Starter Wife (The Jilted Wives Club Book 1) Page 10

  “Okay, yeah, that sounds good. I’ll just bag up the rest and put it back in the oven. We can reheat it all later if we need to.”

  While Luca did just that, I grabbed the risotto and two forks and took them to the coffee table, before going back to grab the drinks and do the same. I figured it would be more intimate and romantic if we enjoyed it in front of the fire he had started in the living room space, rather than sitting across from each other at his table.

  “Is this okay?” I asked as he joined me on the couch.

  “Perfect,” he replied easily, picking up his glass and taking a sip.

  “I really appreciate all this,” I said as I twirled the contents of my glass. “The flowers and candles. The music, fire, and food. You really put a lot of thought into tonight. I didn’t realize you were such a romantic.”

  “I wanted tonight to be special.”

  “It is,” I assured him.

  I picked up the risotto and one fork and took a bite. My eyes nearly rolled back in my head it was so good.

  “You have to try this,” I said, picking up the other fork and handing him the carton. “Oh, right, you said you’ve had it before.”

  “Yes, but that doesn’t mean each first bite isn’t always an experience. I got all of my favorite dishes so you could try them. I think you’ll enjoy everything as much as this.”

  “I don’t know,” I said, holding out my hand to take back the risotto. “This will be pretty hard to beat.”

  Luca laughed and passed it back.

  We sipped our bourbon and took turns with the risotto until it was empty.

  No longer starving, but pleasantly satisfied, and feeling light and warm from the bourbon, I took Luca’s hand in mine and nodded toward his large welcoming bed.

  “Shall we?” I asked, my stomach dipping excitedly.

  “I’d love to.”

  Twenty-Six

  Luca

  I let Whitney lead me to the bed, anticipation growing with each step, as I allowed my gaze to trail over her.

  When we reached the platform, she dropped my hand and turned, her fingers going to the buttons of her blouse as I watched with rapt attention. Each button undone revealed an expanse of skin, and then a hint of red lace teased me from beneath the cloth.

  Turned on and eager to enjoy the show, I kept my hands to my sides and let her take the lead.

  Once all of the buttons were done, she paused naughtily, letting my imagination fly before pushing back the satin and letting it slide down her arms to the floor, giving me a full view of the sexy bra barely containing her breasts.

  My palms itched with the need to touch but still I waited.

  With a witchy grin, Whitney moved her hands slowly over her stomach to the waist of her slacks, her eyes never leaving mine as she undid the clasp and slowly slid the zipper down, more red lace peeking out as she did. When her hands came to her waist and her hips moved back and forth as she shimmied out of the pants, I became increasingly hard.

  Finally, when she was before me in nothing but the two scraps of lace, I could no longer keep my hands to myself.

  I moved quickly, so fast a startled gasp left Whitney’s lips seconds before I claimed them with my own. My hands moved of their own volition, needing to feel her silky skin beneath their touch.

  “You’re so fucking sexy,” I growled, breaking the kiss to look down at her once more.

  “And you’re wearing too many clothes,” Whit replied, her tone heavy with desire.

  “Let’s fix that,” I said, hurriedly reaching back to pull my shirt over my head, before ridding myself of my pants, seconds later standing before her in only my boxer briefs and socks.

  “You’re quick,” she said with a laugh.

  “Not when it counts,” I promised, shucking off the socks.

  Her eyes twinkled as she scrambled back onto the bed, her eyes roving over my body, as she held out her arms to welcome me to her.

  It was the best invitation I’d ever received, and I accepted it without hesitation.

  “I’m going to kiss every inch of you,” I told her as she laid back on the bed and I moved over her. “I want you writhing beneath me, desperate to come, and when I take you there … repeatedly … I want to hear my name on your lips.”

  While I made good on my promise, Whitney gave as good as she got, her hands roaming freely over me and pausing whenever she got a reaction from me. When my lips moved to the soft mounds spilling over lace, she moved her hands to undo her bra.

  “Let me,” I urged, replacing her hands with mine and peeling it off of her slowly before tossing it aside, as if I were unwrapping a gift. Which I am…

  Needing to taste, I sucked the tip of one breast between my lips and pulled. And when Whitney did writhe beneath me and my name escaped her lips on a moan, I felt like the king of the world.

  I worshiped her body, loving the fact that she was filling all of my senses at once.

  When she reached for my cock and grasped me beneath the fabric, I groaned, and my hips thrust forward instinctively.

  “Not yet,” I managed. “I have more to explore.”

  I shifted away from her and moved lower, kissing, licking, and nipping my way down her body until I was situated between her legs, the last scrap of lace the only thing keeping me from heaven.

  I looked up at her, loving the sight of her chestnut hair splayed across my pillow and the way her breasts heaved as she struggled to catch her breath. But the best part was the look in her eyes as she watched me. Full of desire for me. It was heady and made me want to thrust inside of her and finally claim her as my own.

  Instead, I eased the panties over her hips and down her legs and then cupped her supple ass and tilted upward. I kissed the inside of her thigh, my eyes holding hers as I used the tip of my tongue to mark a trail up, up, up…

  “Luca,” Whitney moaned, her head falling back when I paused at her entrance and blew her a kiss before leading with my tongue and tasting her. My dick became painfully hard at the first taste of her sweet, hot pussy.

  My fingers tightened and I pulled her closer as I feasted, loving the feel and taste of her on my lips, my tongue, and in my mouth.

  I followed her cues … the gasps, the sighs, the flexing of her fingers in the sheets, until her thighs tightened around my head and her hips thrust up as her body began to shudder in time with her cries of release.

  As the last of the shivers subsided, I rid myself of my underwear and grabbed the condom I’d left on the nightstand. In a few swift movements I opened the foil and rolled the latex over my throbbing cock.

  When I was sheathed, I moved up, positioned myself above Whit, and bent my head to kiss her deeply.

  “Are you ready?” I asked when her soft brown eyes met mine.

  Her smile was sweet, and her expression sated as she nodded in response.

  When her legs wrapped around my waist and her hands caressed my body, I thrust inside of her in one quick motion, and lost my breath in the process.

  “God, you’re so fucking tight,” I said, my tone full of wonder as my mind and body tried to process how fucking terrific everything felt in the moment.

  Whitney shifted, causing me to go deeper, and I saw stars.

  Her hands came to my ass and squeezed, urging me to move, so I did. Every plunge was better than the last, and as we moved faster, I grasped one of her hands in mine and intertwined our fingers, moving our arms up over our heads as my lips found her shoulder and I kissed her there. Then, as her legs tightened around me and her pleasure surrounded me, I bit down softly and allowed ecstasy to take over.

  Twenty-Seven

  Whitney

  That was the most amazing sex of my life…

  This was the phrase playing on a loop in my brain as my body seemed to sink into the bed. I’d never felt so relaxed, yet exhilarated and happy at the same time.

  I’d always imagined I’d be nervous. That I’d be thinking about every part of my body Luca would be seeing and
may find fault with. But the second I’d started to unbutton my shirt and Luca’s attention had been on me like a fire brand, there had been nothing else in my head except for him.

  I’d felt powerful, sexy, and completely at ease with my body.

  It’s like Luca was a wizard or something. Like his attention had given me a confidence I’d never even had with my husband of twenty-five years. It would have been sad if I wasn’t so incredibly turned on and in the moment.

  I turned my head to look at Luca, who was laid out on his back next to me, trying to catch his breath.

  I moved my hand a few inches across the soft sheets until I reached his. He immediately grabbed on and held my hand tightly.

  “I still need a minute,” he said with a light laugh.

  “Take all the time you need,” I told him, rolling to my side so I was facing him. “You deserve it.”

  He looked and me and asked, “Yeah?”

  “Oh, yeah,” I said with a laugh. “You deserve a medal.”

  “Bronze?” Luca asked with a quirk of his brow.

  “Gold, all the way,” I teased.

  “It did feel like a gold-medal performance,” Luca said, moving closer. “I’m glad you thought so, too.”

  His head dipped down to kiss me, sweetly and thoroughly, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so happy.

  “As much as I’d love to stay in this bed with you all night, there is something I’d like to do first,” he said when he broke the kiss.

  “Eat?” I asked hopefully. Now that my mind and body were one again, I was very aware that I was starving.

  “Yes. I’m guessing you’re of the same mind?”

  “That French food is going to taste so good,” I said, already hopping off the bed.

  Rather than reach for my clothes, I grabbed his shirt off the floor and pulled it over my head, then headed to the kitchen.

  When Luca growled low in his throat, I shot him a curious look over my shoulder and found his eyes clasped on my ass, which his shirt barely covered.

  “That’s a really fucking good look,” he said when his eyes moved up to catch mine.

  I sent him what I hoped was a saucy grin and turned to focus back on my mission.

  “The chicken will probably be fine reheated in the microwave, but I’ll warm the steak on the stove,” I said, opening cabinet doors in search of a pan.

  “Agreed,” he said as he joined me. “Divide and conquer?”

  I nodded as I pulled out a cast iron skillet.

  Luca pulled out the bags and handed me the container with the steak, before taking the other containers and dividing the food onto two plates. Once the skillet was hot, I slapped the steak on and enjoyed the sizzle.

  After our dinner was reheated, we took it to the bed and made ourselves a little picnic, sharing the food on both plates so we could try a little of everything.

  “If it’s this good warmed up, I can’t imagine how amazing it must be right out of the kitchen,” I said, popping a brussels sprout in my mouth.

  “We’ll go there.”

  “I’ll hold you to it.”

  We ate with a gusto, saving the crème brulée until the end and enjoying it with a glass of the Pinot noir I’d brought.

  We were laying on the bed, talking as we indulged.

  “I’d really like to take you to a Sunday dinner at my parents’, if you’re up to it.”

  My breath caught, and when I didn’t immediately respond, Luca said, “If you need more time, we can wait a few weeks, but I want you to know that it’s what I’m hoping is the next step for us. You can bring the kids, or save that for another time, totally up to you, but my ma is going to want to meet you.”

  “Have you told her … them, about us?”

  Luca shook his head.

  “Not yet. Once I tell her, she’s going to insist on meeting you, and since I knew you weren’t ready for that yet, I figured I should wait.”

  I thought about him and us and made a decision I hoped was the right one.

  “I’d like that, but without the kids first. They only just met you, so I’d like to give them a little more time to get to know you first, before introducing them to your whole family. I don’t want them to be overwhelmed.”

  “I should tell you, I spoke with Silas today.”

  “You did?” I asked, then remembered he’d been by the office. “At work?”

  “Yeah, in the elevator on the way down.”

  “How did that go?”

  “Well, he gave me the ‘man of the house’ speech.”

  “The what?” I asked, puzzled.

  “You know, the kind of if you hurt my mom I’ll kill you speech. Although he didn’t use those words. Mostly he wanted to tell me you’ve been through a lot and warned me not to hurt you. He also said you weren’t going to get married again and with things going good in your life again, you don’t need me messing things up.”

  I sat up, shocked, appalled, and a little touched at the thought of Si stepping up to have my back like that.

  “I hope you weren’t mad.”

  “No, not at all. I got where he was coming from. I told him I really like you and don’t want to mess anything up for you and I hoped he’d give me a chance.”

  “Oh, okay, well it sounds like you handled it pretty well. I’m sorry he cornered you like that.”

  “Is what he said true? Do you not want to get married again?” he asked, and from his expression I could tell my answer was important to him.

  So, I answered truthfully… “I don’t know.”

  Twenty-Eight

  Luca

  “What do you say we get together on Saturday and hit up Top Golf or something?” I asked Damon.

  He’d called while I was in the middle of a meeting with a client, so I’d called him back before my next one started.

  “Sounds perfect. It’s been a minute since we’ve done that,” he replied.

  He was right, it had been a long time since we’d gone out and done something fun. Other than the burger we’d grabbed a few weeks ago, I hadn’t spent much time with him at all. I suddenly felt guilty, because we used to be inseparable, but life and work had gotten in the way of that.

  “Hey, you know what, you should come to Sunday dinner as well. It will be Whitney’s first time, and although I know you two only met briefly, I’m pretty sure she’d love to see a friendly face in the crowd. And you know my ma would love to see you. It’s been too long.”

  “Uh, yeah, my Sunday is pretty clear. I have a golf game with some guys from work, but we’ll be done in time. I’d like that. Tell your ma I’ll bring her a bottle of her favorite wine.”

  “Perfect, I’ll let her know and I’ll text you about what time on Saturday.”

  “Sounds good, brother, have a good one.”

  I’d barely hung up when my phone rang in my hand.

  It was my ma.

  Her ears must’ve been burning.

  “Morning, Ma, I was actually just about to call you,” I said warmly when I answered.

  “Good morning, dear, how’s your day going so far? Did you eat a good breakfast?”

  I chuckled and said, “Yeah, I grabbed a bagel on the way in.”

  “From the corner deli?”

  “You know it.”

  “Ah, I haven’t been there in ages. I should tell your father to pick some up one day.”

  “I can grab you some. I’ll bring them by Sunday morning.”

  “Don’t forget the cream cheese.”

  “Never,” I promised. “So, I was going to call you to tell you we’ll have two more for dinner on Sunday.”

  “Wonderful. Is it Damon? He hasn’t been to the house in forever. Is he bringing a date? Nigel’s out of town again, so it’ll only be one extra place … No problem.”

  “It is Damon, but I’m the one who’s bringing the date.”

  The line went quiet, and I grinned as I waited for the reaction I knew was coming.

  “Prai
se Jesus,” she whispered and then I heard her giving herself the sign of the cross, “In the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost.”

  I covered my mouth with my fist so she wouldn’t hear me laugh as I pictured her in the kitchen having to steady herself at my news.

  It was rare indeed for me to tell my mother if I was dating someone, and even rarer for me to bring a woman home for Sunday dinner. In fact, Giada was the only one I’d ever brought home.

  “Tell me everything … Is she allergic to anything? Is there anything she doesn’t like? Should I make my lasagna or manicotti? No, I should make my swordfish with puttanesca sauce … and tiramisu for dessert.”

  “Ma, don’t stress. You don’t have to go crazy, just cook what you were already planning on making for dinner.”

  “Luca Giancarlo Russo, you cannot be serious. You’re bringing a woman home for the first time in your adult life, and you tell me to make the spaghetti and meatballs I was planning for this Sunday? Do you want her to think I don’t care about my son’s happiness?”

  “Jeez, Ma, she’s not going to think that,” I assured her. “Her name is Whitney and she’s a mother herself. She’s got two kids.”

  “Divorced?” my mother asked.

  “Yes, she’s divorced.”

  “Hmmm. She’s a nice girl? How did you meet her?”

  “Yes, she’s very nice. You’re going to love her,” I told her, unable to keep the grin off of my face at the thought of my two favorite women finally meeting. “We actually met initially at Campanella’s, but then she started working at the office.”

  “So your father already knows? And he didn’t tell me?”

  “No, Ma, don’t worry, Dad doesn’t know we’re dating. He knows her, of course, but not well. I wouldn’t ask him to keep something like that from you, you know that,” I said hurriedly, trying to save my father from my mother’s wrath.

  “She should bring the children, so we can meet them.”

  “Whitney doesn’t want to rush things with the kids, I’ve only recently met them myself. I wanted to give her a chance to meet all of you on her own first and then eventually we’ll bring Stella and Silas with us.”