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I spent the rest of that afternoon looking out the window at the RV parked in the distance. I’d made a few calls to ensure the cops didn’t have them removed. I couldn’t understand why she’d come all the way to California if she didn’t plan on telling me who she was. Then again, I’d completely blown my own opportunity to bare all.
If I knew Luca, she was second-guessing everything, stuck as to how to handle this just as much as I was. I needed to draw her out, make it easier for her to open up to me. There was no way I was letting her leave California before getting to explain myself properly. Jesus. She’d come all the way out here, despite her agoraphobia. That really spoke volumes about how much she needed to find out the truth.
I had to go out there before she made a rash decision and left. It would be nice if I took off my damn bathrobe this time.
After replacing the robe with a halfway decent shirt, I once again passed my very confused security guard and headed down the road to where the RV was parked. She’d never agree to go anywhere in public with me, and given her issues, I wouldn’t put her through the hell of having to deal with paparazzi. But I needed to get her alone, maybe even have a little fun before I pulled the lid off everything tonight.
There was only one way to handle this clusterfuck and that was to wing it.
I knocked on the RV and waited.
Luca opened the door, once again looking flustered.
I waved. “Hey. Me again.”
She blew out a breath. “You again . . .”
“I just wanted to apologize if my knocking on your door earlier was intrusive.”
“Oh . . . uh . . . not at all.”
“What brings you to the neighborhood?”
She looked back at her friend, then said, “He and I are on a road trip. This looked like a nice, safe place to stop.”
“I’m sorry, I was so rude earlier that I didn’t even get your name?”
“My name? I’m . . .” She hesitated, then looked to her left. “Mirada. And this is my friend Chester.”
“Mirada . . . ,” I repeated.
“Yes.”
“Well, it’s very nice to meet you. Welcome to California. I’m Cole.”
I held out my hand, and she took it. Touching her for the first time felt electric.
“Nice to meet you, Cole.”
“What are your plans while you’re here?” I asked.
“Can’t say I have any. Just going wherever the wind takes us.”
Or the hot air . . .
I needed to move this nonsense forward.
“Might you have some time to join me for dinner tonight?”
While Luca didn’t say anything, the old man answered for her. “She’d love to.”
She turned to him. “I would?”
“Yes, you would.”
She looked at me again. “I guess I would.”
“Brilliant, then. Say about six? I’ll give my guard your name . . . Mirada. He’ll let you in.”
She feigned happiness. “That’s great. Thanks. Looking forward to it.”
I knew she was probably dying inside. I hated that, but this had to be done.
As I walked back to my house, all I could think was how ridiculous this situation was; I didn’t have very long to figure out how the hell I was going to handle it.CHAPTER 13
LUCA“Mirada? Mirada! I couldn’t come up with anything better than the brand name of the RV we’re driving?”
“That was an interesting choice.” Doc chuckled.
“I freaked out and glanced over at the dash, and that was all that came out.”
“I have to say I was very curious as to how you were going to handle that whole situation.”
“I didn’t handle it. I completely made a mess of things for myself. Thanks for accepting his date offer, by the way. It would have been nice if I’d had a choice.”
“You don’t have a choice, Luca. You must face the music.”
“I never thought the music would end up being literal.” I sighed. “Seriously, how am I going to handle this, Doc? He’s going to think I’m a nutjob for following him here and lying about my identity.”
“You’re not the only one who lied. His was a lie of omission.”
“Am I really doing this? Having dinner with him?”
“Yes.”
“What do I say?”
“He’s giving you the chance to say anything you need to. The fact that he came back here and invited you into his home saves you the trouble of having to figure out how to get him alone. He’s handed the opportunity to you on a silver platter. Now it’s up to you to decide what to do with it.”An hour later, I was dressed in the only nice outfit I’d packed—a simple red sheath dress. I hadn’t exactly planned on going to dinner with a celebrity in his fancy mansion while out here stalking Griffin. I most definitely hadn’t expected Griffin to be that celebrity.
