Unlike the previous evening, Simone wore no makeup. She’d dressed in a pair of shorts and a worn sweatshirt from her alma mater, Boston University. The urge to flee upstairs had her foot moving in a frenetic rhythm beneath the kitchen table. Rather than sit there bouncing, she pushed out of the chair.
Fred strolled into the kitchen, a smug smile covering her face. “I should probably take off.”
“You don’t have to—” Simone’s attention was hijacked the second Luciano entered her kitchen.
Instead of the air getting sucked from her lungs, she breathed deep. Her shoulders relaxed while her gaze floated over him. Not one strand of his beautiful, thick hair was out of place, his perfectly sculpted face had her biting back a moan, until her attention dropped to the rest of him. And that damn moan ripped from her, but she cleared her throat, hoping to cover.
“Mr. Santini, hello… again.” She extended her hand. She needed to dosomethingand she sure as hell wasn’t going to hug him.
Maul him, yes. But hug him, no.
“Ms. Redding.” He took her hand, pulled her toward him, then pressed his luscious mouth to her cheek and kissed her. Slow, purposeful, and utterly captivating.
“Oh, mama,” Fred whispered.
On impulse, Simone palmed his chest. The soft cashmere sweater warmed her skin, but his naked skin would feel so much better. He kissed her other cheek, this time letting his lips linger an extra beat.
When he stepped away, she wanted to pull him close again and give him arealkiss hello.
Stop. Get it together.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” he asked, the intensity in his eyes turning up the heat.
“Frederica and I are just having a business meeting,” Simone replied, as Fred displayed their barebones website.
Though it could have been cringy, Simone just went with it. She’d stopped apologizing and making excuses for herself a long time ago.
“Red and Fred,” Luciano read before he regarded Simone. “You’re personal shoppers?” His lips twitched, but the smile he was biting back shone in his eyes.
He wasn’t buying it, but she wouldn’t expect him to. He was one of the most successful businessmen in the world. His clothing lines were legendary… and expensive as hell.
“We have a small client base,” Fred said before addressing Simone. “I’ll go ahead and ask our website designer to make those changes.” After a brief pause, she asked, “Red, are we still on for dinner this week?”
“When is that again?” Simone asked, blanking on pretty much everything.
“Tuesday. If you’re too…um…busyto cook, I’ll pick up something. Love you, babe.” Collecting her gym bag, Fred tossed a nod at Luciano. “You two kids have fun.”
And she was gone.
Alone with Luciano Santini.
Simone shifted toward him and his hungry gaze devoured her alive.
Ohgod, what am I getting myself into?
3
THE OMEGA
LUCIANO
Luciano didn’t stop by a woman’s home,ever. For reasons that were completely foreign to him, he had to see Simone. After landing at Dulles, he’d instructed Stuart to drive him to her house in Alexandria.
Beyond her obvious beauty, grace, andtalents, he needed to know why she’d been tailing him. That’s what he kept telling himself, but that wasn’t the real reason. In a word, intrigue had him swinging by her house. She was different… and he liked that.
He found himself staring into her eyes while the energy swirled around them. “I wanted to apologize for leaving so abruptly.”
“I found someone else to finish the job.”
