Page 77 of Faking it For Summer

“You are,” he says. He leans over and gives me a kiss on the lips and then pulls me up. “Come on. Let’s go back to the hotel. I think we both could do with some sleep tonight.” He grins. “And when I say sleep, I mean just sleep.”

“Pillow fort again?” I ask him.

“If you think you need it, handsy Mia.”

“Ha-ha, very funny, Luke.”

“I’m just saying, you might not be able to keep your hands off of me.”

“Well, you might not be able to keep your tongue off of me.”

“No, I think what you meant to say is, I might not be able to keep my tongue from being inside of you.”

His eyes are dancing with merriment.

“Got you.”

“You’re so bad, Luke. That’s not a funny joke.”

“Who says I was joking?” He’s teasing me, and yet the air between us is filled with tension.

The jokes and the touches are confusing me. I’m having a hard time deciphering what’s real and what’s not.

chapter fifteen

Luke

“Are you tired?” I ask her as we make our way into the hotel room in companionable silence.

She stretches her arms out and shakes her head. I close the door behind us and start to unbutton my shirt. “You hungry? Do you need me to get you some room service or anything?”

“No, I’m fine,” she hiccups. “I might need to drink some water though. I’m just a teensy-weensy bit drunk from all those strawberry daiquiris.”

“Not too drunk, I hope. I don’t want you to be hungover in the morning.”

“I’m fine, Lukey.” She yawns loudly. “By the way, I just want you to know that as much as I’m frustrated by the fact that you have to work, I’m still glad you’re here,” she says sleepily.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that, Mi-Mi,” I say as I pull off my shirt, fold it up, and then place it on the couch. “I wish I could have been here and not had to work, but?—”

“I know you need to make your billions.”

“You’ll be happy about it one day when I can buy a private island and fly you in my private jet.”

“I think you have enough money that you could do that now.”

“You may be right about that,” I say, laughing. “You need help with the zip?”

“No, I can just pull the dress off. It’s not that tight.”

“If you say so. I’m just going to head into the bathroom, brush my teeth, and get ready for bed.”

“Sounds like a plan. Do you want me to get the pillow fort ready?”

“You do whatever you need to,” I say, though disappointment courses through me.

I don’t really want to have to sleep with another pillow fort between us tonight, especially as it didn’t last very long the night before, but then maybe it would be good. I don’t want to fall into temptation again.

“You want to watch a movie tonight?” she asks and yawns. “We meant to watch a movie last night, and we didn’t.”