He stared at her in confusion. ‘Your nan didn’t tell you anything about me, did she?’
That was a weird response. ‘No, what do I need to know?’
He dismissed it with a wave of his hand. ‘It doesn’t matter. But actually me and your nan always shared the grocery shop and we shared the cooking but we can sort that out later. For now, help yourself to any food in the house and you don’t need to worry about paying me back.’
‘Well, I’ll make sure I replace whatever I use.’
‘You really don’t need to worry about that. I was only going to make myself some peanut butter on toast, would that suit you?’
Her stomach gurgled appreciatively.
‘I’ll take that as a yes,’ Luke said.
He moved into the kitchen area and started making the food.
‘Can I help?’
He shook his head. ‘It won’t take me a few minutes.’
She perched on a bar stool and studied him. His t-shirt was crumpled, his hair was dark and floppy like he just never really bothered to comb it, his jeans had holes in and, although she knew that you could pay thousands of pounds for distressed-look designer jeans just like those, she knew somehow the holes were from years of wear not some cool designer look. He was also wearing odd socks, one green, one blue. But there was something cute and adorable about him, like an oversized puppy. He was a good-looking man, with warm brown eyes and a nice smile. He was large too, easily six foot, and with arms that were strong without being too muscly. She could see there would be many a woman who would want to fix him up. Not her though, her life was a mess as it was, she wasn’t in any position to fix other people. Besides, Luke shouldn’t change who he was for any woman. She was strongly of the belief that people should love you for who you are, not try to make you into something you’re not.
She smiled at his t-shirt which had a picture of a cave troll on it fromLord of the Rings.
‘I was admiring your book collection when I arrived,’ Flick said, deliberately not mentioning that had been seconds before she had seen him naked – even now she was thinking about seeing him in all his glory again.
‘Oh yeah, I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to the books I read.’
‘You’re not a nerd, you have excellent taste. You have some of my favourite books over there. I loveLord of the Rings.’
He turned to look at her, his eyes narrowed as if he thought she was mocking him. ‘Really?’
‘Honestly, I’ve read it at least three times and not many books get a repeat viewing as there are always so many more out there I want to read. But that,The Hobbitand anything by Pratchett are my go-to favourites.’
‘Oh god, will you marry me?’
She laughed. ‘You might want to hold off on that proposal until you hear my sordid secret.’
‘What’s that?’
‘I think the films are better.’
Luke clutched his heart as if it was suddenly broken. ‘OK, wedding’s off. Actually I love the films too, though I’m not sure if one is better than the other, just different.’
‘That’s a good attitude to take.’
He turned his attention back to the toast for a moment. ‘What’s your favourite Pratchett?’
‘That’s like asking which is your favourite child. What if the other books hear me?’
His smile was wide when he turned back to face her. ‘Just whisper it, they haven’t got very good hearing.’
She loved that he was playing along with her silliness. ‘OK.’ She lowered her voice. ‘The Bromeliad Trilogy.’
He nodded approvingly. ‘Good choice.’
‘It’s just Pratchett at his very best. I think he was so much more comfortable writing for children than he was for adults. And who doesn’t love a story about gnomes?’
‘Well that’s true.’ He placed a plate down in front ofher with two slices of toast slathered in peanut butter and weirdly she’d watched him make a flask of tea.
