“Come on.”
Stepping into the lounge room, I wasn’t surprised to see the floor covered in toys and pillows and blankets, and God only knew what else.
“Uncle Luca. Come play.” Princess Phoebe appeared at his side and took his hand. He let her drag him to the floor.
Luca looked back at me apologetically. Watching him with Phoebe was enough to make my ovaries explode. After watching him this afternoon hanging out with the kids, kicking the ball, showing off his bag of tricks, it was enough to make a woman’s knees week. But when he slowed down and took the time to show them how he did that, that was the clincher. It was undeniable. Luca Conti was genuinely a good guy.
“Did you bring a bag?” Luca asked out of nowhere, catching me off guard.
“What?”
“Your bag? Where is it?”
“Here?” I replied, pointing to my handbag I’d dumped on the kitchen bench.
Rolling onto his side, he crooked his finger at Phoebe who crawled closer. Damn she was a cute kid. A moment later, she was on her feet, wobbling her way over to where I stood. I squatted to meet her eye level. Phoebe smiled at me, and I knew I was screwed. It didn’t matter what she asked, I knew I was as weak as Luca. I was about to give her whatever she wanted.
“I’ve got a secret.”
“What’s your secret?” I asked, slightly fascinated with what idea Luca had planted in her head.
“Where’s your toothbrush?”
Okay. That wasn’t what I was expecting.
“I have a secret too,” I replied before grabbing my bag and digging through it. When I pulled out my pink toothbrush, she snatched it out of my hand and raced across the lounge room, tripping on the rug and windmilling as she went flying, seemingly in slow motion, until Hunter and Luca both flew off the couch, faster than my eyes could keep up with. They both crashed into each other, but both managed to land under Phoebe in a tangle of limbs. She just giggled. Not even watery eyes.
“I’ve got Aunt Elise’s toothbrush, Uncle Luca.”
Phoebe had an uncanny way of silencing a room.
While I concentrated on not choking on my tongue, Hunter climbed off the floor and wrapped his arm around Sienna, who was snickering on the couch. Luca was the first to snap out of it and turn his attention back to Phoebe.
“Good work, Princess Phoebe. Can you go and put it in my bathroom next to mine?”
“Okay,” she replied in a voice so sweet I’m surprised I didn’t get a cavity. Silently she skipped away, proudly holding my toothbrush up like a trophy.
Dumbfounded, I looked at Luca, who had a mischievous and victorious grin plastered across his perfectly gorgeous face. “Right, now that’s sorted, get your arse over here and sit down.”
When I sat down on the edge of the couch, Luca hauled me back against him and settled me in his lap before pushing a stray piece of hair from my face. “How was the rest of your day?”
“Long. Exhausting. But the kids had fun,” I admitted, resting my head against Luca’s shoulder.
“And Corey?”
“Surprisingly, he kept his distance.”
“I would’ve too if you’d had cut my balls off with a spoon and handed them to me on a platter like you did to him,” Luca teased.
“Oh, come on. I wasn’t that harsh.”
“You were pretty harsh.”
“What’d we miss?” Sienna piped up.
Wriggling off Luca’s lap, I let him fill them in on the story. When Hunter mentioned he wished he’d have known and he would’ve made an appearance too, I didn’t hesitate in inviting him to come visit at the school any time.
“Hang on a second!” Luca said, holding my legs across his lap. “When I showed up at the school, you didn’t know who I was or what I did. But Hunter here, he gets the red carpet rolled out for him?”
