His gaze moved from me to Ara, and I didn’t miss the flash of desire in his eyes or the longing. Fucking hell, this guy was still hung up on her, and he was about to marry her best friend.
“Good morning, Ellis,” Chiara greeted kindly.
“Hey, Chiara. Are you having a good morning?”
I watched her face flame hot as her gaze flicked to mine for amicro-second before going back to Ellis. “Yes, a wonderful morning. What are you up to?”
Ellis’s gaze turned cold—no doubt picking up on the meaning in Chiara’s words—before he forced a smile at her. “I was just out for a walk. I was hoping I’d run into you and that I could ask you to lunch. I just want to talk to you alone for a while and thought I’d buy you a meal?”
“Oh,” Chiara said, obviously caught off guard. “Umm… that’s so nice.”
She was floundering, and I knew Ellis was counting on her kind heart to get his way. I cleared my throat and tugged her closer to me.
“Sorry, Ellis. We have plans for today, but maybe we can catch up with you another time?” I suggested.
Ellis’s icy gaze met mine and he stiffened. “I actually wanted to catch up withjustChiara. There’s no need for you to be there.”
Over my dead fucking body. Ellis was an asshole with manipulation tactics dictators would be envious of. Like hell I was going to leave him alone with Chiara to work her over.
“Well, I really don’t see a reason why you need to speak with her alone at all then. Afterall, anything you talk about, she’ll just tell me anyway. That’s how a relationship works.”
Ellis’s face grew angry, his jaw tense and eyes narrowed, but I was done giving him anymore time.
“Come on, babe. We have plans today and time is getting away from us. We’ll see you later, Ellis,” I called, tugging Ara away.
We didn’t get far before Ellis shot his hand out to grab Ara’s other hand. When I turned back to him, his eyes were only for Ara. “You look beautiful today, Chiara. I’ll see you later,” he said softly.
“Oh. Umm, okay. Bye, Ellis,” Ara replied awkwardly.
I tugged Ara away again, narrowing my eyes on Ellis who glared at me as I tucked her beneath my shoulder and strode out of thehotel. What a fucking asshole. Who the hell did something like that? He could claim he was being nice all he wanted—which is no doubt what he’d say if I brought it up—but he was clearly hitting on Chiara and staking some sort of claim.
Something was seriously fucked in his head if he thought I’d continue to let that slide.
We kept walking until we made it around the corner of the hotel and Chiara squeezed my hand.
“Okay, where are we going?” she asked, and I could hear the false note of intrigue in her voice. She was trying to lighten the mood, to bring us back to our earlier excitement, and I forced myself to breathe through my frustration and annoyance. When we finally came to a stop beneath a shady tree, I was in control of my emotions again and had forced that small confrontation from my mind.
Chiara raised an eyebrow when I didn’t say anything. “So, what are we doing?”
“This,” I answered with a smile.
She frowned and looked around. “What?”
I tilted my chin toward the motorbike parked beneath the tree and she froze. “Umm,what?”
I smiled. “I rented a motorbike for the afternoon, and I’m taking you on a ride, Angel. You were never game enough to get on my bike as a kid—which is fair—but I want to take you now.”
She gnawed on her lower lip as she looked at it, and I could see her indecision.
“Hey,” I said, bringing her attention back to me. I edged closer and tilted her chin up so I could trace her jaw.
“Do you trust me?”
Her expression softened, her lips smoothing into a gentle smile and she nodded. “Yeah, I do.”
I felt a smile of my own on my lips and slowly removed my hand. “Then come for a ride with me.”
Pulling in a steadying breath, Ara nodded, and I leaned down to kiss her quickly before moving to the bike and handing her a helmet.
