It’s Vegas, so I doubt anyone would even notice.
Although, since it’s Vegas, they might join in.
“Did I scare you?” he asks, that shit-eating grin making my knees wobble.
“Not even close,” I hiss.
“Good, so how about a snack?” He winks at me. “You, know, since you mentioned muffins.”
I press my lips together. No more distractions! “I don’t have time. Aisling is probably up from her nap and Heaven—”
“Heaven has her aunt.” He stretches his arms overhead and I watch his biceps flex, the sun glistening on his bronze skin. I can feel my tongue sweep over my lips and his smirk widens.
Dammit.
Just another instance of my body betraying me!
I fix my ponytail and give him a quick wave. “I’ll see you later.” I start to jog back toward the Excelsior, berating myself for allowing his gorgeousness to once again shatter me. I am a badass bitch. I don’t let guys unravel me like this. Nobody has that privilege!
Not even a minute later, I hear a second pair of sneakers thumping along the sidewalk next to me.
“I don’t know why you’re following me,” I grumble.
“We’re going to the same place, yeah?”
“I’m not really sure,” I snap. “I mean, it’s not like you’ve been hanging around the apartment. You kind of pulled a disappearing act after what happened the other night.”
“Yeah, I’ve been…busy.”
“Busy trying to figure out how quickly you can get out of Vegas?” I say, silently chiding myself for sounding so bitter. Argh! My head and my heart are not on separate pages. They’re immersed in two very different books. On two different planets. In two different galaxies!
He slows down. “What are you talking about?”
My lungs are ready to revolt right about now as my run comes to a stuttering halt. I turn to look at him, quirking an eyebrow. “Heaven said you’re on your way out.” I shrug. “That’s cool. I’m sure there are lots of real estate opportunities waiting for you. I get that you want to move on with your life.”
I do, too. Just in a different direction.
“She told you that?”
I shrug. “Yeah, she said you’re not happy or whatever. That you’re not yourself. That you want to leave.”
He adjusts his cap, averting his eyes for a long second. “Yeah. It’s true. I did.”
“So what’s stopping you? If you want to leave, just go.” I glare at him, shielding my eyes from the sun.
With a shake of his head, he pulls off his sunglasses so I can see the confusion in his eyes. “Why do you even care?”
“I don’t!” I let out a deep sigh. “Look, Dante, it’s hot as balls out here, and I hate to sweat, so I’m just going to head back, okay? If you don’t take off before tomorrow, I guess I’ll just see you at the christening.” I start to run again but he grabs my wrist and pulls me back, but my foot skids along a patch of gravel and I collide with his chest.
My mouth waters.
I want to lick.
I need to taste!
Ugh!
I put my hands on his perfect pecs and shove away from them. “What do you want with me, Dante?” I ask.
“I’m still trying to figure that out,” he says, his voice low and thick with conflict.
“Well, let me make it easy for you. I know you’re leaving, so whatever this is? It’s done. I need to keep my focus…on the baby and my…my school plans. I don’t need any distractions, okay? We had a fun night and it’s done. So just let it go.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
I narrow my eyes and stick my hands on my hips. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
He lets out a sigh. “Anya, Heaven was right…kind of. I have been wanting to leave Vegas for a while. But over the past few days, I’ve been feeling differently. A lot differently. Like maybe what I thought I wanted isn’t what I want now, because of you. And it doesn’t make any sense to me because it’s been such a short amount of time and I barely know you. But I can’t get you out of my head. It’s why I pulled away for a little while. I needed to make sure what I was feeling…and who I was feeling it about…was real.”
My mouth drops open. “About me?” I whisper. “You’re feeling this stuff about me?”
“Is that so hard to believe?”
And just like that, my heart races faster than it did while I was running.
I could come up with so many reasons why it shouldn’t be possible.
But I know how I feel about him and that renders all of those reasons meaningless.
I swallow hard. “Are you sure?”
He nods, caressing the side of my face. “There’s something about you, Anya. Something that makes me feel like we’re more alike than we both know. Something that tells me this is crazy but right. I don’t know much about you, but I know a ton, if that makes any sense.”
Breathless. I am absolutely breathless right now, and I’m standing perfectly still.
“And it really all started when you ran in front of my car at the airport.” His lips curl into a mischievous grin.
“Hey, wait, I didn’t run in front of your car!” I screech, throwing my hands in the air. “You were driving like a lunatic and I was minding my own business, just crossing—”
He doesn’t let me finish, though. All of a sudden, his strong hands grip my waist and gently pull me toward him. His mouth smothers mine, silencing my voice and devouring me voraciously for all to see. His tongue juts between my lips, coiling heat radiating throughout my core. I press my fingertips into his back, letting him infuse my entire being with pure, wanton lust.
He wraps me tight in his embrace and my body molds against his, fitting perfectly into my spot.
My spot…
I never thought I’d ever use those words in relation to a guy.
When he pulls away, we’re both breathless. “What I was trying to say is that maybe I want to stick around.”
“I don’t want to be the reason why you stay,” I murmur. “I don’t want you to resent me if it doesn’t work out. Besides, it would get weird, you know all of us living with your brother and sister-in-law. Kind of crowded, don’t you think? And that whole sex against the window thing couldn’t be a regular occurrence because, you know,” I shrug. “It’d be like we were living with parents. I mean, they are parents. Not ours, but still.” I give my head a quick shake to keep from rambling anymore. “I don’t know. It’s complicated. Maybe that’s just the bottom line,” I finally rasp.
Dante grins. “Okay, breathe, Anya. Jesus, I think that’s the most you’ve ever said to me at once, do you know that?”
I laugh and clap a hand over my mouth. “That’s probably why I try to limit my words. When they get away from me, they just keep coming, like a sea of bullets.”
Yikes. Bullets. How incredibly apropos.
“Lemme just address one of your concerns, okay? I don’t live with Heaven and Matteo. I know you have this whole useless but pretty trust fund baby perception of me, but it’s not true. I’ve got my own place. I’m not a freeloader.” He smirks. “I mean, I don’t pay for it, but I’ve got my own space. With plenty of windows,” he says with a wink.
“Mm-hm,” I say. “All of that sounds really good. The only thing I don’t remember saying is ‘useless but pretty.’ I think that’s just you projecting.”
He smacks my ass and then squeezes it, making me squeal.
“Oh, you like that, huh?” He draws me near, his lips brushing against my ear. “Why don’t I take you to my place and show you how useful I actually am? And then I’m going to make you scream so hard, you’ll never say shit like that again.”