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“It has,” Luca said. “We should do this again. I’d offer my place for another cooking lesson, but I don’t have half the shit in my kitchen Conor does.”
“Or we could just keep meeting here,” Conor offered. “I don’t entertain often. Having the two of you here…it’s been nice.”
Luca leaned forward. “Maybe we could even make it a weekly thing, considering Harper needs a chance to refine her menu for the restaurant, and we need cooking lessons.”
“Seriously?” Harper was excited by the prospect.
Conor stuck his arm out. “Twist it.”
Harper laughed as she did what he asked.
“No going back now.” Luca puffed out his chest dramatically. “Sort of feel like doing a little bragging myself, now that I have my own personal chef.”
“Personal chef, huh?” Harper repeated, liking the sound of that more than she cared to admit. “Sounds a hell of a lot more fun than supermodel.”
“So you really don’t miss modeling at all?” Conor asked.
Harper shook her head. “I keep thinking I should. And maybe somewhere down the road, I will. But modeling is a very grueling profession, and it was obviously starting to take a toll on my body. I spent a lifetime saying no to things—food, wine, parties, late nights with girlfriends—all because of work commitments. So this Harper.” She pointed to herself. “This girl is all about saying yes.”
Conor lifted his glass, tapping it against hers. “To saying yes.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Luca added.
She tapped Luca’s glass and took a sip from her own. Then she did something she ordinarily would never do. Tonight had been so easy, so comfortable, it felt natural to slip off her heels and tuck her feet beneath her with a happy sigh that both men heard.
“Not sure how you walk around in shoes like that.” Luca pointed at her discarded heels. “Look like torture devices to me.”
She took another sip of her wine before leaning forward to place her glass on the coffee table. She’d already had two IPAs with dinner, and they’d been considerably strong.
“I’ve spent a lifetime in heels,” Harper replied. “I’m used to them. Though I will admit, there is nothing like those first couple of minutes after I slip my shoes off and rub some feeling back into my feet.”
“Criminal.” Luca shifted a bit closer to her, putting his own wineglass down.
“What is?”
He bent toward her, surprising her by gripping one of her ankles. “A beautiful woman forced to rub her own feet.” Before she realized his intent, Luca had both her feet in his lap, his thumbs pressing firmly on the soles.
Her first thought was that she should pull away. The problem was, it vanished into the ether when he added more pressure to the balls of her feet. After that, her only response to his impromptu foot rub was a blissed-out moan.
The second the sound crossed her lips, her gaze flew over to Conor. She expected him to be bothered, maybe even jealous, but instead, his eyes were locked on where Luca’s strong hands slowly and deeply massaged her feet.
“You have some experience with that,” Conor said after a minute or two.
Luca, the charming devil, flashed Conor a cocky grin. “It’s one of the best moves in my seduction arsenal.” Before she could ask if he was trying to seduce her, Luca continued, “Gave my first foot rub right after junior prom. I went with Trina Paulson.”
“I remember her,” Conor said, his voice gruff and…
Her gaze flew to Luca, wondering if he heard the same thing she had. Because Conor sounded jealous.
Luca studied Conor’s face for a moment, and it felt as if there were a shit-ton of emotions flying between the two men.
“She wasn’t as accomplished in heels as you are, Harper.” Luca broke the silence by returning to his story. “By the time the dance was over, she was seriously limping. When we finally made it back to my car, she broke into tears. If there’s one thing that kills me, it’s tears, so I took her shoes off and rubbed her feet.”
“And you put that in your arsenal because…” Harper prompted playfully.
Luca shrugged. “Well, I don’t like to kiss and tell…but let’s just say my prom night ended in a very traditional way.” Luca wiggled his eyebrows.
She spared another glance at Conor, and once again, she was surprised by what she saw…and what she didn’t see.
