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“You slayed him with your smile, Lucia.”
I snorted. “I did not.” I wasn’t the sort of woman who slayed men, or boys, with my smile. At all. Ever. Taking the plate Dante handed me, I did my best to ignore the tingling up my arm when our fingers brushed. “So, uh, tell me what you’ve been up to?”
“When I left Esperance” —I didn’t miss the shadow that passed over his face— “I joined the Air Force. I’m on leave, waiting to be reassigned. Maybe a promotion.”
“That’s so great. Do you like it?”
“I do. They put me through college. Taught me discipline. I don’t know if you remember, but that was something I was in desperate need of back in the day.”
“I might vaguely recall that, yes.”
Dante smiled ruefully. “Well, they gave me that and more. The pay is great, and the travel is fun. What’s not to like?”
“No—”
He quirked a brow when I didn’t continue.
Clearing my throat, I dove in. “No wife, I mean.”
“No.”
There was a strange flatness to his reply. Weird. He was young, fit, gorgeous, with a great job. He was a catch by anyone’s definition. I looked at him for a long moment, wanting to ask more, but at the same time feeling like it would be crossing a line.
We continued eating our pizza as we chatted some more. Every so often I caught him watching me, and every now and then his eyes would flick down to my lips when I talked. It seemed crazy, but if I didn’t know better, I’d say he was attracted to me. And yet I wasn’t really the kind of girl guys crushed on or lusted after. Being above average height at five foot ten and on the curvy side, with a serious personality to boot, I was never going to be the fun party girl a guy like Dante went for. That’s why Richard and I had worked so well together. He was a no fuss kind of guy and liked it that I didn’t expect endless compliments and flattery.
But now, sitting here tonight with Dante, staring into my wine, I felt a flash of regret. A stupid, momentary longing to be exactly the kind of girl he liked. Pretty and peppy and fun.And thin. I shushed myself immediately for that last one. It wasn’t like I had a lot of hang ups about my body. Cooper women were “built on majestic lines”, as my Nan used to say. Usually, that was a source of pride for me, but sometimes, no, most of the time, I felt …unsexy. Biting back a sigh, I raised my eyes to his.
“I’d almost forgotten how pretty you are.”
The breath whooshed from my lungs when he reached up and ran the tip of his finger down my cheek. Oh. My. God. He looked like he was going to kiss me. I let out a gasp and his eyes dropped immediately to my parted lips. With a knowing light in his eye, he leaned in slowly, giving me enough time to pull back if I wanted to. No way was I doing that. I was utterly spellbound, breathless with anticipation, my heart hammering.
The corners of his mouth hooked up in a devilish smile and he closed the remaining distance between us, pressing his lips to mine. I forced myself to breathe, felt his scent wash over me and heat pool in my core. He cupped the back of my head and held me there, demanding I open my lips for him. This was no sweet, gentle, exploratory kiss. It was a full-on assault that had me reeling.
I loved every single second of it.
CHAPTER2
Dante
Lucy freaking Cooper. Sweet Jesus, she was even hotter than I remembered. And what a kisser! My long, boring weekend waiting for Stef to get back to town had just morphed into something seriously amazing. There was no way I was passing up the opportunity to spend some quality time with this woman. Especially not when she kissed like this. I pulled back slowly, smiling again when her eyes fluttered open and she looked at me sleepily, like she’d been drugged. “When are you heading out?”
“Hmm?”
My smile widened. “Esperance. When do you have to go back?”
“Oh. Umm, first thing in the morning.”
“Good. We have plenty of time.”
“Do we?”
“We do.”
“What for?”
“For all the wicked things I want to do to you.”
Her eyes clouded in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
