Page 27 of Between the Lines

“Yes it is.” Laughter drained from his father’s voice, leaving it gruff and dry. “I don’t care who you shag, but don’t let this bloke manipulate you. You know what you’re like, Theodore. Screw him if you want to, but you’re there to close the sale and you can’t bloody forget it for a minute.”

After the call ended, he sat on the edge of the bed and stared out at the ocean. Was his father right? Was he somehow using Luca? Or was Luca trying to use him? But no, they both knew the score. They’d agreed on the rules. There were no lies, no hidden expectations between them. They had nine days.

The sun was higher now, golden instead of fireball red, and the water glittered beneath it like diamonds. Theo pushed open the windows and stepped out onto the balcony, drawing in a deep breath and letting it sink into his bones. Screw his father and his cynicism. For once in his life, Theo knew what he was doing when it came to another guy and he’d be damned if he’d let his old man make him think otherwise.

He had nine days with Luca and he was bloody well going to enjoy them.

* * *

They’d arranged to meet after Luca had finished helping with the breakfasts, and Theo was buzzing with anticipation by the time Luca strolled around from the back of the hotel to meet him on the porch. He tried not to grin like an idiot, but it was hard when Luca flashed his sparkling smile and ran up the porch steps two at a time. Christ, he was gorgeous this morning, all tousled hair and long, lean limbs. Infinitely touchable.

“Morning!” Luca’s eyes crinkled at the edges, as if they were smiling along with his lips, his gaze wandering over Theo’s body in a way that made his face heat. “Sleep well?”

He hadn’t, far too buzzed by memories of their incredible kiss. Not that he cared. “I had a lot on my mind.”

“Yeah, me, too.” Luca’s smile turned roguish and Theo’s whole body sung, vibrating like a struck bell. “C’mon, your carriage awaits.” He waved toward a beat-up VW camper only lacking a surfboard on top to look like the model for a million seaside souvenirs.

Theo laughed. “Is that for real?”

“The original and the best.” He held out his keys, head tilted in question. “Wanna drive?”

“I don’t, actually. Drive, I mean.” One terrifying lesson had convinced him he never wanted to learn.

Luca didn’t seem bothered. “Then get in,” he said. “I’m taking you to my favorite place in the world.”

His favorite place in the world turned out to be a half hour drive outside New Milton, a twenty-minute walk across a field from the dirt track where Luca had parked, and a scramble under a wire fence sporting a big red sign reading: “Private Keep Out!”

Theo balked. “We can’t go in there.”

“Sure we can, I’ve done it a million times.” He held up the wire for Theo to duck under. “C’mon.”

He didn’t move. “Who does it belong to?”

“Bluewater Farm, couple miles up the road. It’s fine. The sign’s only there to keep tourists out.”

Theo lifted an eyebrow. “We’retourists.”

“No, we’re not.” Luca shifted the backpack he was carrying over one shoulder, frowning as if he didn’t like the idea. It was an interesting denial. Luca, who only visited in the summer, didn’t think of himself as a tourist. “C’mon, Theo.” He was still holding up the wire. “Trust me, will you?”

And Theo did, for nine days at least. He stooped to duck under the wire, feeling Luca’s warm hand on his back nudging him a little lower—and even that brief contact made him flush with anticipation. “If I get arrested...”

“You won’t get arrested. No one comes here. Ever.” Luca flashed him a smiling look. “That’s the whole point.”

His heart skipped, the heat in Luca’s eyes obvious even to him. “I see.”

“Not far now,” Luca said, and led him down a gentle grassy slope toward a stand of trees.

They didn’t hold hands or anything, although Theo would have liked to. But hookups didn’t involve real affection—as Grant had taught him—so he kept his hands to himself and studied Luca instead, trying to puzzle him out. “What are you, then, if you’re not a tourist? A local?”

“Not anymore.”

“Then what?”

Luca frowned. “Does it matter?”

“Just trying to understand you.” That was honest, at least. “You act like the Majestic’s your home but—”

“I don’t. It isn’t.”

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