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I fight a smile. "Fine. Why don't you have a fuck buddy?"
"Because they're so overrated when I can take care of myself just fine," she says meaningfully, wagging her eyebrows.
That mental image has my cock swelling in my pants. Her levity is a breath of fresh air and exactly what I've missed for three years. I smirk at her before leaning to speak into her ear, breathing in the scent of cherry blossoms that is soher.
"You think so, but I could take care of you so much better."
Her breath hitches, and when her eyes meet mine, it's the same crackling heat—that draw between us, which was so hard to ignore three years ago. I realize one of my hands has moved of its own volition to rest on her hip, and her gaze drops to my mouth. When she licks her lips again, it's a challenge not to pull her against me and lick them myself.
But when Loren leans slightly into me without seeming conscious of it, I give in and step into her slowly, relishing how she doesn't back away. She's pressed against me, and I'm sure she can feel my hard erection, my neediness for her. I didn't realize I'd leaned toward her so much until our noses brush slightly, and her eyes fluttered closed as her breathing picked up.
I want to taste her again. Kiss her until her knees give out and then take her hard against a kitchen counter until she's screaming my name again the way she did back then.
But things are not what they were three years ago. Now I know she's an experienced hacker—and I'm her boss. Not to mention a Caputo with responsibilities my father won't stop reminding me about. Loren appears to be in enough trouble on her own without me factoring in, and if I crossed this line, I certainly would cause her trouble.
Before I can make myself back away, Loren seems to remember where she is and who she's with because her eyes pop back open, and she steps away quickly. Her face is flushed as she doesn't meet my steady gaze.
"Right. Uh—thanks for dinner. I'll just pay the chef—"
"No. Go home. You've stayed late enough as it is," I say crisply, straightening and feeling bizarrely unsure of where to put my hands now that she's stepped out of my grasp.
I'm never unsure. I don't like the feeling, and I quickly place my hands back in my pockets, keeping my face composed.
Perhaps it's the tension thrumming between us, but Loren doesn't argue for once. She just nods and starts to leave.
I see her intended direction and stop her by calling out, "There's another entry to the employee level of the casino's parking garage closer by. Turn left as you leave the club."
She glances over her shoulder. "Huh? Oh, I don't park in the parking garage."
Does she park behind the building? I dislike that idea. It's not under as much surveillance and is a popular place for family members to meet up—enforcers, younger members itching to prove themselves, and street thugs who like to pretend they're associated with the Caputos. Loren is gorgeous, but she is all alone when she arrives and leaves.
"You should be parking in the garage."
She snorts. "I've avoided parking garages ever since—"
She cuts off, and I raise an eyebrow. "Ever since what?"
"I just… don't particularly like them." She raises a hand when I open my mouth to argue about the safety measure of it. "But I'll start doing that if you really insist because if there's one thing I've learned about you, Mr. Caputo, it's that you're one big, bossy boss man."
I almost growl at her calling meMr. Caputo.Loren sees the displeasure on my face and flashes an impish, small, completely unapologetic smile before leaving.
Once she's gone, I feel the stressors and anxieties of my day-to-day returning to plague me again. Being near Loren seems to keep the taxing nature of being a don and casino owner at bay, and this break with her was nice. I should take it for what it was and not want more with her.
And yet I do.
Chapter 7
Loren
Last night I came way too close to kissing Domenic Caputo.
That would be the stupidest, most reckless thing to do, considering how much I'm trying to keep secret from him. I'm supposed to be giving him a wide berth, doing my job tracking whoever is hacking his casino, getting paid, and keeping my head down.
When he insisted on making me eat dinner—and a fuckingdeliciousdinner, at that—it was hard not to melt a little. At first, I thought he was just behaving like a controlling alpha male, but he'd seemed almost bothered that I was missing dinner, which was sweet.
But that didn't mean I could just plant one on the gorgeous mafioso the way I was so tempted to.
This means that today, I'll be avoiding him as much as possible, and in order to do that, I'm taking my lunch break away from the casino for the first time.
