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“Looks like you were both wrong. Only thing left for you to do now is kiss and make up.”
It felt like an innocuous enough statement, a humorous one that she’d expected to break the tension.
Boy, was she wrong.
Conor froze, staring at Luca in a way that…
Oh.
Well.
Wow.
“Um,” she murmured, feeling very much like she’d just stepped into a big pile of shit, while Luca appeared oblivious to the hornet’s nest she’d just kicked.
Meanwhile, Conor completely shut down. She’d never seen anyone go so utterly…blank.
Then he rubbed his chest while glancing down at his phone. “It’s later than I thought. I need to stop by Enigma to grab some paperwork before heading home.” He suddenly resembled the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland who was late for a very important date. Especially when he slid out of the booth and pulled his wallet from his back pocket. Sliding out several twenties, he tossed them in the middle of the table. “That should cover my share of the tab.”
And hers, and probably Luca’s too, she considered, as she counted the twenties.
“Conor,” she started, but he’d already tucked his wallet and phone away.
“I’ll call the code inspector on Monday, see if I can grease a few palms to get him to the construction site sooner rather than later.” Conor didn’t make eye contact with her or Luca.
She felt like she should say something but realized she would probably be wiser to keep her mouth shut until she got to know these men better. She’d already shoved one foot in there. She didn’t want to go for two. Hungry or not.
“Okay.” Luca took Conor’s hasty retreat in stride. Until Conor rubbed his chest again, the action capturing Luca’s attention, then he studied Conor’s face—hard.
There was some history at play between these two men that felt like more than family animosity.
Conor glanced at Luca, his poker face slipping slightly, the tiniest glimmer of…pain?…sadness?…flashing in his eyes.
Luca’s expression softened. “You don’t have to run off.”
“I’m not running,” Conor said too quickly, almost breathlessly. He didn’t bother to say goodbye as he turned and left the pub.
“I…” Harper started, only two words felt right, though she didn’t know why. Regardless, she said them. “I’m sorry.”
Luca turned her direction. “For what?”
She gave him a rueful smirk. “I was hoping you wouldn’t ask me that because I have no idea.”
Luca—God bless him—laughed, the tension of the past few minutes dispelled.
“Don’t feel so bad,” he said. “I’m feeling the need to apologize too.”
“To Conor?”
He nodded. “Yep. And like you, I have no idea why.”
Chapter Three
Luca glanced at the big-screen TV behind the bar and realized he wasn’t as into the Phillies game as his drinking buddies were.
Typically, he was an early riser, even on the weekends, as Saturday and Sunday were the only time he could get his personal chores done. He’d lived alone for a decade in a two-bedroom apartment that wasn’t particularly large, but big enough for him. And while he wouldn’t call himself a neat freak, he also wasn’t a fucking slob like his brother Joey. As such, he always dedicated a few hours of every weekend to mundane shit like laundry, vacuuming, dusting, and scrubbing the damn toilet.
Yesterday had been a wash as far as doing chores because he’d opted to put in a few hours at the construction site, doing an inspection of electrical wiring in the restaurant. A task that had been a big waste of time, considering it had all gone up in flames hours later.
