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Luke hits stop on the recording I brought him over and just stares at me dumbstruck for so long that I think I might have broken him.

“Luke?” I ask. “You still there?”

“Yeah. Sorry.” He shakes his head and snaps out of whatever trance he was stuck in. “I’m just trying to comprehend how the hell these people are real.”

“You married one.” I don’t want to kick a man when he’s already down, but there is one pretty major detail he’s leaving out. “And procreated with her too.”

“Fuck.” He groans and throws his head back. “Thank god Isla takes after my side of the family.”

“Jacqueline’s never been particularly kind to me”—in fact, she’s been downright rude—“but even I can’t ignore how charismatic and charming she can be.

I think Petunia Lemon brought out the worst in her, but I have no doubt you saw the best in her.

Considering how wonderful Isla is, I know there’s a lot of good in her. ”

If Mean Girls took place with a bunch of women in their thirties who were involved in a cult-adjacent company, Jacqueline would 1,000 percent be the Regina George.

Even when you hate her, you can’t help but like and maybe even admire her.

I can’t imagine what she was like before she attached that giant chip to her shoulder.

“That’s nice of you to say,” he acquiesces, with a timidness I’m not used to in his strong voice. “I think I’ve just had a hard time allowing myself to remember the times before our marriage went up in flames. It makes publishing this piece harder.”

“Are you having second thoughts?” I don’t know how his job works, but I have to imagine pulling the piece would cost him way more than money. “Is walking away from this an option?”

I can’t lie, I’d be disappointed if he did.

And not just because of my stellar work as a double agent, either.

Now that I know how terrible Petunia Lemon is, I want to do whatever I can to make sure anybody who joins from here on out does so with their eyes wide open.

But my feelings aren’t his obligation, and if he feels this would harm the mother of his child, and therefore his child, I couldn’t fault him for changing his mind.

“Absolutely not,” he says with zero hesitation. “I’m going to add in what you gave me tomorrow and then I’ll send this draft over to my boss. I’m hoping it will be out by the end of the month, early next month at the latest.”

“Oh wow.” I do the math in my head. “That’s soon. Are you prepared for what the fallout might be?”

Since I was recruited by Nora and she’s my boss, Luke promised to keep my name out of the article.

My supersleuthing ways will stay in the dark as long as I want them to.

But even knowing I won’t be facing direct impact when this article hits, my stomach still twists into knots thinking about how everyone will react.

“I don’t know if I’m ever ready, but it comes with the territory.

In this line of work, if you aren’t making people mad, you aren’t doing your job.

” He tries to play it cool, but doesn’t do a very good job.

“Obviously it’s more personal this time, but I still believe in what I’m doing.

I hate knowing it will hurt Jacqueline, but in the long run, I hope this will be the wake-up call she needs.

And even if she never gets over it or forgives me, I know this will prevent other people from falling victim to the way these companies scheme and manipulate people. How are you feeling?”

“I’m excited for this to come out but part of me feels guilty for turning on them.

” I might not see anyone outside of the Petunia Lemon get-togethers, but I always enjoyed talking to Janet and Grace.

They haven’t been with the company for too long, and I think out of everyone, I feel the most guilty for keeping this from them.

Mister Bubbles must feel my stress. He snuggles deeper into my side, purring as I scratch the spot behind his ear he likes so much.

“I’m so angry that I allowed myself to fall prey to them, but I know compared to most people, I got out fast and relatively unscathed.

They put you through so much, I don’t know how you’re doing it. ”

I don’t want to excuse his behavior from the first morning we met, because he was an asshole, and I didn’t deserve any of that shit.

But knowing what I know now, I can see where he was coming from.

He viewed Petunia Lemon—rightfully so—as his enemy, and I might not have known it at the time, but I sided with the wrong team.

“It’s actually really helped me process a lot of what happened.

It showed me that my divorce wasn’t because I was an unsupportive partner, and it wasn’t Jacqueline caring more about a corporation than me and Isla.

” He grabs his laptop off of the coffee table and makes quick work of entering his password.

He opens up the article before handing it to me.

“I spoke to a lot of families while putting this together. We weren’t the only one destroyed by Petunia Lemon, but thanks to this piece, thanks to your information, hopefully we’ll be the last.”

I sit in silence, reading the article I last saw what feels like a lifetime ago.

The sting I felt reading it the first time is no longer there, but not only because I’ve changed and have a new perspective.

Luke’s tone is completely different as well.

The resentment that laced every word before is nowhere to be seen.

The anger has been replaced with empathy and understanding.

The only time I sense judgment is when he’s discussing the ways this corporation exploits women who are hoping to find community and money for dance recitals.

The article has evolved and so, I realize, has the author.

“This is…” I struggle to find the words. It’s a piece exposing greed and corruption, it shouldn’t almost move me to tears. “It’s amazing, Luke.”

“I didn’t see the big picture before. I couldn’t see it…

not until I walked into your classroom.” He takes the computer out of my hands and pulls me closer.

“It’s so cliché and corny, but I was able to turn my pain into purpose.

And then, without even seeing it coming, I was able to open myself up to finding happiness again. To finding you.”

How is this man real?

“I put on mascara and brought you a gift tonight.” I try to blink away the stubborn tears trying to fall. “It’s going to be very rude of you if you make me cry.”

“I’m sorry.” He pulls me onto his lap and drops his head to the crook of my neck. “I’d never want you to think I’m rude.”

His tongue traces the line of my collarbone, and the cool air in the room follows suit. Goose bumps explode across my skin as anticipation blooms deep in my belly.

Nobody should be able to use their words and their tongue so effectively. Every time I’m around this man, he brings me to my knees.

Literally and metaphorically.

He wraps me in a giant bear hug. His hold is tight and secure as he pulls me flush against his hard chest. The bulge between his legs rises by the second beneath me, and I squirm in his lap trying to get closer. I twist my fingers in his hair and pull his face up to mine as my breathing deepens.

“Don’t be a tease.” I wanted it to be a demand, but it comes out as a plea instead. I have no self-control when it comes to him.

One touch is all it takes and then desperation takes over.

“Tease you?” He touches his mouth to mine as he finds the hem of my maxi skirt. “I would never.”

My breathing speeds up as his fingers travel up the outside of my legs. “You would and you do.”

“It’s not teasing. I just love the way that when I kiss you here”—he sucks at the sensitive skin below my ear and kisses all the way down to my cleavage—“you blush down here.”

Considering the way my entire body lights on fire the moment he touches me, I’d be surprised if all of me didn’t burn bright red.

“Does it?” I tighten my hands in his hair and anchor him to me. “What happens when you touch me somewhere else?”

He’s like tequila and I get drunk off his touch. I lose all my inhibitions; he emboldens me to say things I never, in a million years, thought would leave my lips.

“Hmmmm…” His fingertips flex into my thighs. The slight bite of pain is a delicious contrast to the gentle feel of his mouth on my breasts. “Should we find out?”

“Oh yes.” I nod vigorously. Science was never my favorite subject, but this is one experiment I can definitely get behind. “We should.”

He doesn’t answer…at least not with words. He pulls my legs apart. It’s so forceful and unexpected that I lose my balance. Luke’s hands grab me by my hips and hold me in place.

“Hold on, Em,” he whispers, his voice thick with longing. “This is going to be fast.”

The anticipation of what’s to come is almost as heady as his touch. Heat pools between my spread thighs, and my breathing turns into moans as I link my hands behind his neck, holding on tight as instructed.

“Good girl.” He leans in and crushes his mouth to mine. His teeth nip at my bottom lip, and his tongue licks away the sting as he swallows my moans. “Now don’t let go.”

I don’t usually love to be told what to do, but the faith I have in Luke and his magical hands inspires an obedience I’ve never felt before.

He moves his hands back to the inside of my thighs and spreads them slowly this time. His eyes drop to my mouth, watching me as I struggle to breathe as his hands move closer and closer until they’re where I want—no—where I need them the most.

Beneath his touch, time ceases to exist. I don’t know how long he toys with me, his hand inching closer only for him to yank it away. But by the time his fingers graze across the underwear I wish I would’ve left at home, I’m so wound up that I almost come on the spot.

“Fuck.” His groan comes from somewhere deep inside of him as he pulls the fabric covering me to the side and slips a finger inside of me. “You’re so wet for me. You love it when I touch you, you love feeling me inside of you, don’t you?”

Before Luke, the idea of dirty talk made me cringe.

“Yes.” Now it makes me whimper. “I love it so much.”

“I can tell. I fucking love it too.” He adds another finger inside of me, filling me and stroking until I begin to writhe on his lap. “I want to feel you come on my hand.”

He starts moving his hand faster, his fingers curling inside until he hits that sensitive spot, and when he pushes his thumb against my clit, it’s like he presses a button that sends me to the fucking moon. I touch the stars as blood rushes through my ears and I cry out my release.

“Give it to me, Em.” He pumps his fingers into me harder and harder, not letting up until my first orgasm rolls into my second. “That’s it, baby. I want it all, every last drop.”

I arch into him, moans pouring from my mouth as I rest my head against his chest. Soft and gentle, he removes his fingers and runs his hands up and down my back while my trembling body comes back down to earth.

My body buzzes and my skin feels numb as sparks of electricity jump from each and every nerve ending.

“Holy shit,” I whisper when I can finally breathe again. “How are you so good at that?”

“Trust me, Emerson, this is all you.” He puts his hand beneath my chin and tilts my face up so I’m looking directly at him. “You do things to me, you make me feel things that I’ve never felt before. When I’m with you, all I want to do is make you feel as good as you make me feel.”

That was sweet. Really, really sweet.

“Well then”—I touch my lips to his—“I must make you feel really freaking good.”

“That you do.” He smiles against my mouth and thrusts his hips up so that I feel his erection. “And if you’re up for it, I could show you all over again.”

Instead of answering, I push off of his lap and stand in front of him, stripping down until I’m wearing nothing at all and his emerald eyes are jet black.

And when he pulls me down onto his couch and lifts my legs over his shoulders, he shows me exactly how good I make him feel.

Three times over.