He pushes his chair back. “I won’t be long.”
I happily devour another slice of pizza while he’s gone. Muffled voices filter down the hallway, and I make out a woman’s voice. I then hear Luke say, “I’ll just grab it for you.” A moment later, he comes back and searches in one of the kitchen drawers for something.
When a woman joins him, I watch in fascination as her eyes bulge at the sight of me. “Hi,” she says. “Luke didn’t tell me he had a guest, sorry.”
“No worries,” I say as I go back for another piece of pizza. This will be my fourth piece, and I give zero fucks about that. And I’m fairly sure I’ll be begging Luke to make this again very soon. To hell with the extra yoga I’ll have to do.
I watch Luke and the woman interact. She looks to be about his age. Actually, no, on closer inspection she looks older. It’s the lines around her eyes that make me think this. She’s carrying some extra weight. Not much, but enough that she has a muffin top. I only notice that because she’s wearing the tightest jeans known to mankind and a matching ill-fitting V-neck tee. Her cleavage is spilling all over the place. And now that I notice it, she’s pushing that cleavage towards Luke.
I sit up straighter when I realise this woman has a thing for him. However, I know I have nothing to worry about because my man is oblivious to it all. He’s simply intent on getting whatever it is she wants.
Men can be so blind sometimes.
She slinks up against him, her eyes all flirty. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?” she says to him while doing her best to rub those big-ass boobs all over him.
Vomit.
She is shameless, and I instantly dislike her.
“Sorry,” he mutters. “Alanis, this is Callie. Callie, Alanis.”
Alanis leaves him and makes her way to where I’m sitting at the table beyond the breakfast bar. Her gaze takes in the pizza before meeting mine again. I don’t like the glint I see there. I’ve only just met this woman, but I’m certain she’s a scheming bitch.
When she opens her mouth and directs her venom at me, I know I’m 100 percent right. “He makes the best pizza, doesn’t he, sweetie?” Her brows lift. “I see you’re enjoying it. From experience, I can tell you that you’ll need to add some cardio to your schedule after tonight. You don’t want that top to be any tighter than it already is.”
That bitch.
Her freaking top is tighter than mine.
I smile sweetly at her. “Oh, I think Luke might like it if my top gets a little tighter. I think I’ll skip that cardio, but thanks for the advice. Us girls have to stick together, right?”
Darkness briefly slashes across her face. She recovers quickly, though. “We sure do, sweetie.” With that, she turns and walks back to where Luke’s watching me with a strange look. She rubs her hand down his arm and says, “Honey, do you want me to look after Sean any days next week? Now that Rod and I are back home, I’m free whenever you need me.” The fact she has a man of her own but is still flirting with mine, does not surprise me.
“Thanks. I should be okay, though. I think I’ve sorted my staff out at work a—”
I cut in. “And he’s got me now.”
Luke’s eyes meet mine, and he hits me with a million-dollar smile. “And I’ve got Callie and Paris,” he says.
Alanis waves her hand around in the air. “Pfft, you can never have enough babysitters. I’ll check in on you in a couple of days.” She then kisses him on the cheek before adding, “It was so good to see you. And thanks for signing that document for me.”
The woman has no shame. Kissing a man in front of his woman is not okay.
After she leaves, Luke joins me again. He’s frowning. “Did something just happen there that I missed?”
I want to laugh. “Uh, yes. Your friend just tried to stake her claim on you.”
“Alanis? She’s married.”
I press my lips together and shake my head. “She might be married, but she’s got the hots for you, buddy. And where the hell is her wedding ring?” There was no ring on her finger. I checked.
“She doesn’t wear it. Something about skin allergies.”
“How do you know her?”
“She was Jolene’s best friend for years. She and Jolene used to do everything together. They were both pregnant at the same time, too, but Alanis’s baby died of SIDS. She adores Sean and spends a lot of time with him. I would have been lost without her after Jolene went to prison.”
Oh, God.
This woman is a permanent fixture in Luke’s life.
“They’re not friends anymore?”
“No. Alanis was actually the one who found the physical evidence that Jolene committed the murder.”
I frown. “How?”