BooksBarbecue
Back The Lucky Escape Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. PRAISE FOR LAURA JANE WILLIAMS
  3. Dedication
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. Epilogue
  51. Acknowledgements
  52. Publishing Credits
  53. Keep Reading …
  54. About the Author
  55. Fiction by the same author
  56. About the Publisher

I got a tour of the site and was able to chat with various faces I’d seen online but most of whom I’d never met in person. We talked about the formula we’d been working on, and I shared some ideas Adzo and I had about where it could go next, which seemed to impress everyone around the conference table. I told them about her heading over to San Francisco, and I got some morsels of gossip that had travelled on the grapevine to feed back to her.

We broke for an informal lunch at about 1 p.m., filtering out as a group of ten to a nearby restaurant where Jules ordered for the table and I skipped the wine I was offered because I was sleepy after the adrenaline rush of the morning and my early start.

‘You’ll need a power nap before our afternoon activities,’ Jules commanded. ‘Unless you’d rather have the evening to yourself?’ he added.

I considered it. ‘No,’ I decided. ‘It would be great if you could show me more of the city. I really appreciate it. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, to be honest. I’m wondering what the catch is.’

‘It’s a date, then,’ he said, and I tried not to read anything into his phraseology. English was his second language, after all.

Luke leaned in to my elbow once lunch had finished and the rest headed back to the office and I’d thanked them for such a comprehensive breakdown of how everything out in their HQ worked.

‘You make friends fast,’ he said.

‘What do you mean?’ I asked.

‘James Bond over there.’ We both looked in his direction. It made me laugh because yeah, I thought his accent was a bit Sean Connery, but I hadn’t made the mental leap to how his whole demeanour really was like he was an international spy. The tailoring, the smile, the magnetism.

‘I’m here on business,’ I said. ‘Don’t insult me.’

Luke raised his hands in surrender. ‘Didn’t mean to offend,’ he said. ‘I’m probably just jealous.’

‘I have a boyfriend,’ I added hastily, Patrick’s face coming to my mind.

‘Don’t we all?’ Luke laughed. ‘What’s the saying? We’re all mortal until the second glass of wine and the first kiss.’

‘Shut up!’ I said, something about his comment landing heavy in my stomach.

40