“Yeah, friends that be fucking.”
Serenity laughed so loud that the couple at the next table looked over.
“Actually, we had sex twice. He doesn’t press me for sex,” La’Nova stated smoothly but still surprised at her own admission.
Serenity’s perfectly arched brows lifted.
“Twice?” She repeated.
La’Nova nodded then wrapped both hands around her warm cup of ginger tea. The steam brushed her face, carrying that familiar scent of Luca. It comforted her and made her miss him all in one.
“That’s it,” La’Nova said before taking a small sip and placing the cup back down.
Serenity leaned back in her chair slowly, crossing her legs under the table like she needed time to process that. No man she ever encountered took their time to get to know her beyond payment for sex. The ocean breezed pushed gently through the open windows behind them, lifting the edge of La’Nova’s lavender dress against her thighs as she stared down at her tea instead of Serenity’s face.
“It surprised me too,” she admitted quietly.
“You like that?” Serenity asked, watching her friend intently.
“I do.” La’Nova nodded finally giving Serenity her eyes.
That answer came from somewhere deeper than she expected. She hadn’t thought about it this clearly until now.
“He don’t make me feel like that’s all he want from me…and it means something.” La’Nova’s heart fluttered.
“Most men can’t do that shit.” Serenity scoffed.
“I know.” La’Nova licked her lips. “With Luca, shit is different…that’s why I can sincerely say he’s my friend with no judgement attached.”
A Don’s Love…His raspy, whispered voice sounded off in her head.
She could see his handsome face in her mind without trying. The way he watched her like he was listening to her, even when she wasn’t saying anything. He moved slower around her than he did around anyone else. He never rushed her, Luca took his time and made sure she did the same. It was his small gestures toward her that she appreciated the most.
Even with everything that he learned about her and the significant pain that she caused him, proved to La’Nova that Luca was different. A man like him was placed in his own caliber.
“He sits with me, listens to me express myself. He watches me color like that’s something important,” La’Nova said mindlessly as she looked out at the ocean.
“He asks me questions, not the kind people ask just to make small talk like you used to do whenever you burst inside my office.”
Both of them laughed lightly until La’Nova’s face morphed into something more serious.
“When he touches me, it doesn’t feel like he trying to take something from me.” She thought back to the lesson he taught her in the cold shower and shivered.
La’Nova traced her finger lightly along the rim of her cup in deep thought. Heart yearning to be back in the same vicinity as Luca.
“What does that feel like?” Serenity asked curiously.
“It feels like he’s trying to understand me. No one besides my parents understand me.” La’Nova’s eyes saddened.
“Luca is determined to understand the real me. He has all the patience in the world to achieve it too.” She smiled faintly.
“He makes me feel safe,” she added, swallowing down hard.
“Wow, that’s deep as fuck.” Serenity blinked away a tear then dabbed her face with a napkin.
The waiter returned with their food. The ladies thanked her and dug in immediately. Both of them were trapped in their own thoughts of their love life.
“I left House of Angels.” Serenity barked out.
