His lips, those brutal, sexy lips that I know will do many of those dirty things, curve. “Challenge accepted.” He strokes my cheek and then turns me in the opposite direction. “Hurry.” He smacks my backside just hard enough for me to feel the erotic sting. “We need tacos, stat.”
With a curve of my own lips, I hurry forward, unable to deny the clench of my sex and nipples at that palm on my backside. I barely know myself with this man. I am a control freak, and yet the dominant, dirty side of this man, arouses me. I’m not sure what to do with that.
“Pack for the weekend,” Kace calls out.
I abandon my bag and appear in the doorway. “The weekend? It’s Tuesday.”
“Exactly. Almost Friday. You might as well just stay the weekend.”
I laugh. “It’s not almost Friday.”
“Close enough.”
“I worry about being away from the store that long.”
“Walker will have your place under surveillance the minute you give them a thumbs-up. Tonight if you want. But we’ll stay here if you prefer.”
“No,” I say quickly, far easier than even I expect. “You need to have access to your violins to practice. And I like listening to you play.”
Surprise flickers in his eyes and fades into warmth. “Then go pack, baby. I’ll call Walker and make sure they have eyes on your place tonight.”
“Thank you, Kace.”
He winks and reaches for his phone. Mine buzzes with a text where I’ve set it on the bathroom counter. Thinking of the Fetzer, I rush and grab it, and I’m not disappointed at what I find. The text is from Donelle’s attorney and refers me to my email for photos. I rush back into the bedroom. “Kace.”
He’s on the phone. “Hold that thought,” he tells whoever is on the line. “What’s up, baby?”
“I called about that violin. It’s the Fetzer.”
“Holy hell.” He speaks into the phone. “I’ll call you back.” He disconnects. “Are you sure?”
“They sent me photos.” I pull up my email and sit down on the bed, Kace is right there by me when I open the email and we both are instantly in awe. “Oh my God,” I murmur. “It’s beautiful.”
“Where is it?” Kace asks.
“That’s the catch. He’s old. He can’t travel. He’s in Italy. And I was suspicious but now that I’ve seen the photos, you can’t miss out on this.”
“I can’t miss out on this?”
“He wants you to have it. He’s the last of his namesake. He wants it to go to someone who deserves it and when I said your name he was in heaven. You need this violin for you.”
“Baby, I told you this was for you to make money.”
“It belongs with you.”
He studies me a moment, his expression unreadable. “Then I’ll pay you the finder’s fee.”
“I’m not taking a finder’s fees for a violin you found yourself. Not happening. Were you able to get a viewing of the Le Marquis Doria?”
“He’ll be back Thanksgiving week. We can see it then.”
There’s a pinch in my chest at the idea of Gio still not being home by Thanksgiving, but I shove aside the thought and focus on the violins. “I’m excited to see them both. And on that note, I need to go pack.” I stand up and Kace is right there with me, twining fingers in my hair, his lips near mine. “You really aren’t about the money.”
“You thought I was?”
“No, but I’m used to being disappointed and you are never a disappointment, Aria Stradivari.” His mouth comes down on mine and the kiss that follows is dark and sultry in all the right ways. I’m breathless when our lips part and he turns me toward the bathroom. “Go pack, baby. I have plans for you tonight.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
I’m standing in my walk-in closet that I’d insisted on when Gio and I built this apartment, fretting over my limited clothing choices when Kace appears in the doorway. “Don’t forget you have clothes at my place,” he says. “If you need something more—”
“I don’t,” I say firmly. “Thank you, though.”
“Aria—”
“I’m with you, Kace, not your wallet. We, in fact, just had that conversation.” I shut my suitcase and zip it up. “Besides. I was just trying to make sure I have everything covered that I might need. I have a business lunch with Crystal tomorrow, by the way.”
“Mark and I need to talk through some things anyway. Why don’t I see if we can make it a foursome?”
“I think no. Mark makes me uptight, for a lack of a better word.”
“And he likes it that way, but if you’re going to work with Riptide, you need to nip that in the bud.”
“Good point,” I concede. “I really do and I love Crystal. Surely he can’t be with her and be the asshole he seems to be.”
“Mark’s complicated. I’ll let you define what that means. I’ll call him. And I talked to Savage. He can ramp up the surveillance here at your place. I’d like to tell him about that, the security feed, and the calls now. Let them see what they can find out.”