But body aches aside, the more pressing question was about Zane. Had he really kissed her?
She rolled over. The clock read 9:17.
That couldn’t be right. She grabbed her phone. 9:18. How could Zane have let her sleep so late?
She scrambled out of bed and pulled on a robe.
The unmistakable sound of her refrigerator door closing reached her right before a deep voice called out. “I hear you rushing around in there.”
Luke?
He continued talking. “You might as well chill. No one’s in the office anyway.”
What was Luke doing here? And where was Zane?
She walked into her kitchen and found Luke standing there, hip to the counter, coffee cup in hand. “Morning.”
A swell of disappointment and confusion crashed over her. Zane wasn’t here. Why did he leave without saying goodbye?
Luke took a sip of coffee. “Don’t be mad. We didn’t do it on purpose.”
“What didn’t you do?”
“Sleep late.”
“So the entire office slept in?”
Luke pointed to himself. “Not me. But everyone else did. Well, not Zane, but he should be asleep in his hotel. I didn’t tell him last night, but the rest of us worked out that part of the plan. In my experience, sometimes the best way to get Zane to do something he needs to do is to not give him any choice in the matter. So I showed up at five thirty and told him to get out of here and catch some shut-eye.”
Tessa had a nearly irresistible urge to slug Luke in the gut. That would wipe the self-satisfied look off his face.
Luke’s expression morphed from “Aren’t I awesome?” to “Um, what did I do wrong?” in the space of the few heartbeats it took for her to rein in her violent impulses. “Tess?”
She walked around the counter to the coffeepot. Luke had made enough for four normal people, not two. Wise move on his part. She jerked the carafe from the machine with so much force that some spilled down the sides. “That was a good idea, for Zane to get some sleep. But it doesn’t explain why you didn’t wake me up at a normal time. Or why my alarms didn’t go off.”
“I can answer both questions.” Luke spoke in a way that reminded Tessa of how she’d once heard a horse whisperer settle an angry stallion. “Zane snuck in there and turned them off before he left. He texted you. Did you not look at your phone when you woke up?”
Tessa cleaned up the mess she’d made and added cream to hercoffee. “No. I woke up and looked at my clock and nearly died on the spot. It would have been a real kick in the pants to have survived the week I’ve had, only to keel over from the shock of being late to work for the first time in my life.” Her voice had risen in both volume and pitch as she spoke.
Luke nodded solemnly as she passed him. “I can see your point. But you’ve had a horrible week, and you were sleeping. Zane almost woke you up to say goodbye, but he said he couldn’t bring himself to do it. You’re tired. More tired than you realize, considering Zane wandered around your bedroom and it didn’t set off your internal warning system. You needed the sleep. So did Zane. The only way I was able to convince him to leave was by promising that I wouldn’t wake you before ten.”
Tessa took her coffee with her and returned to her room. She went straight to the phone sitting on the charger on her nightstand. Zane’s text popped up on the screen.
Don’t be mad.
Huh. Fat chance.
I wanted to be there when you woke up, but more than that, I want to be there for you today, tomorrow, and so on. Luke’s overprotective streak has kicked into high gear, but he’s not wrong. We both need the sleep. Call me when you wake up. Please.
What followed was a string of GIFs ranging from kittens begging for forgiveness with their tiny paws in the air to grown men sobbing fake tears. These were followed by random pictures of candy.
It wasn’t fair to fight with kittens and candy. At the rate they were going, she would never win an argument with this man.
I’m never speaking to you again.
Call me when you wake up so I can give you the silent treatment while I’m getting ready.
Luke’s face appeared around her doorframe. “Is it safe to enter?”
