Page 109 of Auctioned to the Billionaire Surgeon

I turned to see Paolo leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. I walked over to him, stood on my toes, grabbed his face, and kissed the hell out of him. He followed suit and was soon lifting me up by my ass. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and we were really going at it.

“Um, Jelly? Dr. Lanetti?”

It was Cleo. I hopped down immediately and tried to look chill, like I hadn’t just been mauling the head of surgery for the hospital in a hallway.

“I was just going to say that the children and the elderly folks made you cards for the balloons and flowers.” She had a huge smile on her face as she handed the cards over.

“Oh, thanks, Cleo,” I smiled at her.

“What did you say?” Cleo asked.

“I said, ‘Oh, thanks, Cleo.’”

“No, no. I mean, to Dr. Lanetti. Did you say yes or no to going out with him?”

“Oh.” I laughed, feeling stupid. Then I straightened up when I saw how serious Paolo was looking at me. “I said yes.”

“You said yes,” Cleo clapped her hands. “That’s great news. Well, I’ll see y’all tomorrow.”

Paolosmiled down at me until she left. Then he walked over and pulled me into his strong arms. “You said yes?”

“Yes.”

“Thank goodness.” He buried his face against my neck and sniffed me. “My God, I’ve missed you so much.”

“Mmm,” I sniffed him right back. “I’ve missed you, too.”

He helped me pack up my balloons, flowers, and chocolates. “When can I expect this date?” I asked, as he walked me out to the parking lot and helped me in my car.

“I might have noticed that you have tomorrow off.”

“That’s true.”

“I might have scheduled myself to be off as well.”

I put a hand to my chest, mock scandalized. “Doctor. Isn’t that an abuse of your power?”

“Sure as hell is.” He leaned in and kissed me until I could barely remember my name. “Can I come pick you up tomorrow at seven?”

I nodded. “Where are we going? What should I wear?”

“It’s a surprise, and your outfit should have arrived today.”

“Ooh. Exciting. I can’t wait to see.”

“See you tomorrow, baby.” He kissed me one last time.

“See you tomorrow.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Paolo

“Thank you for getting this done so quickly, man, I really appreciate it,” I leaned forward and shook Enzo’s hand.

“It was no problem,” he said easily, sliding his hands in his pockets and looking cool, calm, and collected. He almost always did. Still, there was something about him that had always made me a little more… aware of his family’s connections. With Nico and the rest, I forgot all the time. They were just my friends. The fact that Carlos had rumored mafia ties and had made at least some of his money in less than legal ways slipped my mind around everyone else.

But Enzo? Not so much. It wasn’t really anything he did. We were friends. We joked around. We’d gone after the same women in Cayenne without it being a problem. I should have felt as easy and mindless about our relationship as I did with the other Salazars.