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"Yours," she said "But, can you swing by after work and helpto a cab and over there?"

"Of course," Julie said "I’ll see you there say, about four? I’ off work early"

"Perfect"

Julie ended the call and inhaled deeply She was being a big chicken, but she didn’t care She really did want to spend time with Lauren In fact, she wanted to very badly The proble about Luke

Later that afternoon, Luke still had Julie on his ain He sauntered down the hallway of the apartht and renovated several years ago to both work and live in, carrying a tuxedo for Royce He stopped at the door at the far end of the hall, two doors down from his, and knocked Used to be he’d just walk into Royce’s place, but since Lauren had moved in, he was sensitive to their privacy

The door opened and to his surprise there stood the woman of his recent, and not so recent, drea sht?"

"Actually," she said "Lauren’s staying withon," he said "He, like me, will be concerned about safety"

She stepped into the hall and shut the door, her blue eyes lit with urgency "Luke, she wants to stay atI don’t want to tell her no Please don’t involve Royce in this et both of them all worked up about this Lauren orry herself sick about me and now is not a time for her to worry"

"You stay here at their place," he said "Tell her you want her to be comfortable Royce can stay with me He’ll stay away if that keeps Lauren happy"

"But–"

"Now is also not a tiet hurt as you pointed out at the airport," he said "Be safe, not sorry"

She sighed and nodded "Okay You’re right To be honest, I’ve been thinking about it ever since she and I decided this and I thought about calling you"

He arched a brow "And?"

"I was still thinking about it when you showed up at the door"

"Is that right?"