“Okay, this is it.”
Theo’s heart was in his mouth as Miranda pulled into the driveway of the Majestic Hotel, her tiny Chevrolet Spark crunching over the gravel. While his dad might still have let him use the Lux car service, Theo hadn’t wanted his help. It felt important to do this on his own from the start.
“Wow,” Miranda said as they approached the building. “It’s even cooler than I remembered.”
The Majestic had her finery on display tonight, lights blazing against the evening sky, but she couldn’t hold Theo’s attention. His eyes were fixed on the battered VW campervan parked out front.
He wasn’t too late.
Sucking in a breath, he tried to will himself calm. There was no going back now, anyway; he’d already burned his bridges in New York. All that was left was to go forward. He only hoped words didn’t fail him when he was face-to-face with Luca. And that—even the thought of seeing him again—made him smile. A twitchy, nervous smile, for sure, but still a smile.
“Okay,” Miranda said as she parked up next to Luca’s van. “What’s next, boss?”
“I’m not your boss anymore,” he said absently, his attention captured by the open doors to the Majestic. From inside, he could hear the faint sound of music. Odd, given that Lux would take possession of the hotel in the morning.
“It’s a turn of phrase,” Miranda said. “Besides...maybe I’m hoping you’ll hire me?”
That made him look at her. “You are?”
“We’ll see.”
They would indeed. Absolutely nothing about this insane plan was guaranteed, and there was a fair chance it would be the worst mistake of Theo’s life. But there was also a chance it would be the best thing he’d ever done and there was only one way to find out. Steeling himself, he grabbed his bag and climbed out of the car. He sucked in a deep breath of New Milton air, relishing the sea-tang and the fresh breeze tugging at his neatly styled hair as if urging him to let go, to unfurl like a sail. Despite his nerves, he smiled. Yes. Yes, this felt right.
The sun had only just set, the sky striated in burnt orange and black, and the hotel rose glorious before it. Mine, he thought, with a sharp, nervous pulse. Maybe, ours.
With Miranda a couple steps behind, he headed across the drive and up the steps onto the porch. Closer now, he could hear the music more clearly and his steps faltered. There were other sounds, too: people talking, laughing. A party?
Shit. They were having a party. He stuttered to a halt a few steps inside the doorway. He’d assumed Luca would be alone, or at the least only with Jude and Don.
Miranda’s hand landed on his back. “Don’t stop now, boss.”
“There are people here,” he hissed.
She laughed. “Yeah. So?”
“I can’t—”
“You gotta.”
She was right. He had to do this if he was going to make things right. In for a penny, in for a pound, as his dad liked to say.
Shoulders braced, Theo followed the sound of the music across the foyer to the door of the Majestic’s elegant dining room. The tables had been pushed back against the walls, and small lights twinkled around the French doors which stood open to the porch and the garden beyond. Theo’s stomach jumped because it looked so much like his own vision for the place, and that felt like an omen, like the universe willing him forward. Even so, he hesitated on the threshold. The room was crammed with people, some at the makeshift buffet laid out on the tables, others standing in groups talking and laughing. Music came from the old CD player in one corner, although nobody was dancing. He spotted Dee straight away, her bright purple hair standing out, and then he saw Jude and Don. He smiled to see Jude looking so well, sitting like a queen holding court at the far side of the room, Don playing consort at her shoulder. Above them someone had strung a homemade banner, reading: Goodbye and Good Luck!
His stomach flip-flopped nervously. If all went well... But, no, he wouldn’t get ahead of himself. Pausing in the doorway, he took a couple of steadying breaths, watched the gauzy curtains billow in the breeze and let the scent of sea air settle him. He was here. He was going to do it. He was going to—
Luca stepped in from the porch. He wore jeans and a shirt, his dark blond hair swept back, walking with his customary laconic swagger. Theo’s stomach tensed, remembering their fight outside the hospital, and all his inner demons screamed in alarm: This won’t work. Luca doesn’t want you, he never wanted you. He said so.
Miranda touched his arm. “There he is. Go get him, tiger.”
She gave him a little push and he half-stumbled into the room, walking forward with his pulse pounding in his ears so loud that at first he didn’t notice the conversation subsiding around him, didn’t notice the eyes turning toward him. It was only when the woman Luca was talking to said something, and Luca turned with a start, stopping dead, that the rest of the room came roaring back. Luca’s eyes were wide—Astonishment? Shock?—and his lips parted, but he didn’t say anything, he just stared.
Theo found himself stranded in the middle of the room, the oppressive weight of everyone’s gaze intolerable. The only sound was the tinny music, and somehow it only accentuated the silence. He swallowed, endeavoring to work a little moisture into his mouth, and said, “Hello, Luca.”
Luca nodded, frowning. “You guys don’t take possession until tomorrow.”
True enough. “But that’s not why I’m here.”
Dimly, he was aware of Jude getting to her feet, a blur in the periphery of his vision. His focus was wholly on Luca, watching the way his frown deepened, watching the way his throat worked as he swallowed hard, listening to the catch in his voice when he said, “So why are you here?”
Good fucking question. “Because I...” Say it. Say it. “Because I have a proposal.”
One of Luca’s eyebrows twitched. “About?”
You, me, our lives. Everything. “The Majestic,” he said, which encompassed them all. “Could we go somewhere to discuss it?”
A murmur skittered around the room and someone turned off the music, plunging them into deeper silence. Theo preferred it, because now all he could hear was his own thumping heartbeat and the distant wash of the surf.
Luca glanced around, looking at Jude, then turned back to Theo. “Here’s fine.”
He’d worked out a speech, of course. Not one he’d intended to deliver to half the bloody town, but it didn’t matter because all the words had fled his mind anyway. He opened his mouth, closed it, flinched away from memories of that night with Grant Daly in another room full of people, another stupid declaration. He wiped his clammy palms against his chinos, anxiety spiraling up into his throat. Everyone was looking at him. Luca cocked his head, one hand twitching as if checking the impulse to reach out.
Theo stumbled forward in response, his body trying to overrule his hesitant mind. “I’ve bought the Majestic,” he blurted.
Luca exchanged another look with Jude. “We know...”
“No, I mean—” He frowned, chewing his words. “I’ve bought it, from my father. I cashed in my trust fund, some investments, and my shares in Lux.” Fuck, shut up, they don’t care about that. “I want to save it.”
A wave of excitement rolled around the room. Jude put a hand to her mouth, Don gripping her shoulder. But Luca didn’t move at all, his eyes fixed on Theo. “I don’t understand. Why?”
And that was the crux. That was why he was here. Blowing out a nervous breath, throat tight, he made himself meet Luca’s eyes. He loved those eyes, so bright and open. “Because... Because she’s too beautiful to tear down.” True, but again not the whole truth. “Because I can see it. I can see how it’ll work, what it’ll look like, how we’ll market it. Because I want to build something up from scratch, fight for it, make it grow. And I want—” He swallowed, bracing himself to say it out loud, to claim his desire as his own. “I want to do it with you, Luca. Because I think we could be great together. And I think you want it, too.”
The words hung there, suspended between them in a breathless hush. His heart hammered, each beat a sharp, lurching pain. Each second of silence harder to bear than the last, deeper than the last. Luca’s gaze rested on the floor, his mouth a hard, straight line, hands fisted at his sides. Theo could see his chest rising and falling, shoulders bunched. But he said nothing, he didn’t answer.
A flush of humiliation crawled across Theo’s skin. His ears burned, pulse drumming louder, blood rushing. He dropped his gaze to his shoes, eyes hot, blinking hard. He tried to swallow, but couldn’t, wanted to say something, but couldn’t choke out any words.
Luca didn’t want him. Of course he didn’t. Why the fuck had he ever thought he would? And then another thought struck: would this look like harassment? Fuck me and I’ll save your hotel? Horror forced his head back up. “Obviously, if you’re not interested, I’ll go ahead without you.” The words scratched in his throat, sounding wrong to his ears. “I’ll leave you to think it over...”
And that was all he could manage. His legs were shaking, his breathing all over the place, and he could barely see through his blurry eyes as he turned and fled the room. Miranda was on his heels but he couldn’t look at her. All he wanted was to get out, to go, to run. Because Luca didn’t want him and he should have fucking known.
Nobody would ever want him.