“Leonard, I do not have the patience to deal with your horrible jokes. I have to get to your mum’s house to put Graham’s boxes in the garage,” she informs me, and I almost stumble backward.
“That’s where you’re going? And you didn’t ask me to come and help?” I ask, and she shoots me a confused look.
“Why would I? I’m more than strong enough to carry a few boxes from one part of the house to the other.” Yeah, I’m going to lose it with this woman.
“It’s not about that. I know you’re strong, but you don’thave todo these things by yourself, Chiara. I’m here, I can help, especially because those are my brother’s things you’re carrying around my childhood home,” I reply, wishing she wasn’t too stubborn to ask for help.
“Well, it’s basically a childhood home to me too, and Graham and I are as close to siblings as you can get without being blood-related,” she says, but her words make my spine go rigid. I don’t like that thought at all.
“Whatever. I still don’t want you to keep driving this safety hazard on wheels. You could get hurt,” I say, almost pleading with her now.
“Over the past two months, I have lost all four of my jobs, got evicted from my apartment, had my Mamma and best friend move to somewhere else in the world, got stalked by a man who cannot take no for an answer, and had to move in with someone who dislikes me. I amnotlosing this car.”
Understanding washes through me, and the urge to hug her again pulls on my muscles. I fight back, resisting the need to comfort her when only a few days ago, I got to hold her while Chiara cried against my chest. A few more small moments like those between us, and I won’t be able to resist anything with her anymore. She’s already close to breaking through the ice layer covering my heart. That’s unsettling enough.
“Okay. How about this? Let’s bring it back to my mechanic and let her fix it by doing a more thorough check than last time. Maybe she can get her to work again,” I offer while Chiara drops her forehead against Delilah’s hood. She’s silent for a while, her arms joining her cheek on the hood, and my heart shatters into a million pieces when she tilts her head and I see her eyes are screwed shut.
“No. You’re right. I need to let her go. She’s an old girl and deserves to rest now.” Chiara lets out a shaky breath, and I take a step toward her, holding out my hand to help her upright. She takes it and wraps her arms around herself once she’s standing. “Delilah was my first car, my baby. I don’t think I can watch them take her away,” she admits, and something crosses my mind that hits me hard, right in the chest too.
Chiara isn’t afraid to show me her vulnerable side anymore. Somewhen in the last two months, she started trusting me, and I had no idea how much it would mean. She thinks I don’t like her. I keep telling myself I don’t care for her to hold her at arm’s length, but I’m so far in denial, acceptance is a foreign concept to me.
“Would you like me to take care of it?” I ask, and she looks up at me, those green eyes of hers stealing my breath.
“No. I’ve got this.” Because she doesn’t want to feel or look weak.
“But would you be mad if I took care of it for you before you got the chance to?” This is the only way she will let me do this for her, and I want to ease at least this part of her life. I’ve complicated other parts and somewhen have made it my mission to balance things out at least a little.
“No.” I give her chin a small nudge when she’s staring at her car again to get her attention to shift to my face. It works like a charm.
“Let me come with you to my parents’ house. I’ll help and then I can talk to my dad too about not having to take Benz anymore,” I say, which makes Chiara’s eyes go wide.
“Fuck. I haven’t told Graham about us living together or me working for you this season,” she blurts out, letting out a groan after. “Oh God, I don’t want to have the conversation where I have to explain why I agreed to any of this. He’s going to think I was abducted by extraterrestrials who programmed me to make the worst decisions. No offense,” she adds, but I give her a look I hope says ‘really?’.
She smiles in response, but I’m still not used to her giving one so easily, so my heart flutters uncontrollably. I even went to the doctor recently to make sure this heart thing is nothing, which he assured me it was. Then he laughed at me when I told him when my heart acts up like that, and I left his office without another word.
“You know, just because you add ‘no offence’ doesn’t lessen the arsehole comment you make,” I say, but then she leans her head against my arm and stares up at me with soft eyes and her bottom lip pushed forward. I forget everything, even my own name, because her peachy scent fills my nose, and her proximity stiffens my entire body.
“Have I upset you?” she asks in a teasing tone. Fuck me. I clear my throat a little, trying to appear more unaffected than I am right now. I wait too long to reply, so she beats me to it. “No, it’s something else, isn’t it? Your breathing is heavy, and you’ve tensed up. Not to mention, your eyes have been stuck on my lips for several moments now. I turned you on, didn’t I?”Yes.
“No,” I grind out, and she grins at me.
“You’re still a shit liar,” she says and steps away from me, but I’m not having it. My hand snakes around her wrist, bringing her into my chest.
“What are you trying to achieve by doing stuff like that, Chiara?” Her hands shift up to my pecs while mine rest on her hips. “Hmmm? Why do you do it? Do you like the thought of my cock getting hard for you? Does it turnyouon?”Oh God, shut the fuck up, Leonard. Step away. Chiara is not the woman for you.
“Yes.”
I become undone by this single word. One word. It didn’t take more than three letters strung together like that to rip me apart and put me back together.
“What do you want me to do about that, sweetheart?” She swallows hard as the rest of the world around us blurs away. It’s just her and me in the parking lot of my building, and I’m way too tempted to pull down her panties and fuck her right here.
“Nothing, I don’t like you,” she whispers, her fingers gripping my shirt and keeping me close. Sure. That’s not confusing at all.
“You don’t have to like me for what I have in mind. You just have to be attracted to me.” And she is. Chiara is so attracted to me, she continues to guide me closer until my hard bulge is firmly pressed against her stomach.
“Fuck me,” she curses, and I smile.
“Is that what you want, little demon? To have me fuck you? Up against your shitty car where everyone could see you come on my cock?” God, it would solve nothing and everything at the same time, but right as she’s about to answer, a car alarm goes off and sends me stumbling away from her.
