Fighting Dirty - Sidney Halston Page 0,29
a tattoo: an opened black book with pages flying out that eventually became black birds flying away.
She looked back at him, unsure if that was a conversation to have so soon.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me,” he said. “But I’d love to hear about it if and when you want to talk.”
He continued to kiss and rub her back while her mind went back and forth: should she lay her cards out or keep them close? “Don’t confuse lust with love, Enzo,” she said at last.
“Is that the impression you get?” He continued to kiss her softly, sleepily.
“No. I think it was just great sex. Definitely lust. I just wanted to make it known.”
“Is that all this is?” he said with a hint of amusement. “Just great sex?”
“Remember, it’s not who you want to spend Friday night with. It’s who you want to spend all day Saturday with. Woody Harrelson, Friends with Benefits.”
He laughed. “Haven’t seen it.”
“Could we be any less compatible?”
“You’re going to spend all day Saturday with me, Jamie Lynn. And not just one Saturday. Many Saturdays. If you really believed what you’re saying, you’d have asked me to take you home,” he said softly.
His words scared her and excited her all at the same time because he was right.
Eventually the touching stopped, and when she turned around, she saw that he’d fallen asleep. She took his glasses off and laid them on the coffee table. She appreciated that he hadn’t asked too many probing questions and had let her off the hook. His touch had let her know he was there but still gave her the space she needed. It was nice. He was nice.
She yawned and put the pad and pencil down. She was certain he was asleep, but he opened his arms when she climbed up next to him. He held her tight, his chest slowly moving up and down against her, his breathing soothing. Soon she drifted off into the best night’s sleep she’d had in…well, as long as she could remember.
Chapter 7
“I want to get in the pool!” the little pixie whined.
“It’s freezing.”
“It’s Florida!” JL pulled off the shirt she’d borrowed and jumped in, screaming the moment her naked body made contact with the water. As soon as she came up for air she shrieked, “Holy shit! It’s freezing!”
Enzo laughed and squatted down by her to hand her his cup of hot coffee. “I told you!”
“Come in and keep me warm.”
“You’re on your own with that one.” He sat back on his lawn chair and looked at her. Not even half an hour ago he’d woken up to big blue eyes staring up at him, her chin resting on his chest, his legs dangling off his couch. They’d ended up having coffee outside because she’d said it was a beautiful day.
It was eleven in the morning and he’d just grabbed his first cup of coffee. Normally by this time he’d have had at least three cups and a huge tension headache and heartburn. “So you never did tell me. Do you work today?” he asked, opening up the business section of the New York Times.
She rested her forearms and chin on the ledge. “Nope. You?”
“I had a conference this morning,” he said, looking at her over the paper.
“You missed it, didn’t you?” She feigned disappointment.
“I did. I’ve never missed an appointment before.”
“I’m sorry,” she said with a smirk.
He snorted. “Yeah. You look very sorry.”
“Okay, I’m not,” she said wryly. “So, Pretty Boy, do you have any other conference calls? Banks to run? People to fire?”
He laughed again. “No. I’m pretty much free the rest of today and the weekend. All the peasants have been fired or accounted for.”
Then it got a little awkward. He wanted to spend time with her. But their first and only date was now going on twenty-four hours and he didn’t know exactly how to proceed.
Thankfully, she spoke first. “You want to hang out or are you done with me?”
He was probably supposed to play it cool, but he couldn’t help it. Her playful smile made him grin just as big. “I absolutely am not done with you yet.”
“Can I have some more of that coffee, then?”
Carefully folding the paper and putting it down, he crouched close to her to hand her his mug…and then she took his arm and pulled him into the pool.
JL chortled with laughter before swimming away.
“Son of a bitch!” he yelled as he came up for air and looked around for