Chapter 22 Isla
ISLA
LUCA: See you soon, wonder woman
I stare down at his text as my ferry slowly approaches the dock. I decided to take an earlier boat home from the conference than I intended but didn’t tell my mom or Charlie. They think I’m staying in Vancouver until this afternoon.
Instead, I’m meeting my secret boyfriend for a few hours.
Which might just be the wildest thing I’ve done since having a kid at seventeen.
But I want to see him. The past two days were amazing.
I had a great time at the conference, but the loneliness I was feeling when I first arrived only intensified after Luca left.
Talking on the phone and one spicy video call was not enough, and as the minutes count down to seeing him again, my heart starts to beat louder and louder in my chest.
The boat comes to a stop and the ramp lowers, and I thank the ferry gods that I’m one of the first vehicles off. My impatience to get to Luca is quite ridiculous, and I have to remind myself that getting a speeding ticket would be a bad thing as I zip along the highway toward Cedar Creek.
I pull up to his apartment building and find the visitor’s parking he told me to use, right out front. That makes me nervous. What if someone recognizes my car?
“Like who, you dummy?” I mutter to myself under my breath as I gather my phone and keys into my purse. “You don’t know anyone here well enough except Juni, and she’d probably celebrate.”
Even once I’m ready to get out, I grip my steering wheel for a second and breathe.
This makes it all real. If I go up to his apartment, there will be no chance of walking away from the other night and calling it a onetime thing.
This is the cliff’s edge, and I have to decide whether I’m going to step off or turn around and run away.
But if my life has proven anything to me, it’s that I can do hard things. I can face down my fears and rise above. Because this connection I have with Luca is worth exploring.
Resolute in my decision, I get out of my car and walk up to the front door of the building, pressing the buzzer number he texted me earlier. The door opens, and I walk in, making my way to the elevator, where I press the PH for penthouse.
“How the heck did I end up dating a guy who lives in a penthouse,” I mutter to myself. Yet, there’s no denying the slight thrill I feel. I’ve never even seen a penthouse.
After the longest ride ever, the elevator doors open directly into what is clearly his home, and I see Luca standing in front of me, a welcoming smile on his handsome face, hands stuffed in his pockets.
I step out, coming to stand right in front of him as the doors slide shut behind me, and we just stare at each other, smiling like fools for several seconds. Then whatever was holding us in place snaps, and I fling myself into his arms, kissing him with every fiber of my being.
We only break apart when he stumbles backward. “Oops, sorry,” I say, but Luca shakes his head, stroking my hair.
“Don’t apologize for being as excited to see me as I am to see you. C’mon, I’ll make you a cup of tea.” He takes my hand in his and leads me through a short entryway and into a giant, cavernous space.
White marble floors…maybe it’s marble? What do I know?
White cabinets, white walls, white ceiling, white, white, white. It’s bland, stark, boring, and nothing I expected from a penthouse apartment.
The only interesting feature is the wall of windows across from me, looking out over the city. But with the grey winter weather outside, even that isn’t so appealing. There’s a hall that I assume leads to bedrooms, and an interesting spiral staircase that leads to another door. A rooftop, perhaps?
I slowly turn around, looking for any sign of Luca anywhere in the space. But aside from a navy blue couch and a glass-topped coffee table with what looks to be an engineering magazine on top, there’s nothing to indicate who lives here.
Until I reach the shelves that line one wall. There, I finally see a hint of the man I’m falling for.
It’s just a handful of photos, but it’s something, at least.
“How long have you lived here?” I ask, hoping he doesn’t take offense.
With a chagrined laugh, he steps around me and moves to the open kitchen area.
“Almost a year. I know it’s kind of a blank space.
” He shrugs, and I see a hint of red climbing up his neck.
“I never really bothered to decorate. In my last place, my ex did all the decorating. I guess I don’t know what I’d want it to look like if I were to bother. ”
I instantly feel bad for mentally critiquing his home, and walk over to his side, sliding my arms around his waist. “It’s fine, Luca. Not having art on your walls isn’t going to push me away.”
He turns to face me, draping his arms over mine, his hands resting on the small of my back as he drops a kiss to my forehead. “Good. Because that’s the last thing I want to do.”
The kettle on the stove starts to whistle and he turns, taking it off the heat and pouring it into two mugs.
I tried to not have any expectations of what might happen when I came over here, but I have to admit, this was not what I had in mind.
But I take the cup of aromatic Earl Grey tea and follow him to the couch that is the only pop of colour in the space.
He sinks down into one corner, and with his free hand, tugs me down right next to him. I tuck my feet under me and lean into his side, loving the weight of his arm as he drapes it around my shoulders.
“So, how was the rest of the conference?” he asks conversationally, and I can’t help it, I giggle nervously. “What?” he says, shifting to set his mug of tea down.
I reluctantly move as well, putting down my mug and turning to face him.
I’ve had to develop a level of confidence in life, and when I don’t feel confident, I’ve become really good at faking it.
This is one of those moments where I’m not sure if I truly feel brave enough to tell him what’s got me confused, or if I need to fake it. Either way, here goes.
“I guess I’m a little surprised. When you suggested I come over before going to get Charlie, I didn’t realize it would be for tea and a chat.” I bite the inside of my lip as I watch for his reaction.
It’s subtle at first. A slow nod of his head, the slightest crinkle at the side of his eyes formed when his lips tip up.
When he speaks, all subtlety is gone and there’s no mistaking the desire behind his words.
“I was trying to be a gentleman. Show you that I’m interested in more than just sex with you.
But if you think me offering you tea and asking about the conference is some sort of sign that I don’t want you naked and writhing underneath me right this fucking second, then I guess I better show you how wrong you are. ”
Luca did his best to make me more than willing to throw caution to the wind and let myself fall even deeper for him, but after I picked up Charlie, and we went home, my brain kicked into overdrive.
All throughout cooking dinner, cleaning up after, getting things ready for the morning, and getting my son into bed, I’m distracted.
Caught up in wondering how tomorrow would go, whether we would truly be able to hide how things have changed in front of other people.
Questioning if I was ready to face the music of being the “single mom who slept with her boss” and all the stereotyping that would come along with that label.
Because it’s inevitable. I know that. Eventually, people will find out about us.
And then, it’ll start. The sidelong looks, the whispered comments, the raised eyebrows.
From the moment I walked into his hotel room until now, I somehow managed to convince myself that it would be worth it. That being with Luca would overshadow any negativity I might face. But now, in my home with my son sleeping down the hall, all of my doubts and fears seem so much bigger.
I don’t fall asleep until close to 2 am, making my 6 am alarm clock offensive. Rolling over with a groan, I rub my hand over my face as I blink my eyes open. Like it or not, it’s time to see what today brings.
Somehow, the universe likes me enough to grant me an easy morning. Charlie gets up with no complaining, his homework is done, thanks to Nana, and we’re ready to leave on time.
“Bye kid, love you,” I call out through the window as he slams the door closed with his hip.
“See ya, Mom.”
It’s the best I’m gonna get. I smile as I watch him walk away, joining up with a couple of other boys who all greet him with high fives and fist bumps. And my gut churns.
He’s happy here. He’s settling in, making friends, finding activities and people that he enjoys.
I should be thrilled, and I am. Yet, seeing how settled he is makes me once again wonder if I’m doing the right thing by exploring a relationship with Luca.
After all, if it goes wrong, it has the potential to hurt not only me but my son, too.
My fingers are white around the steering wheel the entire drive from Charlie’s school to the stadium.
I pull into a parking spot and breathe deeply for a minute before unclenching my hands and getting out.
The walk into the building feels both too long and too short.
It’s ridiculous to think everyone will somehow already know I slept with our boss.
And yet, when I pass by one of the team trainers and they don’t smile at me, instead of assuming they’re distracted or focused, I imagine they’re judging me.
And when Gabe greets me with “Good morning and welcome back. Luca wants to see you as soon as you’re settled” my heart stops.
“Oh, okay. Did he say why?”
“He didn’t, just told me to pass on the message. Hey, how was your conference?”
I blink several times as Gabe looks at me.
He’s not acting differently, there’s no need to panic. “It was fine. Informative.” In more ways than one.
“That’s great. There’s nothing much to report around here.
The new signage for the sponsors is up in the breezeway.
We don’t have any meetings today, so you can catch up on emails.
But tomorrow, the website developer hopes to be done, so you’ll have to review all of that and present a report to Luca about whether to approve it or not.
Oh, and the ticket tier proposal you put together has been approved, so we need to know if we should go ahead and get those set up with a printer or if you think it should all be digital… ”
Gabe keeps talking, but my attention starts to wander.
I took this job to be a consultant. To offer ideas and suggestions, to come up with marketing plans and strategies.
I never thought I’d be the one to start implementing things.
Yet, here I am. Thanks to Luca’s generosity with the budget, and the surprisingly quick and efficient way things have worked, we’re past the point of planning and strategizing.
There’s less than a month until Christmas.
Then, in the new year, the work will ramp up as we open to the public for spring training, charity games, and finally, the season opener.
That’s when my time with the Thunder will officially end.
Early April isn’t that far off. Maybe it would be smarter to wait. To give me some time to make sure this won’t impact Charlie in a bad way.
“Don’t forget, Luca’s waiting for you.”
Gabe’s voice penetrates through the haze of my thoughts. “Right. Yes, I’ll go there now.”
And ask him to be strong enough to press pause. Because I don’t know if I will be.