“Yeah. Is that a problem?”
“No. I just didn’t realize you two were so close.”
“In the past, we weren’t especially close even though we’re cousins. We hung out at family things, but she contacted me when Gian and Evie got engaged. I guess she realized I was lonely.”
“Well, that was nice of her,” he replied looking like he wanted to say the exact opposite. Maybe Ava’s flirtatious, touchy-feely behavior annoyed him more than he let on. “Do you need a ride?”
“No.”
“In that case, I’ll walk you out.”
He opened the door and grabbed something from his pocket. “Here.” He held out a gold key. “Take it. It’s a key to my house. You’ll need it for measurements and whatever else is necessary to get the place looking how you want it.”
I took the key, stuffed it into the outside pocket of my purse, and got into the elevator with Nico. “Thanks. I guess we’ll be in touch.”
When the door slid open, he walked me outside and said, “Your mom invited me to Sunday dinner tomorrow, so I’ll see you then.”
He brushed his lips across mine. Every cell inside of me rejected the advance. At the wedding, the kiss we shared was okay. No fireworks, no desire for more. It was pleasant. Today, his touch felt like a betrayal despite the fact that Kon and I weren’t anything except accomplices. I only had a month left of freedom, and I intended to use my time wisely. With any luck, I’d stumble upon my prince charming, and he’d scoop me up and take me away from the mess I made.
“Have a good week.” I jogged down his front steps like the building was on fire, cursing myself and my inability to stand up to my family. Undoubtedly, I looked crazy, rubbing my hands across my lips and nearly tripping on the uneven sidewalk. When the door to Nico’s building banged shut, my shoulders relaxed, and I closed my eyes to absorb everything that had happened.
“Carmela.”
A hand cupped my elbow, and my eyes popped open, landing on Kon. The drawn down brim of his baseball cap didn’t conceal his eyes, and they looked as cold as ice. The muscle in his lower jaw ticked like a time bomb ready to explode. His lips were firm, the skin between his brows pinched.
“Are you crazy? What are you doing here?” I hissed, unwinding his fingers one by one.
“Looking for you.”
“That’s stupid.” My eyes darted around. “Nico would lose his mind if he saw you here.”
“You kissed him.”
He edged closer to me, his broad shoulders hindering my view. Without hesitating, he brushed two roughened fingers across my mouth and goose bumps spiraled down my arms. Damn him for evoking more in me with a brush of his fingers than Nico could with a press of his lips.
I studied him, trying to uncover a tiny hint of what he was thinking. I couldn’t. He was like a statue, dark, impenetrable, and hard.
“You’re spying on me?”
“Apparently with good reason.”
I grabbed his arm and guided him down the street, stopping only when we were out of view of Nico’s building. “Listen, I bought us a month. You should be happy. I followed your advice. There won’t be an engagement party until sometime after that.”
“So you’re engaged. You’re really going to marry him?” He looked at me, wounded and a little confused. “You don’t even like him.”
“I don’t see you on bended knee offering me a better deal so shut the hell up. I’ll take care of my decidedly unromantic love life, and you can do whatever it is you do.” I stomped my foot like a child. God, he pissed me off and made me act like an eight-year-old instead of a twenty-eight year old. “Given everything you said in the past, you should be overjoyed. I’ve bought you time to wrap up whatever shady thing you’re working on, and you won’t end up being chained to me indefinitely.”
He stared at me for a second, the fire in his gaze raking down my frame, then up again. The look on his face turned my stomach upside down. I could smell the woody scent I associated with him. His eyes were like a riptide in the ocean, pulling me deeper and deeper into choppy depths the longer I looked. I swayed toward him, and the corner of one side of his mouth hooked up.
His hand landed on my hip, and he tugged me closer to him. One second he was looking at me and the next he was kissing me, all open mouth and soft tongue. A few wicked flicks of his tongue, and I forgot what we were talking about. When he finally pulled his mouth from mine, we were both out of breath.
“Come back to my house with me.”
“What?” I didn’t think I heard him correctly over the untamed pounding of my heart.