Lib Novel Page 54
He cuts me off before I can continue. “And what did I do?”
“What?”
“What did I do, Zoe? When those girls approached me?” Matteo asks with hidden furry that I can see simmering underneath his skin.
I swallow. “Um, nothing at that moment.” I want to say more but he cuts me off again.
“Exactly. Nothing at that moment or any moments following that night.”
What is that supposed to mean?
“Ask me why?” He moves closer to me.
“Why?” I follow his command, my voice no longer as confident sounding as I was a minute ago, my heart beating out of my chest in anticipation of his answer.
“Because since the moment you opened the doors to my bar, they all disappeared.” A moment of tense silence stretches between us. “I don’t know what kind of magic you wielded over me, but since that day, I’ve only had eyes for one girl. So, all those others? They could parade naked and do splits right on top of my bar for all I cared because all I saw was that damn sunshine sitting in front of me.”
“You can’t mean that, Matteo,” I whisper.
“I do. I know you probably think I’m young and naïve and that may be true, but what I’m not is an idiot who lets the only girl who made him feel walk out of his life twice. Or let someone else come swooping in and being the dad to this little watermelon when that role is mine. So, if I must spend days, weeks, and months proving that I am boyfriend material, I will.” He is so close his breath fans my face, making me grow drunk on him. “Or scratch that. I will make sure I’m daddy material.”
He’s nuts.
He’s lost it.
And maybe so have I, because all of a sudden, I’m rooting for him to pass this test yet that fear of mine is still overriding my senses.
But I like order. I like my plans for the now and for the next five years and Matteo wouldn’t fit into those. Right?
“Everyone always leaves. And so will you.” Somehow that comment makes him put Mel down in the little cot on the coffee table and I’m waiting for her to start wailing again just like she always does when she’s in it, only it doesn’t happen.
Did he put some kind of voo-doo spell on my daughter? Ever since he came into our cottage and took her in his arms she hasn’t cried. She was a little fussy when he went to take that shower but nowhere near her usual shenanigans.
Matteo covers her with a blanket, kissing the top of her head and I’m too mesmerized by it all to see him prowling toward me. Yes, prowling, with that sexy swagger of his and by instinct I start to backtrack which only makes him smile and keep going until my back is plastered at the wall.
“You say everyone always leaves?” he asks me, his head tilted to a side but my throat is too dry from having him this close so I can only manage a slight nod. “You know why?”
“Because I’m not good enough. And that’s not self-pity. It’s a fact.”
“Oh no, my ray of sunshine.” He smiles again as his fingers come up to my face, gently grazing my cheek and it’s almost embarrassing how quickly I am falling apart at the feet of this twenty-three-year-old cocky player. “They all left because they knew you were never meant to be theirs.”
His dark eyes connect with mine. “You were always mine.” And before I can suck in that breath I desperately need, his lips crush against mine as his body pushes me deeper into the wall, squashing me with his power and heat.
I know I need to push him off me. I know this should not be happening and I’m headed into that land of tears and devastation after he crushes my heart but…but one kiss won’t hurt, right?
His hand on my neck tilts my head up, giving him full access to my mouth and as soon as his tongue slides against mine, I get lost in him.
Kissing Matteo is like breathing and drowning all at once. It’s a pleasure and pain. The carefree summer and the blistering winter.
His other hand digs deeper into my ass, drawing me closer until his hard cock digs into my soft stomach, sending waves of heat across my whole body.
I’ve never wanted another man like I want him, and that alone should be enough for me to pull away and run as far from him as I can. Yet I’m still here because I’ve never been kissed the way he kisses me, and I know without a shred of a doubt that I never will be.
I’ll take one for the road, is the last thought I have before rising on my tiptoes, digging my fingers into his still-damp hair, and returning the kiss with the same ferocity. This was never about cute or sweet. This is raw and unhinged and a little bit mad.
I’ve never thought I’d enjoy kisses and sex on a rough side, but it seems that everything with Matteo is quickly becoming my new favorite thing.
Dreams. That’s all this is. That’s all I have. That’s all I can have and that thought pulls me away from his sinful lips. His eyes are hooded and filled with lust, and I desperately want to get back to what we started. But I can’t.