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She flushes. “I normally spend my day with books, so …”
“So, there aren’t any other guys.”
She ducks her face into the flowers, not making eye contact. That’s a shame. I’m great at the eye-contact-game. Makes it hard for women to resist me when they’re looking into my baby blues. “Do …” She clears her throat. “Do you have a favorite flower?”
I start to laugh when Francesca looks up, and I realize she’s being serious. “Uh, hmm.” My laughter dies. I’m about to tell her I’m a man and what man has a favorite fucking flower? But I stop myself. I can use this as an opportunity to draw her in. “Lilies.”
“Really?” There’s hope in her eyes that speaks to her innocence.
“Yep. I love how they … smell.”
She smiles slightly. “You don’t know anything about lilies, do you?”
“You got me.” I give her my most charming smile. By how the pink in her cheeks deepens, I know it has an effect on her. “I was just trying to impress you.”
“Well, lilies are my favorite flower because they’re hard to grow. They only bloom for a short while, but that makes them even more magical when they do. It makes the moment feel more special.” She picks off one rose petal and holds it in her hand. “Roses are beautiful, too. But they’ve never really spoken to me. They feel too … manufactured.”
I lean against the wall, the smooth stone cool against my skin. “Manufactured how?”
“Oh.” She flutters her hand by her face. “It’s not important. I don’t want to bore you.”
“You’re not boring me.” And I mean it. This is probably the longest conversation I’ve had with a woman that didn’t include the topic of getting naked and fucking right away. It’s … refreshing.
“Roses are used as gifts for all women. There’s nothing special about that. No individuality. As women, we’re all different, and we all like different things. I think it’s important for someone to realize that. Especially if he brings roses as a gift.” She can’t meet my eyes, so it takes me a second to realize she’s teasing me. Who knew Francesca had it in her?
I lean in close to her. Francesca looks up, startled, her eyes big and wide, but she doesn’t pull back. “Next time, I’ll bring lilies. I promise.”
“Um …” Her lips part, and all I can think about is kissing her. How would she react? Would she be tentative or secretly wild?
“Franny?” Emilia’s voice interrupts the moment, making Francesca back away from me. Damn. I was so close to getting a kiss. My seduction will take longer than I thought.
Emilia steps outside, freezing when she sees me. “Leo. What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to see Marco.”
“Well, Marco is in his office,” she says pointedly. “Not out here with my sister.”
“Careful, big sis,” I say. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I was just giving Francesca some flowers. I wanted to welcome her because I know she’ll be staying for a while. I’ll go see Marco now.” I try to walk past Emilia, but she grabs my arm.
“You be careful, Leo,” she warns.
I lean in so only Emilia can hear me, even though Francesca is watching us with wide eyes. “Last I checked, your sister is twenty. There’s nothing wrong about talking with her. We good?”
Emilia sighs and lets me go. “Fine.”
“Great.” I throw a cheeky grin in Francesca’s direction, which promptly makes her stick her face back in the bouquet of roses before I head off to see Marco.
I can hear Emilia asking Francesca about me, but I’m too far away to hear Francesca’s response. I need to be more careful with my seduction. Emilia has her eyes on me and won’t let me get too close to her sister. And I can’t tell Marco what I’m up to because he’ll definitely never allow it.
“Knock, knock,” I announce, walking into Marco’s office. Other than Emilia, I’m the only person on this planet who can enter his office without asking permission.
Marco flicks his eyes at me from the paper in his hand. “Leo. I wasn’t expecting you today.”
“You know me. I love to go above and beyond.”
“Well, since you’re here, I do have a job for you.”
I slap the back of the leather chair across from Marco’s desk. “Sign me up.”
