She shakes her head and bites her lower lip, and I’m done. I need to get the fuck out of here before I strip her bare in the middle of the day, in full view of others, and fuck the living daylights out of her.
“I’ll leave that one for you to work out.”
“Stay put,” I instruct as I open my door.
“Wait.” She grabs my arm, and it’s like a streak of lightning shooting over my skin. She yanks her hand back, and I think she might have felt that too. “Why are we here?”
“I’ll leave that one for you to work out,” I tease, climbing out and instantly locking the car.
I whistle under my breath as she bangs on the window, shouting obscenities I can’t hear.
I don’t delay in the pharmacy, grabbing the items I need and hightailing it back to my car. Valentina is slumped in the passenger seat with her arms folded across her chest and a petulant look on her face.
I chuckle to myself as I get back in.
“You’re an asshole,” she hisses.
“So, you’ve said.” I hand her a bottle of water before setting mine in one of the cupholders and depositing the bag with the rest of my supplies in the small middle compartment.
“I want to go home,” she says, uncapping the bottle and drinking greedily.
“I’ll take you.”With a short detour first.I start the engine and maneuver out onto the road.
6
VALENTINA
“Idon’t live here,” I state when Fiero stops in front of unfamiliar tall wooden gates.
“I know.” He flashes me one of those grins he seems to reserve for charming women before pressing a button on a key fob. “I do.”
My eyes pop wide in surprise. “Areyou kidnapping me?” I was only half joking earlier.
“Would you like me to?” His face radiates mischief, but there’s a hint of sincerity there too.
I narrow my eyes at him as we drive up a driveway enclosed by palm trees on both sides. “Don’t ask stupid questions.”
“It’s not a stupid question,” he says, driving around a small water feature and parking directly in front of the entrance door. This house is gorgeous. It has two stories, with archways and pillars, painted cream and a muted orange. Flowering shrubs and neat beds surround both sides of the sprawling property, confirming it’s well maintained. Fiero cuts the engine and leans across the console so there are only a few inches between our faces. “Do you need rescuing, Valentina?”
I can’t tell if he’s playing with me or serious. “You don’t strike me as the knight-in-shining-armor type.”
“What do I strike you as?” He lifts a brow, humoring me.
“An arrogant asshole with a god complex who’s used to getting anything his heart desires even if it means trampling over others and sacrificing human decency to get it.”
Laugher rumbles from his chest, and his eyes twinkle, and fuck him for being so temptingly good-looking. It’s hard to drag my eyes from him, but I do before I succumb to his questionable charm.
Warm fingers brush my chin as he turns my head so I’m facing him. “Oh, kitten. We’re going to have so much fun together.”
I glare at him and shove his hand away. “Stop touching me, and why am I here? You said you’d take me home, so take me home.”
“No, and this is just a pitstop.” Grabbing the pharmacy bag, he gets out, runs around the hood of his car, and opens the door for me. Before I can move a limb, he unbuckles my belt and scoops me up into his arms.
“Put me down!”
“No.” He holds me tighter before closing the door of his expensive car with his sneakered foot. I’m forced to wrap my arms around his neck as he walks on large beige-colored paving stones toward the door. “You’re injured,” he adds.
“It’s only a little cut, and I’m not a damsel in distress.”
