Starter Wife (The Jilted Wives Club Book 1) by Bethany Lopez (a court of thorns and roses ebook free TXT) 📕

“Absolutely. We just need to cool it so we can slow down the pace a bit, okay?”

I nodded.

“Maybe it’s best if we go back to sitting up and make out from that position. This one’s a little too intense.”

I was about to make a joke when Luca shifted to get off of me and that’s when I felt it. Oh boy, Summer was right. I swear I could measure the length of him covering the expanse of my thigh.

Luca was huge!

Sixteen

Luca

“I’m about to head home, Mr. Russo, do you need anything else before I go?”

I looked up, distracted, then glanced at the clock to see it was already almost six.

“Sorry, Pam, I didn’t realize it was so late. You could have left an hour ago,” I told her.

“That’s okay, Boss, I had some work to catch up on,” she said easily.

My parents were currently living the good life in Italy, so I, and in turn, Pam, had twice the case load this week. We’d been burning the candle at both ends, not just this week, but last week as well, since we’d wanted to get ahead of the game as much as possible.

“You know I appreciate it,” I told her, knowing I’d be drowning if I didn’t have her to help me stay organized and on task.

“Thanks. Don’t stay too late.”

I nodded in response and turned my attention back to my work as she walked away.

Sometime later, a knock on the door had me once again checking the clock and looking up.

“Hey,” I said with a smile when I saw Whitney standing in my doorway with a takeout bag in her hand. “You aren’t still working?”

If she was, I’d be having a talk with Paula Dixon. It was seven o’clock, after all, and it wasn’t tax season, so there was no reason our associates should be working so late.

“No, I went home. But I figured you’d be working straight through dinner again, and since my kids are with their father, I thought I’d pick something up and bring it by,” she said, lifting up the bag as evidence.

We’d had a few dates, lots of phone calls, and some pretty racy texts over the last few weeks. Our relationship hadn’t necessarily progressed, in that I still hadn’t met her kids and she hadn’t met my family, but I was feeling really optimistic that both events were on the horizon.

The more time I spent with her, the harder I fell, and she was way more comfortable and open with me than she’d been initially.

This is new though, her bringing me food … taking care of me … I like it.

“I hope there’s enough for two,” I said as I got up from my desk and rounded it to meet her at the small table by the window.

“There is,” she replied shyly. “I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s more than okay. Come here,” I said, taking the bag from her and placing it on the table before moving to gather her in my arms. “I’ve missed you.”

“I saw you at lunch,” she said with a laugh as I nuzzled her neck.

“That was hours ago,” I joked.

We kissed for a few moments, but when I felt things start to heat up, I broke off the kiss.

“What are we having?” I asked, resting my forehead against hers while we both caught our breath.

“Indian. After you told me about that place across the street I just had to try it out.”

“You are not going to be disappointed,” I said, my stomach growling at the scent of food.

We opened the bag and took out the containers of delicious, spicy food and opened them all up. Whitney had the forethought to get plates and plasticware, so we dished out the food and took our seats across from each other.

“Thanks for doing this,” I said as I dipped my naan in to the Tikka Masala.

“Well, you said last night you forgot to eat and by the time you got home all you had to eat was a jar of pickles and some leftover soup. I didn’t want that to happen again.”

“How was your day?” I asked, loving the normalcy of the moment. I’d never been in a relationship where I’d liked the person so much that I wanted to enjoy the simplicity of having a meal and talking about my day with them.

“It was good. After lunch I went over the account Mrs. Dixon gave me. I’m pleased she’s starting to trust me enough to handle my own accounts.”

“Yeah, Paula has a hard time loosening the reigns and giving over control, but she means well. And she’s smart as hell.”

Whitney nodded and said, “I really like her. I already feel like I’ve learned so much.”

“I know she’s happy to have you on the team.”

“How about you? Have you made any headway?” she asked.

“I have, finally. Luckily my dad’s files are flawless, so it’s made things easier.”

“Have you heard from your parents? Are they enjoying themselves?”

“My ma is in heaven. She could not stop talking about the olive groves and the cobblestone pathways,” I replied with a chuckle. My mom hadn’t wanted to be on the phone for long, she said it was a waste of her precious vacation time, but she couldn’t not call each of us daily for a few minutes to check in.

“I bet. I’ve always wanted to go to Italy.”

“You’ve never been?” I asked.

“No, not yet, but it’s on my list.”

“List?”

“The list of places I want to visit before I die,” she said, cocking her head to the side as she asked, “Don’t you have one?”

“Not an actual list. I guess I do have places I intend to visit, but I’ve never written them down, I just keep them all up here,” I said, tapping my temple with my finger.

Whitney smiled and shrugged. “I can’t help it, I’m a lover of lists.”

“I know, and I love that about you,” I replied. When I noticed her eyes widen a