“I’m so glad you had fun sightseeing with Luke today,” she says, flushing the toilet and coming back out. “I’m not surprised you guys are getting on so well. You have such similar interests.”
“We’re not getting onthatwell,” I blurt. Heat climbs my neck. Why is my voice so shrill all of a sudden? “We’re just working on wedding stuff for you.”
“Speaking of the wedding,” Alex says, pulling out her lipstick and applying a fresh coat in the mirror, “Mum called me today.”
“What did she say?”
Alex sighs, tucking her lipstick back in her bag and turning to me. “The usual. But she really dialed it up this time. I think because it’s getting closer to the wedding, she’s panicking. She keeps telling me that I haven’t known Michael that long, and asking if I’msureI want to marry him. At one point she said she and Dad were worried I was getting carried away with some fantasy of Prince Charming…” Alex trails off, lowering her gaze to her hands. “I just wish, foronce, they would be happy for me. You know?” Her voice cracks and guilt rips clean through me.
I have never been so appalled with myself as I am right now. I flew all the way over here for Alex, but what am I doing instead? Fixating on Luke and his divorce and the extremely inappropriate feelings I seem to have developed for him.
What iswrongwith me? I need to do better.
Slipping my arm around her, I give her a squeeze. “I’m sorry. I know that sucks. But you love him and that’s all that matters, right?”
She nods, saying nothing.
“The wedding will be perfect and they’ll see how happy you are. They’ll know you’re doing the right thing.”
Alex wipes her cheek. “I’m just stressed. Between them questioning everything, and Mel coming to the wedding, and all the stuff that still needs to be organized…” She draws in a shaky breath. “Then I’ve got this deadline coming up—”
“No,” I say, squeezing her again. “You focus on the deadline and I’ll take care of the rest. I’ll make sure Mel doesn’t pull anything. I’ll keep an eye on Mum and Dad. And the rest of the wedding stuff…” Shit, Luke and I have been really slack the past couple of days, with the board game cafe and sightseeing. Where has my head been at? “I’ll get that sorted too. All you need to do is get your writing done and show up to the wedding. Okay?”
She gives me a watery smile. “Okay. Thank you so much, Harri. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
I hand her a paper towel to dry her eyes, hardening my resolve. It was fun to flirt with Luke, but it needs to stop. Alex and Michael’s wedding is the most important thing here. I need to focus.
We leave the bathroom together, finding Michael and Luke at the table, chatting. Michael frowns as we approach, clearly able to see Alex has been upset.
“Hey,” he murmurs as she lowers herself onto a chair beside him. “What’s going on?”
She buries her face in his shoulder, saying something I can’t hear, and I surreptitiously gesture for Luke to join me at the bar. He glances from Alex and Michael to me, then pushes to his feet and follows me to a bar stool.
“What’s wrong?”
I slide onto a stool beside him. “Nothing can happen between us. Seriously.”
“What?” His eyes flare in alarm. “Did she know we were—”
“No. But, God, if she’d come into that corridor any sooner…”
“Yeah. Yeah, I know.” He stares down at the bar with a deep groove etched between his brows, then drops his head into his hands. “Ugh, this sucks.” When he looks back at me, his agonized expression makes something hot tangle in my chest.
“It’s not like I don’t want to, Luke. Everything you said about this past week being amazing—I feel that too. I amnothandling this well, trust me. You have no idea how much time I’m going to have to spend with John Stamos—” I break off as his eyebrows hit his hairline.
Christ, how much did I drink?
“You actually used John Stamos?”
I grimace. “I had to. I was going crazy. I didn’twantto, I wanted—” I stop myself from saying “you” because I know there’s no point. I glance back at the table and my stomach pinches as I watch Alex and Michael talking. “But… it doesn’t matter that wewantthis.” I turn back to Luke, forcing the words out. “We can’t have it. I can’t do anything that could ruin their wedding.”
“Yeah, the wedding is important to me too. It’s probably not worth the risk.”
“No. It’s not.” I’m wringing my hands now. It doesn’t matter what my mouth is saying—the rest of me knows I’m lying to myself.
“And you’re leaving anyway,” he mumbles, as if to himself. “So even if…” He motions towards me vaguely. “Nothing could come of it.”
I meet his gaze and an unspoken realization passes between us. This—whatever this is—will all be over, soon. My chest hollows out at the thought.
