When I turn my head back around to look at the stranger, she’s still staring at me, shaking her head and mumbling to herself.
“Can I help you?” I ask, trying to be polite.
She could be anyone. Maybe she’s his cleaning woman. His house is impeccably clean, almost too clean for him to do it himself. Or maybe she’s a relative because his family is too big for me to even wrap my mind around.
“Uh, yeah. I’m Franco’s girl,” she informs me as she crosses her arms, looking at me like I’m an intruder.
I blink and jerk my head back. “You’re Franco’s girl?” I ask, confused and wondering if I’ve been played.
Wait. There’s no way the entire family is in on some grand ruse for Franco to get into my pants. I’ve been with him for a while, and this woman has never showed up before. Lucia hasn’t mentioned anyone else, and there’s no way in hell she and Mario would welcome me with open arms if they thought Franco was involved with someone else.
The woman is beautiful. Stunning. Totally someone I could see him with, but the man is mine now. I don’t care if I’m not his old type; I’m damn sure his new one.
“I’m sorry,” I say to her, my voice saccharine sweet. “What’s your name?”
It’s not lost on me that I’m barely wearing any clothes as I stand in the doorway on full display for any of his neighbors to get quite a show. In a small town like this, someone’s bound to be looking. I have no doubt that by later today, news will have traveled about my public indecency.
The brunette touches her chest. “I’m…”
“Olivia, what the hell are you doing here?” Franco asks from behind me.
I turn and glance at him over my shoulder. He’s wearing nothing except a pair of sweatpants, and he’s scrubbing his hand through his hair, making the messiness even worse but somehow looking hotter. It’s so annoying.
“Franco,” she says softly, her face immediately flushing as her eyes travel down his body like she did to me when I opened the door. But this time, it’s hungry and less critical. “I was…”
Franco’s hand slides around my waist, and he puts the weight of his arm on my hip. He bends his neck, peppering my jawline with a few light kisses. “Morning,” he whispers against my skin as Olivia’s words die in her throat.
“I was…” she repeats, but again doesn’t finish.
“It must be important because you never drop by,” he says to her, his entire body pressed against my backside, including his morning wood.
I do my best to seem unaffected, but this girl is trying to start shit with me when I’ve never done anything to her. “Olivia was just telling me she’s your girl,” I inform him, wanting to clue him in on our brief conversation before he decided to join us in the doorway.
“Liv,” he says, his voice not as pissed as I was hoping. “Why do you have to lie?”
She shrugs with a devilish grin. “Life’s too boring sometimes. And the look on her face.” Olivia laughs, and it takes everything in me not to lift my hand and help wipe it off her face.
Breathe, Chloe.
“You’ve always been such an asshole,” he tells her, which in the little time I’ve known her, I can say is totally true.
“I wouldn’t be me unless I was stirring up some sort of trouble.” She gives Franco the biggest smile before sticking her hand out to me. “I’m Olivia. I’m not Franco’s, but the way you’re dressed, I know you are. Way to go, girl,” she says to me, waiting on me to take her hand.
I’m always cordial. It’s one of my flaws. I have the inability to be rude on the outside, even if I’m thinking all the thoughts. “I’m Chloe.”
She gives me a genuine smile. “It’s nice to finally met the woman I’ve heard so much about. You’re the talk of the town.”
“Olivia is one of Gracie’s friends.”
“Her oldest friend, and add best to that too,” Olivia corrects him.
I can see it now. They have the same fashionable style, and Olivia, much like Gracie, is covered in tattoos.
“What do you want, Liv? You’ve never shown up at my place unannounced before.”
Does that mean she shows up randomly, but calls first? She may be Gracie’s oldest and best friend, but if I were a betting woman, I’d say she’s more interested in warming Franco’s bed than talking to his sister.
“My car’s about to shit out on me, and I was driving by and thought I’d come straight to the source instead of trying to make it all the way to the shop.” She pitches her thumb toward the sleek sports car parked in Franco’s driveway. “Would you look at her? Please,” she begs, batting her eyelashes at Franco.
