I haven’t been able to think since Luca left this morning. All I’ve wanted to do all morning is pick up the phone and tell him to come back and fuck me. When I said I made a mistake last night, that mistake wasn’t that I turned him down. The mistake was not saying that I would fuck him more than once so that he would fuck me. That was what I needed to get over. I needed to have that experience one last time, so I could remember how he was the same as every other man or could see that he was the best I’d ever have. But at least I would have known.

Sex isn’t a reason to stay with someone. It isn’t a reason to forgive someone. It’s just sex.

And I want it desperately.

I’ve tried masturbating, but even a vibrator is not enough to rid my brain of Luca.

I’ve tried taking a long bath.

I’ve tried going for a run.

I’ve tried watching TV.

Nothing does anything to make me forget about Luca. But there is one last thing I haven’t tried that could still give me hope to get over him. Tonight’s date.

Skye found him for me on Tinder. I’m sure he would be up for a one-night stand. That’s about all I can handle anyway. With everything going on in my life, I don’t think I can handle balancing a guy and the lawsuit.

I do have to thank Luca for one thing. He’s distracted me from the pain and fear. Instead, I’m just a horny mess.

I have an hour until my date is supposed to pick me, so I do the one thing I’ve been avoiding since Luca left. I run to my office and pull up Google. My fingers pause over the keys while I contemplate if I’m really going to do this or not.

After a few seconds, my fingers start typing Luca Mores. Dozens of articles pull up. I start with his Wikipedia page. He’s a prince. It says it on the first line of the page.

Jesus, I think as I lean forward in the chair.

I want to read more, but my eyes can’t get past that first line. Prince. It’s such a crazy concept. But it will make a good story to tell the grandkids someday. That I once dated a prince. He was a lying, cheating scumbag. But he was still a prince.

I force my eyes to read past that line, and I scan until I find the next piece of information that I had been looking for. He graduated from Stanford with a law degree.

I sink back in my chair. He hasn’t been lying to me this time. He’s been telling me the truth. That means that he love—nope, I’m not going there.

I shake my head. This has to be some elaborate lie that I almost fell for. Again. He’s not a prince. Just a liar.

I hear the dogs barking, playing down the hallway from my office, and I lean back further in my chair to see what they are doing. A second later, I feel the chair give out, and I’m falling to the floor.

“Shit,” I curse as I hit the floor.

The dogs come running in and start licking my face.

I laugh. “Thank God for you guys.”

But, when I look down at my shirt and pants that are now covered in dog slobber and hair, I remember the downside to having dogs. I sigh as I get up. I guess I’d better change before Van, my date, comes.

* * *

The doorbell rings, and I run to go open it with the dogs following closely behind me. I throw the door open, trying my best not to look frazzled, but I am.

My eyes widen when I see the man on the other side of the door.

“Hi, I’m Van,” the man says, holding out a single rose to me while he leans against my doorframe.

“I’m Ivy,” I say, slowing taking the flower from him before thinking I’m going to kill Skye later.

This man looks almost identical to Luca in every way.

“Do you want to come in for a drink first?”

I watch as Van looks down at my dogs in disgust. It’s clear that he doesn’t want to get dog hair on his designer jeans.

“Thanks, but I don’t want us to miss our reservation.”

I nod. “Let me just get my purse, and I’ll be ready to go.”

I don’t bother calling the dogs away from Van as I walk back to my bedroom to get my purse. He might look like Luca—both have the too-long blond hair, fair skin, and blue eyes—but other than that, Van seems to be the opposite of Luca. Luca would have gladly come in for a drink even if that meant missing our reservation. He would have done anything I wanted. He just wanted to make me happy.

No, that’s not true. He made me happy until he started lying his ass off, which was almost immediately.

I grab my purse. I’m going to give Van a chance. Although I don’t know how I’m going to fuck him and not think of Luca.

“I’m ready,” I say to Van, who is standing in my entryway, trying to keep my dogs from licking him to death.

“Good. Let’s go.” He immediately walks out my front door and toward his car without waiting for me.

I quickly lock up and then run out to where he is already climbing into his Porsche.

I sigh. Luca would have opened my door for me.

I walk over to the passenger side and climb in. Van starts pulling out of my driveway.

“So, where are we going for dinner?”

“I have reservations at Café DeLuce.”

“Oh, wow. That’s a nice restaurant. I should have worn something nicer.”

Van glances down at me. “Do you have anything nicer? Never mind. Don’t worry about it. We don’t have time. They’ll let us in. They always do.”

I frown. I think I look fine. Better than fine. I’m in a dress and heels, for goodness’ sake. I know I’m not wearing diamonds and a ballgown, but I still look nice. And I like this dress’ hidden pockets for random things. Luca would have complimented me about how nice I looked and not given a fuck about a dress code at a restaurant.

I’ve got to stop thinking about Luca like this. It’s not giving Van a fair chance.

I glance over at Van, trying to think of questions to ask him, when he reaches for the radio and cranks the music up. He puts the top down on his car.

I sigh. So much for making conversation.

We get to the restaurant, and the valet opens my door for me. I climb out and wait for Van to come over and at least walk next to me or hold my hand or place a hand on the small of my back. He does none of those things. Instead, he just walks straight into the restaurant. I can’t walk as fast as him in my heels, so by the time I make it in, he is already arguing with the hostess about which table he wants.

I give the hostess an apologetic smile as she takes us to our table. But, if I had only known then what I know now, I would have left immediately.

He orders oysters even though I said I was allergic.

He orders a bottle of white wine even though I said I preferred red.

He sends our food back on three separate occasions, saying that our food wasn’t cooked correctly.

He rambles on about his job. He’s some kind of agent for actors or something. I don’t really know because I wasn’t listening.

Whenever I talk about my job, he just says that he doesn’t like animals and doesn’t understand how anyone else could.

His eyes stay on my breasts for at least three-quarters of our meal, and while I don’t mind guys staring, it is a little much and creepy.

But none of this is the worst part of our meal. The worst part is that, the whole time, all I can do is compare him to Luca. How Luca would have ordered exactly what I wanted, even a cheeseburger from down the street. He wouldn’t have care if I ordered red wine even though we were at a seafood restaurant and should order white with our meal. He would have stared at my breasts, but he would have made it known that it was because he found my body more beautiful than any other woman’s in the restaurant, not because he was just a guy who liked boobs.

The waiter brings our check, and I’m thankful that our date has come to an end. I’ve definitely decided that I just want to take him somewhere and fuck him because there is no way in hell that I want to go on a second date with him. But he is good-looking, so it would be a shame not to fuck him. He’s got to be good in bed. That’s probably the only thing he has going for him.

But, when the waiter brings the check, he doesn’t grab it. He just lets it sit there while he messes with something on his phone. Usually, I would wait a guy out who does this. I don’t mind splitting a bill on a date, but I refuse to be the only one who pays, especially when I didn’t pick the restaurant or have a good time. But I’m so desperate to get out of here that I pay for our meal.

“You ready to go?” he asks when I finish paying.

“Yes,” I say sharply, not even sure if I’m going to be able to fake it long enough to have sex with this guy or not when he doesn’t even thank me for paying for his meal.

I throw my napkin down and start walking out of the restaurant, not bothering to wait for Van. I walk outside and stand, waiting for the valet to get his car. I’m tempted to call an Uber to come pick me up, but at least his convertible is enjoyable to ride in, and I can decide on the way home if I want to fuck him or not.

I hear loud laughter coming from a couple walking down the sidewalk. I turn in their direction and then freeze. Luca is walking with some blonde woman down the street. They are in casual clothes. Jeans and a nice shirt for him and a much-too-short sundress for her.

He stops when he sees me, like he wasn’t expecting to see me here, but I know he has to be lying. He planned this. How? I don’t know, but this has Luca’s stench all over it.

“What are you doing here?” I growl at him.

He holds on to the woman’s hand. “I’m on a date. This is Hannah. Hannah, this is Ivy. She’s an ex. I am helping her with a lawsuit. She’s the one I told you about, who is being sued,” he says to Hannah.

I frown, my blood boiling. I don’t like that he talked to Hannah about me. And especially not in such a negative light.

“Sorry to interrupt. You enjoy your date,” I say, trying to keep what is left of my dignity intact.

They don’t leave though.

“You should really go. My date was just getting the car, and then we are headed home to have some hot sex,” I say. Then, my face turns bright red.

Why did I have to say the part about the sex?

Luca looks around me. “Isn’t that your date leaving?”

I turn and look at where Luca is staring, and I start running after Van, who is driving away in his car. He either didn’t notice that I wasn’t in the car or he didn’t care. Either way, he has left me stranded.

I stop running after him and just stand on the sidewalk in disbelief. This night can’t get any worse than it already is.

“I can drive you home,” Luca says.

I turn to look at him and notice that his date has disappeared in the three minutes that I spent running after Van. It takes me a second to realize what just happened, but when I do, I can’t control my anger anymore.

I hit Luca on the arm over and over. “You lying bastard!”

“Whoa. What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb! I don’t know how you did it, but you hired Van to treat me like that. You hired Hannah to make me jealous. You set this whole thing up. Van was texting you, telling you that we were just about to leave. That’s why you were here when we came out. You’re still playing games!”

Luca exhales. “All I did was pay Van, whom you were already going on a date with, to text me when you were leaving. That’s it. Everything else he did, that was him. And, yes, Hannah is a friend whom I took out to dinner in exchange for making you jealous.”

I shake my head, trying to keep the tears at bay. Because I want to hate him and love him at the same time. I hate that he is still playing games, but I love that he still wants me.

“I hate you,” I say, telling him at least half of my feelings.

“I know.”

“No.” I cross my arms across my chest and turn away from Luca, not concerned. Not wanting to look at his smirk any longer.

He makes me so mad that I want to punch something.

No, him, I think.

I want to punch him. I hate him. I hate his games. But I know that he’s never going to leave me alone. This is going to be a constant struggle between us until one of us finally wins at this game he’s playing. I need to find a way to beat him at his own game. How? I have no idea. I have to find a way to make this stop.

I turn back to face Luca, who’s still standing with a smug grin on his face. He thinks he’s won. He thinks I’ve given up, and I’m going to let him drive me home. But the only way I’m going to figure out how to defeat him is by spending more time with him. Only then can I form a real plan, and if I have to spend time with him, there’s only one way, but I’m going to find it enjoyable.

“That was fast. I thought it would take me following you, groveling at your feet, for blocks until I convinced you to let me take you home,” Luca remarks.

I smile slowly and place my hands on my hips. “Oh, you’re not taking me home.”

“I’m not?”

“No. You’re taking me to the nearest hotel that has at least three stars. And then you’re going to fuck me until I forget all about the lies tonight. Until I forgive you.”

“Forgiving me is going to take a long time, isn’t it?” he asks, still grinning like an idiot.

I nod. “A very long time.”

Luca pulls out his phone, I assume to search for a hotel. I stand and watch, crossing my arms, losing more and more patience every second.

“The offer expires in about ten seconds.”

Luca looks up from his phone, still grinning. “I missed you, princess.”

“Don’t call me princess.”

Luca tries to grab my hand as I start walking down the street, but I pull my hand free. This is not about romance. This is about sex.

“I’ve got a better idea.”

“We are not fucking in a restroom again.”

Luca rolls his eyes. “I thought my dirty princess liked that.” He raises an eyebrow at me in challenge.

“I did enjoy that. But I prefer something with a slightly less chance of getting hepatitis afterward.”

Luca laughs. “You and your outrageous demands.”

We walk for a block and then another, and then Luca grabs hold of my hand, forcefully pulling me toward a building.

“Where are we going?”

Luca’s eyes light up with excitement. “My office.”