Page 20 of Ruthless Passion

"Yeah, Jett, my son, took my brother's lucky socks that he plays football in. The socks smell like they have had the entire football team's feet inside of them, but I can't deny how lucky they were for us yesterday."

"I agree. The socks are definitely lucky." I touch her hand as she familiarizes herself with the interior. I watch the slow rise and fall of her chest as she inhales the delicate scent of the leather seat. The smile on her face is like opening a brand-new phone, ready to push every button to see what this thing can do.

It doesn't take long before we're cruising down winding roads with the top down, sun beaming across the soon-to-be afternoon sky. Jo's brown curls fly out of her ponytail, making me regret not having my hands running through them while she fucked me on my bedroom floor.

More sessions.

These are not dates.

This is for the best to not dive in so quickly. We don't need romance. We only need endless instances for us to release some stress, bolster her confidence to enable her to sink her teeth into this opportunity, and every opportunity that will come her way after these movies finish shooting.

I'm torn between my excitement in discovering new talent and the worry that the depths of my depravity will scare her away. There are things I like, rough and extreme to some. Today didn't faze her in the slightest. I assume her willingness to do everything we did came from wanting to slug that shit stain, Duke, on the steps of the courthouse. I ended up making him pay for speaking to her, and that was enough for me. This right now? This is for Josephine.

The bulk of the ride to her car is quiet, a comfortable silence between us as we finally come to a stop behind a small blue hatchback near the courthouse. The grin spread across her face leaves me feeling like Santa Claus, happy to give her this experience. I want to give her so much more.

"This car is amazing. Thank you so much, Luca. I'll go over the script and make some notes. Maybe we can get together later, if you're free and your actress is alright?"

"That sounds like a plan." I tell her as we get out of the car. She walks to get inside her car when something worrying snags my attention. "I think there needs to be a change in plans."

The puzzled look on her face causes Jo to shift her gaze to her car. There's a piece of rebar sticking out of both a rear tire and front tire.

"Shit," Jo kneels down to touch it when I stop her.

"Leave it. Get back in the car, Jo. I'll take care of this," I tell her.

"What do you mean? I need to call my insurance company, a tow truck. I don't even know how this happened. Jett gets out of school at two. I still need to go over these papers Duke gave me, not to mention the errands I was supposed to run. I need to get food because Collin's going to move into the garage and?—"

"Josephine," I interrupt her, stopping her panic driven rant. She only stops once I'm standing in front of her so she can focus on me as I hold up the keys to my car. "Take it. I can grab a taxi to the hospital. It's my fault your car is here and someone vandalized it. I should have stuck to your original plan instead of trying to impress you with helicopter rides."

"Helicopter and Luca rides," she grins with a chuckle.

"Impressed?" I ask, a glutton for punishment because the chances of anyone answering that honestly are slim. There's something about Josephine punishing me that I crave.

"Very." She grins, taking the keys out of my hand. "You know, you're making it very hard for me to explain to Jett that socks aren't lucky if I pull up to the pickup line in this."

"Luck is in anything you believe is lucky," I tell her. "Children are lucky to have an imagination that isn't jaded by life. They have room to believe magic still exists. I have a little bit of room left, only because I work in film. But seeing the machines behind the magic dulls the senses. You, Josephine, have sparked something inside of me. Meeting you makes me feel like there's still some magic around me. Let me do this for you. Go over the contracts, and the script. We'll talk later."

I pull out my phone and the movement comes naturally for the both of us as I lean in to steal a quick kiss as if we've loved each other forever, and this is what's supposed to be.

She smiles, taking a step back. "I want you to know that normally, I'd reject this lavish gesture."

"We can skip the back and forth where you tell me this is too much and I convince you to take it. I want you to take the car and then you can tell me how excited your son gets when he hangs those lucky socks around the rearview mirror."

She snorts out a laugh before covering her mouth. "I would never allow those things inside of a car this beautiful. Jett's lucky I'm letting him get inside of it at all. Okay, you get to the hospital and I'll take care of everything I need. Call me when you're done. I can have Collin stay with Jett when I bring this beauty back to you."

"Beauty indeed, don't forget the car when you do."

She shoves me playfully, sliding back into the driver's seat, and merging into traffic.

"Ahem." The sound of someone clearing their throat behind me snags my attention. Julian Blackwell and his head of security, Edward, are standing on the sidewalk with hints of amusement on their faces.

"How much of that did you hear?" I ask, walking toward the men, shaking both of their hands.

"Enough to see you have been busy," Julian says with a grin. Edward says something only audible to him before tipping his head to me and walking off. Julian turns to me. "Wife? Girlfriend?"

"Why does she have to be either?" I ask him.

"Because you let her drive off in your favorite car. I also imagine she's the reason you used the helipad this morning. Is love in the air for one of my very first clients?" He grins.

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