Page 193 of Marcello

Don’t drop your panties RIGHT away, Laura!

“Okay,” I said, and gave him an encouraging smile. “You just bought yourself a second chance.”

59

We went to a part of the castle where we had a better view of the bay. We flirted a little – lots of banter –

But it threw me when I asked him his name.

“Romeo.”

I don’t know why I thought that was funny. I mean, it’s a totally legit name, and he was 100% serious when he said it –

But it still struck me as funny.

Maybe because he’d been using pickup lines on me, I figured he was lying, so I said, “Well, I guess that makes me Giulietta.”

You know – Romeo and Giulietta.

Or, if we’re talking about the Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes movie, Romeo + Juliet.

Sure enough, he dropped another cheesy line. “You know what they did in the play, right?”

From the tone of his voice, he might as well have said Fuckiiiiiiiiin, but I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction. “Yeah, they both DIED.”

He laughed. “Okay, let’s not do that part. What’s your real name?”

A bright red flare of caution went up in the back of my mind.

Are you crazy?!

Don’t tell him your NAME!

What if somebody in the Camorra is nearby?!

So I deflected. “What’s your real name?”

“Romeo,” he insisted.

“Then my real name is Giulietta.”

A lot of Romeo-and-Juliet-themed banter followed.

I was enjoying flirting with him, so I kept it going –

Until he leaned in for a kiss.

I knew all the signs – I’d seen it a thousand times in the movies –

But I chickened out.

My heart was thudding in my chest, and I was just too scared, no matter how hot he was.

Maybe it was because he was so hot.

I stopped him with some more banter –

But he went for it again.