Chapter Thirty-Five
Georgia
Luca sat down on the deck next to me, both our legs now dangling off the side of the boat.
“Here you are! Hiding from my parents, I see?” he teased, nudging his shoulder against mine.
“Hope my family hasn’t driven you crazy these last few days.
” He chuckled, brushing his fingers through his thick black hair.
“Probably not as much as mine is about to.”
It had been almost a week since we boarded the Rossi family yacht, and to his credit, Luca hadn’t brought up the impending tabloid article once.
While I’d been quietly bracing for impact, he’d made it his mission to distract me with jet ski races, incredible meals, and long, sun-soaked days that made me forget we were supposed to be pretending.
A gentle gust of wind swept my hair into my face, but before I could reach for it, Luca leaned over and tucked it behind my ear. His fingers lingered just a second too long on my cheek, his smile lazy and soft and so unguarded it made my chest ache.
I was beginning to feel almost relaxed. Spending time with Luca and his family, enjoying the peacefulness of hiding from the media, had been a much-needed change of pace, but I knew this serene moment was about to be bombarded by my brother, Edward and Lily.
“So, Henri have any reason as to why you invited Edward?” I prodded.
“Don’t be silly, amore,” he said, far too quickly. “Edward is a close friend, and I figured the more the merrier.”
Liar. The truth was that Edward had this uncanny ability to ease the tension in any situation.
He was an excellent buffer between Henri’s competitiveness and Luca’s desperation to reset and relax.
After the intensity of last week, I couldn’t blame Luca for wanting his best friend around—he’d been forced to accept mine.
As if on cue, I heard Henri and Edward’s bickering from behind us as they approached the dock.
“Peaches!” Henri called out. “We were just discussing how today would be a lovely day to race jet skis.”
“Well, hello to you too, Henri,” I grumbled at my brother as Lily and Edward dumped their suitcases on the deck next to Henri’s.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luca roll his eyes, but I kept my laughter to myself.
Not even on the boat for a minute and my brother was already challenging me to a race.
“Henri, have you ever contemplated that not everything in life is a competition?”
Edward and Luca tried to stifle their snickering behind cupped hands, while Luca’s lips curled up into a smile full of pride.
Did I just turn down a race?
“If it has an engine, we race it,” Henri replied with the conviction of someone quoting scripture. “Unless, of course, you’re scared I’m going to beat you.”
Fucking Henri. He always knows how to get a rise out of me. I had every intention of actually relaxing this weekend, but after watching my brother’s smug face taunt me, that option started to feel less and less appealing.
“Happy to show that I’m the better Dubois both on the track and on the water.”
“Well, fortunately, the jet skis are fueled and ready to go,” Luca’s father announced. “There’s only two of them, so you’ll need to pair up.”
“Right, Lily, you ready to take these guys on?” Henri nodded towards Luca and me.
Lily didn’t even hesitate. “Let’s show these losers who the real racers are!
” She enthusiastically grabbed my brother’s hand as she sat behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. Lily and Henri had gotten closer over the last few months, but watching the two of them on the jet ski, giggling away as my teammate whispered something into my brother’s ears, it was hard not to wonder if something more was developing between them.
Before I could think too hard about that, a pair of strong arms lifted me clean off the dock.
“Excuse me? Who said you get to drive?” Shifting to the front of the seat, I patted the spot behind me. “Maybe we should let the Formula 1 leader take this one.”
Sitting down, Luca wrapped his hands around my waist, whispering, “Fine by me, amore. Any chance I get to be close to you is a win for me.”
Luca closed the gap between our bodies as his grip tightened, pulling me flush against his chest. At the feeling of Luca’s firm abs and hardening cock, my mind flashed back to the night of my Monaco Grand Prix win where Luca’s hands were somewhere else entirely.
His fingers started rubbing soft circles on my hips and under the life jacket, and I leaned into his hold, enjoying the feeling of Luca’s lips ghosting my neck.
“You guys ready or just going to keep flirting over there?” Edward yelled, pointing to where we were meant to start the race.
He blew the whistle, and we shot off into the distance like bolts of lightning.
Luca’s warm breath danced across my neck, sending shivers down my spine.
His lips were dangerously close to my skin, leaving a trail of incredibly soft kisses along my neck, making it almost impossible to focus on the water ahead.
Bastard was having way too much fun with this, I concluded.
Grinding my hips back against him was not the most responsible move as the person driving a jet ski at high speeds, but I couldn’t help myself.
His breath hitched and a low groan spilled from his lips, curling around the edges of my ear like a dare.
I felt his hands slide lower, fingers ghosting just under the edge of my life jacket, stopping just short of where I was burning.
As I tried to focus on the last lap, I heard Luca whisper, “Now, now, amore, what’s got you so distracted?”
“Maybe it’s a certain someone behind me who can’t keep his hands to himself,” I shouted back over the roar of the engine and wind. I gripped the handlebar and tried to block out Luca’s teasing fingers, his soft touch.
Before he could answer, Henri and Lily rocketed past us, water spraying in our wake.
“Looks like we know who the fastest Dubois on the water is!” Henri’s voice boomed over the hum of jet skis, his gloating unmistakable even over the sound of the water. Henri was as much of a sore winner as he was a loser.
“He’s going to be insufferable about this,” I groaned.
“Well, then you should have been paying more attention,” Luca whispered into my ear, and I elbowed his side. The vibration of our jet ski slowed to a purr, and moments later, we pulled up next to the boat that had been our home for the week.
“Alright, I think that’s enough racing for me today. Lily, can I interest you in a glass of wine?”
Henri threw his head back in a loud, playful laugh. “Avoiding the rematch, Peaches?”
“More like saving myself from your inevitable sulk when you lose.”
And, more importantly, my sanity from my brother’s persistence.
“Actually, Georgia, I have something for you. Give me a moment.” While Luca disappeared, Lily and I made our way to the front of the boat, settling into the tanning chairs that had been laid out for us.
Five minutes later, Luca emerged from the lower cabins.
“Got you a little something,” Luca preened as he walked over to where Lily and I were tanning, a bright blue gift bag looped through his arm and a smoothie in each hand.
“Oh?” I made grabby hands at the bag, and Luca dropped it at my feet.
Tearing through the tissue paper, I froze. Inside was a travel-sized watercolor set bursting with vibrant pigments, a sleek leather-bound sketchpad, and a petite wooden easel.
“Wh-what’s this?” I asked, flipping through the empty pages of the sketchpad.
“I noticed you left your paints at home, so I asked Edward to pick up some supplies before he left. Painting relaxes you, and I want you to be as relaxed as possible on this trip because you deserve a break. Plus, you can’t get a better backdrop than this!”
Luca wasn’t wrong. The colors of the ocean and the sky blended seamlessly, creating a landscape that begged to be captured on canvas.
“Luca… I—um, I don’t know what to say,” I stammered. “Just…Wow. Thank you. These are incredible.”
Tears pricked the corners of my eyes as I looked up at him, speechless with gratitude. My heart felt like it was melting in the best way. While packing, I’d forgotten to throw in my art supplies, and I didn’t want to burden Luca or his parents by asking to pick some up before embarking.
Luca had a knack for picking up on the little details, such as my silly window-washing dance or my nervous ticks before an interview, that no one else seemed to notice.
“You even got my favorite brand of paints!”
Luca shrugged, bashful. “I may have gone snooping in your condo when I was with you in Monaco,” he laughed, putting his hands up innocently. “Had to make sure you didn’t have any real skeletons in your closet.”
I playfully swatted his arm, unable to keep the grin off my face.
“Well, I’ll let your snooping slide this time, if only because I did the same last week.
” My cheek found its place against his chest, my arms now wrapped around his waist, and I let myself savor the quiet thrum of his heartbeat beneath my ear.
He tilted his head to kiss my forehead and whispered against my hair, “Maybe later you can paint me like one of your French girls.”
“In your dreams, Rossi.” I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t hide the satisfied smile that crept onto my face as I looked up at him.
“Fine with me. Based on what I heard in Monaco, sounds like I’d like what we do in your dreams.”
So, he had noticed that outburst.
Fuck it, I did too.
“Hey, Luca, you can flirt with her later!” Edward called out, whistling at the two of us.
“For fuck’s sake, Edward,” Lily muttered behind her sunglasses with exasperation. “Don’t ruin the moment!”
“Right, well, we’re going to head off to get some snorkeling in, but you should be all set up here with my mom and the captain,” Luca said. “Give us a radio if you need anything.”
I grabbed his hand, giving it one last thank you squeeze, before Luca joined my brother and Edward on the smaller boat.
Lily slid closer. “Time to make these smoothies fun.” She reached into her beach bag and pulled out a slim silver flask, tipping a generous splash of rum into each smoothie.
“So, you and Luca looked awfully close on that jet ski. Don’t think I didn’t notice his hand on your thigh when we arrived.
And those paints he got you!” she gushed. “You know Edward—”
“Edward is betting on us actually getting together,” I cut her off. “So I’ve heard.”
“Well…” Lily wiggled both her eyebrows suggestively.
I snorted, but the pressure behind her words lingered in my chest. I wanted to tell her. Wanted to spill everything about Monaco, about the kisses and the way Luca looked at me like I was his whole universe and not just a press strategy.
But I couldn’t.
If I told Lily, Edward would know by sunset. And if Edward knew, the whole paddock would know by next Tuesday. They already thought we were actually dating. I didn’t need to give Edward any more fuel to the rumor.
“There’s nothing to tell. We needed to do this vacation, remember?”
“Oh, bullshit,” she blurted out. “Sorry, Georgie, I just see the way Luca looks at you. Edward sees the way he looks at you. It’s not the same way he looks at other people.”
“Oh, that’s ridiculous,” I scoffed. “As long as I’ve known him, he’s only ever had flings.
We’re both so focused on our careers. Luca doesn’t need the added stress of a professional race car driver as a girlfriend.
I’m not sure what everyone thinks is going on here, but Luca and I are just two friends having fun on a yacht. ”
Even saying the words, they felt wrong, and I took a sip of my smoothie to hide the solemn ache that had crept onto my face. We were just friends. Friends who flirted and occasionally kissed. Nothing more.
“Sexy fun?” Lily asked, and I shook my head, unable to hide my smile. No chance she believed me. “Look, all I’m saying is, I see how Luca looks at you. It’s different.”
“How much has Edward bet on us getting together? Must be a lot if you’re over here hawking Luca at me. Did he offer to split the money?” Wouldn’t have put it past Edward to drag Lily into his silly bet. She drew her lips in a tight line as I dodged her question.
“Fine. Believe what you want. At least tell me you’re getting some on the side.” Shimmying her shoulders, she licked her lips. “That man is just too fine for you not to be sleeping with him.”
Now that, Lily was right about.