I dropped my lipstick into my bag and turned around. “Why did you follow me?”
“I already told you that.”
“Yeah, but why do you careif I’m okay? We didn’t speak for ten years, and I’ve been a bitch to you since I came back.”
Luke’s eyebrow twitched. “Did you just admit to being a bitch?”
“Yes. But don’t get cocky. I can callmyselfwhatever I like.”
“You’re not a bitch, Mia. You’re—”
“What?” I demanded.
A ghost of a smirk brightened Luke’s face. “Complicated.”
I snorted, couldn’t help it. “I’mcomplicated?Wow. That’s some statement coming from you.”
He didn’t deny it. Just pushed off the wall and stepped closer, igniting a war between my heart and my head. My body yearned to meet him halfway, to feel his solid warmth and melt into his arms, but my brain flashed danger signs. We’d already proved we couldn’t be physical without drama, and I had enough bullshit to deal with right now without settingfire to that trash pile again.
Luke licked his lips and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know how to be with you anymore.”
“Be with me?”
“You know what I mean.”
Do I?But for once I kept my smart mouth shut and instead focussed on trying not to hyperventilate as he took another step forward.
He backed me into the counter, caging me without laying a hand on me. “Mia.”
“What?”
“What are we doing?”
“I don’t—” My stuttering heart cut me off. “Are we friends yet?”
Luke laughed quietly. “Not even close.”
“Why not?”
He shook his head, helplessness clouding the mirth in his eyes. “Because we never were, I guess.”
“That’s not true,” I whispered.
“No?” Luke towered over me, but he leaned down so his lips were inches away. “I can’t getmy head around it. Maybe you really were the best friend I’d ever had, and I’m the selfish git who threw it away.”
“Maybe.” But it caught in my throat. Luke was as flawed as any man, but he was far from selfish. It had been easy to hate him for so long, but I’d come to realise in recent weeks that it was the pain he’d caused I couldn’t bear. Him? He was... Damn, I didn’t know what he was.Couldn’t articulate how he made me feel. All I knew was I was going to combust if he didn’t get the hell away from me.
I put my hands on his chest to push him away. The warmth of his body hit my palms, and a bolt of heat channelled down my arms, sluicing through my veins with such ferocity that I gasped.
Luke put two fingers under my chin, forcing me to look at him. “I want to kiss you.”
“I know.”
“I want to lift you up on that counter, push your dress up your legs, and fuck your brains out.”
“I know that too.”
“Do you?” Luke leaned impossibly closer. “What would you do if I did it?”
