Page 24

Deflating fast, I stop and face him. “Sex injury. It’s called the roasted-chicken position. Look it up. Very dangerous. You should try it sometime.” I’d laugh if it didn’t hurt so bad.

“Is that an offer?” He pins me with a mischievous grin.

I roll my eyes and hobble away, but my leg gives out. I pause with a whine and reach down to rub out the kink.

“Goddammit, Sparkles. You weren’t supposed to injure yourself.”

I straighten at this. “I wasn’t supposed to . . .”

The words die on my lips as my brain catches on to his meaning. My eyes fly wide at the same time Gio scoops me into his arms. He cradles me to his very bare and too-warm chest.

“What are you doing?” I ask with a squeak.

“Carrying you.”

I smack his shoulder and scream. “You put that chicken in the truck, didn’t you? You, you. YOU!” When I fail to insert the perfect name for him, he does it for me.

“Salami?” He chuckles darkly. “And no, I only opened the windows. I can’t be responsible for who or what slithered in after that. You should be more careful. The chickens on Kauai are protected by law, and they can be very territorial. I personally don’t mess with them.”

“Liar! You tried to kill me with your chicken army.” I kick my good leg, eager to break free, but Gio’s already standing at my front door.

“You tell that chicken to get in line because you’re mine first.” He grins.

“Put me down.” I squirm, but I’m becoming acutely aware that breaking away is impossible. Gio’s built like a rock. He’s solid and unmoving, stronger than any palm tree I’ve ever seen.

“Swipe your keycard,” he says bossily, and I scowl back.

“Not until you put me down.”

“I can stand here all day, Sparkles.”

I fume. Needing this annoying interaction to be over with, I huff as I scour my tote. I produce a keycard and swipe it on the lock pad. A tiny light blinks green.

“You’re so hardheaded,” I say.

“You know what they say. Takes one to know one.” He nudges open the door like King Kong and steps inside.

From across the room, Amelia waves for us to shut up as she keeps her eyes trained on her laptop screen. She’s hyper-focused on her job interview.

For Amelia, I’m quiet, but that doesn’t stop me from flashing Gio a murderous glare. If I could stab him right now, I would. I look down at my manicured nails and curse myself for not getting the pointy stiletto shape like Amelia.

My gaze follows the line of his angular jaw and drops to the strong column of his neck. A large vein pulses next to his Adam’s apple. With the right nails, one slice and Gio would be done-sies.

He moves across the room, and I’m half surprised when he doesn’t simply open the hatches and let me crash onto the couch. Instead, he places me like a fragile egg in a nest of pillows. I breathe a sigh of relief when he leaves, but then the jerk returns with a bag of ice.

“Where’s it hurt?” he whispers, his lips inches from mine.

I try not to focus on the way those lips move around his words. They appear too soft, too enticing, and I’m starting to wonder what enemy lips taste like. I glance away, unwilling to let him seduce me or make this right. I’m furious on both accounts.

He appears in my line of sight, and his stormy gaze links with mine. A muscle flexes in his defined jaw. And for the love of God, is that a scar running through his eyebrow? Why is that so sexy?

I groan, drop my head back, and stare at the ceiling.

“Where, Sparkles?”

He grabs my good leg, making my attention snap to our connection. Traitorous goose bumps race away from his touch. My skin heats to a thousand degrees.

I shake my leg, but Gio refuses to let go. A jolt ping-pongs through my body and lands like a bull’s-eye at my clit, someplace that’s begging for attention. I want to squeeze my thighs to quell the sensation, but I don’t want Gio to see me squirm. Instead, my internal voice screams. Being around someone so handsome is a slippery slope, especially when he’s playing doctor.