He brushed a piece of hair back from my forehead and gazed at me as if I was the sun and all the colors it illuminated. I was not sure what was going on with my heart, but either I had fallen even deeper in love with him, or I was having a heart attack. It felt as if all the love inside of me was making it swell.
“Fucking right I am. You’re a woman worth working for. I’ll sweat, bleed, fucking shed tears for you. All for you.”
“You are very good at this, ah, dating stuff,” I barely got out.
He laughed, raspy and low, and kissed me again. Then he sighed and sat up, taking me with him.
“When do these dates begin?” I asked. “I will need to know what to wear. This is customary, no?”
He shook his head. “A curious little monster has been created.”
I laughed even louder.
“Dates start today.” He checked his watch on the bedside table for the time. “Two hours. Dress casually. This is a tester date. We’re gearing up for the real ones.”
There was a giddy-up to my step as I made my way toward the bathroom to get ready.
“Annie,” he called.
I turned and looked at him from over my shoulder.
He opened and closed his hands, almost as if he was helpless. “I’ve never done this before.” His voice was low, deep, and rough.
“I know,” I whispered. “Me either.”
“You’ll go easy on me then?”
There was so much sincerity in his eyes, so much…innocence when he allowed himself to be vulnerable with me…I almost responded,I’ll do whatever you ask of me, and perhaps I would. However, I knew him. Knew what he needed. And that came to me as instinctually as protecting me came to him. He had chosen the right woman if working for me fell in a natural rhythm with his instincts.
“No,” I breathed. “Easy is not your style.”
“Neither is it yours.” A blazing smile came to his face. “You know me too well already,myAnnie. How the fuck you came in with guns blazing, taking my heart hostage, owning it, I’ll never know. Eleventh mystery of the world.” He shook his head. “Do your thing in the bathroom, and let’s get the fuck out of here.”
I made an excited noise, and his laughter lingered as he made his way to the kitchen.
I could not wait!
I had just enough time to stop at Atta’s place and talk to her before we left for our first date. She hugged me and told me how happy she was for me. She seemed a little stressed, but she was getting married after a whirlwind romance, and I expected that. I had been waiting for her to admit it to me.
I made a mental note to speak to her later about it.
She and Angelo walked me to the door after I talked to her, and my stomach flipped when Mariano was not far from it, waiting with his back against a truck I had not seen before. It was newer, but not brand new.
Atta slapped me on theculoand said, “Go get ’im, girl!” And when I was close enough and he pulled me in for a kiss, she screamed out, “Atta, Sis!”
Mariano grinned and opened the creaking door for me. I put a hand to my weathered cowboy hat and slipped inside, the leather seats feeling worn down and comfortable underneath my legs.
Although I had never seen this truck before, it smelled like him. He overwhelmed even the air around him. I closed my eyes for a second and breathed in as fast as I could. My cottage smelled like him, as well, and I would hunt him down if he stopped coming around only to keep his woodsy, spicy, citrusy, male scent in my lungs.
It was official.
I was addicted to Mariano Fausti.
A breath left my lungs that came from a different place inside. It was a place where I had locked all my fears and doubts and quieted them for a while. It was a shaky breath, one that reminded me I still had my doubts. Mariano might have been Mariano, but to our world, he was still known as the Casanova Prince.
Mariano settled into the driver’s seat, pulling me over to his side, taking my hand. He put the truck in gear and headed away from the ranch. His eyes cut to mine.
“Tell me.” He lifted my hand, kissing my knuckles.
