Page 23 of Amore
Emily:OMG! Who’s the hottie?
I clicked on the link she sent to the online tabloid.
IS FRANKIE BORELLI MOVING ON FROM CO-STAR NICK JENNINGS WITH A MYSTERY MAN?
I didn’t bother reading the article. Instead, my eyes went straight to the picture of Luke and me at the coffee shop. He was holding my hand, and we were smiling at each other. I remembered the moment. He had told me he’d been in love with me when we were kids after I’d confessed the same, and I had told him my lame excuse for my actions afterthat night. It was also right before I’d received the notification on my phone that my house had been broken into.
Turning toward where Luke was sitting on my couch, I said, “So, we have another situation.”
He looked up from his phone. “What’s that?”
I handed my phone to him, letting him read it for himself.
He blew out a breath. “Well, shit.”
“I’m sorry. I thought I’d sneaked in, but paparazzi always seem to find me.”
He nodded slowly. “It’s fine.”
“Is it?”
“Am I going to have issues with Nick Jennings?”
“Oh …” Right, my boyfriend. It wasn’t as though I’d forgotten I was dating Nick, but everything was making my head spin. “Well, nothing is going on between you and me, so no?”
“Should you call him to spend the night with you instead?”
I shrugged, not knowing where Nick was or what he was doing. I hadn’t heard from him the entire day, which wasn’t uncommon. I sat in the armchair next to the couch. “He’s actually never stayed the night.”
“Really?” Luke arched a brow. “How long have you been dating him?”
“Only a few weeks. We finished filming a movie together and started seeing each other.”
“I don’t want to get in the way of that.”
“It’s fine,” I urged. Even if Nick got mad and didn’t understand why I had met Luke for coffee or why he was at my house spending the night, I didn’t care. I wasn’t in love with him.
“All right. Well, I better text my girlfriend before shit hits the fan on my end.”
My heart stopped at his mention of a girlfriend. I’d had no idea Luke was seeing someone. Granted, it hadn’t been brought up, and my cyber-stalking had found nothing on Lucas Davenport, so how was I supposed to know? But I had to admit hearing he was taken cracked my fragile heart. It was stupid because we hadn’t seen each other in nine years, but I was jealous and bitter because I felt things could have been different for Luke and me. Then again, if we had somehow dated back then, only seeing each other on holidays, would we have even worked out in the end? Wasn’t love all about timing?
My mind was racing with thoughts of being with Luke. Did I want to be with him? I’d still felt a pull toward him when I had seen him at Sensation, and I still felt nervous when I was around him.
Didn’t matter.
He had a girlfriend.
“How … How long have you two been together?” I asked.
“About six months.” I watched him send his text, and then he said, “Lucy knows I was meeting you for coffee, but I should probably text her since we’re holding hands in the photo,” Luke went on.
“Lucy knew you were meeting me?” I inquired.
“Yeah. She called before I left to go to the coffee shop.”
“What did she say?”
“Actually”—he snorted—“she said nothing.”
