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Prologue
SIX MONTHS AGO
London
I am going to do it.I am going to kiss my best friend.
For years I’ve imagined what it would be like to touch my lips to his, to lick my tongue into his mouth, and to hear him groan—no, not just hear it ...feelit.
At first, I was happy to be in the friend zone.I’d expected it.
Seventeen-year-old me crushed on Luca Rossi the day I first met him.Twenty-five year old me had that crush reignited one night two years ago at a charity ball when I was left alone with him after two lieutenants had a very public fight and Dad went to do damage control.
But where I saw a sexy, charismatic, funny, and flirty man who made me feel like I was the only woman in the room, Luca just saw the Cap’s youngest daughter.
It was the start ofsomething.It’s just that thatsomethingwas friendship, and friendship only.
But after two years of being friends and of being—for all intents and purposes—a girlfriend withoutanyof the sexy benefits I’ve fantasized about, I know I need to do something to make my feelings known.Because Luca Rossi may be sharp as a tack on the job and a loyal son, brother, and my best friend, but when it comes to reading the room—aka seeing that I am head over heels in love with him—he is a bit ...clueless.
So I’ve decided tonight is the night when I’m going to throw caution to the wind and throw myself at him.I’m praying to all the gods I can remember that he’ll catch me, and if I am really lucky, he’ll be blinded by a flash of realization that he is in fact in love with me too.
Luca pulls his car up to the curb outside my house, turning his head my way as I undo my seatbelt.“It was a good night,” he says, shooting me that devilishly handsome grin of his.
“Wings, beer, and pool.Can’t go wrong,” I reply.
He places a hand on his chest and sighs.“A woman after my own heart.”
God, if only he realized how true that was.
“You know me.I aim to please.”If only ...
His eyes soften and his smile widens.“Yeah.Who’d have thought a woman ten years younger than me would want to put up withmeas her best friend.”
I roll my eyes and bump his elbow with mine.“Well, someone’s got to do it,” I reply, making him chuckle, and I beam at the sound.Look at me.I’m like a goddamn people-pleasing puppy now ...
“Well, I better get going.Can’t have the Cap giving me shit for turning up late to shift in the morning.”
I beckon him in with a crooked finger, leaning closer.“The Cap’s a bit of a pushover when it comes to his daughter.Just tell him you were acting as bodyguard against all those unruly randy men at the bar, and he’ll name a truck in your honor.”
Luca snorts and shakes his head.“Doubt that, Lonnie.But I’ll keep it in mind.”
My chest tightens.It’s now or never.This is it—the moment I’ve been waiting for all damn night ...OK, maybe longer than a night.
I reach over and rest my hand on his leg.Luca’s gaze drops down before slowly lifting to meet mine again.His brows furrow but I don’t move back.Then again, neither does he.Taking this as a good sign I close the distance between us and touch my lips to his.My whole body stills at the contact while my heart is beating a stampede against my ribs.It’s as if time stands still and the world stops spinning on its axis.The whole of the universe is waiting with bated breath to see what the great Luca Rossi will do when kissed by his best friend.
When his hand gently slides up my arm to curl around my bicep, I feel emboldened and push out the tip of my tongue to touch the seam of his lips, silently begging ...hoping ...praying...for him to open up and take control.To kiss me back and profess that he, too, has been pining after me like I have him.
Except that doesn’t happen.
Much to my mortification, Luca slowly pulls back at the same time as he gently pushes me away, putting distance between us.Conflict and confusion are written all over his beautiful, flawless face.
“London,” he breathes, and that one word tells me everything I need to know.
I shut down and go into self-preservation mode, which for me means plastering a smile on my face, brushing it off as nothing.
“Hey.A girl’s gotta shoot her shot once?I thought for sure you knew how I felt about you,” I say with a shrug, jerking away from him and reaching down to grab my purse by my feet.
“London ...”Luca’s soft, smooth voice isnothelping me hold back the whirling emotions threatening to bubble over.
