His chin drops to stare down at my finger, and I quickly jerk it back. The awkward movement makes me drop my can of mace. Oh shit.
“Of course, what was I thinking?” Mattia says before leaning down and grabbing the pepper spray off the floor. He hands it back to me, and I quickly take it from him.
“Glad we got it all cleared up,” I tell him before I spin back around. “I’m in charge.”
There are stairs at the back that lead to my place above the laundromat, and Mattia follows behind me. When we get to the door, I open it, and he looks at me with concern.
“There’s not a lock on your door?”
“Why would I need one? You can lock the doors downstairs. Besides, it’s better this way because I’m always losing my keys.”
He sighs and shakes his head like it’s the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard.
“Hey.” I lean forward and put a finger on his chest again. “My place might not be clean. Normally it is totally clean. Not a speck of dust anywhere,” I lie. “If there’s a mess, it’s a fluke.”
“Understood.”
When I step back and let him enter, Mattia’s eyes roam around the room. It’s a studio, so the only other room is a small bathroom.
“Stop looking,” I say and smack his shoulder. I have crap everywhere.
“Do you want me to close my eyes?” he asks, and for a half a second, I think it over. “If it helps, I like watching you.”
“Oh,” I say, and stand up straighter. Then I flip my hair over my shoulder for good measure. “All right, since you’re my captive, it’s the least I can do.”
“I appreciate that.”
“You’re welcome,” I say and give a firm nod before pointing to the singular door. “That’s the bathroom. Don’t get any ideas. There isn’t a window in there.” It’s another lie, which is stupid because if he uses the bathroom, he’ll see it. “Let me get this.” I rush over to my loveseat that’s still pulled out into a bed and fold it up. “There, now you may sit.”
He smiles before walking over and dropping down onto it. Only his massive size takes up so much of it that it makes my loveseat appear to be a chair.
“What do you want to eat?” he asks.
This guy is always trying to top from the bottom. It’s hot, but I’ll never let on how much I like it.
“What would you like?” I don’t have many options, but I can’t let him win. “I have old Chinese food we could heat up, or I’ve got a frozen pizza.”
“Have you tried the pizza place two blocks over on Willow Lane? We can order it and eat on the roof.”
I gasp, pointing my finger at him. “I know what you’re doing. You’re going to call and place a delivery and then alert them that you’ve been taken captive.”
He fights a smile as he takes out his phone. “Do people still call to order pizza? I thought I could do it online.”
“I don’t think so, buster.” I snatch it from his hand, but he doesn’t stop smiling.
“You can order if you like. I’ll buy it.”
“That’s right, you’ll buy it.” I don’t know why I felt the need to say that. I’m trying to keep the power here.
Mattia gives me the name of the place, and I pull it up on his phone. I start adding things to the cart, and Mattia finishes out the order with his card. I check it over to make sure he didn’t put a hostage note in the comments, and my eyes widen when I see something there.
“I knew it, you…” I trail off while reading what he wrote.
Made you look.
It takes everything inside of me not to laugh. “A dad joke? Really, Mattia? You’re showing your age, old man.”
“It’s Daddy,” he says before he winks at me, and my mouth falls open.
