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“Why did you need me at the dinner?” I asked.
“Because I didn’t want to be alone in a room full of computer nerds.”
I raised an eyebrow at him.
“But I made you laugh, right?” He jostled me playfully, drawing a reluctant giggle. “Really, I wanted a night with you and I want all the guys I’ve done this circuit with for years, to see my beautiful woman at my side. I like your dress by the way.”
“Thank you.”
I’d packed the black slip dress in case I went out in California one night. Not that I’d thought I’d actually have a night off where I’d go out to a club. Maybe, somewhere deep down, I’d hoped that Luca would take me to one. And look what was happening.
Luca was mouthwatering in black from head to toe. He wore a buttoned vest over his shirt, and his long sleeves were rolled to above his elbows. He looked powerful, sexy and dangerous. He’d even left on his fuck-me-now Clark Kent glasses for the occasion.
When he’d stepped out of the bathroom after changing, I swore my nipples had turned to pebbles and my panties melted. Butterflies took off in my belly anticipating the night ahead.
I had to remind myself that nothing would happen. I was his fake girlfriend, there to keep him company during a boring dinner he had to attend.
A wall of noise hit us as two attendants pulled open the doors and we walked into the dim ballroom. People milled all around, and a few waved at Luca or called out his name.
We wandered through the room until we found our table.
“Well, hello,” one of the two guys at the table said when Luca held my chair for me—a seat that left him between me and the other men. “Who do we have here?”
“Steven, Reggie… This is my girlfriend.” Luca looked at me. “This is Steven and Reggie.” He pointed vaguely at them. “They write accounting software.”
“You wish,” one of them said. “I’m Reggie,” he told me. “We write navigation software for NASA.”
“It’s nice to meet the two of you,” I told them.
“So, Luca’sgirlfriend,” the one who had to be Steven said. “You got a name? I noticed your guy left that out.”
I’d noticed that, too. “It’s Emerson.”
“Emerson,” he repeated. “You shorten that to Em?”
“No,” Luca and I said at the same time.
“Fair enough.” Steven stood, looking a little unsteady already. “You want a drink, Emerson not Em?”
I shook my head and gave him a small smile. “No, it’s okay. Thank you.”
He clucked playfully. “Your loss. I was paying.”
“Dumbass.” Reggie rolled his eyes at Steven’s retreating back.
“Still not over the breakup?” Luca asked, casually sliding his arm to rest on my chair back. It took everything in me not to lean into his side and cuddle into him. I actually had caught myself snuggling against him when we’d walked through the park earlier. I couldn’t get into that habit, no matter how good it felt.
“No. And Evie is just as miserable. The two of them are just…” He shook his head. “Idiots.”
“I went to college with Steven and Reggie,” Luca told me. “Steven used to be married to our friend, Evie.”
And now, I wanted to know what had happened, but it was none of my business, so I didn’t fish for more info.
“So are you from California, then?” Reggie asked.
“No. Michigan.”
He looked over at Luca. “That’s where you’ve been hanging out, right?”
