Page 60 of Lunar Crest University

“And I’m guessing yours isPride and Prejudice?” he continues.

I narrow my eyes back over my shoulder at him. “What makes you think that?”

“It’s every girl’s favorite.”

Twirling around, I cross my arms over my chest. “Every girl, huh?”

The group keeps walking, but I stand still as I peek up at him. His hands find my hips, turning me around and guiding me through the doorway to catch up with everyone else as I stifle a giggle. Once again, my stomach drops as he lets go of me, but I steady myself with a deep breath as I try to pay attention to what the tour guide is saying.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of good fortune…” Luca’s voice whispers next to my ear, and the hairs on my neck prick as his breath cascades across my skin. “Must be in want of a wife.”

He’s quoting the book. Why does my heart lurch in my chest at that?

I turn my head slightly without looking up at him. “Impressive.”

As the tour guide takes us up the wooden stairs, I can feel the warmth radiating off his body from how close he is to me. His fingertips graze mine every so often with each step, and his chest brushes against my back as we reach the top. I shudder with excitement.

“You showed me how insufficient were all my pretensions to please a woman worthy of being pleased.”

His low voice in my ear sends an electric shiver down my spine. My nipples harden beneath my bra as his breath tickles my neck.

“In vain, I have struggled,” he whispers.

I can’t even try to hear what the tour guide is saying anymore.

“It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed.”

Is there anything hotter than someone quoting Mr. Darcy? From the way my heart is racing inside my chest or the way my cold skin is pricking with sweat, the answer is quite clear. My mind is reeling as his fingers caress my wrist, and my knees wobble as I focus on maintaining what little composure I have left.

“You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire…” He trails off, bumping his chest into my back once more.

Inhaling shakily, I peer up at him tentatively through my lashes. He had to have known the rest of that sentence, right? Why would he quote that one? There is no way Luca Serrano has feelings for me. He had to have said it because he was trying to spike my blood pressure. I mean, is it that obvious what he does to me?

Despite my insides feeling like they’re melting, I steel my spine as I raise a single eyebrow at him.

“Are you surePride and Prejudiceisn’t your favorite?”

The smile I receive is devastating. How am I supposed to function properly when he smiles at me like that? How am I supposed to think of this as just some…forbidden,hotsex with my professor?How? He makes every fiber of my being short-circuit when his grumpy façade crumbles and a smile slips through like it’s made just for me. I hope it is.

Shit.Shit.

The inevitable end of us is going to absolutely break my heart.

Chapter Twenty-Four

LUCA

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25TH, 2023

Genevieve tested positive for the flu.

Instead of the dinner that had been on the itinerary for last night, we ended up taking a trip to the A&E because she looked like shit when we stopped back at the hotel. Based on our situation, the doctor advised her to stay in her hotel room for the remainder of the trip and take the medicine she was prescribed—otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to go home when we did. The airport would never let her on a plane in that condition.

I was selfishly content with it all.

It was risky enough to pretend like everything was normal with Finley when there was another student around. Now, it was fucking impossible. I couldn’t keep my professional mask up every second of the day, not when the thought of her coming all over my cock ran through my mind every time I looked at her. It was just so easy to be caught up in her when I knew what it felt like to hear her moaning my name.

Being in another country felt like there were no limits, no matter how false I knew that to be.

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