Claire was right. He and I needed to hash this out. Not just for the sake of my renovations, but because I genuinely thought we had a chance at building a relationship.
Leaning forward, I propped my forehead in my hand. “Fine. I’ll call him.”
“Wonderful.” I could hear the cheery smile I was sure was on Claire’s face. “I’ll see you both at six.”
Muttering an agreement, we said goodbye, and I hung up.
Once more, I found myself staring at Luke’s name in my contacts. Would he even answer if I called? Or was he too busy?
Only one way to find out.
Mouth pursed, I tapped his name and lifted the phone to my ear.
It rang four times, then five. Resigning myself to leaving a voicemail, I quickly mapped out what I wanted to say.
So deep into drafting a script, it took me a moment to realize it wasn’t his voicemail that picked up.
“Hello? Mina?”
Spine stiffening as I realized I had the man on the phone, I forced my throat muscles to work so I could speak. “Hi.”
“Hey. I’m glad you called. Sorry I’ve been so absent.”
“Oh. Um, yeah. I?—”
“Terry! Make sure you get the extra piping for the Kingfisher’s remodel, or you’re not going to be able to do much else today.” After his initial shout, his voice sounded further away as he moved the phone to talk to someone.
“Sorry,” Luke said, his voice growing louder. “It’s crazy around here. Let me get somewhere quiet.”
“No, it’s okay. I won’t keep you. I just wanted to ask you to come to dinner at Claire’s tonight. Six o’clock.”
“Claire’s? Does Ozzie have info on the case?”
“She thinks so. I’d also like to see you.”
There. I put it out there that I wanted more than a one-night stand. It was up to him where this went now.
“I’d like that too.” His voice grew quiet. “I’m sorry I haven’t called. Work… Well, it’s no excuse to ignore you. I should have called. I’m not very good at relationships, Mina.”
And just like that, most of my ire evaporated. I wanted to hold onto it, but the fact he apologized without any prompting made it nearly impossible.
A soft smile formed, and I leaned back in my creaky chair. “You’re forgiven. This time,” I added, meaning it. I wouldn’t chase a man who didn’t want to walk with me in a relationship.
“It won’t happen again. I do want to make a go of this. Tuesday was…” His voice trailed off.
I knew how he felt. I couldn’t put it into words, either.
“Yeah, I agree,” I said.
A shout in the background of the call drew his attention away again.
“I’ll let you go,” I said. He wasn’t the only one who needed to get back to work.
“Okay. I’ll see you this evening. Hopefully, I won’t be late. But Iwillbe there, and I promise you’ll get my undivided attention.”
I smiled. “Sounds good.”
With a quick goodbye, he hung up.
