Page 6 of The Christmas Con

I’m rapid-firing questions, and he takes them in stride. I think. Luca is impossible to read with his broody facial expressions and distracting muscle tone. “What about my post made you select me?”

“There’s a lot of garbage on that site. Don’t know if you noticed or not.”

I take a long swallow from my champagne flute. “I was your only option. It’s starting to make more sense.”

“You want to feel special? Like I picked you from thousands? Is that it?” Luca wears this mysteriously sexy look. I’m almost as frightened of it as I am turned-on by it.

“I’d settle for what caught your eye about me.” I put my hands, palms up by my shoulders. “There has to be something that tilted the scales in my favor.”

“Your paragraph was really… engaging.” He tries to hide a smile.

I let my hands drop. “You’re serious?”

He sighs and has a drink of water. He doesn’t drink alcohol, nor does he put anything that isn’t natural into his body he tells me. We’re sitting at a table on his private beach waiting for his waitstaff to bring dinner. I’ve pounded half the bottle of champagne by myself and I’m Hoovering bread that I’m told is hard to get on an island. Carbs are always there for me in distressing times. Crescent rolls at Christmas dinner, and baguettes with a porn star prince. It’s all the same. “What about my paragraph? Specifically?”

Luca runs his thumb across his lower lip. “You had an innocent look in the photos you posted. You don’t remind me of work.”

I widen my eyes. “I’m not that innocent.” For all intents and purposes in his world, I am though.

He laughs, looking away. “Oh, baby. You’re innocent.” His gaze sears into mine. “That’s a good thing. It’s my vacation.”

“If it’s your vacation, what is in this for me?”

A man dressed in a fresh suit sets our plates in front of us, and Luca remains quiet. After the waiter leaves he says, “A good time. You’ve never been to Bora Bora.”

I take a bite of risotto and swallow. The candle in the center of the circular tables flickers against a light breeze, but doesn’t go out. I clear my throat and watch him chew, his eyes on me. “I don’t know if I can take you home to meet my family.”

His thick, sexy neck works as he swallows. “You don’t want me to meet your family, Elizabeth.” Luca’s phone, which is always near, vibrates. He looks at it and smiles.

“Maybe it’s less of a want, and more of a need,” I explain, ignoring his reaction to whatever he’s looking at.

He slides the phone into the inside jacket pocket. “Tell me why you don’t have a boyfriend.” The last word rolls off his tongue softly.

This is where I should fluff the resume and give him a lie about being too wrapped up in my career. “All the good guys my age are married with kids. The rest are divorced with baggage. After that, it’s the derelict, cheating assholes who aren’t worth my time. I waited too long, I guess.” I pause and eat a few bites. He’s listening intently, waiting for me to go on. “My friends are married or are in long-term relationships that will end in marriage. I’ve given my heart too many times to have it trampled on. A few years ago, I stopped giving it away.” I shrug. Like that should be a good end to the explanation. Why he cares is beyond me.

“I’ve never given my heart away. Not even once. It’s why I’m successful.” Luca clears his throat. “I have some good news. You’re clean.”

I roll my eyes as he pours the rest of the champagne into the flute. “I could have told you that.”

“Of course I am as well.” He reaches across the table to hold my forearm and stops the bubbly from passing my lips. “How do you feel? Buzzed and happy is where you should be, not drunk and sloppy.”

Narrowing my eyes at his fingers on my skin, I say, “That’s a bold requirement. Asking a virtual stranger to stay sober before you woo me with your porn star ways. I need another bottle. Can you make that happen with a hand gesture? Do these people do whatever you say?” He lets go of me and I bring my glass to the table and release it.

“If they want a paycheck, they do,” he quips. “Most of them enjoy living in paradise for a couple of months. Are you finished with your questions? Did Rossi sate your curiosity about my life?”

“For the most part, I guess. Why don’t you want to know anything more about me?” I know why. Because this is a fleeting, forgettable fling.

“I know all I need to know. You’re clean. I’ve seen your naked body. It’s perfect, by the way, and I know you’re here only for me. The only ulterior motive you have is to have someone to bring home to some small-town Christmas.”

“My body is not perfect, but thanks, I guess.” A lump lodges in my throat. “How do you know I’m from a small town. I only told you New York.”

He grins. “Research, Elizabeth. It may seem my circle is large by what you see on the internet and who my family is, but in reality, my world is fairly small. I don’t share my life with people. A little research goes a long way. Don’t be offended. Be flattered.”

There are a million things I’d like to say, but I favor eating over any sort of argument those things might bring up. This is the kind of thing that happens in movies. Everyone gapes at the woman’s stupid decisions, but they don’t know, can’t know, what it actually feels like to live inside a fantasy like this. I want to give in, and believe that this will have the end I initially planned. A date for Christmas. The sex with a prince will be a side bonus. As I look around his palace by the sea I feel nauseous, not sick, just anxious to get to the next part of the story.

“I need to text my friend Shay so she knows I’m alive,” I say after an awkward amount of time has passed. “Do you mind if I take a photo of you against that background?” I take my cell phone out and aim it at him.

Luca leans over, taking my glass of champagne. He extends it in front of him like he’s clinking my glass, effectively covering half his face. I snap the photo and have to admit he’s good. After I fire off the photo he hands me my glass. “The bots won’t recognize my face if I cover half. I got into the habit when tagging in social media took off. I can keep a little privacy if I don’t post as the real me.”

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