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I crouched down and smiled at him. “Sure, kid. I think it’s great you want to speak a whole bunch of languages.”
Leo punched the air. “Yes! Play hide and seek with me.”
I’d barely registered the change of topic when he’d bolted past me and disappeared out the door. Gunther chuckled heartily in his seat.
“And that’s just the beginning,” he said.
I thought for a moment about just leaving Leo and his game and returning to the lower deck. But then the idea of the little kid sitting somewhere dark, waiting for me to find him, pulled at my heartstrings.
“I guess I’m seeking,” I said with a light laugh and made my way out.
If I were Leo, my first move would be to go below deck somewhere. A place with nooks and crannies that’ll fit my tiny body but be hard for grown-ups to access. It seemed easy enough, but the yacht was massive, and soon I’d lost my bearings in the dimly lit hallways.
All the doors looked the same. I was either stepping into a lush cabin or a bathroom. One time I walked right into a storage closet. The last door I tried opened into the galley kitchen. Maria was nowhere in sight and neither was Megan, but the remains of their work littered the countertop. I thought about investigating the cupboards and under the table in the corner, but after Leo’s earlier aversion to the kitchen, I decided against it. He wouldn’t want to be stuck in there. I could even feel the waves swell beneath my feet as I stood in the doorway.
I turned to leave but walked right into a hulk of muscle blocking my way.
“Just the person I was looking for,” Luca said, pushing me into the kitchen and sliding the door shut behind him.
Chapter 9
Luca
“Areyoucrazy?”Scarlettwhisper-screamed at me, the red of her hair seeming to seep into her eyes like flames. “What if someone comes in here? What if—?”
“Nobody will come down here now,” I replied, keeping my voice even in an effort to calm her down. “Brunch was just served, so they’re busy.”
She didn’t look convinced, and when I tried to get closer to her, she took as many steps back. Until she came right up against the kitchen counter and then, with nowhere to go, it was easy.
“We need to talk about what happened at the gala,” I said, coming to stand in front of her. I was careful to keep a respectable distance, though, because I didn’t trust myself.
The moment I laid eyes on her bikini-clad body, bronzing under the sun on my yacht, it stirred that familiar primal hunger in me. It took everything I had to not jump her right then and there.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Scarlett replied, her eyes flickering to my bare chest and then back up again. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, a pained expression on her face.
It looked like she was in misery, but I knew better. She was fighting the same desires as me. I could feel her arousal radiating from her naked skin. It hung in the air between us like some tantalizing scent, coaxing me to do something about it.
I took another step forward. Our legs touched, and she leaned back to keep the rest of our bodies from doing the same. All it would take was a little pressure from my knee to part her legs…
I licked my lips. “I may have been out of line, kissing you that way. But you were there to work.”
“I couldn’t,” she said simply, shaking her head. “I’m sorry I ran out on you, but I just couldn’t do it. Not after…”
She let out a long, shaky breath, and my whole body reacted to it, wanting to hold her, to touch every part of her with every part of me.
“What am I going to do with you?” I ran my finger along her jaw then tilted her chin up so she’d look at me. “I know you feel this too.”
Her gaze lingered on my lips as I spoke, her tongue coming out to wet hers. “It doesn’t matter what we feel, Luca. My brother—your best friend—is just above deck, and—”
My next few actions happened quickly and all at once, forcing the rest of Scarlett’s argument to die down. I grabbed her tightly by the waist and lifted her onto the kitchen counter, positioning myself between her legs. One hand supported her upper back while the other cupped her ass to bring her to the edge of the counter, right up against my quickly growing hard-on.
I placed my lips against her slightly parted ones. “If he’s within earshot, then that means you’ll have to be quiet.” I bucked my hips, grinding myself against her. The warmth of her core soaked through the thin fabric of my shorts, making me even harder. “Can you do that, Scarlett? Can you be quiet for me?”
She whimpered in my arms, rocking her hips to make the most delicious friction where I needed it most. I groaned and sucked her bottom lip into my mouth, tugging it lightly with my teeth before letting it go.
“Tell me to stop, and I’ll walk out that door right now,” I said, locking eyes with her.
She said nothing, her gaze never leaving mine for even a second. Those forest green eyes were shot black with arousal, and I was certain that “no” wasn’t going to come before we both did. Scarlett wanted me in that moment as much as I wanted her, and it turned out she was more than ready to play along.
