Page 36 of Banter & Blushes

“Ready for your tour?” he asked, and there it was again. The smile. The grin that said,I’m a little too charming for my own good, and I swear I almost melted on the spot.

“You sure you’re not going to make me eat something weird again?” I asked, trying to sound sarcastic, but I think it came out as more of a flirty challenge.

“Oh, I’m definitely going to make you try some weird things,” he said with a wink, and I could feel my heart rate pick up just from that one little motion.No. Don’t do this. Don’t let him get to you.

I forced myself to shrug nonchalantly. “Well, as long as it doesn’t involve tacos or lasagna in anyquestionablecombination, I think I’ll survive.”

“Deal,” he said, barking out a raw laugh. “But no promises. I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve.”

And just like that, I was back at square one.Rebecca, stop it. Stop letting him do this to you.But I couldn’t. Every time I feebly attempted to push the thought of Luca away, he just gave me one of those looks or said something completely ridiculous, and it was like I was powerless. I wassoscrewed.

I mentally kicked myself.Just focus on the food tour. Just focus on food. Food is safe. Luca? Not so much.

But as I watched him genuinely happy to be spending time together, my brain did its best to ignore the thundering hope in my chest.No. I’m not going to let this happen. I can’t let it happen. I’ve learned my lesson.

But deep down, I knew—there was no turning back now.

THE "THIS CAN'T CONTINUE" TALK THAT DEFINITELY SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED

REBECCA

Iwas standing in front of the full-length mirror again, running my hands through my hair for the umpteenth time, trying to figure out what the heck I was doing. I could practically hear some of my colleagues back home,loud and clear—“Rebecca, you’re being ridiculous. He’s too young. He’s too... Luca. You’ve got a job. You’ve got goals. Don’t mess this up.”

And you know what? They’re probably right.

But there was something about Luca that I couldn’t seem to shake. Every time I told myself I was being sensible, that I had a career to focus on, that I waswaytoo old for him, my brain would short-circuit, and I’d think about how he looked at me when he thought I wasn’t looking. Or how he made food look like art, and how every time he talked about it, his eyes would light up like he was talking about something more important than life itself. And the way he would lean into me whenever I spoke…

Ugh. This wassonot supposed to happen. And yet, here I was, standing in front of the mirror, psyching myself up to go havethe conversationwith him.

The conversation that Iknewneeded to happen.

The conversation where I would look him in the eye and say, “Hey, Luca, we can’t keep doing this. I’m too old for you, you’re too young for me, and I havewaytoo many things going on to be distracted by whatever this is.”

Because that was the smart thing to do, right? That waspractical. It was responsible. It wasme taking control of the situationand making sure I didn’t fallfor some guy who would eventually break my heart when he realized he was still figuring out who he was.

But...God, he made me hope for things I hadn’t allowed myself to for so long.

I picked up my phone and called Maya, needing some moral support—or maybe just some backup for when I needed to explain why I was about to do the thing IknewI shouldn’t. Though we were vacationing together, she had a different room within the same hotel.

“Becky,” she answered, her voice sounding like she just woke up from a nap. “What time is it?”

“I’m going to do it,” I said, pacing around my room like a caged animal. “I’m going to talk to Luca.”

“About what?” I could hear the rustling of her sheets as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“Aboutthis! About... us! I need to be clear with him. I can’t keep doing this. It’s... it’s too much.” My voice was sounding panicked and that only amped up my nervousness.

Lisa sighed, clearly uninterested in listening to any of my dramatic internal monologue. “So, you’re really going toruinit, huh?”

“I’m not ruining anything! I’m beingresponsible! We’ve gone on one food tour, Lisa. One. And I spent half the time making sure I didn’t blush every time he looked at me.”

“Rebecca, this is ahorrible idea.”

I groaned and sat down on the edge of the bed with my head hung in my hands.

“I know, but it’s also therightidea,” I said, trying to convince myself more than her. “I’m way older than him. He’s probably just in it for the novelty, anyway. And besides, I’msonot ready for anything serious.”

“Then why are you letting him cook youlasagna tacos?”

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