Page 29 of Sparring Partners
“He was a bit put out?—”
“You don’t say.”
Luca glared at Alex. “But he said he’d accept my decision. For god’s sake, stop looking at me like that.”
“I’m looking at you likethat, whatever likethatis, because you want to have your cake and eat it. Jonathan’s keen, anybody can see that, so of course he wants more. But if you don’t, you should be honest and stop seeing him, rather than leaving him hanging. It’s called leading him on, Luca.”
“I’m not leading him on.” Was he? “We go out for dinner from time to time, or the cinema or theatre, but that’s all. Okay, I know he’d like to spend more time with me. But what’s wrong with just enjoying his company? With being friends? Why can’t two people spend time with each other and just enjoy that?”
“Because it’s not how it works, and you know it. Especially when one half, i.e. Jonathan, is so clearly interested. More than interested. Come on Lu, it’s just plain cruel to keep him dangling on a string. And cruel is something you’re not, and never have been. I know you well enough to say that with complete conviction.”
First Adrian, now Alex, telling him the same thing. Jonathan, who was good company, who was nice, who was pleasant, who… left him feeling cold. There was no spark, no desire, no desperate need. No hunger. Unlike a man with a knowing smirk, brimming with cocky arrogance, and dark green brooding eyes that seemed to see into the very heart of him. A man who’d kissed him with a passion that had taken him apart and rearranged all the pieces, leaving him breathless, confused and craving so much more.
“Earth to Luca.”
“What?” Luca jerked, and blinked. Alex was studying him, his clear eyes intelligent and sharp.
“Ry said something else, about Adrian also being in the pub. He said the atmosphere around the two of you was so thick he could have cut it with a knife. Does your lack of interest in taking advantage of Jonathan’s benefits happen to have anything to do with said grumpy, but also very hot farmer?”
Luca paused a beat too long. Alex grinned; he’d been handed the answer on a plate.
“Do I sense a love triangle? The good people of Love’s Harbour would be shocked. Or maybe not.”
“No, you don’t. There’s nothing going on between me and Adrian Hardy.”
“Hmm, there seems to be an awful lot ofnothing going ongoing on.”
Luca poured more coffee, swearing under his breath when he sloshed some over the side.
“Lu? Are youreallyso sure about that?” Alex asked, his voice softer.
Luca shook his head. For all that he trusted Alex, more than he trusted anybody, he couldn’t talk about what had happened with Adrian. It felt too raw, too breathtakingly dizzying.
And it absolutely wasn’t going to be happening again.
“Adrian and I have a business arrangement. He’s a supplier. There are lines that shouldn’t be crossed. It’d be unethical.”
“A supplier, yes. Of salad veg and herbs. One of a number of local farmers we contract with. And I’d trust you implicitly not to allow personal matters to interfere with your professional judgment.”
“As I said, there’s nothing between us. And that’s the way it’s going to stay.”
The weight of Alex’s answering silence pressed against Luca.
“If you say so,” he said at last. “But he’s not a man you’d be in a hurry to kick out of bed. Just don’t tell Ry I said that, because you know what he can be like.”
Their gazes caught, and they smiled. Ryan, good natured and friendly, the driving force behind the pub’s success — and who had a possessive streak a mile wide when it came to Alex.
Luca’s early relationship with the young publican had been strained, his and Alex’s very dim and distant past had been a hurdle that had been difficult to clear — until Alex had said, or done, something to allay any fears. Luca hadn’t asked and Alex hadn’t divulged how he’d set Ryan’s mind at rest.
“No, he’s not,” Luca conceded. “But, he’s also arrogant, cocky, domineering?—”
“Another way of putting it is sure of himself, confident, and masterful.”
“You make him sound like the hero of a Regency romance. I can assure you, he’s not.”
Alex shrugged. “I wouldn’t know, I don’t read them.” Wrapping his arm around Luca’s shoulders, he pulled him in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before gently pushing him away. Luca smiled, reassured as he always was by the strength of Alex’s friendship.
“Look, if you say nothing’s happened, then I believe you. But then I supposenothingis open to interpretation.” Alex hesitated, his brows drawing together. “Don’t jump down my neck with what I’m about to say, but you’ve been kind of shut down, or closed off, since you and Bruno split up. I’d hoped Jonathan might have been the one to give you the lift you need, but if he’s not, he’s not.” Alex shrugged. “You’re not satisfied with life, and believe me, I know what that’s like.” His lips twisted in a rueful half smile, but it faded fast. “The problem is, before you realise, it becomes your default mode.”
