capable of being there for me. Not,’ he cut across any protest she’d been going to make, ‘that I’m equating you to her. I’m not. I’m quite sure you’re a very good mother to your son.’
‘Thank you,’ Hannah said uncertainly.
‘But it doesn’t feel good, being the only kid in your class who doesn’t have the right kit for PE, or who can’t pay for the school dinner. Not that those things happened to Jamie—’
‘They happened to you,’ Hannah said softly.
‘Yes.’ Luca’s gaze shuttered. ‘After my mother died, I had a scholarship to an exclusive boarding school, but it didn’t cover everything. I might as well have had “charity orphan” tattooed on my forehead.’ He sighed, rolling his shoulders to excise the tension. ‘I can relate to feeling left out.’
And the fact that he was doing something about it, trying to make it better for her son, made Hannah’s heart feel as if it could burst. Luca was making it very difficult to stop caring about him. One more little act of kindness and she’d be halfway to falling in love with him. More than halfway; she was almost there.
She gave the driver directions to Jamie’s school, and the limo pulled up outside the gates while the children were at playtime. They all ran up to the fence, eyes rounded at the sight of the stretch limo. When she and Luca got out, Hannah could hear the whispers running through the huddle of children.
‘Isn’t that Jamie’s mummy—?’
‘What is she doing in that fancy car—?’
‘That man is so big.’
‘He’s got cakes!’
The whispers turned into excited jabbers as Luca proffered the huge white cake box. ‘These are for Jamie Stewart,’ he announced in a voice that managed to be both commanding and friendly. ‘I heard he needed some cakes for the school bake sale.’
And as the children clambered excitedly around him, Hannah realised that Luca had needed to do this for his sake as much as Jamie’s. The knowledge was enough to bring tears to her eyes. After a childhood that had been far too sad and neglected, and an adolescence that hadn’t been much better, Luca was finally able to be the boy who had the cakes. Who could make things better.
Jamie beamed at both of them as Luca handed the box into Reception. ‘Thank you, Mummy,’ he whispered, and threw his arms around her waist, squeezing tight.
Hannah ruffled his baby-soft hair. ‘Thank Mr Moretti,’ she answered with a smile. ‘He was the one who insisted we bring the cakes.’
Jamie turned the full wattage of his smile onto Luca. ‘Thank you, Mr Moretti!’
Luca looked startled, and then moved. He nodded once. ‘It was my pleasure,’ he said gruffly.
They didn’t speak as they got back into the limo. Luca looked lost in thought, and Hannah felt as if she might burst into tears. Finally she managed, ‘You’re a good man, Luca Moretti.’
He turned his startled gaze on her, his expression ironing out to a familiar and heart-sinking blandness. ‘You might not think that in a moment.’
‘Why not?’ Hannah asked, her heart now nearing her toes.
‘Because Andrew Tyson emailed me this morning. He wants to have dinner with us tomorrow night.’
HANNAH GAZED AT herself in the mirror, frowning at her pale cheeks and sparkling eyes. She felt both terrified and elated at the thought of the evening ahead, posing once again as Luca’s loving fiancée, and it showed in her face. She had no idea what to expect of this evening, of Luca. Her hopes careened wildly, and it was impossible to keep a leash on them.
Her mother’s eyebrows rose as Hannah appeared in the sitting room. ‘This is a business dinner?’ she asked sceptically, because the emerald-green satin dress hugged her slender curves lovingly and was a far cry from her usual pencil skirt and silk blouse ensemble. She’d bought it on her lunch break, spending far more on a single garment than she ever had before, and she couldn’t make herself regret it.
‘It’s more of a social occasion,’ Hannah hedged.
Her mother’s eyebrows rose higher. ‘A date?’
‘Maybe,’ Hannah admitted, and then added hastily, before her mother got completely carried away, ‘But probably not.’
Almost certainly not, she reminded herself sternly. No matter how much her stubborn heart couldn’t help hoping since she’d seen a softer side of Luca yesterday, Hannah knew tonight was about donning the pretence once more. If Luca acted lovingly towards her, it was because he needed to convince Andrew Tyson, not because he actually felt something for her. And if he did feel something for her...was she even willing to try? To risk her heart again, to lose someone she loved again?
Because Luca Moretti was a dangerous proposition.
The burden of pretending felt heavier that night than it had over the weekend in Santa Nicola. How was she supposed to pretend to love a man she was afraid she already had those feelings for? She didn’t know what part of herself to hide, and what part to reveal. And she didn’t like the thought of deceiving Andrew Tyson again, no matter what kind of history existed between him and Luca. The man was kind, with a genuine desire to see a family man take over his resorts. No matter that Luca had a good plan for the resort, lying was still lying.
Despite these concerns, Hannah’s insides lit up with excitement when Luca’s limo pulled up in front of her house. Jamie was still awake, his face pressed to the glass as he inspected the limo.
‘That is a cool car.’
‘Yes, well.’ Hannah kissed her son’s cheek. ‘Be good for Nana.’
‘I will.’ His gaze was glued on the limo, and Luca’s powerful form as he exited the vehicle and started towards their front door. Hannah’s heart flipped over at the sight of him in a grey business suit with a crimson tie. Why did she react this way to him, when she’d seen him in such a suit dozens, hundreds of times? Her body didn’t care. Everything had changed.
Luca knocked on the door and Jamie raced to open it.
‘Jamie—’ Hannah began half-heartedly, because she hated to dampen her son’s excitement.
‘Did you bring me any cakes?’ Jamie demanded of Luca, and Hannah put a restraining hand on her son’s shoulder.
‘Jamie, don’t be rude.’
‘But of course I did,’ Luca answered with an easy smile, and took a perfectly wrapped mini chocolate cake from behind his back. Jamie crowed in delight. ‘Share with your grandmother,’ Luca advised while Hannah simply stared, dumbfounded.
‘What?’ he asked as he caught her stunned look. ‘Why are you so surprised?’
‘I’m just...’ Hannah shrugged helplessly. ‘I didn’t expect you to be so thoughtful.’ Towards her son. He was turning all her preconceived notions on their head, and that was dangerous. Her head was counselling her heart to hold back, stop hoping. Meanwhile her heart was doing cartwheels.
‘That’s quite a backhanded compliment,’ Luca remarked. ‘But I’ll take it.’ His heated gaze scorched her for one breathtaking second. ‘You look amazing.’
‘Thank you.’ Hannah’s breath dried in her throat. He looked amazing too, his eyes burning almost gold in his bronzed face, his lithe, muscular body encased in a superbly cut suit, every atom of him radiating both beauty and power.
‘Enjoy yourself,’ Diane said, a knowing twinkle in her eye, and Hannah decided it was time to get themselves out of there, before her mother said—or she did—something revealing.
‘Thank