Real Fake Love (Copper Valley Fireballs #2)(30)

He pulls back and looks down at his jeans-covered crotch, and I swear he mutters I wish, which doesn’t make any sense, because Luca Rossi isn’t the least bit attracted to me, nor should he be if our mutual goals are going to work.

“A camping tent,” I hiss.

That gets his attention. “A camping tent? No, I don’t have a camping tent. Why would I have a camping tent?”

“No matter. Grab some blankets. We’ll sleep under the stars in the back yard.”

He stares at me.

“Unless you have a tree house? Ohmygosh, tell me you have a tree house.”

More staring.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think my nose hairs had grown and shape-shifted into dancing mushrooms and were making a wavy mustache for me right now.

“Do you have a better idea?” I whisper. “Also, your mother and your grandmother are watching us at the top of the stairs.”

Without warning, he dips his head and presses his mouth to mine.

But it’s not like the awkward kiss this morning when I was practically licking his nose hairs.

This is a real kiss.

The kind with hot, wet lips and eager tongue and fingers thrust through my short hair and his body pressed against mine.

It’s the kind of kiss I like to write about.

The only thing missing is a solid rod poking me in the belly that would suggest he’s having an undeniable hormonal reaction to my feminine allures.

“You know she recently got left at the altar for the fifth time,” Luca’s mom says. “Your evil plans won’t work.”

“The Eye always works,” his grandmother replies.

His shoulders hitch.

My shoulders hitch.

We break apart, but he wraps his arm around me and turns us both to face his family. “You’re both leaving first thing in the morning. We’re going to sleep under the stars, and I’ll change my fucking phone number and move if either of you say one more bad thing about Henri or only take sides to piss each other off. I’m done with both of you being assholes to each other over shit that went down twenty years ago. Understood?”

I elbow him. “Don’t say fuck to your mom and grandmother.”

“They fucking earned it.”

Nonna lifts a brow. “You have balls, Luca Antonio. I’ll give you that. But if you think you can escape what’s best for you, think again.”

Are goosebumps contagious?

Not asking for a friend.

Because as soon as Luca’s skin pebbles beside mine, the hairs on my arms stand straight up too.

“Let’s go to bed, Henri,” he says in a deadly calm voice.

And honestly?

That’s more of a turn-on than having a boner pressed into my belly would’ve been.

I smile and finger-wave at the matriarchs, and then I follow him out to the back yard.





13





Luca



I’m beginning to understand why Henri’s been engaged five times.

When the woman makes up her mind about something, it gets done.

Tracking me down? Check.

Making my Nonna materialize out of thin air so she has an excuse to play my fake girlfriend and stay with me to execute this plan of hers where I teach her how to not fall in love? Check.

Convincing me to sleep on the grass with god only knows what kind of city creatures lurking, with too much ambient light to see the stars, and most likely a few rocks under my back?

Yep, she did that too.

It almost begs the question how she hasn’t succeeded in getting married five times, except the explanation is right there in her drive.

Takes one hell of a man to be able to commit to forever with that.

I couldn’t even commit to forever with someone with half that much drive, though drive wasn’t the problem. Not in the same way, anyway.

Truth? I like drive.

Didn’t exactly make it to the big leagues myself by half-assing it.

But I’m not letting it drive me into forever with a woman either.

I step outside with an old blanket that I keep in the basement for wrapping stuff when I move—which is approximately every two years or so since I entered the minors—and come to a halt, because Henri’s talking to someone in the darkness, and she doesn’t sound right.

“Oh, yes, Copper Valley is beautiful. I toured the Copperstone Building today—it’s the tallest building here—and I got to go all the way to the top and stare and stare at the scenery. This city is so pretty. With parks and trees and lovely buildings, and oh, gosh, the Blue Ridge Mountains! You can see the Blue Ridge Mountains from the top of—oh, okay. Mm-hmm.”

She sighs heavily, and her phone screen lights up as she pulls it away from her ear to squint at it, which also lights up her face. She looks like she’s telling ghost stories over a campfire, except it’s a ghost story that’s giving her constipation.

She didn’t even look like she was constipated after Jerry left her on her wedding day.

Maybe it’s a trick of the light. Or her hair, which is now covered with a bandana.

Except she’s also closing her eyes, leaning back against the old oak tree, and rubbing her temple.

It’s weird.

She looks defeated.

A tinny voice comes through the phone, and she leaps and puts it back to her ear. “Oh, good for Titus! Tell him Aunt Henri’s giving him a high five for using the potty like a big boy. Yes, naturally, after he washes his hands. Wouldn’t want to encourage bad hygiene! Oh, is that Tatiana cheering him on too? What a good sis—yes. Sure. Of course. I—Hi, Oliver.”