Spoilsport (Pierce Brothers Book 2) by Belinda Williams

Author:Belinda Williams [Williams, Belinda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BWrite
Published: 2021-10-24T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

For a moment, Luke thought Nadia was going to either storm out without another word or combust on the spot in a puff of smoke.

Instead, she surprised him—again.

She sighed loudly and all her anger disappeared along with it. ‘If you really must know, my mother cheated on my father. I don’t tolerate any form of cheating.’

The way she said the word “mother” suggested she didn’t tolerate the woman who had given birth to her either.

‘I’m really sorry to hear that,’ Luke replied. And he meant it. ‘That must have been hard.’

Nadia sighed again. ‘It was inevitable. I can see that now.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘If you ever meet her—and hopefully you won’t—you’ll see why. Plus, things with my father hadn’t been good for a long time before it happened.’

‘In my experience, marriages break down over time. It’s never a single thing, even when it appears that way.’ That was the closest Luke had been to talking about his divorce in recent times.

‘Yeah, I guess you understand all of that firsthand. It’s why I’ll never go there.’

‘There?’ he asked.

She waved a dismissive hand in the air. ‘Relationships. Marriage. It’s too much pain for everyone involved.’

‘OK, I may not be an obvious advocate for marriage, but surely avoiding relationships altogether because it might end painfully is pessimistic?’

‘What, you want to get married again?’ Nadia demanded.

Luke scratched his head. ‘Marriage I haven’t really considered. I would like to find someone better suited next time around.’

‘Huh.’

‘What?’

‘I just thought you’d be past all of that now, seeing as you have a daughter and everything.’

‘Past all of what?’

‘Relationships. Commitment. I mean, why bother when you can just have a good time?’

Luke shook his head at her. His body might ache for her in a way he’d never experienced before, but that didn’t mean he understood her.

She scowled. ‘What? What’s wrong with having a good time?’

‘Nothing. I guess I just figured that, if I find someone who I have a good time with, it might be worth holding on to them,’ he told her honestly.

‘Pfft. That’s some sort of outdated caveman instinct, that’s all. It fools you into thinking you need to mate for life. God, if I listened to my primal urges, I’d be shacked up with four kids and no career of my own, and that ain’t ever happening.’

‘Nadia, please don’t take this the wrong way, but whether it’s in this life or an alternate universe, I can never see you “shacked up” with a man and simply having his kids.’

She cracked a smile. ‘Good. Because it’s a terrifying thought.’

‘Is that why love terrifies you? Because it leads to commitment and commitment leads to being “shacked up”?’

‘Love doesn’t terrify me,’ she clarified. ‘Being celibate, on the other hand.’

‘I also don’t ever see that happening,’ Luke muttered, and there was that almost smile of hers again.

Her intense gaze softened. ‘Seriously, don’t stop talking to me next time, OK? Unless you want to piss me off more.’

Luke wasn’t sure if he frowned or smiled. This woman was a study in contrasts, and he couldn’t deny she was fascinating.

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