Page 64 of Promised Love

For a second, I imagine him lying on the bed, buck naked, waiting for me.

Chiara elbows me lightly. “What are you thinking?”

I simply shake my head, and by some miracle, she doesn’t ask more.

My heartbeat slowly calms down as we start to work on how to manage the guest list for Maddy’s wedding. We send emails to our partners telling them what they can expect from us in the coming weeks and come up with a to-do list of tasks we’ll be sharing.

It’s almost evening when Chiara leaves my office.

There’s a tremble in my steps as I walk from my office toward the suite. I stop with my hand on the doorknob, and a shiver runs through me as I wonder if Lukas is already inside. With great effort, I step inside the room, and my accelerating heart rate calms a little at the sight of an empty bed.

The door to the balcony is open, with the hanging string lights turned on. I place my laptop onto the coffee table and walk through the arched doorway.

My breath hitches at the sight before me. Lukas is typing something on his laptop, while on the table there’s food on the warming tray and a bottle of ginger ale. There’s a powder-blue candle burning on the side.

“Hey, the food just came.” Lukas closes his laptop and places it on the side table.

I sit down on the empty chair. When he removes the cloches and pushes a plate in my direction, my nervousness calms down.

This is Lukas. Nothing has changed.

“We’re drinking ginger ale.” I take a bite of the mashed potatoes and point toward the green-label bottle.

He simply nods, but there’s a fire in his eyes. Before it can accelerate my heartbeat, Lukas asks, “How are the plans coming along for the wedding?”

“Good. I have a few questions for you.”

“Shoot.”

“We’ve closed the bookings at the inn for the wedding day, three days before that and one day after. Would your guys need rooms before the guests arrive?”

He hums a yes before wiping his mouth with a napkin. “A few will. Surveillance is Gavin’s department. He and a few of his men will arrive early to set everything up.”

“I didn’t know there were departments in Kings Security. Is it like a corporation?”

“You’d be surprised to hear about the similarities to a business organization. The difference is how and what we do. Our jobs are more interesting than working in corporate America.”

“Of course, daredevil.” I grin and cock my head to the side. “So you’re like a billionaire boss?” The smile on my face hasn’t slipped since our talk in my office.

Lukas chuckles after swallowing his food, and I realize he’s the most laid-back that I’ve ever seen him. “Connor is the only one we call boss.”

I place my plate onto the table, and because I want to see his smile once more, I ask, “So you’re not only a daredevil but a rich daredevil?”

And I don’t have to wait for my reward. Tingles race across my skin as he throws me a devastating smile.

“When you put it like that, I feel like I’m quite the catch.” Lukas grabs the bottle of ginger ale.

“I think you were always a catch, Lukas.” I whisper the truth. “Not because of how much money you have, but because of who you are as a person.”

Lukas stops pouring us the drink, and looks up at me instead. “That is hard to believe sometimes.”

I get my first glimpse of the vulnerability that often peeks into his emails.

“Then you need someone who can remind you regularly.”

Something unsaid passes between us, and the air around us thickens, charged with electricity.

Lukas swallows hard and then asks, “Is there something else you’d need from me…for the wedding preparation?”

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