Page 33 of Cara & Gian: The Guzzi Duet

Damn him.

“Is your weekend free?” Gian asked quieter.

“My whole weekend?” Cara shrugged. “That’s a hell of a lot more than coffee or dinner, Gian.”

“It is, but shit, go big or go home, Cara. I’m interested in you—very interested, love. I’m not about to hide my intentions in that regard. It won’t get me what I want, if I do. So if your weekend is free, and you might like a bit more than dinner with me, you should get your pretty ass inside my car as soon as you possibly can, so we can get out of here.”

Cara sucked in a sharp breath, stunned and aroused at the same time. With only a few words, he’d provoked her into a reaction, and this time, he hadn’t even needed to touch her to do it. He demanded, she reacted.

Damn him, indeed.

“And what would this weekend include?” Cara asked.

Gian waved a hand, smiling. “I’ve come into some real estate in Ottawa, and I greatly need a break from my life. I’ll get to leave this city for a bit—breathe outside of this familiar hell. It’s not been a fun couple of weeks. I’d like to see the real estate, and enjoy myself while I do it.”

Cara wet her lips. “With me.”

He nodded, that piercing gaze of his pinning her in place. “With you, Cara.”

Well, then …

“I have to grab a bag,” she said.

Gian gestured at her building. “I’ll be here when you get out.”

“This was not at all what I expected when you said real estate,” Cara admitted, taking in the old oak floors and outdated—yet beautiful—pieces of furniture in the two-level penthouse. There was nothing modern about the decoration of the penthouse, and even the light fixtures threw back to yesteryears, when Cara hadn’t even been alive. It was beautiful, to be sure, but old. “It’s like we jumped back in time about fifty years.”

Gian hummed under his breath, running his finger along the curved wooden arm of a chaise. Not a speck of dust was anywhere to be seen, yet the place looked like it hadn’t been lived in for years. “As far as I know, that was about the time he bought it.”

“He?”

“My grandfather.”

“Oh,” Cara said softly.

“Mr. Guzzi!”

Cara damn near jumped out of her skin at the new voice, though Gian barely moved a muscle except to smile at the newcomer. An older gentleman, and a slightly younger woman, came walking down a spiral staircase. The woman stayed behind the man, her uniform suggesting she was a maid of sorts, while the gentleman’s suit said something entirely different.

“We’ve been looking forward to seeing you, and taking you on a tour,” the man said, coming to stop in front of Gian with his hand extended.

Gian shook politely. “Yes, well, the tour won’t be needed, Derek, but merci.”

“But—”

“I think Cara and I can handle the exploring on our own for the weekend.” Gian gave her a wink over his shoulder. “Right, mon ange?”

“Sure, we can.”

She didn’t think he had any exploring in mind, to be honest.

“If you’re sure,” Derek started to say.

“Perfectly sure.”

“Penelope comes in to clean and dust Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,” Derek explained. “She is done for the day, and all the beds have been stripped and changed.”

Something odd took over Gian’s features. Cara didn’t recognize it.