Pretending with the Greek Billionaire(31)

Constance opened her mouth to respond. She hadn’t thought it was possible but she was afraid she might have hurt his feelings. He didn’t give her a chance to say anything else. He stood and held out his hand. She took it, let him help her rise. A server handed Luca a bag. He’d cleared their plates and boxed up the leftover food and she hadn’t even noticed.

“Efharistó,” he said, thanking the man and handing him a large tip.

She stole a glance at Luca, one eyebrow raised.

“You didn’t eat much. I thought you might be hungry later.”

“Oh. Thank you,” she said, surprised. It was unexpectedly thoughtful.

He winked at her and raised her hand to his lips, keeping his gaze locked on hers as he kissed her knuckle above her engagement ring. “It’s my job to take care of you.”

He sounded like he meant it. Again, she mentally chastised herself. She didn’t know why she kept judging him so harshly. He really had been pretty decent to her, all things considered.

She gave him the sweetest smile she could muster and didn’t object when he laced his fingers through hers. She’d deny it if ever asked, but she actually quite liked his big, warm hand enveloping hers. To her delight, he ushered her through the back door of the restaurant into a waiting car driven by Joseph. She settled back against the seat in the rear with Luca.

“Not that I’m complaining, but why didn’t we have to wade through the sea of cameras out there again?”

Luca sighed. “Even I get tired of the circus occasionally, Stanzia. They’ve gotten enough pictures of us for the night. All I want to do is go home and get in bed.”

Constance’s stomach dropped to her toes. They were on their way back to his house, to his room, where she was expected to sleep in his bedroom.

They pulled through the gates of the estate. Only a few lights were on in the house. There was no party going on. No guests. No paparazzi (that she could see). No kids. It was the two them for the whole night, alone.

They entered the house and stood in the entryway. Luca turned to Joseph. “Make sure everything is locked up, and set the alarm.”

“Of course, sir. Kaliníhta, Miss Constance.”

“Good night, Joseph,” she said, trying to keep her tone neutral.

Luca took her hand.

“Luca,” she said, dragging her feet a little as he towed her down a hallway to a closed door.

“It’s late. I’m tired. We’re going to bed.”

She tried to yank her hand from his. He held firm, but he did glance over his shoulder, eyebrows raised in question.

“Something wrong?”

Protesting that she didn’t want to go to bed would be both futile and a lie. She was exhausted. Nothing sounded better than curling up in bed and falling asleep. The problem was he’d be in the same room. Sometimes just being in the same town seemed too close to be to him. The thought of it made her body tremble and her mind race with fantasies that made her blush, and burn. If she survived the next few weeks, it would be a freaking miracle.

“No,” she finally muttered.

“Good.” The smug smile he gave her left her with no doubt he knew exactly what her issue was, and it amused him.

Well, that wouldn’t do. She squared her shoulders, lifted her chin, and marched straight into his bedroom where she came to a complete, dead stop.

His master suite was almost bigger than her entire house. But the bed is what really drew her attention. She didn’t know how big the dang thing was, but it was definitely larger than a king. Theoretically, this was a good thing. They could probably share it with no problem. In fact, if she lay near the edge on her side, and he lay near his, they could probably put another person between them, lying sideways. Plenty of space to avoid each other. Somehow, she didn’t think it mattered how large the bed was. If Luca was in it, they would be too close. Thank God she was sleeping on the couch.

She realized he was watching her, his amused smile growing larger by the second. She tore her gaze from the bed and looked around for her things.

“Your luggage has been unpacked. Everything is in the closet here.”

He led her to a closet that could have easily been a spare bedroom. One section of it now held her things. A small tinge of embarrassment settled over her at the thought of someone handling her things, especially her underthings.

“The bathroom is this way,” he said, leading her to another large space.

The blue and yellow tiles of the bathroom reminded her of home. But that was as far as the similarities went. A massive tub, easily large enough for two, or four, filled one corner. A shower with more jets than she’d ever seen before filled another. It was large enough for a group and for everyone to have their own showerhead. The image of Luca standing under those steaming jets was a nice image indeed, but not one she should be dwelling on.