I’m barely in my chair when Che is openi
ng the door to my office. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, why?”
“It’s eight o’clock. You sleep okay?”
“I’m fine. I slept good. What’s with the third degree?”
Che’s eyes are roaming over me. “It’s eight o’clock. You haven’t come into the office this early in forever. You need anything?”
Asshole. “I’m fine. And not as in chick saying I’m fine and getting pissed if you take my word for it. I’m fine as in if you don’t drop it you’re pissing me off.”
He smiles. “Fine, everybody’s fine. You want an espresso?”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
Che nods, then he’s gone. I log into my computer, I can get some work on the foundation done before my client arrives at ten to continue the search for a new love nest. Gretchen isn’t due in for another half hour. I see she sent me six properties before she left yesterday based on the demands of the woman. Except one isn’t in the right area of the city. I delete it and send an email telling Gretchen I want at least three more.
“Here you go.” Che hands me a cup with the steam still wafting over it.
“Thanks.” I take a sip. “I wanted to talk to you. Did you know Bethany doesn’t feel comfortable with you and Enzo? One minute you’re cool, the next she’s watching her words, worried she might annoy you. Enzo is doing his soldier boy impression, studying her like she’s under a microscope. She says the only people she’s comfortable with are Uncle Tony and Dom.”
His head goes back as if I slapped him. Relief hits me, he didn’t realize it. “Are you serious?” He sits down, shaking his head. I see him flicking through his encounters with Bethany, wondering where he went wrong. He sighs. “Fuck, man. I—” He shakes his head again. “No, I’m not going to try and defend myself. At the end of the day, it’s bullshit she doesn’t feel a part of our family. I’ll apologize to her and I’ll talk to Enzo.”
“Don’t apologize, she won’t be happy I told you. And it would embarrass her.”
“Thanks for telling me. I’m surprised she confided in you. I take it you don’t think she’s a pain in the ass?”
I think about the coffee dripping down my face. “No, she’s definitely a pain in the ass. I’m also thinking high-maintenance.” I shrug. “It’s all good. I’ll figure it out.”
My phone beeps. Unlike Che, I have to answer for the speaker phone to come on. “Yeah?”
“It’s Hannah. Cesare, Alan Duncan is calling. Are you available?”
“Yeah, give me a minute to get back to my desk.” With a nod he’s gone.
A knot is unfurling in my chest as I turn to the foundation paperwork. I wonder where it even came from, and why it’s gone.
***
Bethany
Oh my god, can he see me? I pull back from the peephole which I’ve been pressed up against for almost fifteen minutes. Open the door, open the fucking door, I’m screaming at myself, but I don’t move. I hear the ding of the elevator and I’m still frozen. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Okay, what was the point of the last half hour? Why the hell am I dressed in silky short shorts with a tight-ass, very thin pink camisole without a bra? I thought it would look like I was in my sleeping clothes, only no way would I sleep in them on account of my breasts would make a hammock out of the camisole in the middle of the night, and these shorts are already riding up my ass. Why is my hair in a long, smooth braid that took three tries to get right? I set my alarm for this, damn it.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. It happened again. I saw him and my brain went haywire and fizzled out. The plan was simple: catch him as he was leaving to take him up on the invitation of making a cup of coffee at his place. I could take the opportunity to drink him in and find out if he really meant what he said. Maybe once he woke up he and saw me again, he would wonder what he was thinking.
This is nuts. Completely nuts. My head goes back against the door. And what would I have done exactly if he’d cocked his head toward his bedroom and asked if I wanted a ride? Holy crap! Wet heat floods me at the thought of it. Okay, that answers that question.
Only I’m thinking it’s probably a bad idea. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt he would get freaked out I’m a virgin, after the way Cesare acted about Alicia being a virgin, and they were raised hella old-fashioned. I’m not looking for anything serious. All I want to do is have some fun, which Dante is usually all about too, at least that was his M.O. until the ex-girlfriend. Except he’s eons ahead of me in experience. For the sex part it’s awesome, but for the whole navigating a fling I’m pretty sure I would be the equivalent of a bug on his windshield. I have no desire to end up flattened and crushed because of him.
Crap, I need coffee. This kind of thinking should not be done without caffeine.
After I change into soft black lounge pants and a loose white T-shirt, I go over to Dante’s for my caffeine fix. I knock, sure Claudine is here. She answers the door with a smile.
“Bethany, good morning. How are you doing?”