Page 187 of Modern Romance December 2025 5-8

Hadn’t he said he wanted to do so for his mother? But his mother didn’t want to see him. Katherine moved closer to him, and he slipped his hand from hers, wrapping it around her shoulders.

Not real.

She had to keep reminding herself of that fact.

‘You’re quiet,’ Lukas said, his dark sunglasses hooked on the front of his shirt.

‘Aren’t I always?’

The sound that came out of him was somewhere between a chuckle and a snort. It was the most undignified she had ever seen him and she had seen him use some colourful language on the team radio over the years. She couldn’t help but laugh.

‘Is that a no?’

‘What is the saying you English use? When pigs fly?’

Katherine laughed harder then. He spoke so well that sometimes she forgot English wasn’t his first language. She wiped a tear and saw a softness enter his eyes but he quickly looked away, so she did too.

‘That jacket is stunning.’ She tried to change the subject but it was clearly the wrong thing to say with Lukas being in such an odd mood, because he immediately led them inside.

‘Try it on.’

‘Lukas, it’s really not necessary,’ she tried to refuse.

Just then a very polished shop assistant came towards them. ‘Can I help you?’

‘No.’

‘Yes.’

They said in unison.

‘Yes,’ Lukas insisted. ‘She would like to try on that coat.’ He pointed at the window.

‘Of course, right this way.’

‘You’re being ridiculous,’ Katherine whisper shouted.

‘Am I, or are you?’ Lukas challenged. ‘How often do you get opportunities like this?’

Never, really. Katherine earned a very comfortable living and if everything went to plan it would only get better. That was why she was here, so that she didn’t lose her career progress. So that she could eventually be rich and successful enough to take care of her parents. So that they could retire. And so that Paige, and to a lesser degree Christopher and Nicholas, would have a safety net. Buying a five-thousand euro coat wasn’t on her radar. She had big-picture concerns.

‘From the look on your face I’m going to say not often. So let me spoil you. You only have to put up with it for a month.’

Katherine hated the way that reminder made her mood plummet, but she forced herself to smile and said, ‘Thank you.’

She went into the fitting room and tried the coat on. It was perfect. As if some magical tailor had made it to her exact measurements. She looked at the black fabric and white floral detail from every angle in the large cubicle fitted with the flattering light, and just as she slipped it off her shoulders and back on the hanger there was a knock on the door. She opened it a smidge and found Lukas on the other side holding a dress. Before she knew it, he was barging in and locking the door behind him.

‘I want you to wear this.’

‘What?’

‘Try it on.’

‘You realise you’ve walked into my fitting room, right?’ The audacity of this man, barging his way in and making demands.

‘Yes, I’m aware. I know I drive on a closed track, but I have a very good sense of direction.’

‘You’re impossible.’