She got her answer when she heard the soft slow breathing beside her. There wasn’t enough space on the couchfor both of them. There was barely enough space on it for her, and so Luca had ended up stretched out on the ground beside her, on his back with his head turned toward her, one large hand resting lightly on his chest.
Macy’s first impulse was to wake him up and find him a proper bed, but then she paused, taking the opportunity to just look at him. She took in the strong planes of his face, the cut of his mouth that softened so beautifully when he smiled or slept. His eyelashes were surprisingly dark and thick, fanning his cheeks with just the lightest touch, and there was an old scar on the back of his hand, something that had healed pale and jagged.
He’s beautiful,she thought, and the urge came to kiss him, to find out what he tasted like first thing in the morning and to remind herself of how soft his mouth was.
Luca sighed, and she found him gazing solemnly up at her. In the dim pre-dawn light, his eyes were murky, softer, and he reached up to graze his fingertips along the curve of her cheek.
“Morning, gorgeous,” he said, his voice a deliciously low rumble, and Macy knew that she was blushing straight down to her collarbones.
“Gorgeous yourself,” she said, meaning every word. “Did you sleep on the floor all night?”
He nodded, and she made a concerned sound.
“That’s terrible, you should have woken me up—”
“You told me you just needed a minute to close your eyes, and when that minute turned into the first hour, I decided to just let you have as much sleep as you needed. How are you doing today?”
Somehow, Macy didn’t think Luca was asking her about how comfortable the couch was.
“Good,” she said a little shyly. “Really good.”
“Good,” he echoed.
He sat up, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “Macy, I’ve been thinking about kissing you all night. Can I—”
“Yes. Yes. Oh yes, please.”
The words were barely out before he leaned in and kissed her mouth, a yes still on her lips. She had a spare moment to worry about things like morning breath, and how she might have smelled without a shower for twenty-four hours, but then he was kissing her,Lucawas kissing her, and nothing else mattered. They’d kissed last night, and she had thought that kiss was intense enough, but this one took her breath away. There was still a kind of urgency to it, but it had sunk underneath a bold sweetness, Luca wanting to kiss her, and her telling him in no uncertain terms that she wanted it as well.
Is it always going to be like this?Macy wondered, her head and her heart filled with light. From deep inside her, something like the rumbling purr of a big jungle cat assured her that it would be.
Tentatively, and then with more confidence, she threaded her fingers through the dark strands of Luca’s hair. It was thick and sleek, and when she closed her hand lightly, he uttered a soft growl against her lips.
“Do that again,” he murmured, and she did so, tightening her fingers and making him groan. The sound sent a bolt of heat through her body, straight to the core of her, and somehow she half-rolled, half-fell off of the couch, straight into Luca’s arms.He was solid as steel underneath her, and he stretched out on his back, allowing her to stretch out on top of him. Like this, she could feel how strong he was, muscled in a way that had nothing to do with the gym and everything to do with having a job that took him outdoors and on long unexpected hikes.
“Oh you feel good, baby,” he whispered, leaning up to kiss her, and there was only one way this was going before both of their phones chirped at the same time.
“Oh come on,bothof them?” Macy cried in offense.
“I’d say to hell with whatever it was if I wasn’t watching AJ,” Luca said apologetically, and Macy groaned.
“No, no, you’re right.”
She rolled off of him and hopped back up on the couch to take the call, while Luca stood and went out into the hallway, leaving the door slightly ajar.
“Morning, boss,” said Devon, sounding entirely too chipper for this early in the morning.
“Good morning, you,” said Macy, stifling a yawn. “What’s up?”
“Well, I just wanted to remind you that it’s Friday.”
“Okay. Well, thank you, I’m—”
“And it’s the third Friday of the month.”
“What does—oh, darn it. That’s the school board meeting, isn’t it?”
“Got it in one. And all of our scheduling says that they’re due to arrive at City Hall in about three hours, and if there’s something like, I dunno, a really big snake running around, they’re probably going to be pissed and make it your problem,which inevitably makes itmyproblem, so I just wanted to figure out how big a problem it’s going to be.”
