But he looked like he had other things on his mind than her voyeurism. ‘Yeah, the bar’s giving me a headache at the moment.’ He laughed softly. ‘And before you ask, it has nothing to do with the radioactive house cocktail.’
Relieved they were back to bantering, she smiled. ‘Ah, so you admit it’s radioactive then?’
He shook his head, eyes amused. ‘I’ll admit to it looking green and packing a punch.’ There was another beat of silence and Luke shifted on his feet. ‘So, I’ll see you around?’
‘No escaping me. I live here, remember?’
His gaze trapped hers, and he gave her a small, wry smile. ‘Hard to forget.’
As she walked back to her flat, Mia did so with a little more lightness to her step. She didn’t know why, but it felt important that she and Luke were still on friendly terms.
Ten minutes after bumping into Mia, Luke was sat in his spare room with his brother, both of them huddled round Phil’s laptop, though only one of them currently staring at it. Luke’s eyes kept straying to Mia’s window.
‘Something important going on over there?’ Phil gave him the raised eyebrow. ‘More important than looking at the big fat hole in your accounts?’
Of course it wasn’t, but as he took a sip of his now lukewarm coffee, Luke couldn’t help but wonder if Mia had finished hers. She’s out of bounds.
Or was she?
‘You were wrong, you know.’ He nodded towards the window he’d been … yes, okay, gawping at. ‘Mia wasn’t upset by the messages I put up.’
Phil heaved out a sigh and sat back on the chair. ‘I thought you said you were going to focus on the bar from now on?’ He scratched at his chin. ‘I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at the quick U-turn. You’ve always been distracted by the opposite sex.’
Luke flinched at the unsubtle dig. Yet even as the barb sunk home, he plastered a smile on his face because that’s what he’d learnt to do. Smile so his family couldn’t see how much their criticism stung. ‘Even you have to admit women are more interesting than accounts.’
Phil frowned. ‘Even me?’
‘You’re the king of the spreadsheet, big brother.’ Luke swigged back the last of the coffee. ‘At one point I thought you’d rather go to bed with one than an actual woman. Then you met Janet and I figured maybe you’d persuaded her to recite numbers to you as foreplay.’
‘That would be funny, if I didn’t feel a bit weirded out that you’ve spent time thinking about my sex life.’
Luke grinned. ‘Not that much time. I’d rather focus on my own.’
Phil gave him a shrewd look. ‘And how’s that going?’
Usually he’d give him a flippant reply, but for some reason the words wouldn’t roll off his tongue. ‘I don’t know.’
‘What about, who was the last one, Tabitha?’
‘Tanya.’ Luke raked a hand through his hair. ‘Yeah, I see her now and again.’
‘And the sales rep?’
‘Vicky’s not been around lately.’ He didn’t like lying to his brother but if he admitted he’d turned down her invite to meet up, Phil might read something into it he didn’t want him to.
‘And here you are, mooning over the girl living opposite.’ Phil shook his head. ‘You do know decent women aren’t impressed by guys who sleep around?’
Irritation pricked. ‘I’m a single guy. The women I’ve been with know the score. Hell, they feel the same way, they don’t want to be tied down either. Nobody’s getting hurt here. We’re just having fun.’
Phil gave him a long, steady look. ‘And yet you don’t look like a man who’s enjoying himself right now.’
Damn Phil and his ability to read him so well. ‘Of course I’m not. You’ve just told me the business I bought has been leaking money like a sieve.’ Anxious to get the conversation back on track, he pointed to the computer screen. ‘Come on, show me what the damage is, so I can work out how many kidneys I need to sell.’
‘Put it this way, if you had three it would help,’ Phil countered dryly, which did little to stem Luke’s growing feeling of being utterly out of his depth.
An hour later, while Phil packed up his computer, Luke put the kettle on. What he needed was a double brandy, followed by a whisky chaser, but a large cup of hot caffeine would have to do instead.
And from the look of things, he’d have to settle for making it himself, ditto all his meals. His days of grabbing take-outs, even in the form of a coffee from Naomi’s, were over. He had to plough all the money he could into the bar. And find a way of increasing the takings by half as much again.
His stomach churned. Shit, why the hell had he ever thought he could run a flaming business?
‘Whatever you’re thinking, stop.’ Phil clasped his arm and squeezed it tight. ‘You’ll find a way, Luke. You know the business inside out. This is just a temporary blip.’
‘An hour ago you called it a big fat hole in the accounts.’
Phil gave him a sympathetic look. ‘That was before I saw you looking so shell shocked.’ He turned towards the window. ‘So what are you going to do about the girl who lives opposite? Try another message?’
Luke shovelled a large spoonful of coffee into the mug. ‘I think I’ve got enough on my plate at the moment.’
‘Probably a wise decision.’
‘Probably? This coming from the guy who told me I’m too easily distracted by the opposite sex?’
Phil smiled. ‘Probably, because while it’s the right decision for your business, I’m not sure it’s the right decision for you.’ He shifted his glasses further onto his nose and gave Luke a quiet study. ‘I’ve not seen you quite so keen on a woman for a long time.’ Before Luke could correct him – he wasn’t keen on Mia, just intrigued by her – Phil marched towards the door. ‘I’ll see myself out. Give us a call if you need anything.’
‘Yes, and Phil?’ Luke waited for his brother to turn round. ‘Thanks for going through everything with me, for finding the issue. For having my back.’
Phil nodded. ‘Always.’
It was true. His brother had been there for him when his parents hadn’t. Was still there for him. As for their parents, Luke could almost see them shaking their heads in disapproval at this latest fuck up.
He felt a brush against his feet. ‘Hey gorgeous.’ Putting down the mug he’d been holding, Luke bent to pick up his furry friend. ‘Come to tell me you have my back too, huh?’ Stroking her ears, he walked them both back to his desk in the spare room and settled her on his lap. ‘Right, no weights today, we’ve got work to do. We need a plan for how to increase business at the bar, or it’s no more carrots for you, and no more roof over our heads for both of us.’
Straightening his shoulders, he opened a blank Word document.
That’s when Pickles nudged his arm with her nose.
‘Hey, I can’t stroke and type at the same time.’ When she looked up at him with her big brown eyes, he huffed out a laugh and resumed stroking her ears. ‘Okay, message received. One-handed typing it is.’