His fingertips drew soft circles along the nape of my neck, and I heaved a long, contented sigh.
Reality would rear its ugly head all too soon.
21
Joe
Exhaustion barreledover me like a freight train the second I opened my eyes, but after the night we’d had, it was worth it. I hated to leave Caterina so early, but I couldn’t bail on Dominic today. Summer events and the revenue they brought in were our bread and butter, but right now, I hated anything that took me away from the beautiful woman lying on top of me. But, I had to cash in on these busy weeks at the restaurant to keep us going for the rest of the year. I needed to fish my head from out of the clouds and focus—at least for the day.
Caterina groaned and tightened her hold around my waist while burying her head into my chest.
“I hate that morning comes so fast.” She cuddled into my neck, her tiny kisses along my jaw chipping away at my pain-in-the-ass resolve.
“Me too, baby.” My lips found her forehead before I gently pulled away, trying to remember where I’d dropped my clothes. “I can’t leave Dom today. We have a lot of rearranging to do to make room for the live band, so we need everybody.” Her hazy eyes met mine as she nodded into the pillow.
“A live band sounds fun. Maybe we’ll stop by.” She yawned into a sleepy smile.
“You should. These guys are pretty good.” I brushed her tangled locks off her forehead and ran my fingers through her hair. “And I’d love it if you stopped by. I…” I trailed off, cursing myself yet again. “I’ll be working late if the night goes like we hope it will.”
“That’s great, Joe.” She rolled up to sitting and rested her elbows on her knees, the sheet covering her but loose enough for me to glimpse her gorgeous naked body. If the sheet fell another half inch, her breasts would be in full view, screaming for my tongue, but I’d have to resist this time. This woman was too perfect, and it was too easy to get lost in her. “Don’t worry about it. Do what you have to do.” She tilted her head. “We’ll stop by, but I won’t get in your way.”
“What if I want you in my way? Come tonight, and, when you get there, come find me.” I sounded needy and pathetic to my own ears, but I wanted her there. Our time together was too short to worry about pretense. I’d figure out how to be with her tonight and still keep an eye on everything.
“Okay.” Her sleepy eyes twinkled. “A live band means there’s a dance floor, right?”
“You dance?” I lifted a brow.
“On the nights my friends were able to force me out in college, yes, I loved to dance, especially if there was a live band. It’s been a while, but I’m on vacation, right?” She coughed out a laugh. “Do you dance?”
I shrugged. “If I get a couple of drinks in me, maybe. Dominic is the one you usually have to pry off a dance floor.”
“But I don’t want to dance with Dominic.” Her bottom lip jutted in a pout.
“Damn right, you don’t,” I growled and pulled her to me.
“I’ll come find you. I wish I could make you breakfast, but my scrambled eggs are sad compared to your French toast, anyway.” She pushed off the bed and headed to her dresser to pull out a T-shirt as my eyes canvassed every gorgeous inch of her.Fuck, she was killing me.
“I’ll walk you out, but you may want to find your clothes in the bathroom first.” She jutted her chin toward the hallway, and we shared a laugh.
“Ah, so that’s where they are; I couldn’t remember. It was all a blur.” I brushed her lips and headed into the bathroom. Once I scooped up my clothes and pulled them on, I felt the heat of her stare burning into my back.
“Staring again?” I flashed a grin over my shoulder, loving the scowl I got in return. “I feel like a piece of meat.”
She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. “I’m too exhausted for a dirty comeback for that.” She snaked her arms around my waist and peered up at me. How could she be this goddamn beautiful first thing in the morning? She pressed a light kiss to my jaw. “Don’t work too hard, okay?”
“I’ll try.” I took her face in my hands and kissed her, long and deep enough to make her slump against me. I laughed against her lips before I pulled away. “Throw me out before I blow off the whole day and drag you back into bed.”
“I wish.” The sweet smile on her face as she beamed at me made my heart sink. “Go. I’ll see you later.” How amazing would it be to have her waiting for me, or to wait for her at the end of a day? I was having those getting-ahead-of-myself thoughts again, but we fit too perfectly together not to think of what ifs. Our problem was the pieces wouldn’t click so well when she was back home, no matter how much I wanted to pretend they would.
“I didn’t expect to see you this early,” Dominic said over his shoulder when I strolled into the restaurant. He was already moving tables around to make room for the band to set up. “I’m guessing she wasn’t that pissed you were late?”
“Nope, not at all—and I wastwo hourslate.” I picked up a couple of chairs and carried them over to where he’d already started stacking them in the corner. “She had dinner waiting for me when I got there.”
“Wow.” Dom shook his head. “That’s…rare. I once was an hour late to a woman’s apartment, and she wouldn’t even open the door for me.”
“Caterina is rare.” The pang of something I couldn’t describe swirled in my gut. We had a night full of awesome conversation and amazing sex. I loved every second of the time we spent together, but we were getting too used to it.Iwas getting too used to it. After she left, there would be a void that hadn’t existed before we met. How could someone have this much of an effect on me after only a week? The smart thing to do would have been to back off. But it didn’t matter how long I’d known Caterina or how much we were setting ourselves up to get hurt. I was already in too deep.
“Let me ask you something.” Dominic lifted the last of the chairs. “What do you see happening next week? I know you think I’m a little too into your business—”
