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It was Em… Her reaction wasn’t what I’d expected, and I was beginning to think convincing her would be the difficult part of this equation. I was a genius, though. Figuring out problems was my forte. Figuring out Em…? That might be my biggest challenge yet.
Six
Em
Getting Noa prepped to travel, flying in Luca’s luxury jet, fighting my growing feelings for him… This past few days had been an unexpected whirlwind. To my relief, the baby had slept through the entire flight, her carrier strapped into one of the cream-leather seats. I’d flown before, but Luca’s plane had ruined me. I wasn’t sure how I’d ever go back to coach on a commercial flight after this.
Luca’s fingers trailed my forearm where it rested on the edge of the baby carrier between us as the driver he’d hired took us to the hotel. I glanced down at the touch, but didn’t pull away. He’d been doing that more and more over the past week or so, the tiny random touches, and it was playing havoc with my resolve.
“Are you doing okay?” he asked quietly. “You’ve been quiet since we landed.”
I had been quiet on the flight, too, but he’d been doing business while I’d pretended to read. My stomach was tangled in a hundred knots, and I wasn’t sure why. I couldn’t explain that to him. I certainly couldn’t explain that our proximity for this trip concerned me. If I told him that, I’d have to explain why it worried me, and with him as my boss, my feelings for him were nothing less than inappropriate.
“I’m good. Just taking it all in. Private plane, luxury SUV… What life is this even?”
“Yours. Ours. For the most part, I live simply—you know that. You’ve seen it at the house. Other than needing you for Noa, I don’t have staff at my homes—and for the record, Idon’tconsider you staff. I don’t go to flashy parties. I don’t buy a bunch of fancy things. I have one car—though I will be getting another one, so you’ll have it for driving places with Noa, if you need to.”
“That hardly seems necessary for a couple weeks.”
He peered at me over the top of the carrier but didn’t respond. Then to my surprise, his fingers, which had been trailing my forearm, threaded through mine. Firm. Unbreakable. With our gazes still locked, so many emotions passed through his eyes. They wondered if I’d try to pull away—but almost dared me, too. Affection. Promise.
But a promise of what?
“We’ve arrived, Mr. DeMilo,” the driver announced as we pulled into the circle drive before the hotel. A bellman came over with a cart before we’d even exited the vehicle.
The whole place seemed to buzz with activity and I glanced back at Luca while our luggage, mostly Noa’s, was loaded onto the trolley. “Busy place.”
“It’s the tech convention. People from all over the world are here for the trade show.”
“Oh…I thought it was just a…meeting,” I murmured, feeling out of my depth even more. It had been my general feeling all day, and I was beginning to think I might drown when I lost sight of Luca.
But he was right here now. His palm flattened on my lower back as we followed the bellman into the hotel. A tingle radiated from the spot, taunting me with what I couldn’t have.
“We have you and your family booked in a king room,” the desk clerk told him minutes later after he’d given his info and she’d tapped on the keyboard for a few moments.
My head whipped around to stare at Luca, barely breathing, my eyes wide.Oh God, oh God, oh God.
He shook his head at the woman, not seeming to notice my shock, though his hand slid to settle at the curve of my waist and pull me closer. “We’re supposed to be in a two bedroom suite.”
She tapped a few more times, seeming completely unfazed by the apparent snafu. Her head tilted then she grimaced, though her expression seemed completely fake to me.
“No, we only have you down for the king room.”
“Do you have a second room we can get, optimally something connected?”
“We’re completely booked up.”
Luca sighed. “Fine. Do you have a rollaway?”
If ever I’d heard a tightly controlled word said through someone’s teeth, it was thatfine.
The clerk shook her head.
“Do you at least have the childcare set up for tonight?”
Childcare?
“Yes, you have it booked for six. I’ll put the information in your reservation folder.”
