Page 46 of Beauty and the Daddy

Luca doesn't say, but I can tell he's putting his neck out for me.

Tomorrow's already starting to feel like the SATs again.

By morning, I look like I've been hit by the insomnia truck. Fantastic.

Just when it's time to leave, there's a knock on my door.

I open it to find Luca, looking unfairly fresh in yet another perfectly tailored suit.

Black, of course, like he's always got a funeral to go to. But it doesn't matter.

On him, even death looks good.

"Ready?" he asks, eyes dragging down me, slow as dripping honey.

I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, smoothing out the fall of my shirt.

I'm in my best jeans and a blouse that can't possibly pass for nice, but under his stare, I feel naked.

Like I showed up to the Met Gala in sweatpants.

"Uh, yeah, sure," I mutter under my breath, when what I want most is to scream rain-check.

But hey, I agreed to marry the guy, right? Gotta uphold my end of the bargain.

If he needs to parade his wife around, I'm prepared to trot.

He leans against the frame, not moving, just taking his time.

His gaze lingers where it shouldn't, and my pulse trips over itself.

"You look good," he says, before walking away.

I just stand there, dumbfounded, wondering why hearing that from him makes it feel like I've done something right.

We glide onto a private airfield.Heat shimmers off the tarmac.

The jet sits there gleaming like a sin you only commit with NDAs.

"Seriously? A jet?" I ask.

He gives me a look reserved for people who say "Greyhound."

"You thought I'd fly commercial?"

God forbid the Beast of New York wait in line for peanuts and a middle seat.

I shake my head, still staring. "I don't know… maybe first class?"

"Oh, Belle." He sighs, like I've committed a cardinal sin.

When I look over and see him shaking his head, all from my doing, I'm reminded of what a different world he comes from.

One I'd never even known existed.

And knowing he picked me to be his wife gets my heart fluttering like a teenager who got smiled at by a Hollywood celebrity.

His palm finds the small of my back—that spot that makes my whole spine light up like a fuse.