Page 29 of Tempting Me (The Asher Family #3)
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
LUCA
Leo Parker's hands are clenched at his sides, and his jaw is tight. He looks as if he’s seconds away from punching me in the face.
The smart thing to do right now would be to back away from his sister. If anything, moving to stand anywhere that isn’t between her legs seems best, but I don't even flinch.
Neither does Shay.
Well, she doesn't for all but thirty seconds anyway.
She pushes me back with her feet, and I go because if that's what she wants, I’ll give it to her. This moment right here isn’t just about me.
In fact, it’s a topic we’ve both been avoiding.
I know we have our own opinions on how this should play out and we both assumed we had more time, but I’m wishing that we’d had discussed it right about now.
“Leo.” Shay stands, adjusting her shorts into place. She pulls her shirt down as if she’d been flashing him, which she wasn’t, and then she takes a tentative step toward her brother. “What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing?” He huffs. “What are you doing, Shay?”
“Hey,” I snap, not pausing long enough to think of how this might play out before I go on. “Don’t talk to her with that tone.”
“She’s my sister. I’ll talk to her however I want, Asher.”
I shake my head.
“Sister or not, calm your tone.”
Leo takes a step toward me, but Shay steps between us before he can reach me.
“Stop.”
“What’s he doing here, Shay?” Leo asks, and I’ll be damned, he corrected his tone.
I chuckle.
Shay hesitates, looking at me briefly before addressing her brother. Quietly, she says, “I hired him to help me finish The Marina.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“Does it look like I’m joking, Leo?” she yells and holds her arms out. “I’m the only one in this family who cares about this place, and it needed to be done, so I did it. You do not get to stand here and tell me how to do anything when I’m the only one putting in the time.”
You tell him, baby!
“You know how Mom and Dad will feel about this.”
Shay groans, and I swear, for a fleeting moment, he looks at me with guilt in his eyes.
Shay drops into a chair, her shoulders drooping and her head down, her face in her hands. I step toward her, but Leo shoves me back.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what? Comfort her when you're being a dick?”
“Luca, I swear to god, if you?—”
“Enough!” Shay yells and then stands. “I’m not doing this right now. I have better things to do than listen to you two fight.”
Leo glares at me as if this is my fault, and sure, yeah, from Shay’s outburst, it’s clear I partially am to blame, but it’s not just on me.
However, when Shay looks up at me through those dark lashes and her eyes plead with me to help her, I don’t have to think twice.
“I’ll give you two some space,” I say, hating every single word, but I know that the sooner she gets things cleared with her brother and her family, the sooner she can relax and get back to focusing on The Marina.
I don't want her spending one more minute worried over this.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
I nod, then kiss the top of her head as I leave. “Call me when you’re done.”
“Okay.”
I rub her back for a split second.
“Let her talk before you freak out, okay?” I tell Leo.
Leo rolls his eyes..
On my way out, I pass the bar and wave to Carl and Matt. Since this place has picked up, they’ve both been working full-time, and then I walk out the main door.
The timing of her brother coming back is unfortunate. It would have been great if Shay was able to break the news of our relationship before he saw it in action, but life never works out that way.
Heck, despite the tension just now, perhaps this could mend things. Our families used to be close. Maybe there’s a chance they still could be.
God, I hope they give her a chance to talk.
I walk up to my truck and reach into my pocket to unlock the door.
I don't feel my keys.
Shit. I left them in the room with Shay and her brother.
I turn, jogging back to the dining room to get in and out so they can have their privacy.
I’ve got one foot through the door when I freeze.
“So it’s nothing?”
“No. It’s not serious. I’m not sure about Luca, but it’s just fun for me, and I?—”
Shay’s words halt when she sees me in the doorway.
Now, I know the situation, all right? I know that she’s probably stressed and unsure of how to answer, but let me be clear, this is not just fun for me. It’s never been just fun for me. I was all in, and until this moment, I thought Shay was too.
Maybe you are only good enough as a secret.
No one says anything. I glance from Shay to her brother and then back to Shay.
I wait for her to say something, but she doesn't.
All she does is stand slowly.
“I, uh,” I clear my throat. “I forgot my keys.”
I move for the table and grab them, turning for the door without another word. Shay’s lack of response right now is all I need to know.
I’m the guy women fool around with in secret.
Fuck, that sucks.
“Luca, wait,” Shay calls out to me as I exit.
I don’t stop.
“Luca, please wait.”
Against my better judgment, I pause and turn slowly.
“Did you mean that?” I ask.
“I just need time to figure things out.”
“Figure things out,” I repeat. “About us?”
“No, no, I just?—”
“Because from what I just heard, there is no us.”
“Luca, I just … I need … I …”
I nod slowly.
Wow.
Wow.
Fuck. This is unbelievable.
“I’m a fool,” I say and then walk away.
“No. You’re not. Luca, wait.”
She rushes after me, but I'm not stopping this time.
I’m not asking for a lot. Just the truth, and right now, I don't think Shay even knows what it is.
I want someone I can trust, and right now that person is not the woman following me.
“Luca, please.”
I open my door and get in, but the window is down, so I can still hear her pleas.
“Let me call you later. Let me figure this out. Let me … no, don’t back away. Please, don’t go. Wait. Just wait until I can fix this. Don’t go. Please. ”
It’s too late.
She was quick to pretend like what we had wasn’t real. When the time came that I needed her to pick me, pick us, she didn’t.
I’m not going through this again.
I won’t.
Even if it means losing the one and only woman I’ve ever fallen in love with.