “You need to talk to him, and he needs to get his head out of his ass. My house is neutral-ish territory. Plus, I’ll feed you both, and you’ll get info about the body in the wall. Unless you plan to cut all ties with him and find a new contractor, you need to work this out. I’m not excusing his lack of communication, but he probably has just been really busy.”
“So, I’m being a needy girl, is what you’re saying?” A modicum of fight left me as her reasoning started to sink in.
Claire chuckled. “Maybe a little. I’m not excusing his behavior, either. You have a right to expect better communication than he’s given you after what happened between you. But yes, I do think you’re taking it a little overboard. I get why,” she hastened to add. “But I also think you need to rein in your anger a bit.”
My mouth flattened, and I stared at the calendar on my wall, not really seeing anything I had written there as I thought about what she said.
MaybeI overreacted. Just a bit. Could he do better? Yes. Was the lack of communication a deal-breaker? Not yet.
