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I glance toward the woman now standing three feet from me. It’s easy to see why the other guys have fallen under her spell. She’s gorgeous, petite, curvy, mouthy, and there’s something about her that oozes sexuality. But I can’t think like that, or she’ll suck me in as well.
“I don’t owe you answers. Sit down and be quiet.”
“I’ve ruffled your feathers,” she says, sitting beside me on the bench again.
“No. My feathers are not ruffled, and you’re little hip thing and all that smart mouth talk isn’t going to work on me like it does the other guys. So shut up, or I’ll use force.”
“Force? Liketheforce? Are you a big Star Wars fan? Tell me you’re going to choke me with your mind.”
I roll my eyes. “Forgive me if I don’t believe that a twenty something with fake hair and glued eyelashes watches Star Wars.”
She smiles, a really cute smile, one I shouldn’t have noticed. “Did you know that Yoda was almost a monkey? In theEmpire Strikes Back, they’d made a Yoda costume for a chimp to wear but they changed their minds last minute and had the puppet made.”
“You probably read that off some fact website so you could manipulate nerds.” I should be offended that she thinks I’m the type that would be interested in Star Wars… but she has me dead to rights. I might be a little obsessed. That is if you think someone with over forty model starships obsessed. It’s the part of my life that makes me feel grounded after a long day of doing… work.
“They filmed most ofAttack of the Clonesin Italy, near Lake Como. Are you guys anywhere near there?”
Is she still rattling off facts from a website or does she know this shit?
“Nowhere close. I heard of them filming there, though.” God, what am I doing having an actual conversation with her? This is what she wants.
She shifts and turns toward me, her bright eyes paled in this light. “My dad was a huge Star Wars fan. He passed away when I was eight. I figured watching the movies kept me close to him. I used to imagine having all these conversations with him about the Empire. I guess it got me through.”
Fuck, she’s good.What is it about this girl that makes everyone feel something for her?
“Your dad died?” I say the words with a raised brow. “Of what?”
“It was nothing dramatic, just went in his sleep. He was a lot older than my mom when they met and so he was a lot older when he had me. Still though, he died rather young in his sixties.”
I nod slowly, wondering if I can believe the story she’s telling. “I overheard you telling Saint you lied about the Instagram account. How do we know anything you say is true?”
She smiles coyly and looks away. “You really like eavesdropping, don’t you?”
“If I think it serves me a purpose, I’ll do whatever I need to. I believe the guys were blinded by you, so I did what I thought was best. I listened and came to my own conclusions.”
“I hope you’ve never known what it’s like to be so disenchanted with yourself that you’d do anything to be someone else… but I do. After my dad died, my mom became a drunk, and she took all her stress out on me. I heard it all. Every flaw I had, every accomplishment I didn’t achieve, everything. When I left her house and started work at the bank, I took an inheritance I had from a rich family member and started a life I could call my own, one without my mother. Instagram was the affirmation I needed to feel like I was making good choices. It wasn’t right, but it’s what I did.”
“Does she know you’re sick?”
“No one knows, and I want to keep it that way. That sounds like an awful way to go, listening to everyone tell you how sad they are for the months leading up to your inevitable demise. No thanks. I’ll go out happy and sarcastic, just like I came in. What about you? How’d you end up with these guys? No offense, but you don’t seem like the type.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“You just look less…”
“Less what?”
“You’re less intimidating. You look like the kind of guy I’d nerd out with in a coffee shop over which droid we’d rather inherit.”
“Obviously, C-3PO. Who wouldn’t want a friendly robot that helps you out around the house?”
She shakes her head. “Me, I want a B-Series battle droid that’ll fuck a bunch of mobsters up when they start in with me.”
Her answer has my heart racing. If she were lying, she couldn’t have come up with that on the fly. If anything, I’m the one that sounds like a liar coming up with a basic droid like C-3PO.
My gaze widens and my chest inflates. “You know, it’s every man’s dream to be told he looks less intimidating than his mobster friends.”
She laughs. “Not like that. You’re strong.” She squeezes my left bicep. “I can see that. I just mean… you seem like this stuff bothers you, like you’re forcing it. I know Dante and Saint don’t want to live this life, but I still think it gets them off somehow. You… I’m not sure. I think it bothers you to your core. Am I right?”
