“Okay?” I take a step closer and put my hands on my hips. “I need to hear you say it. My relationship with my sister is important, and this wedding means everything to her. We can’t let our mistake get in the way. We need to forget anything ever happened between us.”
He begins to protest but I cut him off.
“I’m serious. We need to completely forget about it. No more secret conversations when Alex and Michael aren’t listening.”
“Okay,” he mumbles. “Okay, we’ll forget all about it.”
“Good. Now I’m going home, to scrub the memory of it from me. And when I see you next, we’ll play nice for their sake.”
He nods again, his face solemn.
In the spirit of moving on, I try to muster a smile. “Goodnight, Luke.”
He stares at me for a second, then squares his shoulders and fixes his gaze across the street. “Goodnight, Harriet.”
And with that, I turn and head back to the apartment.
11
Islide the book back onto the shelf with a sigh. Things must be bad if even a trip to the bookstore isn’t making me feel better.
This place is lovely, though: a small, street-level store in the West Village, with narrow aisles and stacks of books that reach all the way up to the ceiling. There’s soft music playing, cozy armchairs, and that indescribable smell of books that just feels like home.
I wasn’t going to go out today, but Alex wanted to get some work done and I felt bad moping around the place. And, you know—when in doubt, go to the library. Or… the bookstore where your sister gets a great discount.
I know I’m going to have to face Luke and get on with things, but I needed a day to myself, to get over how shitty I feel about what happened. I’m not sure what it is I feel so shitty about; if it’s that he lied to me, that I am stuck in this situation with him now, or that—perhaps worst of all—I let him get to me. I let myself develop a little crush on Luke, simply because he was sexy and a good shag, only to discover—whoops—he’s got this huge complicated secret.
In some ways, though, learning he’s married has made things a lot easier. It’s stopped my escalating fantasies about what could happen between us and freed me to focus on Alex. Which, I keep reminding myself, is what matters most here.
I let my gaze wander across the shelves. It’s then that I notice a pair of eyes peeking through the stacks, watching me.
Jesus. Who is this creep?
I poke my head around the end of the aisle and spot Geoff, pretending to dust a shelf. “Hi, Geoff.”
“Harriet!” He turns to me with an expression of exaggerated surprise. “I didn’t see you there! How are you?”
I chuckle. “I saw you watching me.”
His cheeks color. “What? Oh, well—”
“It’s okay. Alex suggested I come here and use her staff discount.”
“Great! See anything you like?”
I shrug.
“Maybe I could help you find something?” When I don’t respond, Geoff sets the duster down. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just having a crappy day. I discovered something last night that kind of bummed me out.”
He smiles kindly. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I open my mouth to sayYes, please, help me feel better about thisuntil I realize, of course, I can’t talk to him about it.
“I’m guessing it’s about a guy?”
My face warms and I push my glasses up my nose, inspecting the carpet.
