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“Thank you, Lucia.” She was just as sweet as my nana.
“Dinner is ready, Granny. I’ll serve it up. Two or three pigs’ feet for you, Nik?”
I choked on my spit. She hadn’t been kidding. Sick.
Lucia cackled, slowly making her way to the table. “Stop teasing him, Rita. She made her delicious spaghetti sauce. One taste and you’ll be hooked.”
I was already hooked on Rita’s smart-ass mouth. I needed to feel her full lips wrapped around me.
I thought I smelled Italian food, but Rita got me. Little shit. I’d have to teach her a lesson about teasing a starving man. And my appetite wasn’t all about food either.
“I was hoping he’d run out the door.” Rita snickered as she leaned over the table, placing a bowl of salad and garlic bread on it.
That fine ass stole my attention.
“Be nice,” Lucia chided. “Sit down, Nik.” She pointed at the chair at the head of the table. There were two place settings on the sides, and Lucia took one. That put Rita on my right side.
“Water, iced tea, or wine?” Rita asked.
“Water. Thanks.”
She arched her brow, seemingly surprised by my answer. I didn’t drink when I had to work, which was in two hours.
A glass of water and a bowl of spaghetti appeared in front of me. The slight brush of Rita’s breast against my shoulder nearly unraveled me at the seams.
Was she teasing me on purpose? Tempting me?
Rita seemed different from the usual type of woman I screwed. But I couldn’t put my finger on what the difference was compared to others. I didn’t do relationships or have girlfriends. I just liked to fuck. It’d been my experience women couldn’t be trusted, so I was a one-and-done kind of man. My opinion of the opposite sex was why Nana wanted me to stay away from Rita. She didn’t want me to use Rita for a night and then never see her again. It would undoubtedly make life complicated with her living across the street and our grandmas being best friends.
Shit. I should have thought this through before coming over.
“Eat, Nik, before it gets cold,” Lucia told me as she put a slice of garlic bread on my plate. So much like my nana.
I nodded, twirling my fork in the noodles. My mouth watered from the aroma. Hard as she tried not to, Rita’s hazel-green eyes kept flicking my way. I stuck a large bite into my mouth and groaned. I couldn’t help the obscene sound I made; the sauce was the best I’d ever tasted.
“See. You’re hooked, aren’t you?” Lucia grinned as she forked a bite.
I turned my attention to Rita, my heart beating uncharacteristically fast. “I am hooked. I may want seconds or thirds.”
“There’s plenty.” Lucia didn’t notice Rita and me staring at each other.
The heat radiating off Rita would be my undoing. Now that I was in her granny’s house, having dinner, I remembered all the times Ms. Rocha had fed me dozens of popsicles and cookies by the handful. Suddenly her words ran through my head as I held Rita’s gaze.Eat all the cookies you want, Nik. My sweet Rita isn’t here to enjoy them.
It all came back to me then. Lucia’s sad face each time she mentioned Rita. The little girl who lived thousands of miles away on the east coast because Lucia was estranged from her daughter. Nana had told me Rita’s dad was an alcoholic and controlling. He wouldn’t let Rita and her mom visit Lucia. It fucking broke my heart back then.
And now? I was at war with my fucking conscience.
I couldn’t be a selfish jerk and dirty up Lucia’s sweet Rita. I couldn’t break my promise to Nana.
Shit. Why did I come?
No question Rita wanted me as much as I wanted her. But I wasn’t the right guy for her. I’d only hurt her because no woman would ever have my heart or the power to destroy it. I could tell Rita was the kind of woman who would want a relationship, a commitment, and I couldn’t give her one.
“Do you need help unpacking, Nik?” Lucia’s voice painfully cut through my thoughts.
“No. I got it.”
“Rita can help you.”
