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He nodded then glanced over at me.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly near my ear, sending another shiver down my spine, while the woman completed our check in. With his arm around me, he had to have felt my reaction.
“Nothing you can do about it,” I murmured back. “We’ll figure it out.”
I wasn’t so sure we would. It wasn’t like he could manufacture a room. Noa started to fuss, so I walked over to the bellman and left Luca to finish up. Taking her out of the seat, I added it to the luggage and cradled her against my chest.
“We’ll get you all fed and changed in a minute, sweet girl.”
Luca leaned in and kissed the top of his daughter’s head when he joined us. I sucked in a breath at having his face just inches from mine, his subtle notes of pine soap filling my lungs.
“I can call around and see if there’s someplace else for us to stay,” he offered when he straightened and we walked toward the elevators. His head shook as he considered our options and the lift whooshed us up to our floor. “Maybe another hotel. An Airbnb. I just had us booked here since it’s where the convention and trade show are being held.”
“Because it’s more convenient.”
“Fuck convenience. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” Though he remained in control while we followed the porter to the top floor then into our room, a storm cloud roiled around him. No one could mistake him for happy.
Inside the room, I grabbed the diaper bag and took care of the baby while Luca tipped the attendant. After the door shut, he stood near the door watching me as I prepped a bottle then took a seat on one of the room’s wingchairs near the windows.
For all that it didn’t suit us, the room was massive with a half-wall dividing the sleeping area from the sitting room. Besides the bed we had a small dinette and two additional comfortable chairs.
“Come sit down,” I beckoned, hating him standing over there as if he expected me to blow up about this. Maybe, if it was someone else, I might, but with Luca…it didn’t bother me as much as it probably should have.
“The bed is big enough for four people,” I commented when he’d slouched into the other comfortable chair, staring at the furnishing in question. “We can throw pillows in the middle, and it’ll be fine.”
He glanced over at me with a raised brow that questioned whether that would work. Fair enough. It never did in books or movies. We could try, at least. It wasn’t as if I saw much choice. I wasn’t sleeping on the floor and I wouldn’t let him, either, even if he offered.
“So what now? What’s the plan and why do we need childcare?”
“There’s a dinner tonight that I need you to attend with me…” He cleared his throat. “As my, um…”
I raised an eyebrow at him.
“Girlfriend,” he muttered. “But I have to go sign in now. That’s the first thing.”
“You’re just going to slip that in on the run then, huh? We’re you planning to tell me before or after the dinner.”
“I told you now.”
With difficulty, I held back a grin at his sullen little boy tone. There was nothing little boy about him, something that allured me more and more each day. Right now, Luca was a sexy, if slightly socially awkward, man caught in a trap of his own making. And damn it, I couldn’t stop wanting him, especially since he was so…great…all the time. I didn’t even mind that he’d set me up to be his fake date for tonight.
“Go register. Noa and I will be fine here for a little bit. I might order very expensive room service.”
“Pleasedo. And get me a burger? I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He popped up, kissed me on the cheek then was out the door before I even gasped.
What…was…that?
Seven
Luca
Sitting across from Em, a niggling of guilt prodded me, but I didn’t really feel bad while I dipped a fry in ketchup and watched her poke at her loaded salad. She loved salad, but always pointed out I shouldn’t think it was even remotely healthy, but she liked to pretend.
But the guilt, that was from what I’d considered while I was down in the convention hall. What if…my assistant made the “mistake” of booking us into a single room for the rest of the trip? What if Em wanted to be with me? Sometimes, I saw the desire in her eyes. Did she see mine and know I wanted her?
“I don’t have to be down at the convention floor until tomorrow. Do you want to go do something today? Mall of America? Something else? I have no idea what they have to do here. I’m sure there’s something.”
