Because who would let someone like me be a part of their family?
"He did," Luca said. "Between him and Ronan, I'm starting to fear for my health." Luca winked at me so I knew he wasn't being serious about that part, but I still couldn't help the rush of joy that went through me. Not the part where the other two men were threatening him with bodily harm, of course.
"So?" Luca asked after a moment.
My mind was still toying with the idea that maybe I had more friends than I’d realized, so it took me a moment to say, "I'll call him tomorrow. Ronan too."
Luca took a bite of the dessert we’d decided to share. He suddenly looked peeved and I wondered what I’d done wrong.
"Do you think I shouldn't call them?" I asked.
"You should definitely call Dom. But maybe just send Ronan a text."
The comment was so odd that I didn't understand it at first. But the more Luca stabbed at the dessert, the more an idea took hold.
Surely he couldn't be jealous of Ronan?
No, the thought was just ridiculous.
"You think Ronan wants to hear from me?" I asked.
Luca grunted in response and I felt something inside of me light up.
"Maybe I should go see him—" I began to say, but Luca started shaking his head long before I even finished the thought.
"A text is fine," was all he said, dropping his fork to the plate so that it clattered noisily.
He was definitely jealous.
In that moment, I lost the last few pieces of my heart I’d been trying to hold back from him. The idea that Luca would think that a) I'd choose Ronan over him and b) that Ronan even had eyes for anyone but his husband was ludicrous, but it meant Luca was doing exactly what I'd been doing all night.
Doubting himself.
Doubting us.
"I think I'll just text him," I murmured as I reached out my finger to swipe some of the chocolate from the dessert. Luca's eyes caught on my finger and I felt my body grow tight as he hungrily watched me lick the chocolate off. I hadn't meant the move to be seductive, but now more than anything, I wanted to grab the chocolate and my date and get the hell out of that restaurant. The thought that I might be ready for something more physical with Luca was daunting, but I also wanted to know if I could have that kind of relationship with him.
I'd always just assumed that if I decided to give myself to Luca, it would be to satisfy his needs and it would be something I would just have to get through. But nothing about how he’d touched me in the past was living up to that expectation. I was most definitely physically attracted to him and I'd already reached the conclusion that I was well beyond emotionally invested in whatever it was that we had between us. The question was, would I be able to go through with it if and when the time came?
"So do you think you want to go back to working for Dom?" Luca asked. His voice sounded strained and he was focused on my mouth. Clearly, I wasn't the only one affected by the rush of desire.
I pulled in a breath in the hopes of calming my raging body, especially my cock, which had gone from interested to yes-please-and-thank-you in a matter of seconds. "It's a good job," I said. "There's a lot of room for growth. The benefits are great and I like the people I work with."
Luca nodded in agreement, so it was a surprise when he said, "What is it that you really want to do?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "I guess I never really had time to think about things long term, you know?"
"Have you ever thought about doing something with your voice?"
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"You told me that you really enjoyed that movie set that your grandmother took you on when you were little. With the way you can copy a voice and do all those different accents that I've heard you do around Violet, maybe you could do something in the entertainment industry. Acting or something. If you don't want to be in front of the camera, you could always do something like voiceover work or maybe something behind the scenes, like production."
His remark left me speechless, not only because of his compliments, but because it wasn't something I’d ever even considered before. I'd always enjoyed doing the voices and I'd been curious about how things like television shows and movies were made, but never in a million years had I thought I could have a career in something like that.
"No, I couldn't," I said, but when I tried to find a reason why, there weren't any. I'd said the same thing when Ronan's guy had told me he’d found me a job working in an office. I'd never believed I could do something like that either, yet I had.