I end the call.
“Hey!” Tessa complains. “I didn’t get to say goodbye.”
“Poor baby.” I gently tug on the belt of her robe, and it falls open. “Let me make it up to you on my knees, hm?”
* * *
“Hey.” Tessa walks into the bedroom dressed in only a light pink bra and boy short underwear. “My pajama set isn’t washed from Italy, so this was all that was clean.”
She’s so fucking hot.So, I tell her.
“You’re so fucking hot.”
She blushes and ducks her chin, but she never has to be shy around me. Not about her opinions, her body, or her designs.
After a few moments of gazing into Tessa’s brown eyes, I walk closer to her. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
I want to touch her, but I don’t want her to ever feel like wearing less clothes around me is always going to end in sex. Instead, I approach her and give her a peck on the cheek. She yawns, wrapping me in a hug. Squeezing her back, I can tell I was right. Her mind is elsewhere—definitely not on intimacy right now.
“What’re you thinking about in that beautiful head of yours?” I ask, brushing a piece of hair back from her forehead and tucking it behind her ear.
“Only happy thoughts.”
Her jaw moves against my chest as she yawns again, releasing an adorable sleepy sigh this time.
I kiss the top of her hair. “Let’s go to bed, yeah?”
“Are you sure? Should we stay up and have some—” she rubs her eyes—“fun?”
“We should only everhave funwhen both of us are wildly energized about the idea. It’s been a long day.”
“Yeah,” she breathes, nodding against my chest. “I’m wildly energized about sleeping next to you, though.”
“I’m wildly energized about you, period.”
She giggles, which turns into another yawn. We both amble into the bedroom and slide under the covers. Through half-closed eyes, she peers over at my nightstand.
“Are you readingThe Hunger Games?” She nods toward the book.
My face heats. “You said it was your favorite. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.”
Tessa says nothing, but leans over to kiss me. A long, sensual kiss, sweeping her tongue into my mouth. She pulls back on a sigh, and I reach over to turn off the lamp.
Her arm brushes up against mine.
“Love you,” she whispers, snuggling her head into my chest.
“Ti amo,” I whisper back.
Chapter 38
Tessa
Lamont’s ringtone jolts me awake. On reflex, I reach for it and pick it up off the nightstand.
“Hello?” I answer groggily, eyes still closed.
Gio rumbles beside me, tugging on my free arm and trying to lower me back to him. My alarm hasn’t even gone off yet.Why is Lamont calling me this early?
