A Private Affair - A.C. Arthur Page 0,17
is your secondary job.”
He wondered if she realized she’d just offended him again. Luckily, Chaz had a thick skin and was more amused than offended. Riley honestly thought she was stating a fact and nothing else.
“My family is important to me. Just as yours is to you. But putting that aside, this is still a vacation. So, let’s get dressed and head out for a fun-filled day like other coup—ah, other tourists.”
With any other woman Chaz might have been lucky enough to avoid the mistake he’d just made. Not with Riley.
“We are not a couple. And for that reason, plus a half dozen others, we cannot go traipsing around Milan seeing the sights and soaking up the local flavor.”
“The couple thing is just a title. Tell me the real reason you don’t want to go out.” Because she was being way too adamant about this.
“That’s the reason. We’re not a couple. In fact, for all intents and purposes, we’re enemies. The press would have a ball writing headlines about us being together in Milan and my father would freak when he saw them. Your uncle probably would, too.”
“That feud is theirs not ours.” He knew that wasn’t going to be enough so he held up a hand to stop her rebuttal. “But I get it. Why add fuel to the flame? Fine. Then we’ll have to figure out something fun we can do in this room.”
Riley arched one elegant brow and Chaz’s dick jumped on command.
“Man, Riley, you are killing me!” he groaned and shook his head. “But I’d rather not spend my one and only day with the Riley Gold in bed. And if you ever repeat that I’ll have to kill you.”
She laughed.
It was a quick burst that sounded so pure and so infectious that Chaz found himself smiling, too.
“So tell me, if I wasn’t here right now and you weren’t working, what would you do today?”
She was still smiling when she shrugged. “Probably lie on the couch and watch movies.”
“Okay.” He shook his head. “We can do that. What type of movies do you like?”
He almost said he didn’t want to watch any romantic comedies or movies where women got even by killing their spouses or whoever wronged them, but he refrained. If she named a movie like that Chaz would have to suck it up and watch, just for the sake of being with her.
“You sure you want me to pick the movie?”
No. He wasn’t.
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
“Okay, but don’t forget this was your idea.”
* * *
It wasn’t cozy sitting on the hotel couch with her legs stretched over Chaz’s lap. And she hadn’t enjoyed the risotto alla Milanese much more than she had ever before because he’d been laughing at her for eating what was essentially a bowl of rice while he savored his so-called heartier dish of osso buco.
Similarly, the movie they were watching was one of her favorites. She’d seen it so many times that she’d saved it on her tablet, which they’d hooked up to the television. So the reason she was laughing and seeing Joe and Kathleen fall in love differently had nothing to do with Chaz’s lively commentary throughout the film. Nothing at all.
And she absolutely was not turned on by the fact that he’d watched not only one of her favorite romantic comedies, but three. They were on their fourth one. They’d been on this couch all day, getting up only to use the bathroom and answer the door for room service. Riley couldn’t recall when she’d spent such a relaxing and entertaining day. But she wasn’t going to give Chaz all the credit. He just happened to be here with her. All day long.
With that thought Riley pulled her legs away from his lap, bringing them up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them.
“We can turn this off now. It’s almost over, anyway,” she told him.
He’d watched her legs as they moved and now dragged those sinfully dark brown eyes up to meet hers.
“When it’s over, we can pick the next one or go sit on the balcony for a while if you need to get some air.”
Riley needed more than air to understand why she’d put herself in this position in the first place. It was foolish to believe she could spend one full day with this man, or any man for that matter. Why bother kidding herself about ever having a fulfilling relationship? That wasn’t in the plans.
“I think I’ve watched enough movies for today.”
Riley