“Yep, especially since you seemed to read a lot more into it than I did. What’d you think? One kiss and I’d demand a marriage proposal?”
“Well, you fooled me because you seemed pretty into me that night.”
With hooded eyes, his gaze slowly dragged up and down my body, and some mixture of a shiver and a thrill arrowed through me. Well, that settled it. I couldn’t trust myself not to do something stupid like ask him to kiss me again, or worse, plead with him for a morsel of affection.
I ripped my phone from my pocket and summoned the closest car. Lucky for me, one was less than a minute away.
“I must be a good actress because I haven’t thought about the kiss or you since that night.”
“Is that a fact?” He inched closer to me until the tips of his black loafers brushed against the toes of my boots.
“Yes.” My voice wavered, and I wanted to slap myself across the face.
“Now you’ve got me curious.”
His body pitched toward me, and I smelled his minty breath. I saw each sooty blade of his lashes and the forest green rim around his otherwise golden brown eyes. My knees wobbled, and the corners of his mouth twitched, drawing my gaze to that cute dent in the center of his lower lip.
“Oh, yeah? What about?”
“Your lips.”
“My lips?” I parroted. My voice sounded rusty, and I clamped my mouth shut with the sole goal of circumventing my traitorous body’s urge to betray me more than it already had.
He glanced at my lips. “I remember them being so soft.”
My heart nearly flew out of my chest, and I couldn’t think of a single think to say in response. He shifted, his lips only a centimeter from mine, maybe less. Giddy with anticipation, my blood hummed, and all of my self-righteous rage evaporated like a tendril of smoke. There I stood like a lamb being led to slaughter, my eyes fluttering and my chin lifted invitingly.
Do it.
Sal pulled back. “That’s what I thought.” He enunciated each word like a master of ceremonies announcing the winner of a boxing match. Maybe he was, and I definitely came out as the loser.
My eyes popped open, and I blinked. Humiliation rushed fast and hard through my veins, multiplying my barely suppressed anger tenfold. A choking sound erupted from my mouth, and I felt sick deep down in the pit of my stomach. The fact that any two-timing molecule of my body craved a kiss from him pissed me off. I was full-on stupid. There was no other explanation.
“Now get in the car, and I’ll take you home. As fun as this has been, I don’t have any more time to play games with you.”
Not a second too soon the car I summoned pulled to the curb and the driver rolled down the window. “Emilia?”
“Todd?” I said, recalling the name of the driver from the app on my phone.
“That’s me.”
I glanced at Sal as I climbed in the car. “Well, I’ll hopefully see you again, um, never.” Smirking, I slammed the door closed. Sal took a step forward, his eyebrows plaited together and his lips curled over his teeth. Oh shit, he was mad.
“Can we go please? This guy is harassing me,” I said, my voice breathy and rushed.
“You got it.”
A chorus of honks and crude hand gestures accompanied the driver’s sharp swerve into oncoming traffic. I slumped down in my seat and covered my face with my hands.
What the hell was that about?
CHAPTER SEVEN
“I can’t believe your dad actually let you out of the house.”
I set my cappuccino on the round table and pulled out a metal chair across from Lettie. “He lets me go places.”
“Oh please. You can’t even take a stroll around the block without a guard. He must really want you to learn how to play the piano if he’s allowing you out of the family compound twice a week.”
I glanced nervously at the door. Tony, or Tony Red as everyone called him, sat at an empty table with his back to the wall. Lately, he’d become my official babysitter. I guess Gian was too busy to be bothered with me now that he was officially a made man. Apparently, they were grooming Gian for bigger and better things, whereas Tony didn’t have the aptitude to be anything other than a soldier. While he made a decent enforcer, he didn’t have much earning potential. I could see their point. He gave the impression of being short on independent thought and dimmer than a burnt out light bulb.
I hitched my thumb over my shoulder in Tony’s general direction. “Well, you’re right about that. I definitely have a babysitter today. That’s the only reason I’m here.”
Lettie leaned forward conspiratorially, lowering her voice a notch and hiding one side of her mouth with a perfectly manicured hand. “Too bad, your dad didn’t pick Sal. That would’ve been much more entertaining. Tony is such a dud.”