Page 25 of Sunshine

I told him about Mrs. Cullen, finishing by gesturing with my phone. “Her questionnaire didn’t help at all. It’s filled with random likes and dislikes. She’s focused on her charity work. She wanted something unique because she’s worried something too boring will taint her image.”

Logan snorted. “Wouldn’t want that. What about something more suble?”

“Yes, but a theme will pull it all together.” I scrolled through her answers.

Luca took another bite out of brisket. “Hmmm. Rich people are mostly bored. They want novelty.”

“She talks about her favorite memory being going to the zoo and seeing the zebras. She had wanted to see them for so long.” I took another bite out of the peach cobbler. It was perfectly sweet and tart with caramelized brown sugar.

I wanted to marry Logan if only to lock down a lifetime supply of this food. His hot body, and his hot pack members were an added bonus.

“You should do a zoo,” Luca snickered.

I scrolled through Mrs. Cullen’s answers, a vague idea forming. I didn’t have words for it yet, but it was almost there. Like a sneeze.

“She wants to be inspired.” I muttered, picking at my plate. “I should make them all take an art class.”

“Not a terrible idea.” Luca leaned on his elbow, facing me. His body language was open, and I realized I never paid so much attention to my own posture as when he was around.

The image of him grabbing Julian for a searing kiss popped into my head. No. Bad Sunshine. Too many thirsty thoughts would just make me die of unfulfilled desire.

“You should give her the feeling of being a young child, being at the zoo, seeing a zebra for the first time.” Luca gestured with his fork. “Mrs. Cullen is jaded and bored, so are the rest of them. They want comfort and wonder.”

I bit my lip, not really seeing Logan prepping food in front of me. “Like a circus.”

“That would be interesting.” Luca gestured at my phone. “May I?”

I handed him my phone, and watched as he skimmed Mrs. Cullen’s answers. I could almost see him in a courtroom, destroying a client with his careful research. “She talks a lot about her vision for her company. A circus or something equally novel would capture her interest.”

I thought of the illusion act Luna loved, Dante Trent. She’d gone to Vegas two months ago, and saw his performance, even though she hated large crowds.

The idea continued to stay just out of reach.

“Not quite a circus.” I dug for the perfect bite, with peach, crust, and brown sugar in equal proportions. “It’s too showy.”

“It would take the focus off Mrs. Cullen.” Luca nodded. “She wants people to spend the night telling her what a success her event is.”

“Exactly.” I snapped my fingers. “Something magical.”

I kept picturing a large ballroom. When we’d talked about the circus, I’d envisioned acrobats twirling in massive circles suspended from the ceiling. I’d wanted to go to that sort of acrobatic circus so badly as a child that the image had lived in my head for months.

“What did you want to do when you were a kid?” I looked at Luca. “Like going to the zoo.”

“Me?” His hair was tousled, and he had his own plate of peach cobbler. “I wanted to travel all over the world and try different foods. My mother didn’t know how to cook very well, and my father was picky.”

I grinned at Logan. “Shocking that you would end up in a pack with a chef.”

“Truly.” Luca winked at Logan, a moment shared between the two of them. My heart twinged, and not just because I wanted them. They both wanted each other as a person, they both saw the other as who they really were. Instead of trying to change each other, they embraced their partner.

“What was yours?” Luca brushed his hand down my shoulder. Heat followed his touch, and my brain stopped working for a moment.

“What?” I blinked.

“What did you long to do as a child?” Luca smiled at me like he knew my mind was in the gutter.

“Cirque du Soleil. I wanted to be one of those ribbon dancers until I figured out I have no coordination.”

Luca laughed. “How unfortunate.”

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