I shook my head. “I’m not hiding from anyone. Just needed some fresh air. Who areyouhiding from?”
He grinned at me, the smile almost boyish. “My mom. She sees this opportunity as a chance to try to set me up.”
I let out a small laugh. “Are you scared of your mom?”
“Absolutely,” he said with a wink.
How charming.
“And you don’t want to be set up?”
“I don’t think I want the story of how my future wife and I met to be because my mom can’t help but meddle in it.”
“Fair enough,” I said.
“It’s not that romantic. But the story of us meeting on a hotel balcony…”
I shot him a look, and he laughed. I shook my head, even though I was smiling. That seemed to break the tension I had felt earlier when I realized I wouldn’t be alone on the balcony like I had hoped. But not enough for me to let my guard down. He was a stranger, after all. And if his mom was trying to find him a wife here, then his family, or he, was a part of this life.
No matter how harmless he looked now, I knew that wasn’t the case.
But this would solve all my problems, wouldn’t it?
It would get Dad to back off on trying to set up an arranged marriage for me, one that I knew he would only set up when he thought it would benefit him somehow, and it would get me out of the house. Valentino wouldn’t have to worry about me so much, and I could finally,finallyget over my silly feelings for Elio.
I stepped closer to him.
His eyes flared a little from the move, but he didn’t back away from me. If anything, there was a challenging glint to them that suddenly made my heart race.
“Do you think this is a good story, then?” I asked softly. I subtly wiped my sweaty palm on my dress, wondering why it felt like there was this sudden pressure on me.
His smile widened. “I do.”
I moved in a little closer. “We might not have any chemistry.”
“No? I find that hard to believe.”
“And why is that?”
He shrugged casually. “Just a feeling.”
“A feeling,” I repeated. He thought we would have chemistry. But it seemed… he was the only one feeling it, and I was… I was spiraling.
“Only one way to find out,” he said, moving his head down closer to me.
My heart thudded loudly in my ears, and for a moment, I was afraid he could hear it, but that wasn’t the case, was it?
And I was about to have my first kiss.
A kiss thatIwas the one deciding to give away. Not the other way around.
His lips were no more than a few inches away from mine. I closed my eyes, but then light brown eyes flashed through my mind, halting me.
I pressed my hand on his chest and pushed him away before his lips could make contact with mine.
He pulled back, and I opened my eyes and looked away.
I shook my head. “Sorry.”
