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Nope. Not that. Not this either.
The books balancing on my arm began to pile up.
Nope. Nope. Nope.
“There you are.”
I jumped, literally, and the books on my arm tumbled to the ground.
Crap.
Heart still thumping, I quickly bent down to pick up the books, all the while praying I had only imagined what I heard. Or if not, then let it be Jaak. Or Willem. Or Nic. Actually, anyone else would do except—-
“Mi dispiace, bambina.”Marcus Ravelli crouched down in front of me as he spoke, and my heart threatened to jump out of my chest.
I could only nod stiffly, all the while thinking,Please go away.I wasn’t at all used to being alone with guys, and especially guys like him. But instead of leaving, Marcus helped pick up the books that lay scattered on the ground.
Crap.Manners forced me to fumble for something to speak, and I said the first thing that came to my mind—-
“How do you do.”
—-which, unfortunately, was alsocrap.
There was a slight pause, and then Marcus answered in a solemn voice, “I’m quite fine.”
Craaaap. He was laughing at me. I could feel it. He was totally laughing at me, and I couldn’t blame him.
“And you, Ms. de Konigh?”
Okay, now he was making fun of me.
I tried to think of something witty and clever to say – something maybe Fleur would come up with – but nothing came to mind.
“I am also doing well, thank you.” And with that, I ended up being myself, aka the most unimaginative girl in the planet.
Marcus cleared his throat.
Twice.
He was definitely still laughing at me.
“So...”
In the corner of my eye, I saw him reach for a typewritten piece of paper from the ground, and I froze.Crap.
“What’s this?” Pause. “And who’s Justin and Cameron?”
“No one you know.” I managed to snatch the typewritten piece from his hands without meeting his gaze. It was the only way to make it through this ordeal alive, the only way to make my heart stop beating so hard and fast like it was on steroids.
“Are you sure?” Marcus’ tone was musing. “They sound familiar.”
I shook my head vigorously. “You must be mistaken.” Anxiety had me back to speaking like the Queen of Contini, my grandmother, and I added emphatically, “It is doubtful you are acquainted with them.”
“If you say so.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
“But are you really sure—-”
