I’m sitting at my desk, working through a pile of paperwork while the guys run through drills in the garage, when my phone vibrates against the desk.
Renee – Hey. How’s your day going? I’m just sitting down to dinner with Hayley and thought I’d see how you are. Can I call you tonight? I’ve got something to ask you?
“Who’s that?” Luca asks, walking into my office and slumping down on the small couch opposite my desk.
“Hello to you too.”
“Hey, brother. How have you been in the fifteen minutes since I saw you last?” he asks.
I turn to face him, shaking my head at his shit-eating grin. “Smartass.”
“One of us has to be. You’d rather moon over your girlfriend than do paperwork. Jeez, you get the approval of the nonna and you’re all lovey-dovey and shit. I should probably check it when you’re done just in case you’ve written ‘Marco hearts Renee’ or something.”
I snicker, shaking my head at the idiot. “Like you’ve finished yours.”
“Well, no. But I’m taking a well-earned break before getting back into it.”
“You say that like you’ve even started.”
“Hey, I was hungry and you can’t stay looking this good without sustenance.”
I chuckle because I’ve never met anyone else who can eat his weight in food and not have to slog his guts out to work it off. Luca seems to eat without regret and have it all turn into muscle, and that includes a few of Mama’s home-cooked meals each week. He doesn’t live there, but I swear, he’d eat there every night if he could.
“How is Renee?” he asks, nodding to the phone.
“Did I say I was messaging her?”
“You didn’t have to,” he replies without missing a beat.
“She’s good.”
“So things are going well?”
“What do you think?” I reply in a ‘duh’ tone.
“You’re an Italian Captain America. Everyone loves you, so of course you’ve got the Hamilton women eating out of your hand.”
“Who does that make you then?” I lift a brow his way.
“The Hulk.”
I throw my head back and burst out laughing.
Rhodes appears in my doorway, looking between us with a smirk. ”Is Luca telling you about how he had a woman’s roommate ask to join in last night?”
My eyes bug out at my brother. “What?”
He winces and scowls at Rhodes. “Thanks, big mouth. Last time I tell you anything in confidence.”
The grin on Rhodes face gets bigger. “Gio thinks it’s funny too. The Captain and Zach just chuckled and walked away, muttering about how you’ll never learn, and I think Scotty wants to ask you for tips since Hayley broke his heart.”
“Hayley didn’t even get close to his heart. All she wanted was a good time,” Luca says. “That’s more than half obvious.”
I hold my hands up when both of them turn to me as if I know the answer. “I have not and will not ask Renee’s sister why she hasn’t returned Scotty’s fifty calls and text messages.”
“Fifty? Shit,” Rhodes says in disbelief. “We need to teach him how to be cool.”
My eyes widen. “Do you think he’s going to change? He’s been the same way as long as we’ve known him.”
Rhodes sighs. “This is true.”
Back to my brother, the manwhore. “How on earth did the proposed three-way come about?”
Luca blushes a little. “She told me she had a roommate and that they might be keen to join us. I was the idiot who assumed she was another girl.”
I bite my lip, trying so hard not to laugh, but I make the mistake of glancing at Rhodes and we both crack up at the same time, howling this time, not having any hope of being quiet.
“God, I hate you two sometimes,” Luca grumbles.
“I’m just living vicariously through you. Learning what not to do when I start dating again.”
That grabs my attention, my head turning in slow motion to my best friend. “Did I hear that right?” I ask quietly.
Rhodes shrugs. “Jake has a point. He’s gonna go to college in a few years, and I can’t put my life on hold forever. Lily wouldn’t want that and Jake’s got a good head on his shoulders. Maybe it’s time I open myself up to the possibility of dating again.”
“Yeah. But there’s no pressure.” I tilt my head Luca’s way. “You don’t have to be like my ‘easy-breezy, all access to everyone’ brother over here.”
“Thanks,” Luca retorts dryly.
I eye him questioningly. “Am I wrong?”
“You don’t have to be so obvious about it,” he mutters.
“Neither do you,” Rhodes says, backing me up.
“Yeah, yeah. Maybe I’ll be like my big brother here and meet the one woman who knocks him on his ass and fall head over heels.”
“Actually, she did knock me on my ass—literally.”
“That’ll be a good story to tell the grandkids one day,” Rhodes replies with a knowing glint in his eye.
God, that’s jumping a bit far ahead, isn’t it?
I roll my eyes and turn back to face my desk. “On that note, I need to get back to my paperwork before we get another job.”
Luca stands and looks over at Rhodes, both of them with knowing glints in their eyes. “That’s code for ‘get out so I can call my girlfriend,’” Rhodes says with a smirk.
My brother snorts. “Doesn’t want us to hear him getting all lovey-dovey ‘cause then we’ll give him shit.”
Rhodes scoffs. “Says the man who only sweet talks to get in a woman’s pants.”
“Or skirt. Not that fussed,” he says with a wink. Rhodes grabs him in a headlock and drags him from my office.
“Thanks,” I call out, still chuckling to myself as I bring up Renee’s number, already looking forward to hearing the sound of her voice.
“Hey,” she says softly when the call connects.
“Hey yourself. You know you don’t have to text me to ask if you can call? If I can answer, I always will.”
“I’m not one of those needy girlfriends who expects you to reply straight away. I just like to let you know I’m thinking of you and that you can call me when you’re not busy.”
“Baby, if you call and I’m not on a job, I’ll always answer because there’s nothing better for my mood than hearing your voice if I can’t see you.”
She sighs, and fuck, that’s a good sound. It’s a happy one that tells me I’m not laying it on too thick. My doubts that we’re on the same page are pretty much non-existent, but when a man has a woman in his bed he wants to stay there, he’ll always be a little wary until he locks it down. “Good to know.”
“What can I say? I kinda like you.”
“Oooh. Like really, really like me?” she asks, putting on a teenage girl’s drawl.
I chuckle. “Yeah. Like, a lot.” I try to sound like a surfer dude but it comes out more like Beavis from Beavis and Butthead, making her giggle down the phone.
“That’s good. It would be terribly sad to have to break Grams’ heart. She’s a firm fan of yours now. She’s even told her friends about my ‘handsome new man-friend.’“
“I promise not to break any Hamilton woman’s heart.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
“You can hold me to anything as long as it’s against your body, especially naked.”
“Behave, Marco. Don’t be sweet and sexy when I can’t show you my appreciation,” she says, her voice as smooth as the melted chocolate I drizzled over her skin a few nights ago when we last had a sleepover.
“Being told to behave. That’s a first,” I say with a laugh, resting my ass against my desk, my groin definitely interested in the memory and promise of more. ”You said you wanted to ask me something.”
“Yeah. So John asked me today if I was planning on going to the Big Brothers Big Sisters Fall Ball next month.”
“You said you usually do.”
“Yeah. I do. I just hadn’t really thought about it.”
“I can be the candy on your arm,” I reply without her asking. “I think I look quite good in a suit if I do say so myself . . .”
I hear her small gasp in my ear. “I didn’t, I mean . . . you don’t have to—”
My lips twitch and I shake my head, even though I know she can’t see me. “Renee, were you going to ask me to be your date?
“Yeah.”
“Do you want me there?”
“Yeah,” she says softly and so damn sweetly that it makes me wish I was there right now to throw her over my shoulder, take her to bed and show her what she does to me.
“Then I’ll be there. When is it?”
“Four weeks away. Can you make it?” she asks, and I don’t miss the hope in her voice.
“Princess, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Especially since it means I get to see you in a ball gown.”
She gasps. “I didn’t even think about that fact. I’ll get to see you in a suit.”
“I’ll swap shifts around if I have to, and—”
Her breath catches. “I don’t want to be any hassle though . . .”
“Baby, I may not be able to give you everything in the world, but I’ll never give up trying. This is important to you and because of that, it’s important to me.” Comfortable silence fills the line. “But also, the fire department gets tickets every year because some of us volunteer now and then. The difference this year is I’ll be going for you, not as a firefighter. I’ll get the guys to come too.” The line goes quiet.
“Renee?”
“He never . . .” she says shakily but trails off. She doesn’t often talk about her ex, which is good, because then I’d press to try find out who he is and likely hunt him down to thank him for being a fuck-up and giving me a chance with her. “I know you’re not him, you’re nothing like him, but sometimes you’re so different it takes my breath away,” she says in her honest way that I like a hell of a lot. There’s no pretense with Renee. It’s all black and white, and clear as day.
“Nothing about you will ever be a hassle. I swear to God, Renee, don’t doubt how important you are to me.”
“Maybe you need to come show me,” she says, and I can hear the smile in her voice.
“I need to sleep tomorrow, but do you want to come over tomorrow night?”
“Or you could crawl into my bed when you finish in the morning and sleep here.”
“Will you be there with me?” I ask, my voice thick.
“For a few hours, then I’ll have to leave, but I like the idea of you coming home to me in the morning.”
“You have no fucking idea how much I’ve been wanting to do that.”
“Good, because I may have snuck my spare key into the front pocket of your work bag.”
My lips curve up as I look out the window of my office. “For a special occasion?”
“For when you called me and I asked you to come here in the morning.”
“You were rather sure I would say yes.”
“I seem to know you well,” she replies with a laugh.
“Fuck, princess. I swear you were made for me.”
“If that’s true then that means you’re meant for me too.”
“I’ll prove it in the morning.”
“I’m counting on it.”
“Good night, baby.”
“Good night, Lieutenant. Stay safe.”
“Always do. But let me ask you something. Did you call to tell him to be safe, or is that just for me?”
“Considering I wasn’t allowed to call him, or if I did, he’d never call back? It has only been and only will be yours. It would also be a damn shame for you to do something to yourself now after spending so much time and effort getting me to like you.”
“You did put up a good fight,” I say, and you could not wipe the satisfied grin off my face if you tried.
“It was a battle I had no hope of winning.”
Fuck that feels good to hear. ”I’m glad you didn’t win. Not when we know how good it is now.”
“Absolutely. Now stay safe, Lieutenant. I have plans for you in the morning.”
“Not if I wake you first.”
I smile at her soft moan. “Goodnight, princess. Don’t do anything I’ll have to spank you for.”
“What if I send you photos?” she asks with a sexy laugh that gets my cock’s attention again.
“Stop making me hard when I’m at work and can’t bend you over my desk to deal with it and you.”
“At least now I know you won’t be short of ideas in the morning. Bye.” She giggles before hanging up.
The bells ring five minutes later, giving me enough time to recover. Yet I still walk out to the garage with a stupid grin on my face, earning an amused chuckle from Rhodes and a shake of Luca’s head. I glare at both of them. “Not a word. But we are going to the Fall Ball together, so make sure you guys are there too. We’ll make a night of it as a crew.”
“Sounds good to me. I’ll bring Jake; he’s been bugging me to go,” Rhodes replies.
Luca nods. “I’m sure I can find a date. If not, Renee has a sister, right?” he asks as he sits behind the steering wheel and turns the key.
“Hey. You leave Hayley alone,” Scotty calls out from the back seat. “She’s mine.”
I scoff and look over my shoulder. “Does she know that or is there a trespass order at play here?”
Scotty flips me the bird. “Maybe she lost my number,” he mutters. By the time we pull out of the garage, lights and sirens blazing, the entire crew is laughing.