“What’s wrong with it? You’d hurt my mother’s feelings if you didn’t like my middle name.”
“No, that’s not what I mean.”
Jordan placed a cup of coffee in front of me, and I nodded a thank you, ignoring her stare as she lingered before moving along to another table.
“Then, what?” I kept my eyes on hers as I reached for the sugar. This was already cup number four in as many hours.
“Your name drips sex, just like the rest of you. Women don’t stand a chance, do they?”
I sputtered on a mouthful of coffee.
“I drip sex, and you don’t stand a chance. Did I get all that right?”
“Pretty much.” She nodded with a shrug. “You’re impossibly sexy, and I lost myself a little last night. Well, a lot, to tell you the truth.”
“Caterina, if you’re asking me if I’m judging you in one way or another, I don’t. I was right there with you.”
I was all about easy and casual and would seek out only those on that same page. No one ever affected me like this, much less this fast, and last night seemed anything but casual.
She wasn’t the only one with a first last night.
“I’m…there’s a lot going on in my head. I’m getting used to being alone, even though I guess I was alone for a long time. Trent said some things that got to me yesterday, and I’m still working all of it out.”
“What did he say?” Her defeated expression gave me the sudden urge to kick the ass of someone I’d never met.
She laughed to herself and crossed her arms.
“That I’m a cold fish who can’t truly connect with anyone, and that he did what he did because I was too distracted with everything else to make him a priority. He’s a jerk but has a point. My job was my focus more than he ever was.” Her shoulders slumped as she pushed her eggs back and forth on her plate.
“The woman I was with last night was warm and passionate and ...” I stopped before I made an idiot of myself. “Blaming what he did on you is a dick move. Plain and simple.”
“I agree. And thank you.” She leaned over and draped her hand over mine. “You’re a sweet guy, Joe. Did anyone ever tell you that?”
“Finish your breakfast.” My voice was husky but stern as I motioned to her plate.
Caterina laughed before spearing a piece of pancake and popping it into her mouth. Her eyes fluttered shut, and her sexy little moan made my pants grow tight.
“Did you know your food noises are the same as your sex noises?”
“What?” Her nose crinkled up in confusion.
“Last night, when you took a bite of the mozzarella stick—”
“I was starving after a long drive.” She scowled, but I caught the pull of a smile.
“And then later, when my head was between your—”
Her fork landed on her plate with a loud clank before her mouth dropped.
“Same noise. Although, the second time was more of a moan mixed with a scream.”
She draped her hand over her eyes, her face beet red. “I think you have a dirty mouth, Joe.”
“If you onlythinkso, I need to up my game.”
She balled her napkin and flung it at me, nailing me right in the chest.
“Hey, I’m not complaining. I like that in a woman.”
