“That wasn’t the point.” Her lips tugged to the side. “It was hard. Watching him, you know, go through that. Knowing what was coming. I mean, I was hopeful, to the end, but in my heart of hearts, I knew there was no real chance of beating it. I wanted to run away from grief, but you can’t really.”
Sympathy crossed his handsome face, and then Luca was placing his champagne down, shifting in the water, to come and sit at her side. Beneath the water, their legs brushed and despite the warmth of the water, she shivered. “I’m sorry you went through that.”
She nodded. “Me too.”
He lifted a hand and cupped her cheek. “What about friends, Allegra?”
She bit into her lower lip. “Most of my friends left town after school. I met people through work, but I was too busy with dad to really socialise. Exhausted, too.”
“You worked two jobs?”
She’d told him that already, but she nodded. “An office job in the day, and at a diner at night.”
“And you were caring for your father?”
“We had a neighbour who’d help, but yeah, mostly it was me.”
He shook his head slowly. “Do you remember what you wanted, before he got sick?”
She blinked at him quickly. “God, I don’t. It feels like a lifetime ago.”
“Try.”
He was so close though, thinking was becoming more and more difficult. She shook her head slowly. “It’s stupid.”
“Why?”
“I was just a teenager.”
“Pole dancing?” he teased, and she laughed, as heat fired inside of her. She had no experience with men and yet with Luca, things felt strangely intuitive. Natural. Easy. She moved then, standing in the spa and coming to stand between his legs.
“How well you know me.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and tugged, so she lost her balance and tumbled into his lap. “A magician?”
“Definitely.”
He leaned forward and kissed her briefly. Her breath burst through her body. Just a kiss, and yet she felt like she’d been sparked with electricity. “An artist?”
She arched a brow, hoping her ironic expression would hide her racing heart. “I can’t draw to save my life.”
“That makes two of us.”
“That surprises me.”
“Why?”
“You seem like someone who’d be good at anything he tried.”
He let out a bark of laughter. “No one is here, Allegra. There is no need to pretend you actually like me.”
“I don’t dislike you,” she said, swiftly, frowning. “And I presume you don’t dislike me.”
His smile slowly left his face, contemplation in its place. “No, I don’t dislike you. I am…impressed by you.”
“By me?” she squeaked, as he shifted her body, arranging her to straddle him, and thinking became almost impossible.
He nodded once, arms latched at her back, eyes dropping to her breasts. Her nipples peaked against the warm water and just his gaze upon them made sparks fly through her.
