I glanced at the watch on my wrist. “Took them three minutes to get their asses up here.”
“I don’t care for your arrogance?—”
“And I don’t care for your prejudice, but here we fucking are,” I snapped. “I want a seat at the fucking table—now give it to me.”
Another long stare ensued.
The tension between us was stifling, like someone sucked the air out of the room.
“I’ll have your answer tomorrow, Wolfe.”
10
FRANCESCA
I was downstairs on the couch when I saw the headlights through the window. With miles between my villa and the next dwelling, I was out there alone, the stars so bright overhead it seemed like I was the only one on the planet.
The headlights disappeared behind the house then reappeared on the other side when the person parked at the front. I could see it drive by—a dark Range Rover.
I was in my pajamas shorts and a sports bra I wore while I did yoga, so I wasn’t expecting company. My heart did this weird somersault thing in my chest, and my fingertips went numb before my entire body became electrified in excitement.
Then he knocked three times.
I walked across the house and opened the door, seeing him on the other side in an unbuttoned long-sleeved shirt over a t-shirt, his ink climbing up his arms and down his wrists like black vines. He wore dark jeans and boots, looking like he was about to go out rather than get undressed.
Did he get hotter since I saw him yesterday?
His dark eyes retained their calm confidence, like he didn’t give a damn that he’d shown up at my door uninvited. Made himself right at home, did whatever the hell he wanted because this man did not give a fuck about anything. “I’m taking you to dinner.”
“Really? I don’t remember agreeing to that.”
“I don’t need you to agree.”
No other man on the planet could pull that off. Every time he was a bossy dick, he was somehow hotter. No matter what he did, he got hotter. Even when he’d gotten shot, he’d somehow become sexier. “What part of that was a one-time thing do you not understand?”
“What part of I don’t give a damn doyounot understand?”
Cristo.
He stared me down like he meant business. “Get dressed, and let’s go.”
“How about I get undressed and we just fuck instead?”
“We can do that after. I want to take you out.”
“Why?”
His eyes shifted back and forth between mine. “Because I want to.” He stepped inside the house even though he wasn’t invited and shut the door, probably because he didn’t want the insects to fly into my home.
He continued to try to pin me down, and I was running out of places to dodge. “I’m not looking for a relationship right now, so we can go out as friends?—”
“We arenotfriends. I have no interest whatsoever in being your friend. I want to be the man who comes inside you, the man in your bed, the man who grabs your ass and turns your mouth blue when I kiss you too hard. Is that clear?”
I was stunned into silence.
“Capisiti?” His eyes were furious, like I actually offended him.
“Yes…Capisiti.”
