Morning Sunlight
1625 Words
Morning sunlight spilled across Sienna’s apartment in soft golden stripes and Luca Moretti woke up deeply confused about why he was happy before remembering exactly where he was. The balcony doors were still slightly open from the night before, letting warm ocean air drift through the apartment alongside the quiet sounds of Monaco waking below. Scooters buzzed through narrow streets while boats cut quietly across the marina.
And Sienna was asleep beside him.
For a long moment, he simply lay there looking at her.
Her hair was spread messily across the pillow, one hand tucked beneath her cheek while morning sunlight warmed the bare skin of her shoulder where the shoulder of the oversized shirt she was sleeping in had slipped sideways during the night. She looked peaceful. Soft. Completely unaware of the effect she was having on him just by existing.
This was dangerous. Not because they’d kissed, Luca had kissed plenty of women before, but because sometime between rooftop drinks and midnight espresso, he’d stopped wanting temporary things from her.
Sienna shifted slightly, her brow furrowing before her eyes opened slowly. For exactly two seconds, she looked disoriented and then she saw him and immediately pulled the blanket up to her chin.
Luca looked offended. “You kissed me voluntarily six hours ago. There is no use hiding under the blanket now.”
“That was night time Sienna. Morning Sienna has anxiety.”
A laugh escaped him before he could stop it.
Sienna narrowed her eyes immediately. “Don’t laugh at me this early. I’m fragile.”
“You’re wearing my shirt.”
She looked down at the black button-up she was wearing and suddenly remembered moaning she was cold and demanding he help her fix it. Damn her sleepy self.
“You left it here.” She stated as she frowned.
“You stole it directly off my body in the night.”
"You offered it to me."
"Because you were cold and I'm a gentleman."
Luca grinned slowly and leaned back against her pillows with infuriating ease like he belonged there.
"And you wouldn't stop complaining. It was the only way to get any sleep."
Sienna blushed, watching him carefully for a moment before speaking again. “You stayed.”
The words were quiet enough that most people probably wouldn’t have noticed the significance behind them but Luca did.
“Did you want me to leave?” he asked softly.
“No.” Her answer came too fast. Sienna cleared her throat immediately afterward. “I just mean… you usually leave, don’t you?”
His reputation raising its ugly head again. The version of Luca she was still trying to reconcile with the man currently sitting shirtless in her bed looking at her like sunlight itself had personally offended him by touching her first.
“I usually don’t want to stay,” he admitted honestly.
Something in her expression shifted at that, then Sienna ruined the moment entirely.
“You’re weirdly sincere in the mornings.”
Luca smiled lazily. “You’re weirdly beautiful in the mornings.”
“That sounded rehearsed.”
“It absolutely wasn’t.”
Sienna rolled her eyes but her cheeks pinkened anyway. Luca noticed immediately and looked far too pleased with himself about it. His little finger traced lightly across her cheekbone.
“That expression is exactly why people think you’re dangerous.” She muttered.
“My face?”
“Your confidence.”
“You kissed me first back there.”
“I did not.”
“Sienna.”
She pointed at him dramatically beneath the blankets. “You leaned in first.”
“And then you grabbed my shirt like you were fighting for your life.”
“That is an aggressively romanticized version of events.”
“It’s actually conservative.”
Sienna buried her face briefly into the pillow beside her with a muffled groan.
“You’re never going to let me recover from this, are you?”
“Recover?” Luca repeated. “You say that like last night was a tragic accident.”
“It wasn’t an accident,” she admitted quietly, peeking out from under the blanket.
The dangerous part was how easy honesty with him had become. When did she suddenly feel so safe to start being open with him?
Luca’s expression softened immediately.
“No,” he said gently. “It really wasn’t.”
The apartment fell quiet after that, but it wasn’t awkward anymore. It felt intimate. Warm. Sienna looked at him for a long moment before speaking carefully.
“You know what’s concerning?”
“What?”
“I thought kissing you would fix the problem.”
Luca raised an eyebrow. “And?”
“It made it significantly worse.”
His grin returned instantly.
“That sounds promising for me.”
“It’s not promising for my mental stability.”
Luca shifted slightly closer against the pillows and Sienna’s breathing betrayed her immediately.
“You know,” he murmured, “I had an entire speech prepared about patience and taking things slowly.”
“That sounds suspiciously emotionally mature.”
“I know. Very upsetting for my brand.”
Sienna laughed softly and Luca felt something dangerous tighten in his chest again at the sound.
Christ. He was done for.
“You’re staring again,” she whispered.
“I’m trying to process the fact you let me sleep here.”
“You fell asleep during your own dramatic speech.”
“That’s unfair. I was emotionally exhausted.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“And yet,” he murmured, moving slightly closer again, “you still kissed me twice.”
Sienna’s eyes flicked toward his mouth automatically and the air between them shifted instantly.
Morning sunlight filled the apartment around them while Monaco glowed softly beyond the balcony and suddenly Luca became hyper-aware of everything again. Her bare legs tangled in the sheets. His shirt swallowing her frame. The way she was looking at him now without any walls left between them.
“Sienna.”
The sound of her name came out lower this time and he watched as her throat bobbed while she swallowed softly.
“This is exactly what I was afraid of,” she admitted.
“What is?”
“You feeling important to me.”
Luca reached for her without thinking this time, fingers brushing slowly along her jaw before resting lightly against her cheek.
"You’re important to me too,” he admitted quietly.
Sienna looked momentarily startled by the seriousness in his voice before her expression softened.
Before he could overthink it, Luca leaned forward, closing the distance between them and kissed her.
Morning kisses felt different. Slower. Sleepier. More intimate somehow. Maybe that was because she was wearing his shirt and very little else. Sienna melted toward him immediately, one hand sliding against his solid chest while Luca deepened the kiss carefully, like he was still learning her. Her mouth was warm and soft beneath his and Luca felt his self-control deteriorating at an alarming speed.
Sienna made a quiet sound against his mouth and that nearly finished him entirely. His hand slid carefully into her hair while he kissed her deeper and Sienna shifted instinctively closer until there was barely any space left between them beneath the sheets.
Then her phone started vibrating causing them to pull apart. Sienna groaned dramatically into Luca’s shoulder.
“Tell them I died.”
Luca laughed softly against her hair while the phone started vibrating aggressively again.
“It sounds persistent.”
“It’s probably Theo.”
The phone kept vibrating.
Sienna lifted her head reluctantly. “If that’s work, I’m suing somebody.”
Luca watched with deep amusement as she rolled reluctantly across the bed still wrapped in blankets like an angry burrito before finding her phone under her nightstand.
Her face immediately changed.
“Oh no.”
Luca sat up slightly. “What?”
Sienna looked horrified.
“My editor.”
“That feels survivable.”
“She’s asking why there are photos online of me leaving the rooftop with you last night.”
The stillness lasted only a moment before Luca smiled slowly.
Sienna pointed at him immediately. “Don’t you dare look happy about this.”
“But I am happy about this.”
“You are literally the problem.”
Luca leaned back against the headboard completely unbothered.
“To be fair,” he said calmly, “Monaco’s been trying to catch us together for weeks.”
“We were holding hands.”
“You are emotionally attached.”
“That’s not the point.”
“It’s a very strong point.”
Sienna looked like she wanted to throw the phone directly into the ocean.
“Oh my God,” she muttered. “Theo is going to become unbearable.”
Her phone buzzed again instantly.
Theo: YOU HELD HANDS IN PUBLIC???
Theo: THIS IS HOW CELEBRITY DOCUMENTARIES START
Theo: ARE YOU IN LOVE???
Sienna closed her eyes slowly.
“I need a new job.”
Luca looked entirely too entertained watching her unravel.
“You know,” he said thoughtfully, “you becoming publicly associated with me will probably ruin your peaceful little invisible life.”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”
Luca studied her quietly for a moment after that before speaking softer this time.
“I know.”
The teasing faded slightly from the room then because beneath all the flirting and chemistry sat something real now that neither of them could joke away anymore.
“You still want this?” she asked quietly.
Luca didn’t even hesitate.
“Yes.”
The certainty in his voice stole the air from her lungs.
And judging by the expression on Luca’s face afterward, it affected him too.
- Writer
