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If that wasn’t my father’s way of giving his approval, I didn’t know what was.
Matteo stood in front of me, wearing a handsome half smile. He watched me like he was amused, his head tilted slightly down so he could meet my gaze. “How are you, Vanessa?” He didn’t lean in and kiss me on each cheek the way he did with my mother. Despite our personal relationship, he touched me even less.
Not that I minded. “I feel like this is a setup.”
He chuckled. “I think the dinner plans were pretty organic. But my mother did call me and demand I get my ass over here even though I was still working…said you would be here. She told me to give you flowers…” He rolled his eyes. “I managed to get her to take it down a notch.”
“Good,” I said in relief. “I’m not really a flower kind of girl.”
“Then what kind of girl are you?” he asked.
I was a bad-boy kinda girl, wanting ink, muscle, and stone-cold eyes. “I prefer things I can eat.”
He chuckled. “Like chocolate?”
“Not necessarily. Anything edible, really.”
“So if I picked you up on a date and brought you a sandwich, you would be impressed by that?”
I laughed because the image was ridiculous. “I guess so.”
“Well, if we ever go on a date again, I’ll keep that in mind.” He turned toward the dining room, walking with me. “How was your day?”
Terrible. Heartbreaking. Depressing. “Okay. Yours?”
“I had a lot of stuff to do at work today. Both restaurants were busy, and one of my managers called in sick.”
“That’s too bad.”
He shrugged. “It stops me from being lazy.”
We went into the dining room and gathered around the table together. I was seated across from Matteo, and I couldn’t help but wonder if even that was on purpose. We held our hands together, prayed, and then dug into the wine, bread, and Tuscan meal Laura had prepared for us. It didn’t seem so awkward when we were all together, but when Matteo kept staring at me across the table, in a similar way to what Bones did, I couldn’t help but feel guilty, like I was betraying Bones even though I wasn’t doing anything wrong.
We said goodbye at the entryway, and then Matteo started to walk me to the car while my parents continued to talk to Alessandra and Laura. Matteo walked with his hands in his pockets, keeping a respectable distance from me. “You should come by one of my restaurants this week. I’ll give you a special tour of the menu. Bring some friends.”
I noticed the way he encouraged me to bring people, like he was doing his best not to make it seem like a date. “I’ll see if they’re free, and I’ll let you know.” I had no intention of doing that, but Matteo was a nice guy and I didn’t want to shut him down coldly.
He stared at me, a slight look of amusement in his eyes. “Don’t make it obvious…but both of our parents are staring at us right now.”
My eye flicked to the front of the house, and of course, he was right. “They’re ridiculous. I thought arranged marriages were from the dark ages.”
“Actually, my parents are the product of an arranged marriage. My father’s parents were friends with my mother’s parents…and that’s just how it happened.”
“Really?” I asked in surprise. “They seem so happy.”
“They are happy. I’ve always known that they love each other…even all these years later.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and broke eye contact, feeling awkward talking about marriage when there was only one man I wanted to be with…but he was the worst choice on the planet. My life would be so much easier if I’d just fallen for the right guy. But no…I had to fall for a murdering psycho. “Give me a call. I’d love to entertain you and some of your friends.”
“Will you bring any friends?”
“Definitely. My guys are always looking for a chance to meet women. But don’t worry, I’ll tell them you’re off-limits.”
My eyebrows rose up my forehead. “Why?”
“You said you aren’t dating, right?” he asked. “I’ll save you the trouble of keeping the dogs away.” He wore his handsome smile, cool and confident. “And maybe so I can call dibs on you…whenever you are ready.”
If Bones heard that, Matteo would be dead right now, shot right between the eyes. I didn’t know where my relationship with Bones was going to go, probably nowhere, but I didn’t want to lead Matteo on. “You really shouldn’t waste your time with me, Matteo. I don’t know when I’m going to be ready, and when I am, I’m not sure if this would even happen.”
He took my coldness in stride. “I don’t think I’m wasting my time. It’s not like I’m putting my personal life on hold in the meantime. I have a date tomorrow night, and my dates usually end the same way. So whatever happens, even if nothing ever comes of it, that’s fine with me. You can never have too many friends, right?”
