Page 61 of Sweet Deception

Joseph chuckles. Actually chuckles.

"No offense taken." He turns to leave but stops mid turn. "If that changes and you need me to have a talk with him, just tell me." He waits a beat and then nods before leaving.

Dumbstruck, I just gape at him.

Today is weird.

I continue to stare at his retreating back as he walks down the block to the school's visitor parking lot. Why would he hunt me down at school and not drop the folder off at my apartment? What if I was in class? Did he purposely wait until I waswalking to my car?

Shaking my head, I dismiss it. I'm overanalyzing. Swinging open my car door, I look at where Danny's talking to that guy. I catch him watching me before he ducks his head. Glaring, I turn away and climb into the car before pulling out my phone to text Luca.

I'm out of class but decided to skip the parental visit today. Where would you like me?

While I wait for an answer, I grab the car manual out of the glove box and flip through the pages. There's an option to pair my phone to the car, but I've never done that before. The instructions are pretty simple and as soon as I pair my phone, the car pings with a text notification. Pressing the button on the screen, a voice comes over the speaker, reading his message to me.

Put this address in your navigation system and come to my office. I'll notify the security guard of your visit. Just give your name at the front desk.

I give a thumbs up emoji and blow out a breath. Great, now I have to figure out the navigation system. I shuffle the pages of the manual until I find the instructions.

***

"Thank you, Todd." I smile at the nervous security guard who guided me to Luca's assistant. As intimidated as I was with Luca at first, I can't even imagine what it's like working for him, so I chalk his nervousness up to normal employee/boss intimidation.

I turn my attention to Luca's assistant, who's standing at attention when we arrive at her desk. I'm not going to lie and say I'm not relieved she's an older woman wearing a wedding band. She's giving me a friendly smile that immediately puts me at ease. Not that a young, attractive assistant would be bad. I've just read enough billionaire romance tropes with the sexy assistant sabotaging the heroine's chances at love.

Internally, I giggle at my thoughts. Maybe I read too much.

"Hi, you must be Kylie. I'm Esther, Mr. Morelli's assistant. Would you like anything to drink? Coffee? Tea? Water?"

I shake my head. "Thank you, Esther, but I'm good." I look over and Luca's on the phone. "I see he's busy. Is it alright if I amuse myself here?" Waving my hand to indicate the guest seating area.

She walks over to the office door, shaking her head. "Mr. Morelli asked me to let you in as soon as you got here, even if he was on the phone."

"Alright then. Thank you." I smile at her before entering Luca's office. He's standing at the glass wall, staring out as he speaks into the phone, but turns his head when I walk in. I smile and point to the couch that's off to the side and against the wall, but he crooks his finger at me to come to him instead.

Luca wraps his hand around the back of my neck and pulls me in for a kiss. It's quick, but when he pulls back, he doesn't let me go. His gaze roams over my face while he caresses my cheek with his thumb.

I smile at his sweetness.

The corner of his mouth tips up. Then his attention is snagged by the caller and he drops his hand. When he turns back to face the view, I take that as my cue to move to the couch.

Setting my bag on the table, I take my notes out to study for Wednesday's test while I wait, but I'm having trouble focusing. Danny's excuse for not asking me out earlier still has me angry. It's not that I'm mourning the loss of dating him—Luca cured me of that. Well, and so did Danny's asinine reasoning for waiting. It's just how can he not realize how insulting his excuse is? He literally put me on the back burner because he didn't think I was fun enough and expected me to be available.

"What's got you scowling, Angel?"

Startled, I snap my gaze to Luca. He's done with the call and moves to his desk to set his cell down.

"What was your first impression of me?" I wave my hand, stopping him from answering just yet. "I mean, besides the lust, I know you found me attractive. What else did you think?"

Luca gives a slight head tilt as he studies me. "What brought this on?" He shifts to lean on his desk and crosses his arms. I'm momentarily distracted by his forearms. He's rolled up his sleeves, and the man is just flat out sexy. "Angel?"

Blushing, I whip my eyes back to his to find his lopsided smile. Sighing, I try again. "Did you think I would be fun?"

Luca blinks. "Why are you asking me this?"

I huff and turn my glare out the window.

"This guy at school just told me he put off asking me out for years because he thought I would hinder his fun at college. Can you believe that?"

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