Page 5

Luca was utterly distracted at work the next morning. He tried, honestly, but his mind kept drifting back to Noe.

Part of him was quite excited by all the possibilities Noe represented. He didn’t know the engineer extremely well, but every time he’d been in Noe’s company, Luca had been left with a happy spark in his heart. Noe was good company—a wonderful mix of good-natured and intelligent, which Luca adored. Most of his longtime friends were like Noe. It was a promising start.

The question troubling him: He’d started them on this path of dating, so what did he do now ?

Doing the usual things for dates seemed wrong, somehow. Luca would normally buy a trinket and flowers for whomever he was courting, but it struck him as the wrong tactic. Gifts, yes. Flowers and girly trinkets, no.

Hmm, problematic, dating another man. Perhaps a conversation with Sho was in order. Sho would know. Not Brahms—he had skipped the courting altogether and gone straight for a proposal.

The more Luca considered it, the more he favored Brahms’s approach. Man may have had a good idea, there.

No, no. He owed it to Noe to actually try dating. He owed it to them both, really. It wasn’t like Luca was convinced Noe was the right person; they needed more time together. Luca just had to make a decision on how to treat him.

Dates, yes, that was obvious. But more like friend dates? The whole purpose of dating was to get to know the other person well enough to decide if you wanted to marry them, right? So it didn’t matter what they did. Not necessarily. And Noe wasn’t expecting romance from him.

Just thinking about that made Luca wince a little. No, Noe wasn’t expecting to be wooed, but he knew the other man was hoping for a good husband. Therefore, not offering him any romance felt like a disservice. Starting off like that right from the get-go was…not good. Even Luca was sure of that.

A gloved hand abruptly appeared in front of his face and he blinked back into awareness and then looked upward, into Caedmon’s eyes. The man was on the leaner side, his beard really starting to come in now that he’d decided to grow it out, although he was the type to grow a red beard despite his dark brunet hair.

“What?”

“Just how deep in thought be ye?” his captain asked him, exasperation growing with each word. “I called yer name three times.”

“Oh. Sorry, very lost in thought. What is it?”

“Came to tell ye I pulled half our patrols in ’cause a storm be brewin’. Sea’s too iced over to get a rowboat through it, anyway. No chance of Mongs gettin’ to us with the sea like that.”

“Ah. Good, let’s not make people freeze for no reason.”

Caedmon’s eyes narrowed, turning shrewd, and he abruptly grabbed a chair and plopped himself into it. “Okay, what’s chewin’ at yer arse?”

As much as Luca wished he could refute him…Caedmon was a very good friend and knew him too well. He’d read through the bullshit without trouble. “I, uh, may have found a man to marry?”

Caedmon blinked, then blinked again, abruptly sitting forward, lips parted in anticipation. “Oh, have ye now. Who?”

“Noe Keller.”

It took only a moment and then Caedmon sank back into his chair with a sound of satisfaction. “Now he be a bloody good choice.”

An interesting reaction. “You know Keller, then?”

“I do, as it happens. Worked with him more than a few times. A good sort, for sure. Sharp as a tack, too. Patient as the day is long, from what I’ve seen. Aye, a good choice.”

For some reason, Luca had needed an outside perspective to verify his judgment was good in this case. His anxiety over the whole issue eased several notches. “I also think he might be a very good choice. I asked to court him yesterday.”

“He said aye, I take it.”

“He did.”

“And now ye be, what? Overthinkin’ it?”

“You do know me well, but no. I’m not regretting asking. Rather, I’m trying to plan a way forward.”

“Oh, that be yer thinkin’ face!”

Luca eyed him mistrustfully. “What did you think it was?”

“ I’m a moron face.”

Luca made a rude hand gesture. He would love to deny having that face. Unfortunately, past events would make him a liar.

Right, then. Moving on… “I don’t think trying to date Noe the way I’ve done with past women is the right idea.”

Caedmon shook his head violently. “Do not even think it. Besides, all those past dates failed. Not solely because of ye, granted, but they still failed.”

“Exactly my point. That’s the definition of insanity right there, repeating the same steps but expecting different results. So I know it’s not right. I’m not sure how to approach this, though. I usually start with gifts.”

“Hmm…I see the problem.” Caedmon pondered this for a moment. “Maybe start easy, with dinner.”

“Just that?”

“Keep in mind, ye’ve no need to pull out all the stops and woo him right off the bat. Keller’s well aware ye don’t know what yer doin’.”

“Must you point it out like that?”

“Truth, ain’t it?”

Sadly, yes it was. “Still, I’d like to have an actual plan.”

Caedmon eyed him like he knew full well what was going through Luca’s head. He might, at that. “All right, do this. Take the man to dinner and ask what he wants.”

Now why hadn’t Luca thought of this? Stupid of him not to. He could hardly plan ahead when he didn’t know what Noe expected—or needed—from him.

“Ah, there be yer I’m stupid face! Knew it’d come around sooner or later.”

Luca kicked his leg under the desk, striking an ankle with a light graze. Caedmon laughed even as he abruptly moved his legs backward, out of range.

“Ye bloody wanker, why do I put up with ye?” Luca said, exasperation making his brogue slip out.

Caedmon just shrugged, a smile stretched from ear to ear like this was the best entertainment he’d had all day. Then again, it might well be. Caedmon enjoyed teasing people as a hobby.

“Now, I must be off soon, but I’ll tell ye another thing. Just ’cause ye still have the I’m stupid face on.”

Caedmon was sorely mistaken if he thought Luca couldn’t reach him over the desk. Luca’s arms were long, and Caedmon only sat two feet from the edge. He’d manage just fine.

“Askin’ Keller what he wants is all well and good, but make sure ye know what ye want as well. Ken?”

Luca snorted. “I know what I want.”

“No, I don’t think ye do. Ye’ve got what yer parents drummed into yer head, and what duty tells ye, but I do not think at all, at all that ye know what ye want.”

His words hit a little too close to the mark. “Get out of here. Go do your job.”

“All right, all right, but heed me just this once, aye? Ye’ll thank me for it later.” With a sassy wink, Caedmon took himself out of the office, a cold breeze drifting inside before the door shut behind him.

What Luca wanted, eh? It was true that much of his decision-making so far had come from what Luca needed over what he personally wanted, but that didn’t make any of his needs less valid. He needed a solid, reliable partner who would have his back and help him raise a family. Nothing wrong with that.

Personally, what he wanted more than anything was to put an end to this search. It felt like he’d been searching most of his life—and he rather had. At least two decades now. Two decades of trying to find either a love match or, at the very least, a friend he could marry. A man could only chase after something for so long before he lost hope and foundered. Luca was dangerously close to that point.

He refused to marry the wrong person, though. That would just shift him from the frying pan to an open fire.

No, rather than think of what he personally wanted, he’d focus on what he could offer. Revisiting the age-old dream of a love match he’d entertained as a young man would only dishearten him. The time for fantasies was well over.

So! What he could offer Noe was…hmm. Companionship, to start. A good home, several children, and a luxurious life. His home was settled in a very strategic position, but it was also on a trade route. They’d never been wanting, the coffers always full, so Noe would never need to worry about his next meal. That was a lot to offer a man, right there.

On top of that, Luca could safely say he could indulge in physical affection as well. He’d enjoyed kissing Noe. Luca tentatively believed he’d be willing to do other forms of more intimate touch, too, but he’d rather try it before committing to anything. In any sense, he’d be happy to offer all of those things to Noe.

Surely that would be enough to get along with? Luca had seen marriages with far less. Granted, those marriages hadn’t been particularly happy ones, which wasn’t what he wanted for himself or Noe.

Well, this was a good starting point for now. He’d definitely ask Noe for his thoughts, and maybe ask what he’d be willing to try with Luca. Once they defined the parameters better, it should solve enough for Luca to plan ahead.

See? He totally had hold of this.

Now if his nerves would settle down, he’d be peachy keen.