The Layover

Winner of the 2023 Passionate Plume Award for Steamy Romance

Carly

I love being single. I don’t answer to a significant other or any children, and I get to see the world on the company dime.

Next stop? Milan. The longer than expected layover in New York is a bit of a bummer, but the night I spend with two strangers from my flight? H.A.W.T. I don’t know which I enjoy more—the way words roll off their tongues in their incredible Italian accents, or the way they use those tongues on me.

When I reach my destination, I realize Diego and Raul are my employer’s newest investment. It’s my job to make sure their high-end restaurant opens without a hitch.

As long as I’m here, it’s not a big deal if I spend another night—or five—with them, is it?

But their five-year-old, Eloise, has a different vision for my future, and hers includes me making a long-term commitment to her daddies.

Regardless of what she thinks, when this job is over I have to go back to my life in The States and they’ll stay in Italy. Whether I like it or not.