“Is this someone who’s blonde, petite, with blue eyes and a mean right hook?” I say with a knowing smirk, and he grunts in return. “So what you’re telling me is that the playboy has pined after the same girl for years and failed to lock her down?”
“You’ve met her. She’s in a league of her own, and if anything, the very things that attract the fame chasers deter her like insect repellent.”
“I’d never thought I’d see the day that the two cockiest bastards I know would be brought to their knees by unrequited love.”
“You say that like it’s not going to happen to you,” he gripes.
“Not a fucking chance. I’ll leave love and relationships to you and Marco,” I say adamantly. “Speaking of Marco, where is he?” I ask.
“He flew out of here on his bike about twenty minutes ago. Just said he had to be somewhere and he’d be back later.”
“Fuck,” I mutter through gritted teeth.Dad must have managed to make Sophia go on a date with Arty after all.
He gives me a questioning stare. “Something I should know about?”
Before I have a chance to respond, I hear the lilt of a teasing voice that has invaded my thoughts and personal space for the last two weeks.
“Ahh. Big Bad Raf. So we meet again. You know you could have just asked Marco for my number instead of stalking me.”
The sultry sound of it burns through my body like the scotch I’ve taken a big swig of. I swallow slowly to stop myself from giving her the reaction she’s chasing.
I deliberately take my time to turn towards the sound of her voice, acutely aware of Seb staring at me with a mixture of confusion and amusement.
I wish I could say the first time was a fluke and seeing her again doesn’t elicit the same zing of electrical current. My muscles tense involuntarily, and my groin tightens. A ripple of arousal I haven’t felt in a long time sends some sort of foggy signal to my dick, who makes it known that the signal has been received by giving a subtle twitch.
I give her a bored look, at odds with the way I feel.
“I’d say given I was here first, you’re the one with stalker tendencies.”
“Still as delightful as I remember,” she goads. “I thought maybe outside the office you would know how to…how do you say…have fun. Clearly, I was sorely mistaken.”
She speaks English well given she wasn’t born here, but her Italian accent sneaks in on some vowels and the roll of her Rs.Why the hell am I even noticing this shit.
I take another sip of my scotch to keep up the facade of nonchalance, unable to help myself from drinking her in as I do. Like the first time we met, she’s wearing those damn thigh-high boots, this time with a red, long-sleeved mini-dress that cinches her tiny waist before flaring out. Her chocolate brown hair is down in big waves, and her makeup is light, save for her red lipstick. It makes her look like a doll. The thought is a starkreminder that this woman is so much younger than me, and I should not be taking this much fucking interest.
She takes my silence and fills it with even more barbs directed at me.
“So are you going to introduce me to your very fine friend, or is that also outside the scope of your abilities?”
The tiny tyrant smirks at me, enjoying the sparring match. I know she wants me to return serve; instead, I give her a bored roll of my eyes and make the introductions.
“Seb, this is Chiara Gigioliotti, one of Marco’s clients. He’s her driver while she’s in town,” I explain with a raised eyebrow. “Chiara, this is my brother, Sebastian, and Bella Donna is his club.”
His lips quirk like they want to ask more questions, but I widen my eyes at him and he flashes his dazzling smile at her instead.
“Lovely to meet you, Chiara. What can I get you to drink?”
“So you must be the charming brother with the good looks and the good manners,” she says with a sweet laugh and big smile. “I’d love a Martini. Extra dirty,” she says with a flirty wink.
“Yes, ma’am. Coming right up.” Seb mock salutes her as he calls the bartender over.
She might be responding to Seb, but her answers are for my benefit too. She’s comparing my prickly personality to his easygoing one, and the truth is, I’d choose his company over mine any day. Yet the pang of jealousy I felt at her flirting with Seb is a revelation I don’t have the emotional bandwidth to deal with.
“Well, you kids have a good time. I’m out of here.” I stand abruptly and make to leave. I need to get away from her. She brings out this side of me that I can’t control.
“What, does the nursing home have a curfew?” she claps back, glaring up at me from under thick, long lashes. I can’t help but notice how she looks like anything but a kid perched on the bar stool, one leg crossed over the other, her dress riding up so high it just covers her underwear.I wonder if she’s wearing any, or if she uncrossed her legs and slowly opened them, I’d get a view of her pretty pussy, I think. Fuck! I need to leave.
“Nailed it,” I grunt. As I turn to walk away, she tosses out her final barb.
