We stared at each other, our declarations hanging heavily in the air, filling it with palpable warmth and tenderness.
I needed to break the silence before I said something silly.
“So…that’s it, then? Just like that, we’re together?”
Luca laughed again. “Yes.”
“But what about our lives?” I took a leisurely bite of my food,and Luca mirrored my actions. “It’s easy at the moment. We’re together all day, every day. What about when our lives return to normal? We’re not exactly living in the same world.” I gestured to the incredible house we were sitting in and how different it was from mine.
“That doesn’t matter to me,” he offered simply.
“And it doesn’t matter to me either.” I shook my head. “But logically, we have to consider it. You could be flying across the world for different movies and events for months at a time, and I’d just be here. I still need to work. I couldn’t just come with you.”
His brow furrowed. “I called the producers and said I’m not interested anymore. I was only doing it for my mother, and she promised me she just wants me to be happy. I don’t enjoy acting anymore and don’t see that ever changing.”
“Really? Won’t you missit?”
“I haven’t missed it for the past four years.”
“So, what are you going todo?”
“I don’t know yet—but us being together sounds like the best start to a new journey tome.”
It sounded perfect.
We continued eating and chatting, and Luca filled me in on the rest of the conversation and how the producers weren’t exactly pleased about his last-minute bailout.
After finishing our starter, Luca removed freshly made pizzas from the fridge and put them into the portable pizza oven on the countertop. He’d requested a ham and pineapple one for me and pepperoni for himself.
Between bites of pizza, we chatted about the future, reminisced over the past few months, and discussed how excited we were for the final. Even though Luca didn’tneedto win anymore, we were both so thrilled by how far we had made it and how close I was to collecting the winner’s bonus.
The evening waseverything.
Luca lit the fire, and we settled into the deep leather sofa. I barely noticed the quiet music playing as our conversation continued, and he caressed my calves as they lay across his lap. In fact, I could barely focus on the conversation while he was touching me—the contact was entirely distracting.
“Did you want to stay over tonight? There’s no pressure if you’d rather head home, though.”
The thought of leaving Luca was so absurd that I almost laughed at his question.
“I’d love to stay.”
The rest of Luca’s housewas just as beautiful as downstairs, but, truthfully, everything else faded into the background when he took my hand and led me to his bedroom.
Unlike the other times we’d been together, it wasn’t a tangle of limbs and a race to see who could get the other’s clothes off the fastest.
He guided me toward the huge bed against the back wall.
Pausing at the foot of the bed, he searched my face with a soft appreciation before he turned me slowly, pressing my back against his chest. He swept my hair over one shoulder and traced a finger down the center of my back, stopping at the zipper of my dress.
The metallic sound echoed softly in the room. Once the zipper was undone, he pressed a tender kiss on each exposed shoulder, his touch feather-light, before sliding the straps down.
Each movement was deliberate and unhurried, as if he was savoring every moment.
My dress dropped to the floor in a puddle of white shimmery fabric, leaving me naked besides a white lace thong.
The rise and fall of my chest felt labored, strained with anoverwhelming need to have Luca, to touch him, to have him inside me. I spun, my eyes meeting his. Luca watched me with an intensity that spoke volumes, his eyes filled with adoration, saying everything without uttering a single word.
His lips parted as if to say something but closed again.
