Page 71 of Tinsel in Telluride

The guy at the table nearest us gives a slow clap as Luca wraps his hand around my bicep and hurls me from the chair. I struggle to keep up as he leads me out of the restaurant, but not before I look over my shoulder and wink at our still gaping server.

That’ll teach her to mess with another woman’s man.

Not that Luca’s really mine, but seriously, what kind of girl’s girl hits on a guy, who is out with another woman, right in front of her?

By the time we’re out the door, I’m giggling like a schoolgirl. “Did you see her face?”

I glance up, only to find Luca isn’t laughing.

He’s not even smiling.

His hand loosens and brushes down my arm until he’s wrapping his arm around my waist.

I gasp as he tugs me against him. Each point where we are connected feels magnetic—like lighting in a bottle fighting to get free. Goosebumps rise on my flesh and heat coils in my lower belly.It’s simultaneously too much and everything I need at the same time.

“Luca…” My words are a plea for as I try to tug free of his grasp. Though I’m not sure exactly what I’m begging.

That only spurs him to tighten his grip, and splaying his fingers across my back, he presses his hips to mine.

Fuck, he’s hard. Right here in the middle of the street, he’s showing me just how turned on he is.

“Do you have any idea how incredibly fucking sexy that was?”

“What?” I breathe, double-checking to make sure I heard him correctly.

“I have never had a woman stake her claim like you just did.”

“Never?”

“Not once.”

I want to ask how that’s possible. I want to believe him, but there’s no way women haven’t clawed their way to keep him in their beds.

“Women want me for what I can give them. They want press releases and fancy presents.” His voice waivers under ragged breaths. “They don’t stake their claim because they give a shit.”

I call bullshit.

“And you think I do?” It’s sarcasm at its finest, and we both know it.

Luca leans in until his lips are a hair's breadth from mine. “I know you do. You don’t do anything by halves, but also, you’re dressed in me. For you, that’s practically yelling you want this.”

My chest heaves against him. He’s right. It wasn’t enough for waitress Whitney to get the hint. I needed her to know he wasn’t available.Just like I knew exactly what I was doing when I chose this jacket.

But I don’t want this because of who he is outside of Telluride. Or because I know exactly how good his dick feels inside me.

I want this because he’s gone above and beyond to show me he’s changed. He’s one of the good ones.

People pass on either side of us, giving a wide berth to the couple having a moment in the middle of the sidewalk, but we’re living in the silence that hangs between us.I close my eyes, afraid that if I meet his gaze, I won’t be able to stop myself from crossing the weakening line between us.

But he needs to know.

“You deserve someone to fight for you.”

Luca tenses, and I immediately know, despite my good intentions, I've said the wrong thing.

Slamming my eyes open, I watch as Luca tears his gaze from mine and retreats into himself.

He steps back, and I instantly miss the feel of him against me. “We should get you fed.”

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