Page 9 of Tempting Me (The Asher Family #3)

CHAPTER SEVEN

SHAY

For the record, I’m well aware that ten inches is far too big for a dick.

My heart hurts just thinking of it.

But you know what doesn’t hurt? That spot between my legs as I think about what Luca said to me.

No, it’s not just what he said. It was the confidence in how he said it, in the way his hungry eyes were looking into mine.

By the way my body was ready to submit to him had he pushed for more.

The way my body gravitated toward him as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

The way I have never, in my entire life, felt so needy for a man the way I felt in that moment.

Shit.

I blow out a breath and spot Grace at The Marina bar as soon as I walk in.

I love a lot of things about living in Lovers, but having my best friend live near me and eat breakfast with me each morning here is a top three.

We get so busy every day, knowing I’ll see her for even ten minutes makes my heart happy.

Good friends are hard to find, and I have one of the best.

“Morning,” I greet her and hold my head high. It’s time to push all thoughts of Luca Asher and his bedroom talk from my mind.

Oh god, does he talk like that all the time? Even during sex?

I bet that would be … wow. Good. Really, really good.

“You with me?” Grace waves a hand in front of my face.

“Yep.”

“Okay, so tell me how night number one went with the enemy.”

The enemy, right. His name is Luca. Who I’m supposed to say nice things about to Grace. True things. I can do this. In fact, if it works out for him and they hit it off, I can wash myself free of these thoughts of him.

I should tell her that there is a chance he whispers filthy words during sex.

I open my mouth to do exactly that, but then it occurs to me that it could lead to questions, and, well, how would I answer? She knows me too well. I can’t chance it.

“Good. He’s much nicer than I remember” is what I go with.

The forkful of eggs stops right in front of Grace's lips.

“What?”

“Yeah, super nice. We got a lot done. He’s very professional.”

Professional. Seriously, Shay?

Grace drops the fork and then presses her hand to my forehead .

I lean back and swat her away. “What are you doing?”

“Are you ill?”

“No, why?”

“You just gave Luca two compliments back-to-back.”

“I … misjudged him?” I say and even I’m aware that it came out more as a question than a statement.

“What’s going on?”

I groan and then drop my head into my hands.

I can’t lie to her. I just said best friends are hard to find and I refuse to be a bad one.

“Luca only agreed to help me if I put in a good word with you so that he can ask you out, and I told him I would. I was desperate. Please don’t hate me.”

Grace grins. “I wondered how you got him to agree so easily, but outside of our career ethics, I have nothing in common with Luca.”

“That’s what I told him.”

“And what did he say?”

“He said that you might have more in common if you knew more about him.”

She grins and keeps eating.

“I know plenty, and although I think he’d be a catch for any girl, that girl is not me. But you should know that he asked me out a couple of nights ago and I turned him down.”

“He did? You did?” I ask both questions so quickly, my voice squeaks.

Grace nods.

“Why did you turn him down?” It’s a stupid question after the conversation we just had, but I blurt it out anyway.

“Because he’s not my type. We just established that. Plus, you’re my best friend and your family hates him. It would be weird.”

I frown.

“Don’t let me stand in your way of dating someone.”

Grace lets out a laugh.

“I’m not dating Luca.”

“But if you wanted?—”

“I don’t.”

I nod and then scrub my hands over my face and groan again.

“Why does desperation make you do stupid things?”

“Because if you did smart things, they wouldn’t call it desperation.”

I sit up and tap her nose.

“Exactly, but what do I tell him now? What if he backs out when I tell him I couldn't hold up my end of the deal? Or maybe I should just pretend that I’m still talking him up to you.”

“Yes. That one. The Marina cannot suffer. Just say you’re holding up your end of the deal, and every morning you can tell me one nice thing about him. You’d never be lying that way.”

I chuckle. “Do you think I can come up with something daily?”

I ask it as a joke, but even I know that it’ll be easy.

Aside from what I will from here on out refer to as “the moment,” he really was professional.

He listened to me and what I wanted. He was very active in making a plan.

I gave him crap about double-checking the measurements, but I loved that he did .

Hiring Luca was well overdue, but I won’t be telling a single person that thought.

Especially not Luca.

“Yes, I do.”

“Good. I’m glad one of us believes in me.”

Grace winks and continues to finish her plate.

My hand drops to her arm.

“What if he asks you out again?”

My best friend shrugs. “I’ll be polite, but the answer will still be no.”

Her answer is so simple, and yet it makes me sad for Luca. He’s going to get his hopes up and then nothing will come from it.

I shake all thoughts of a sad Luca from my mind and hold my head high.

Remodeling The Marina is back on track, and that is all I need to worry about right now.

As soon as breakfast is over, I head into town to pick up a few things for the bar and grab a coffee from Brooke’s. I know I could make my own at The Marina, but it’s just not the same.

With my bag of office supplies in hand, I pull open the door to B’s Bakery, only to step back in a hurry as Linc Collins steps out.

“Oh, hey Shay. I didn’t see you there.”

He shows his friendly grin, and I return one.

“In a hurry?” I ask.

He nods. “I was actually going to come see you today. I talked to your mom on the phone this morning.”

My stomach drops .

Already? The summer isn’t over, and not to mention, what the heck time is it in Europe right now?

“Oh” is all I manage to get out. I look away from him because I've been told I have a face that gives away all my emotions, and right now, I don’t want Linc to see that just knowing my parents have spoken to him could make me cry on the spot.

“Yeah.” His toe taps. He has the decency to look guilty. “There wasn’t anything set in stone, though. She just had a few questions on where to start if, you know, she decides to sell. I got the feeling she was still thinking it over.”

I force a smile and nod. “Thanks, Linc.”

“Anytime.”

The door of the bakery swings open again, and this time it’s Luca who steps out. He looks at me and then at Linc.

“What's going on?”

“Nothing,” I say quickly.

“Just chatting,” Linc adds.

“About what?” His demanding tone steals the show, and I find him watching me. His head tilts a little and his gaze locks on mine. “You good?”

I swallow, ready to tell him I'm fine, but then Miles walks out, followed by other locals.

An audience.

Great.

“That’s none of your business,” I snap at Luca and then look at Linc. “Have a good one.”

I push past everyone and step into the bakery, letting out a breath when I see that Sadie and Brooke are the only two inside.

“What?” Brooke asks, standing taller as she takes me in .

Nothing major happened just now.

Just a simple reminder of the deadline I'm under and the fact that I hired the enemy to help me get it done, whom I have to hide from almost the entire town.

I blow out a breath.

“I think I'm in way over my head.”

Sadie smiles and nods toward the front window.

“I think you might be right.”

I follow her gaze to see Luca walking away, but his attention is on me as he passes the window.

As if I didn’t have enough problems right now, my heart starts to race.

Just like it did all those years ago.

“I’m going to need to bring a trailer over tomorrow during the day.”

I look up from where I’ve been working to find Luca standing in front of me with his hands on his hips.

He’s been working for the last hour, clearly working hard if the sweat marks on his chest have anything to say about it.

In fact, he’s sweating so much that his shirt sticks to his pecs just enough to outline them for me.

I swallow and then shake my head.

Hold it together, Shay.

Jesus.

“Not an option,” I tell him and then go back to my computer.

Along with the renovations Luca is completing, I’m trying to plan other events in The Marina’s backyard that line up with big events either at the lodge or with one of the many silly festivals our town holds each summer.

I call them silly only for the fact that it feels like our town will do anything to get everyone together.

Like one big hangout. We just call them festivals, but still, my brother didn’t do any of this when he was in charge, and then I’d skipped planning last summer to give this place a makeover, and now the new plan is to do everything at once.

Because, you know, I have so much free time these days. Between working at The Marina during the day and working with Luca at night, I’m busy.

“It’s the only option,” Luca counters, still talking about his trailer.

I let out a sigh.

“It’s too risky. Someone might see you.”

“You really don’t think people will start to piece this together? I mean, suddenly this place looks brand-new and no one saw anyone working on it.”

“No one is paying that close attention.”

“This is Lovers. Everyone is paying close attention.”

“Not to me.”

“Especially to you.”

My gaze snaps up.

“What does that mean?”

He shakes his head and goes back to where he’s been measuring baseboards and marking them, then setting them in piles based on the marks.

“It means that your family is well-known around here, Shay, and everyone knows they are currently overseas, so we are all watching out for you until the rest of the Parker pack returns.”

He says each word with less and less excitement .

“Is that why you’re so kind to me these days? To watch out for me?”

He grunts but doesn't say anything.

So I just roll my eyes as usual and get back to my computer.

Maybe five minutes pass. It was a glorious five minutes.

“What were you and Linc talking about this morning?”

I ignore him. I know, I know. It’s not mature, but I need more work and less small talk.

“Shay.”

“Luca.”

“So you can hear me?”

“Of course I hear you. Everyone can always hear you.”

“I’m going to let that slide on account of I think something is bothering you and you don’t want to tell me.”

I sit up and spin in my chair to face him. “If I were upset about something, why would you be the one that I come to?”

He shrugs.

“Because I’m a third party. It wouldn't have anything to do with me, so maybe I could help.”

“Riiiiight. Because you’re a true gentleman.”

His gaze narrows before he takes a deep breath and gets back to work.

Again, maybe five minutes pass.

“You know,” Luca starts, and I groan. “I actually am a gentleman, and that would be something nice for you to tell Grace.”

I hold my pen in the air without looking at him.

“Noted.”

The sigh that follows is so loud, I turn to tell him so but stop when I find him squatting, rearranging boards so that he can carry them to a new spot.

He stands, the muscles in his legs pressing against his jeans and his flexing biceps so pronounced that I’m positive I'm about to see his sleeves rip apart.

He takes focused steps to the other side of the room.

“Can you come over here and move this box?” he asks over his shoulder.

“Okay,” I say, moving quickly. Although I’m convinced that my body moved toward him before my mind deemed an answer.

I move the box then just stand there watching him.

Ogling him in a brightly lit room as he works.

Thinking about his legs and arms once more. Is the rest of his body as firm as they are? How much does that wood weigh? He carried it as if it were nothing.

A deep chuckle snaps me back to attention.

He caught me staring.

Shit.

I smirk and walk right by him.

“Sure. I didn’t see anything,” he mocks as I take my seat again.

I refuse to acknowledge him.

“I’m going to have one of the guys bring a trailer tomorrow,” he says after I remain silent.

“Luca,” I whine.

“I’ll have them cover the company sign with something. Is there a special place he needs to park?”

I let out a breath. It’s annoying how accommodating he’s trying to be.

It makes it hard to dislike him.

“No, just wherever works is fine. ”

“Cool. So hey—” He pauses, waiting for me to look at him.

“What?”

He grips the back of his neck and pulls out his phone.

“I had questions earlier that I wanted to ask you, but I didn’t want to call here and be obvious, so I think we should swap phone numbers.”

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Luca is being shy.

It’s adorable.

I freaking hate it.

I take his phone and add my number, then text myself.

“Is that all?”

He nods and quickly shakes his head. “I had an idea for the entrance to the restaurant.”

“Luca,” I warn, “I don’t have time to make changes. We have a plan.”

“I know, but I can still do it in the same timeline if you like it.”

“No.”

I don’t need his ideas. I need mine.

“Just look at the picture.”

“No.”

“It’s—”

“No.”

“It’s an arch!” he yells before I can cut him off again.

This time I keep my mouth shut.

“Do you remember that one summer forever ago when your mom kept saying everything in here was so boxy and you said there should be an arch? Well, I think we should do it.”

“That was like fifteen years ago. ”

He shrugs. “Ever since you said it, I thought it would be cool.”

He holds his phone up as if he’s scared I might bite.

I take it and have to contain my glee as my eyes take in the photo. The arch is beautiful with built-in shelves on each side that are filled with different flowers and plants, giving it a slight greenhouse vibe.

“I even thought I could add the shelves if you like that look. The big windows would be perfect for it. It would have an earthy feel that I think would be great for when people come in off the water after a day in the sun. They still get that outdoorsy feeling, but the air conditioner would be highly enjoyable.”

He lets out a laugh as he takes his phone back.

The look on my face makes his grin drop.

“Or you know, we could stick to the original plan. It’s perfect for this place, too.”

He turns to walk away, which is good because tears threaten my eyes.

Ever since I came back to Lovers, I wanted someone, anyone, to talk about The Marina the way I do. To see it the way I do. To love it the way I do, and just now, Luca did that.

I could see in the way he looked around the room as he spoke that he could see it. Heck, I could hear it in his voice.

I clear my throat.

“I want three shelves on each side instead of two,” I say without looking at him.

Then I swipe away a tear that escapes.

Luca Asher, my number one enemy, just filled my heart with hope.