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

It was like I could see the tension leave his body as he watched me pensively and seemed to make up his mind.

“Okay, I can do that. But if you do anything to hurt her … anything … I’ll be coming back here.”

The door opened and Silas hurried out of the elevator without another word.

It was a pretty good closing statement and exit, so I let him get a good distance away and have his moment before I exited the building. I could see him joining a group of friends and talking to them excitedly, his hands gesturing wildly as he probably regaled them with the tale of handing me my ass in the elevator.

I chuckled as I walked to the parking garage and hoped some of the things he’d said were inaccurate.

By the time I got to my car, I decided to put the conversation away for now and focus on the night to come. It was a big night, one it felt like I’d been waiting on for centuries, and I wanted everything to go perfectly.

I’d decided I wanted to put all of my attention into Whitney and our night together, so I put in an order for takeout from my favorite restaurant and stopped at the store to get some candles, roses, and new high-thread-count sheets.

By the time I was done shopping, the food was ready for pickup, so I grabbed it and turned my car toward my apartment.

I was shuffling everything to one hand so I could use my key to open my door when I heard Mr. B’s door open and looked over to see his head sticking out.

“Smells good, Luca. Got a hot date?”

“The hottest, Mr. B.,” I replied with a grin as I turned the key and pushed the door open.

“Make sure she finds her pleasure, too. Don’t be greedy, son.”

What the … Tell me he didn’t just say that.

“Uh, you got it. Have a good night.”

“Not as good as you, but I’ll try.”

Unable to stand any more, I rushed into my apartment and shut the door.

“Jesus,” I said with a light laugh, then moved to put the food in the oven to keep warm, before getting the rest of the stuff out of the bag and setting it up.

I turned on a smooth jazz station on my phone and switched on my Bluetooth so it would play through the stereo, then got to work.

I scattered the flowers and candles around the house in the places we’d be … the living room, the dining room, the bedroom. Then changed the sheets and went to make sure the bathroom was clean.

Once I was satisfied everything looked and smelled great, I changed out of my work clothes, took a quick shower, and got into something more casual.

I wanted to look like I’d put some effort in but wasn’t trying too hard.

And then, all I could do was wait.

Twenty-Five

Whitney

As I waited outside Luca’s apartment for him to answer the door, I thought I heard movement down the hall, but when I looked, there was nothing.

“Calm down, Whit, you’re just feeling anxious and jumpy,” I murmured to myself, before knocking again.

“Coming, sorry,” I heard Luca call out from inside seconds before the door opened and he was smiling before me. “Hey.”

“Hi,” I replied, walking past him when he moved to let me in.

I glanced around the room, noting the flowers and candles, and was touched by the effort he’d gone to to make this night special.

“It smells wonderful,” I said as I moved to put the wine I’d brought on the counter. I wasn’t sure if it was the candles, the roses, the food, or a combination of the three, but every scent seemed tantalizing.

“I picked up food from that little French place by the office. Are you hungry?” he asked. “Or would you like a drink? I have bourbon, or we can open the wine.”

I watched him shuffle his feet, his hands moving as if he couldn’t keep still, and I realized he was nervous. Which, funnily enough, made all my nerves disappear.

“A bourbon sounds nice. Two fingers, one ice cube.”

Luca looked at me with surprise. “That’s just how I drink it.”

“Marcus is a big bourbon drinker…” I slapped my hand over my mouth when I realized what I said and moaned. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to bring him up. And I shouldn’t have, especially tonight.”

“Hey,” Luca said as he crossed to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. “You have nothing to be sorry about. There’s no rule book here. He’s a big part of your life and is bound to come up. And as far as tonight goes, I hope you know just because you are sleeping over doesn’t mean I have any expectations. Let’s just play things by ear and see how the night goes. I’m just happy to have more time with you.”

“You are so sweet,” I said, lifting my hands to cup his face. “But I have to warn you, I’m fully expecting to go all the way tonight.”

He chuckled and shifted to kiss my palm. “I’m here for you to use in any way you see fit.”

“Hmmm,” I murmured. “Sounds too good to pass up.”

Luca kissed me lightly on the lips before returning to the kitchen to pour the bourbon.

“Want me to take the food to the table?” I offered.

“Sure, it’s in the oven.”

I opened the door to the oven and took out the to-go bags, inhaling as I lifted them out.

“Oh my gosh,” I said as my stomach growled in response to the delectable scents coming from the bags.

“Have you ever eaten there?”

“No, but I’ve always wanted to,” I replied as I took cartons out of the bags and placed them on his table.

“You are in for a treat,” Luca promised as he brought our drinks over.

“Tell me what everything is…”

“We have risotto with mushrooms to start, then we have chicken with beurre