Page 32 of A Man's World

“No way I can wear this.”

“What better way to secure a Maison de Klotho sponsorship than you making headlines with that sexy black dress designed by them?” I grumbled in response, but before I could give her a piece of my mind, the line went dead, and I knew that was the end of the conversation. The dress was a statement piece and was sure to turn heads – and photographers’ cameras.

After completing my hair and makeup, I went back into my room and changed into the dress. Lizzie was right – I did look stunning, which was confirmed as soon as I walked into the living room. As I walked into the room, I heard a loud whistle from Luca, who was seated on the couch. His eyes looked tired –and slightly red– but his features were relaxed, and he had a smirk on his lips.

“What did I do to deserve this honor?” Part of me wanted to punch the cheeky smile off his face. I could see his eyes rake over me, going slowly from the top of my frame to the bottom, paying careful attention to my leg that stuck out of the dress’ slit.

“Don’t kid yourself, Luca, this is for a woman called Klotho. You might have heard of her, you know, the goddess of fashion.” Luca raised his eyebrow a bit, not entirely sure if I was telling the truth – his face told me a part of him thought I hadpossiblyworn this for him, which irked me to no end.

“Ready to go?” I asked, grabbing my purse.

“Almost, I have a small gift for you first.” Luca pulled out a small box from his bag, and my interest was definitely piqued. He set the box down on the coffee table and motioned for me to take it.

I cautiously took the box in my hands, opening it slowly as if it were a bomb about to explode. There, inside the Aphrodite’s Jewelry box, was a small necklace with a lightning bolt insignia dangling from a silver chain. As I stared at the necklace, I could feel the internal battle start to range inside of me. Aphrodite’s Jewelry was one of the most famous jewelry stores in the world, with some of the most beautiful designs I had ever seen.

To my surprise, the necklace was very tasteful, as tasteful as you could have with a lightning bolt hanging from it, but the idea of wearing my competitor’s symbol around my neck definitely annoyed me.I looked up at Luca, letting my eyes meet his beautiful brown ones.

“Really? A lightning bolt?” Luca ignored the sarcasm dripping from my voice as he continued to smile at me.

“Designed it myself, Tesoro. Don’t want the other drivers getting any ideas when they see you in this black dress. I’ve seen how Éliott looks at you.” Luca’s voice was cocky, but I could hear a hint of jealousy in it when he mentioned Éliott.

“Well, be quick and put it on then,” I mumbled, conceding to Luca's silent request to have me wear this ridiculous necklace.His day had been tough, and the least I could do was throw him a bone.Luca took the necklace from my hands, motioning for me to turn around. As Luca's hands slid over my bare shoulders, adjusting the necklace into place, I could feel goosebumps form on my arms and chest. I silently prayed that Luca hadn’t noticed how much his touch had affected me, but I knew he had noticed because his hands went even slower, buckling the necklace with such a gentle touch.

“Bellissima,” he whispered in my ear as he pulled away from my back. A blush immediately crept onto my face, one that I knew I couldn’t hide.

Luca grabbed my bag and handed it to me, and as we exited our room, he placed his hand on the small of my back as he guided us toward the elevator.Luca and I stepped inside once the elevator door opened, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was empty. The elevator started to descend, but unfortunately for me, it stopped just a few floors down, opening up to reveal none other than Éliott Simon.

“Wow, Georgie, you look incredible,” Éliott gasped, giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek as he entered the elevator. He nodded in Luca's direction, and the two shook hands, a begrudging look on Luca's face as he pulled me slightly closer to him. His fingers started to trace circles on my waist, ever so casually, as he side-eyed Éliott, like he was trying to provoke an angry bear that didn’t need disturbing.

Éliott, to his credit, just continued to ignore Luca, chatting away as the elevator continued its descent, although I could see a twinkle in Éliott’s eye, some silent laughter dancing in his blue eyes, as if he was continuing to blab at me just to annoy Luca even further.

As soon as the elevator opened to the lobby floor, Luca grabbed my hand and dragged me away from the elevator – or, more likely, Éliott. As promised, Isabelle and Francesco were waiting outside in the car. As soon as Isabelle saw us, she waved, her eyes dropping to the necklace around my neck. She raised her left eyebrow, silently asking me a question that I didn’t particularly have an answer for myself. I just shrugged and hopped into the car, taking the open seat next to Luca. Henri and Lily were already inside the car, chatting away about the silly video the Wilmington F1 Team had released early today of Oliver and Edward.Both of their eyes also flicked to my chest, the necklace getting Henri's attention. I gave them both a dead stare, daring him or Lily to comment on it.

We arrived at the Divers Association dinner and took our seats at one of the front tables. Luca's parents were at the table next to ours, and his mother gave me a huge hug as we passed.

“Oh, Georgia, that necklace is so beautiful. Luca did a great job designing that,” she purred. I put on my biggest smile and nodded, thanking her for the compliment.

As Luca and I took our seats at the table, I looked down at Luca's hand, noticing the small tremors rippling through his fingers. Every so often, he would rub his hands against his napkin, and I could tell that he was wiping away the sweat from his hands.

I reached out and took his hand in mine, smiling at him as I leaned over and whispered, “Your speech is going to be great, Luca.”

Luca nodded at me, but he released my hand from his grip, instead wiping his sweaty hands on his pants. It was odd seeing Luca like this. A very different demeanor from Luca's usual happy-go-lucky, cocky self, and it almost pained me to see him full of worry and anxiety. While I was starting to dislike Luca a little less since we had started this arrangement, I knew for sure that I didn’t likethisLuca in front of me.

I made an effort to turn back to Henri, attempting to rejoin the earlier conversation we were having with Isabelle, but as I watched the two of them converse, I couldn’t find the mental capacity to care about the new specs the FIA was going to release on next year’s car – my only concern at that moment was Luca.

I gently reached back out to Luca, letting my hand rest on Luca's thigh. As if instinctual, I felt my hand rubbing little circles on his leg, squeezing gently. I let my fingertips gently caress him, and I saw Luca shift slightly in his seat, unsure of what I was doing. Luca turned and looked at me, raising his eyebrow ever so slightly, a silent question on his face. I just smiled at him and turned back to Henri and Isabelle, answering a question that was thrown my way while I kept up my ministrations, continuing to gently caress him under the table.

I could feel Luca start to relax a bit, with his form starting to droop a bit as he started to regain his composure.

I’m not sure why I thought it was my responsibility to help Luca get over his anxiety about the speech. My head knew it was in part because if Luca fucked up the speech, it would be a setback in how the media viewed him, and right now, I couldn’t see this Luca getting a single word out.

But there was something more to that, more than just selfishness of wanting everything to look outwardly perfect. I knew what intense media pressure felt like. I knew the anxiety he was feeling, and not even I could watch Luca experience this.

As I internally battled on what to do, a mortifying idea hit me.

Fuck it, I can’t believe I’m going to do this.

I quickly stood up and excused myself, walking towards the restroom, purse in hand. When I entered the stall, I quickly slid my purple lacy thong off, putting it in my purse.I took a moment to stare at it, wondering what on earth had gotten into me. Luca was going through an incredibly valid, emotional moment, and here I was, sliding my panties off like they were going to be his saving grace.

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