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I make a mental list. First, I could technically blame Jaz for not renting me the car. Gio did offer me a ride to my hotel. I said no.

When Gio saw I was abandoned at the airport, he offered me a ride again. I still said no.

Gio picked up my sandal when I lost it. I threw the matching shoe at his head!

He didn’t go crazy when I stole his hotel reservation. He negotiated a plan for us to share the bungalow.

Then he rescued me from a mountain peak, gave me his car, and let me leave him behind. The nutcase smiled as I drove away!

And the finale? When he moved in, he made me cupcakes and offered to help find Adam.

My teeth snag the inside of my cheek as I think hard. Then my eyes widen when a troubling truth bomb hits.

Have I been torturing Gio in the place of Roman and years of bad relationships?

My gaze darts to his face.

Have I been saying no to Gio, when I should be saying yes? Maybe he hasn’t been my enemy all this time; maybe he’s been something else.

Is there a level below enemy? My mouth twists as I decide.

“You okay?” Gio angles his head.

“Uh, yeah.” I nod too fast, too enthusiastically.

With our gaze connected, something shifts inside me. An annoying sensation grows in my nether regions, but it’s different from the lusty feels from before. This is deeper.

I squirm under my sheet, trying to get comfortable with this new idea of him, someone just short of an enemy.

A fun enemy. A junior enemy. An almost enemy. The assistant to the enemy. The prince of enemies. The vice president to the president of enemies.

His gaze returns to the beautiful sunset. I study him as the golden glow warms his face, making his unique features more handsome, if that’s possible.

His lips seem fuller. Softer. His stormy gray eyes, darker. Sparkling. The slope in the silhouette of his nose? Striking. His entire body? Magnetic. His personality? Well, utterly infuriating. And for some reason, I’m drawn to all of him. The good, the dark, and the devastatingly handsome.

Unfortunately, I’m seeing him in a new light. And right now, the light is a glorious sunset of dreamy colors. The scared part of me would like someone to turn that light off, like right now.

Pretty please.

My biggest unforgivable ick is what I’m feeling. It’s not just about lust, though, in my current highly combustible state, it’s an issue. But when I add up all the pieces, I have to ask myself:

Am I sort of crushing on my sometimes fun, almost tolerable, junior in brain capacity but not in body hotness, non-Prince Charming, almost an enemy?

Oh God. Oh no. This cannot be happening. Take back that thought right now!

My eyes blur, and I cough. Or is that a gag?

I adjust my pillow, highly uncomfortable with this startling, garish, no-good, and highly disturbing revelation.

Make it stop!

The thing that’s scarier is that I’m trying to find words to tell Gio what today meant to me. For the most part, we had a fun day. He was nice to me. He saved me. He protected me. The man tucked me into bed and he’s holding my hand right now. I’m looking at it! And don’t even get me started on the pineapple-eating contest.

My traitorous Miss People-Pleaser reminds me of good manners. She says that thanking Gio is the least I can do. He saved me from an encounter with Roman, which would have been certain emotional annihilation.

I release a shaky breath and let the words tumble out as fast as humanly possible. It’s the only way to get through this.

“Thank you for saving me earlier.” I clear my throat to dissolve the crunchy feeling of nice words for Gio in my mouth. It’s unnatural.