phone for details, and Lucian admitted that Brommy and Sal had tagged along and were staying at the hotel as well, we invited them over for lunch, preferring the privacy of the room.
Though Tate and I could don big hats and sunglasses and often get away with not being photographed, I had no doubt that Lucian and Brommy together would instantly be noticed. The men were just too good looking not to cause a stir. And while I had no idea how big a hockey town LA truly was, enough people already had recognized Lucian for me to know they’d do it here too. Throw Sal, with his bold flash, into that mix, and we might as well have pointed a neon sign toward our party.
“Can I just say, thank God,” Tate murmured to me as I poured her some champagne from the bar cart set up in the corner of the room. “I thought I might get a text saying you’d gotten back together with Greg.”
“Ew.” I wrinkled my nose. “I can’t believe you thought that. Do you know me at all?”
She made a self-deprecating face. “I know, I know. But people do stupid things all the time.” She glanced at Lucian, who, despite not cooking the meal, was setting up our plates with his typical fierce attention to detail. “That, over there, is the best choice I’ve seen you make outside of your career.”
Heat suffused my cheeks, but I raised my own glass slightly, and we did a covert glass tap.
“Is this a private girl huddle, or can anyone join?” Sal asked, appearing at my side. He was wearing an authentic olive-green zoot suit with a cherry-red polka-dot tie. The outfit had so impressed Tate that, upon meeting him, she’d pressed a hand to her chest and exclaimed, “Be still my Chicana heart.”
It had cemented an instant friendship.
I handed him a glass. “I don’t know. Tell me more about this dress I’m getting first.”
He had the grace to look sheepish. “I was a sneak, I know! And I wouldn’t have done it for just anyone, but poor Luc looked so pathetic.” He smirked at Lucian, whose head had jerked up on hearing his name, and he glanced our way. “Besides, he threatened to pound me into a Sal meat patty.”
Lucian rolled his eyes. “There were no such threats.”
“Maybe not verbal,” Sal countered, taking the champagne bottle with him to the table. “But there were glares. We all know how potent your glares can be.”
“He’s got you there,” I said with a grin, taking the seat Lucian held out for me.
Lucian grunted and sat next to me.
“Well, he looks damn content now.” Brommy neatly slid into the seat between Tate and me. “Almost as though he’s inwardly purring. I feel safe in the knowledge that I am leaving him in your capable hands, Emma.”
“Sitting across the table won’t prevent me from kicking your ass,” Lucian drawled without heat. In truth, there was a lazy air about him now. He appeared a man content, his big body loose limbed and relaxed in his chair. It was a good look on him. Even better when his gaze met mine, and a hot knowledge of what we’d done last night and this morning simmered between us.
I want it again, his gaze said.
Heat swamped me.
Soon, mine said.
A small quirk of his brow. Sooner than later, honey. Count on it.
A sound of amusement ended our nonverbal eye communication, and I turned to find Brommy watching us with a sappy grin. “Just look at him.” Brommy gestured expansively with his enormous hands. “Eye fucking and smiling like a teen who felt his first tit—” A bread roll hit his forehead dead center.
Lucian lowered his brow and gave Brommy a warning look. “Shut it, or the next one will be in your mouth.”
Brommy laughed. “Just like the Oz of old.” He wiped an imaginary tear but then threw up his hands in peace when Lucian growled. “Okay, okay, I’m shutting it.”
I hid my smile by stabbing into my salad and taking a bite. Brommy was crude, but he wasn’t wrong; Lucian did look happy. I’d done that—I’d made him smile with his eyes, made him laugh with ease. After a series of personal dejections and setbacks, that I could experience this little bit of happiness with someone who’d also suffered felt like liquid sunlight flowing through my veins.
Tate had been chatting with Sal, not really noticing us as he showed her images of outfits he’d picked