Page 22 of Tempting Me

This is good. It’s good. The Marina will be in good hands because Luca is good at his job.

This is going to work.

When I open my eyes, my gaze drifts to where Lovers Lodge sits about two miles down the lake. It’s so big that I can see the lights that showcase the structure's character.

Tell Grace nice things about Luca. That’s it.

That seems easy enough, right?

But what if I say nice things and she really does deem him her type and then he asks her out and she falls for him and I have to watch my best friend and the only boy I’ve ever loved be happily in love?

Ugh. I hate how that doesn't sit well with me.

And it’s not that I still like Luca. I can’t like Luca. It would be pointless.

Which is exactly why I don’t.

Like him.

Nope.

Not me.

CHAPTER SIX

LUCA

I didn’t sleep very well last night for obvious reasons. Then I started drinking coffee way too soon in my day, pouring a new cup at almost every work location I popped into, because no matter who the job is for, the client always offers me and my guys coffee or food.

We always take it, too.

Maybe the extra caffeine and carbs will be good for me.

I don’t even want to start wrapping my mind around the things Shay wants me to do at The Marina. The day is only partially over and I can tell it’s going to be a long night.

I wish she would have given me a hint last night. Maybe even an update of where the last guy left off. Is it just the main room, the cabins, what? How quickly does she want this done? What’s her plan?

I should have asked so many more questions, but I was honestly still a little shocked that she was finally seeking me out.

It might have short-circuited my brain a touch.

Part of me is excited to see how she plans to update the place. To see what she didn’t want me to see for the last year. I’m even more excited that I finally get to be a part of it.

That place holds as much history for me as it does for her.

I park my truck in front of Hudson’s Bar and lock it before I go inside to get a late lunch. Half the week, I go home for lunch and the other half, I come here. Work and life schedules don't really give my brothers and me much time to spend together, so this is how I like to make it work.

Sure, we meet on Sundays for breakfast with our dad, but this is different.

Today should have been one of the days I went home. I should have made food real quick and then attempted a nap.

Ha.

A nap.

Like most grown adults, I can’t remember the last time I took one of those that wasn’t because I was hungover.

I have no idea how late I'm going to be working at The Marina, but if I can't show up until the sun starts to set, then I would imagine it’ll be midnight before I get home.

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