Chapter Twenty-Two

On Tuesday I worked the lunch shift, and I couldn’t deny the disappointment of not seeing Hunter in the morning. Plus, Savannah was on shift with me, and I ruined a couple of croissants when I used them as stress balls. She claimed the till while I got the orders ready. I tried to say as little as possible, but Savannah was the queen of finding and poking at people’s weaknesses.

“You know,” she leaned on the counter, staring across the street, “I’m totally starting to see the attraction to Hunter. I mean, I always thought he was smokin’ hot, even hotter than Colton.”

I tried not to snort, knowing that was an utter lie. Or if it was the truth, she never would have claimed it in high school.

“Of course, you have to look past the fact he’s a loser who will never leave this town or be anything more than a mechanic.” She said the word like it was a disgrace and not a respectable profession. “But his body is screw-me-up-against-a-car hot.” She licked her lips, watching Hunter roll a tire in from outside, his T-shirt sweaty and clinging to his torso. “It’s not like I’m looking for anything more than incredible sex before going back to my boyfriend.”

“Is your boyfriend aware of this?”

“He’s at football training for the summer. He might go professional,” she said, still watching Hunter. “We’re keeping things light until we see each other again. I need some fun this summer.”

I scrubbed a table I had already cleaned, trying not let her get to me.

“Maybe on my break I’ll go over and visit Aubrey… see how Hunter is doing.”

“You do that.” I rubbed the surface harder. Don’t let her get to you, I repeated over and over in my head. Plus, I needed not worry. I knew how Hunter would respond to Savannah coming on to him. “Actually, can I come?” I rolled the cloth, walking back to the next table. “That would be hilarious to watch.”

“You don’t think I could get him? Even with his baby mama, he’d never turn me down.”

With any other guy besides Hunter, it might be true. Unfortunately, Savannah’s appearance only inflated her ego. She was stunning, a girl most guys would trip over themselves to be with. And she could flirt. Not many men could withstand her undivided attention, even if their lives were on the line.

“Well, it looks like I don’t need to go to him.” She wiggled her eyebrows. Following her gaze, I viewed Hunter strolling across the street, heading for us, whipping my butterflies into a frenzy.

Damn. How does he look sexy even sweaty?

He pushed through the door, his gaze finding me right away. “Hey.” He stepped in. “You weren’t on this morning.”

“No. Tuesdays are my afternoon shifts.”

“I guess on Tuesdays I’ll stop bringing my lunch.”

The fluttering in my stomach went up into my throat, my fingers gripping a chair.

“Hey, Hunter,” Savannah chimed in. “Can I get you anything?”

His gaze darted to her, his forehead wrinkling, as though confused by her change in tone.

“An iced tea,” he said, more like a question, then turned back to me. Her lids lowered as though in shock that he wasn’t fawning. “Wanted to see if you had heard anything from the Smithsonian.”

Okay, now I really understood the butter-in-a-frying-pan metaphor.

“No. There’s a good chance I won’t hear anything from them at all. But thank you for asking.”

He nodded, walking to the counter, paying Savannah for the iced tea.

“Keep me updated if you do.”

“I will.”

He hesitated, his mouth opening then closing again.

“Was there something else?”

“Actually…” He exhaled. I could see someone step into the café behind him, but my gaze was locked on Hunter. “I wanted to talk to you about something—”

“Bellezza!” Hunter’s sentence was cut off as a familiar voice dumped down on me like ice water.

Holy. Shit.

“My bellissimo.” Arms came around me, lifting me in the air, squeezing me tight. “I have missed you so much.” He set me back on my feet, his hands cupping my face. “I couldn’t stay away from you any longer, mio amato.” My beloved.

“Luca,” I croaked, shock paralyzing me in place. He stood there, wearing his glasses, button-up shirt, nice jeans, and loafers, looking like a college professor next to Hunter’s rugged appearance.

“What-what are you doing here?”

Luca’s mouth came down on mine, familiar, sweet, kissing me avidly, his hands curling around my ears like they always did. He broke away. “Because I love you, bellezza. Ancora dipendente dai tuoi baci.” Still addicted to your kisses. “When you called me telling me you loved and missed me, I knew I had to come see you.”

A gruff noise behind Luca dropped my heart into my feet.

Hunter.

I stepped away from Luca, peering over to Hunter. The need to explain what really happened that night, to tell him... what, Jayme? What Luca said was mostly true. Why do you need to defend yourself?

If I expected to find an emotion lingering on Hunter, I was mistaken. He took us in like he was staring at a wall. His blankness felt like a dagger to my heart.

“Oh, mi dispiace.” I am sorry. Luca turned to include Hunter in the group. “Emotion got the better of me. I apologize for interrupting, but I have missed my girl so much.”

“Your girl,” Hunter repeated, not a breath of feeling in it.

“Yes.” Luca wrapped his arm around me, hugging me to him. “I asked her to marry me.”

Hunter’s chin lifted, his gaze darting to me, then back to Luca. “I guess congratulations are in order.” His eyes met mine, his jaw rolling back and forth. “I better leave you two to catch up then.” He tipped back on his heels, twisting for the door.

“No. Hunter. Wait.” I reached out for him, but he moved away from me. He showed the first signs of emotion since Luca’s appearance, and it was pure hatred. “I can explain.” Could I? I didn’t even know what the hell was happening right now.

“Don’t.” His nose flared. “I get it.” He shook his head, opening the door. “I guess Italians really do have it all,” he said before stalking out the door to the garage.

“A friend?” Luca motioned to him.

“Sure. A friend.” Savannah snorted, jerking my glare to her. She smiled wickedly at me. “Oh, Jayme. What a tangled web we weave.”

 

 

Taking my break, I pulled Luca outside, needing to get as far from Savannah’s listening ears as possible, although she already had heard enough to get tongues wagging in this town. Luca’s appearance alone would do that. A tall, sexy Italian in this town? Oh yeah, people would notice.

“What are you doing here?” I stopped under a tree, facing him.

“What do you mean? I came to be with you.”

“Luca, we broke up!”

“Only because you had to leave. So… I come to you.” His broken English grew worse under my scrutiny.

I rubbed at my forehead, feeling my temples pound.

“Tell me truth, bellezza. If you stayed, we would still be together, no?”

My mouth pinched together. “Yes.” I finally agreed.

It was true. Our relationship had been easy and comfortable, and I loved who I was with him. I had loved him, as much as I could love anyone. But seeing him in front of me now, I realized I had put Italy in a box. I was a different person there, far away from this town and most of all Hunter. I was content in that version of me at the time. Coming back here changed things. Or maybe it was seeing Hunter that did it. When I felt incapable of truly giving my heart to anyone, Hunter flamed that part of me alive like a bonfire. Even if we were never meant to be together, I couldn’t deny how I felt when he was around. I hated he made it glaringly obvious I didn’t feel those things for Luca.

“Luca…” I swallowed, toeing the dirt with my shoe. “You shouldn’t have come. I am so sorry, but you deserve better than me. Someone who truly loves you.”

“You are wrong.” He stepped closer to me. “I have seen your heart. I know we belong together. I will show you.”

“Luca.” I jammed my lids closed, trying to squeeze out my frustration.

“I come all the way here for you. Caterina told me I was a fool, but I know…” He grabbed my hand, placing it on his chest. “That you are meant for me. This belongs to you, bellezza.”

The splinter in my chest cracked, leaving me confused and empty. But now I understood why Caterina claimed I had caused her a headache all the way from here. Luca had left the museum to come to me. Covering his shifts had to have caused her stress.

“Luca… things have changed. I-I don’t know…”

“Let me try to prove you wrong. Until the moment I fly back.”

“When is that?”

“Two weeks.”

“What?” My mouth dropped. “You took two weeks off to come here?”

“You are worth more. Remember you are the most important thing to me, bellezza.” He took my hand. “You say the word, I stay forever.”

Oh holy shit.

How was this happening? I strode away, walking in circles. He had come into my life when I needed someone like him. Sometimes people are there when you need them, but not all are meant to stay. Maybe Luca was supposed to stay and I just couldn’t see it now. Years from now, I’d look back and be thankful he fought for us. The pain and heartache of Hunter would be in my past.

My head lifted, and I stared across the street, my insides dumping out on the pavement. Krista sat at the picnic table, watching and laughing as Hunter chased Cody around, sweeping him up, and pretending to gobble up his ice cream.

Trills of laughter caught the air, burrowing into me like needles. That was what I had wanted with him someday. But it would never come to pass.

Maybe my heart and head were so screwed up it didn’t know Hunter was the one who wasn’t meant to stay.