Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
He reaches out, his hand covering mine. “I know what it’s like to have complicated relationships with parents. It’s hard. Thank you for sharing that with me.”
I feel vulnerable in that moment. He’s looking at me with soft eyes, like he’s never had a woman open her soul to him, and he probably hasn’t after knowing her for such a short amount of time. “It’s your turn.”
I take the cards and fan them out, turning them his way. He hesitates, and I wonder if we’re done for the night. By night I mean forever. I won’t see this man again. He’s explained that he has a big project he’s working on while he’s here in the city, and this is his last free night. When the job winds up, he’ll head back to England. Though he simply called it Europe.
He reaches out and takes a card, turning it over and frowning. “What’s your biggest fear?”
“Spiders.” I hate them. They’re gross and build webs to trap you in and have eight eyes, and that seems like an unfair advantage in this wildlife documentary we call life.
He frowns my way. “That is not your biggest fear.”
“How would you know? You met me a couple of hours ago. I could have gotten bitten by a tarantula when I was five and still bear the scars of that trauma.” I hadn’t. I’m smarter than that. Tarantulas are large and easily avoidable if one is always on the lookout for arachnids. And I am. No. It’s the small ones I truly fear. Not to say I won’t girly scream and get my ass out of there if a tarantula shows up, because I will.
Luca is staring at me like he can see through to my soul. “We talked about your parents and my parents, and if you’re not afraid of becoming your mother, I’ll eat that special thing they have on the menu.”
It’s fried pickles slathered in sriracha, and Luca had seemed both fascinated and horrified at the thought. I rather thought they’d shut down the kitchen at this point, but I get what he’s saying, though I stand by my arachnophobia. “Fine. I do worry I’ll end up in that kind of relationship. She was devastated when he left. I don’t know what she would have done if she hadn’t had her business partner. Tonya’s been her best friend since high school. She held us all together while Mom worked on some stuff. It was hard because right after the divorce, Dad insisted on a strict custody schedule. I think he did it to punish her.”
"Why do you think that?” Luca asks.
“Because he wasn’t interested in spending time with me.” It had been a difficult era for me. He moved out of the city so when I was at his place, I didn’t have Ivy or Harper. I was alone. “I don’t think he hated me. He was kind of neutral when it came to me. I think he was far more interested in punishing her for not being the woman he wanted. And this is why I put all the weird stuff out at the beginning. I think that’s what my dad did wrong. Or maybe it was my mom. She said he changed after they got married, and again after they had me. I don’t think people really change. I think they get comfortable enough to show you who they are. I make it a point to simply be myself the entire time.”
He seems to think for a moment. “Sound reasoning, although for some people there is a hidden self. One they must show to the public, and a more private self.”
I don’t buy it. “Why would anyone want that kind of life? I mean, I get it. You’re talking about politicians or like an actor or something. I deal with a lot of those, and I know they don’t present the same face to the world they do in private, but that’s work. You’re never going to be the same person at work that you are at home. Not entirely.”
He seems to think about what to say, leaning over, his deep brown eyes searching mine. “But what if your work is always with you? I don’t think King Charles would say he gets much of a private life.”
“Yeah. It would suck to be royal.”
“Yes, it would,” he agrees. “Although there are some compensations.”
I can’t think of one, and I am about to have to deal with a horny king, so I’m ready to get off the topic of royalty. “Well, I’m not worried about ending up in some royal family, but I do worry I’ll find myself in love with someone I don’t truly know.”
He stares at me for a moment. “So you try to be yourself always.”
“Always. Though you should understand I truly am afraid of spiders. They’re not natural. You shouldn’t be able to have eight legs and a million eyes and be hairy under a microscope.”