Never lose sight of what’s best for Serena Valli.
Before she could make any decisions about what last night meant for that, the door to the bedroom opened. Serena tucked the sheet under her chin and watched as Luciano appeared carrying a tray full of food. She hadn’t realized until this moment just how hungry she was. Hadn’t thought to concern herself with how late in the morning it might be.
“You’re awake. Wonderful. Here is breakfast,” he offered, keeping his gaze on the tray as he settled it into the middle of the large bed. It was full of breakfast pastries, a selection of fruits, yogurt and a carafe of coffee.
“Help yourself to whatever suits,” he said with a sweeping gesture, standing there at the side of the bed.
She studied the offerings and selected a decadentbomboloni. Not her usual choice for breakfast, but today seemed to call for decadent and sweet. Maybe come Monday she would reset herself. Get back to reason and good choices.
“Coffee?” Luciano asked.
“Please,” she agreed, then watched him as he poured two mugs of coffee and handed her one.
He didn’t sit on the bed, or any of the other seating in the room. Instead he stood and sipped. He was acting…a little odd. Awkward wasn’t the right word. She wasn’t sure Luciano could ever be awkward. But there was a strange stiffness to him, as though this was as new a territory for him as it was for her.
She might not have thought that possible, and she did not know about his romantic history, but she knew he hadn’t been fake-engaged to any of his previous lovers. So there were strange, new and complicated elements this morning that they both found themselves in.
She mulled this over as she ate and drank her coffee. Last night, she had felt powerful. Equal to whatever Luciano gave. She had notexpectedthat to be the case, but it was. And now, it was the same. Because, no matter how manymornings afterhe’d encountered,thiswas something else.
She did notsmileat the thought, but she wanted to. Still, she doubted he saw this in the exact same way.
So, she needed to approach this as she approached anything else. With a carefully thought out plan. If nothing else, theydidwork well together—in and out of the bedroom—no matter what a surprise that was.
“I suppose we must discuss the events of last night,” she ventured, wondering how he would take that since he wasn’t the one introducing the topic.
“I suppose we must,” he agreed neutrally.
She wanted to frown at him, but she focused on the pastry and tried to decide where to start. But perhapsstartwas the key, because for as much as she’d enjoyed it, she wasn’t sure she understood it. “Why did it happen?”
“Well, if you recall, I gave you many outs and you did not take them.”
She sighed heavily. He was being purposefully obtuse, and she did not care for it. Except she thought it meant that it must matter to him insomeway, or he would be more…dismissive or superficial. He would be leading this discussion. He would be blustering and telling her what’s what.
But it was her leading the charge, which meant he was just as much in the dark about how to move forward as she was. It was comforting and allowed her to settle back into the pillows and enjoy finishing off her pastry as she tried to consider the facts of the matter over the feelings from last nightandthis morning.
“You did not have to kiss me,” she said carefully. “While I don’t care to cry in front of others and avoid it as much as possible, I have never been kissed in response to tears.”
His grunt was irritable, and it always—even now—felt like a bit of a personal victory when she could be the one irritating him.
He offered no response to her, so she kept talking. “Perhaps this all makes sense to you, but it makes none to me, and I am trying to…understand it so we can decide where to go from here. But you will have to be more forthcoming.”
“It is not complex, Serena. You are a beautiful woman.” He smiled at her, and she knew she was meant to see that arrogant charm, but there was something darker underneath it, the edges of that deep frown still flickering in his expression. Even as he delivered the rest. “And I am a handsome man.”
She could leave it at that. Perhaps she would be smart to. But he was here. He could walk out of this room, end this conversation. Maybe he wanted to be difficult, but he didn’t seem eager to end it.
“It’s more than simple attraction.”
His expression was grim. His entire body rigid. “I did not expect you of all people to romanticize things, Serena. No one said you have to like a person to have good sex,cara. Surely even you know this.”
That was the trouble. She was starting to like him. Or respect him. Orsomethingmore than the easy disdain she’d once had for him. That was when he’d been nothing more than a caricature to her. Now he was a man. Not perfect by any means, but far more complicated than she’d ever have given him credit for without spending time with him.
For instance, she could see he wastryingto be insulting. Which was simply a distancing mechanism, not an actual belief he had. Because he was so far off base, she couldn’t find offense. Romanticize? Romanticizing the situation would be dreaming about realI dos andhappily-ever-afters.
She was simply trying to figure out how to ensure that sex—or thislikeandrespectfor him that was creeping up on her against her will—didn’t affect their bottom line.
“Perhaps this is true,” she said carefully. Arguing with him wouldn’t change what he thought. “But I think we recognize something in each other. That is not romantic. It is a reasonable observation based on the events of the past week. And I think it’s imperative we understand it, lest we…make mistakes moving forward. Mistakes that hurt what’s most important.”
He stared at her then. His gaze hard. Not even a flicker of warmth or kindness in their dark depths.
