Take Your Time (Boston Love #4)(53)

“Your kids will be cute.” Luca’s voice is absolutely certain.

“There’s no way to know that for sure. It’s all a big genetic clusterfuck, if you ask me. Might as well pull traits out of a hat at random.”

“Delilah.” He waits until I meet his eyes.

“Yes?”

“It’s too late.”

My brow furrows. “What’s too late?”

“The ice princess act. Not buying it, babe.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say haughtily.

His eyes glitter in challenge. “There you go again, trying to freeze me out for saying something real. Hate to break it to you — I have no problem with the cold. So you can act like a frozen-hearted bitch all you please, but like I said… not buying it. I’ve seen you.”

“You’re a lunatic, Luca Buchanan. Totally delusional.” I sit up fully and start to climb to my feet but his hand lands on my elbow in an iron grip and I find my progress halted completely. My eyes fly to his in alarm and indignation. “Let go of me!”

“In a minute,” he murmurs. “Have some shit I want to say to you first.”

“This is bullying.”

“No, this is me trying to have an honest fucking conversation with you.” His hand drops away. “You’re not interested in that, fine. Not gonna force you. Not my style. But neither is seeing something I want and not going after it with everything I have.”

And what I want is you, he doesn’t add, eyes burning. Heaven help me.

My pulse is pounding. I know I should walk away, just to prove a point, but I can’t. I settle back on the grass and arch my brows.

“I’m listening.”

“Good.” He leans in and, like a repelling magnet, I lean away to maintain some breathing room. “I’ve seen the way you look at those kids, the way you care about your friends, the way you clean up your brother’s messes even when he doesn’t deserve your loyalty. I see you suffering through a shitty situation in silence, rather than bothering the people closest to you with your problems. I see you, Delilah. Didn’t before — when we first met, I’ll be honest, I assumed you were a beautiful piece of wrapping paper over an empty box.”

I huff.

“First second you opened your sassy fuckin’ mouth and flashed those big, beautiful brown eyes at me, I realized I was wrong. Rare, but it happens.” His eyes simmer with banked heat. “Guess what I’m trying to say is… I shouldn’t have judged you before I got to know you.”

I bite the inside of my cheek to distract myself from the dangerous somersaults my stomach is doing.

“Don’t worry about it.” I swallow. “I’m the one who’s acted like a colossal bitch to you, over the past few months.”

He doesn’t agree with me, but he doesn’t disagree either. We fall silent in a momentary truce — two almost-strangers under a tree sharing truths I’m not quite sure we’re ready to be sharing. But, as I’m coming to learn, that’s simply Luca: charging in full speed, one hundred percent effort, whether or not you’re ready for him.

Half-assed is not in his vocabulary.

(Evidently, neither is small talk or patience.)

“Never thought about it much,” Luca murmurs absently after a while, eyes on Potter and Harry. “Having a family. Being a father. Never had one of my own, so it’s hard to picture.” He pauses. “Seeing them, it’s easier. Makes me remember not every kid spends their formative years bouncing from foster homes to shitty shelters and back, before the system spits them out at eighteen to fend for themselves.”

I suck in a breath. It’s the most personal thing Luca’s ever said to me, and I find myself totally tongue-tied as a result.

Sure, my family isn’t perfect… most days, they drive me crazy. But at least I have one. I stare at Luca, lacking the proper words to comfort him. I have no idea what to say to him, whether I’m even entitled to ask him questions about a topic this intimate.

“Luca…”

His eyes find mine. “Don’t look at me like that, babe.”

“Like what?”

“Soft. Warm. Same look you give when you’re talking to an abandoned puppy or a shy little kid. The one that says you care.” His jaw clenches and a muscle leaps in his cheek. “Makes me want to do things to you I can’t do in a public place.”

I squirm a little.

“For a long time, I thought this world was so messed up it would be a sin to bring a kid into it. Like throwing an angel into the brimstones of hell.” His acerbic tone mellows a bit as his eyes hold mine. “Now, I think maybe it’s just a matter of finding the right person to walk through the fire with.”

“Well…” I steady my shoulders and take a breath, afraid to say the next words but knowing I’ll regret it forever if I chicken out. “I’m sure you’ll find her, someday. And… you’ll make a great father, Luca. You spent years protecting Zoe. You saved me the other night — hell, you’ve been saving me all week. Everyone you meet loves you on sight. Police officers. Mrs. Macomber. The twins. Even the dog loves you.” I shake my head at the puppy, snoozing on his legs. “It’s a little annoying, actually.”