Page 96 of So Now You're Back
‘We’re having this conversation because we agreed that we’d start parenting Lizzie together,’ he said with aggravating patience. ‘If you say there’s a problem, I’m not going to argue about that.’
‘Thanks a lot,’ she said, not hiding the bite of sarcasm.
So what exactly had he been doing for the past five minutes?
‘What time’s your flight?’
‘Ten. I’m getting a connecting flight through Chicago.’ She glanced at the clock on the wall, swallowing down the lump of regret at the realisation she had less than an hour left with him before the cab was due to arrive.
They wouldn’t even have time to check out Luke’s bakery porn fantasies. She dispelled the thought with an effort as her thighs went all quivery.
It was for the best—she already had enough addiction issues where this man was concerned.
‘The cab’s arriving at three,’ she replied.
He stacked their plates, the remains of the pancakes that their conversation had interrupted congealing on the plate. And she suddenly had a silly wistful moment about that, too. Not realising until that precise second how much she’d wanted to cook a meal for him one last time.
‘Cancel the cab. I’ll drive us to the airport.’
Her heart rate began to trot at the generous offer. God, she really did have it quite bad. She’d got out just in time.
‘That’s sweet of you, but not necessary. It’s a six-hour round trip.’
He glanced up from the dishwasher. ‘Don’t be daft, Hal. I’m not coming back here. I’m coming with you.’
Her heart rate shot straight to a gallop. ‘But you’ll have to change your flight. And what about the article?’ And my grand plan to make a clean getaway?
He dumped the frying pan into the dishwasher and slammed it closed. ‘I’ve got enough for the article. And changing my flight’s not a problem. I’ll do it when we get to the airport.’
He took her hands in his and her sweaty palms started to tremble.
‘I was going to wait until we left on Saturday to have this discussion. But we might as well have it now.’
‘What discussion?’ She tried to tug her hands loose, but he held on tight.
‘We need to do this together.’
‘Do what together?’
‘Go back to your place tog
ether. Speak to Lizzie together. Tell her what’s been going on.’
‘What?’ She yanked her hands free, her pulse ready to jump right out of her wrist. ‘But we can’t. It’ll only confuse her.’
And me. It’ll confuse me. Even more than I’m already confused.
‘How?’ he said, using that eminently sensible tone that was starting to seriously piss her off. And make her panic go through the roof.
She could feel a trap of her own making starting to close around her.
She’d promised Luke a more substantial role in his daughter’s life. A role that she’d inadvertently denied him. And she’d been right to do that. But she wasn’t ready to let him back in to this extent. Not yet. And especially not after the events of last night. Their lives had to remain separate, or at least separate enough. She didn’t want to fall victim to the same unrealistic expectations that had caught her out once before where he was concerned.
‘Because she’ll know I’ve lied to her,’ she said. ‘About the book tour. If she really has turned a corner in her attitude to my work, I don’t want to jeopardise that.’
‘Were you seriously planning to go home and invent a whole book tour for her benefit?’
‘Well …’ Yes, actually.