I could tell by the look in his eyes. Satisfied.
Mariano lifted his hands when I narrowed my eyes at him, then took me by the hand as we followed the auctioneer to the area where the payments were being handled.
He made arrangements to pay fifteen million dollars—ten for the necklace, five for the date with him—as if it was nothing but change. He looked me over after he signed the paperwork.
“Worth every fucking penny,” he said, and with that, we left.
Chapter 11
Sistine
How does a woman go back to who she was after a kiss that rocked her to her core?
Even after a few days, on a mundane Wednesday, I still could not shake it.
I stopped walking, adjusted the basket in my hand, and wiped my forehead, knocking my wide-brimmed hat up a little.
It felt as if the end of summer had come to a point, and it was boiling. The air was thick with all the smells of nature. The heat seemed to seduce them, and their myriad perfumes surrounded me.
I understood how nature felt. I was at a point as well, seduced until I could not think straight. All my thoughts kept returning to Mariano. I could tell he was thinking of me as well. He somehow was everywhere I was. I did not question it. When he said he knew all about me, I took his word for it.
Our eyes were constantly connecting, and even after we looked away, it felt as if I was still inside the moment with him—the moment our lips touched for the first time. The kiss lingered long after it was over. My soul would never forget it. It felt branded, as if I suddenly had a tattoo of him.
How soft his lips were, but how demanding the kiss was…it demanded everything from me; anything less would not do.
How he tasted.
How he smelled.
Athunk!sounded from below me, and it took me a second to look down. I had been staring into the distance, forgetting where I was.Taking a walk in the woods to the creek everyone uses for swimming.I usually went with Atta, or if Ty was around, the three of us went together, but Atta was working on wedding plans, and Ty had gone to Maine for a couple of days.
Sighing, I leaned down and picked up the bear spray Atta had given me. Wyoming was teeming with wildlife, and it was always best to be prepared. I slapped at my leg as some kind of bug landed on it and flew away too fast for me to squish. Then I looked behind me. I’d thought I heard footsteps since I left the main house and Hannah had handed me the picnic basket to take.
There was even a moment when I thought about finding Casanova and asking him to come with me. I was being honest with myself when I concluded that I had been wrong about him.
“Way off base,” as Atta had told me.
I should have gotten to know him before I automatically judged him. However, that did not erase who I was and who he was. Two people who were, by a law put into action by my family and his, not allowed to be together.
If the law did not exist?
My feet stopped.
Man-made laws did not determine the laws of the heart, and if I was being honest with myself, which terrified me, I was in love with him. However, that only made his history deter me from admitting my truth.
Because…
He had the power to destroy me.
I told myself that, after what I had learned about him at the auction, and after our kiss, I would not stop myself from getting to know him better, if only tonothave regrets someday. However, after the kiss, there was something different about the way he looked at me at times.
He seemed a bit detached, a bit cold, even angry. The sudden change in his demeanor made me curious. I did not necessarily want to make whatever was going on with him better, but at the same time, I did.
I stopped suddenly again, my head whipping around. I had to put a hand to my hat to keep it from flying off. My eyes narrowed. Remo lifted his hand, gave me a curt nod, and then whistled to his team to keep moving.
Ah ha!
So I was being followed.
