Page 9 of Amore
I smiled and linked my arm with Nick’s again, waiting for him to ask me who Luke was as we walked up the stairs.
“How do you know Luke?”
“We went to high school together.” I didn’t elaborate. There was no reason to. Plus, I wasn’t sure if Luke would actually call me because, afterthatnight, I had left without a goodbye.
“All right. Well, are you ready for a night you’ll never forget?” Nick stopped at the top of the stairs, pausing in front of the closed front entrance of the mansion. I didn’t know why they were closed because I expected to walk right in. Though, I didn’t exactly know what I was walking into besides a sex club.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
* * *
Walkingout of a sex club after experiencing the most erotic party I’d ever been to wouldn’t have mattered much if I hadn’t been walking past someone I’d known since I was fourteen. I had hoped he would be too busy with everyone leaving around the same time, but as I walked outside with Nick, Luke was opening doors to the cars that pulled up to take the members away.
Including ours.
“Did you have fun?” Nick asked, grabbing my hand.
I tore my gaze from Luke. “It was interesting, that’s for sure.”
“Maybe next time you’ll participate?”
I blushed, thinking about what I’d seen inside the mansion and what I saw Nick doing with others. Before I could say anything more, his driver pulled up. We walked down the stairs, my eyes going to Luke again. This time, he turned and met my stare. Our gazes stayed locked as I got closer. Was he going to call me? He’d said he would, but was he only being polite?
“Funny thing, I was just thinking about you.”
It excited me to know he had been thinking about me after all these years, even after I left without saying goodbye. We’d spent four years hanging out when we lived next to each other, and since we were neighbors, I’d become best friends with him and his sister. We had spent countless days and nights swimming, riding our bikes, and watching movies—stuff that teenagers did.
Untilthat nightwhen everything changed.
“Have a good night, Mr. Jennings. Ms. Borelli.” Luke nodded once as he acknowledged me. Was he thinking about me inside the mansion?
My face turned hot again as I said, “Have a good night, Luke.”
As the limousine pulled away, I hoped Luke would call.
* * *
It was wellafter three in the morning when Nick’s limo dropped me off at home. He walked me to the door, kissed me goodnight, and went on his way. We had yet to spend a night together, and sincehe’dalready had plenty of sex at Sensation, we went our separate ways.
Opening my door, I was greeted with a jump and a lick on my face. “Hey, handsome. Did you have a good night?”
“Woof,” Amore, my golden retriever, replied.
I shut and locked the door behind me and then turned off the house alarm. “That’s good. Do you want to go outside?”
He barked again and followed me to the back door. It led to a backyard with a pool, a hot tub, and an outdoor kitchen—a kitchen I’d never used myself. Going out to dinner was more my speed. Since I wasn’t much of a cook, I had a private chef make my meals a few times a week. There was one dish I could cook, and that was only because when we were younger, Luke had taught me how to boil pasta and heat up spaghetti sauce. It was my go-to if I was in dire need of food. I hadn’t made it in a while since I had an assistant to get me whatever I needed.
While Amore did his business outside, I showered and got into my pajamas. I was exhausted and needed sleep, even though nothing was scheduled for a few days. That was a perk of being in between projects. Once I was on location for my next movie, the days would be brutal until filming was done.
It was also why I wasn’t serious about my relationship with Nick. We were dating, but we both knew our schedules wouldn’t mesh well. While I would be in British Columbia on location, he would be in New York filming a pilot for a TV series. I was enjoying him while I could because Nick Jennings was currently one of the hottest actors—literally. He had so many admirers and past relationships, and when he made his move, I went for it. I knew going in that it wasn’t going to be serious, but it didn’t hurt my career to be on his arm.
After getting Amore in the house, I locked up and crawled into bed. Grabbing my phone, I opened up social media to see what Luke Davenport had been up to since high school. Except, out of the many Lucas and/or Luke Davenports that were listed, Luke wasn’t one of them. Who didn’t have social media? I searched for him on all platforms but nada. Maybe he used a fake name like me, but why? I did it because I was in the limelight. My verified accounts were run by my assistant and PR people, but secretly, I had my own incognito account, so I didn’t have to worry about people DMing me or stalking me.
After putting my phone on the nightstand, I kissed Amore on the head, rubbed his belly, and drifted off to sleep with him at my feet.
* * *
A cold,wet nose nudged my cheek, waking me, and I whined, “Amore. We just fell asleep.”
