Read Online The Arrangement by Simon Smith-Wilson - Free Book Online Page A

thing.
    ‘You
don’t think he does, do you?’ asked Emma.
    ‘I’m
afraid so,’ laughed Lucas.
    ‘Oh
god,’ she said in a rather over dramatic way. ‘You can’t
be serious?’
    ‘I
am. I think he really fancies you.’
    ‘Craig,
fancies me?’ Emma shook her head from side to side. ‘He
is nice to talk to, but…’
    Lucas
finished for her. ‘He is not a lot to look at.’
    ‘I
am glad you said that and not me,’ giggled Emma. ‘I don’t
really see the attraction myself. There are loads of gorgeous women
working at that place. I don’t understand why he likes me.’
    ‘I
can see why,’ replied Lucas.
    The
words left his mouth before he could stop them.
    Emma
bit her bottom lip and looked at his side on.
    It
was strange how such a tiny gesture captivated his full attention.
    ‘So,
you’re saying that you fancy me?’ she asked.
    ‘I
am engaged,’ Lucas reminded her.
    Emma
laughed. ‘I know you are, but I asked if you fancy me.’
    Lucas
unconsciously found himself looking the beautiful red head up and
down. They both knew before he even said anything that he was
attracted to her. ‘You are very beautiful.’
    ‘I
think you’re gorgeous, too,’ she replied.
    Lucas
nervously swallowed down the lump in his throat. ‘Thank you,
but I am engaged.’
    ‘So
you keep saying.’ She smiled a naughty smile.
    He
directed his focus to the road and for a long moment no one said
anything. The traffic was practically non-existent tonight, but that
was no surprise considering the late hour it was. He had stayed
behind much longer than he had originally meant to do. Emma’s
place was slightly out the way for his journey home, but he would be
lying if he said he wasn’t enjoying her company.
    ‘What
happened between you and your boyfriend?’ he broke the silence.
    ‘I
think we lost the passion.’
    ‘That’s
it?’ asked Lucas.
    ‘You
don’t think passion is important?’ Emma countered with a
question of her own.
    ‘I
think it is very important, but I don’t see how he could lose
his passion to be with you. Were you the one that left him?’
    Emma
smiled. ‘Aren’t you full of compliments tonight?’
    ‘Eh?’
he replied. His mind replayed what he had just said. Oh god. “I
don’t know how he could lose his passion to be with you.”
‘I am so sorry,’ he was quick to say.
    ‘Why?’
Emma shrugged her shoulders. ‘It is nice to know that such a
good looking man finds me attractive and to answer your question. He
left me.’
    ‘What
happened?’
    ‘Basically,
his work took over his life. We never got to see each other and when
we did finally get to go out he was always so distracted. I don’t
mind being with a man that is driven by goals and wants to do well in
life. I knew he was like that when we got together, but at the start
he managed to give me one hundred percent of his attention even if it
was for only a couple of hours. That was all I needed. Eventually, he
became too distracted to spend even an hour with me and the romance
died. Don’t get me started on the sex.’
    ‘The
sex…?’ he muttered.
    They
nearly swerved into an oncoming car he was so distracted by the
visual image of Emma’s naked body lying beneath him on a bed.
    Emma
giggled.
    ‘The
sex was very boring. We used to be so wild and passionate.’
Lucas nearly swallowed his own tongue. ‘But when he was
distracted it was too quick and too robotic. I prefer to make love to
my man.’
    They
pulled off the main road and headed down a long street.
    Lucas’s
mind was in a state of shock.
    He
couldn’t think of any possible suitable reply to that, well,
none that a man that is soon to be married could possibly say.
    ‘It
is this one here.’ Emma pointed to a house in the middle of a
row of houses.
    The
car pulled up at the side of the road.
    ‘Did
I overstep my mark?’ she asked into the silence of the car.
    ‘No,
not at all,’ replied Lucas. ‘I like that you can be so
open with me.’
    ‘I
know. It is