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He drags his thumb roughly over my bottom lip, and a sexy growl vibrates his throat. “Do I scare you, precious?”
How the heck he plucked that thought out of my mind is beyond me. I shake my head and suck his thumb into my mouth. Because obviously I’ve lost my fucking mind. He hisses out a curse as my tongue circles his calloused finger.
“Rosa, be careful….” The rough edge to his tone has my insides clenching. “You know what they say about monsters.”
I clamp my hand around his and bring it closer to my mouth. “What’s that?” I mumble around his thumb, leisurely sucking and circling.
“Once you set a monster free, there’s no getting him back into his cage.”
I spit out his thumb and smirk up at him, wiping the saliva from my chin. “Then I guess it’s a good thing I don’t want you caged.” It takes every ounce of willpower in my body to turn away and walk toward the door.
“But you should.”
His whispered confession is so faint, I barely hear it over my thundering pulse. I’m playing a dangerous game, and I’m all too aware.
Just one kiss left me in a puddle. If I really did let Dante in, he’d devastate me. This is more than just about Rose 2.0. It’s self-preservation.
* * *
I chew my PB&J slowly in the staff lounge, none too eager to face my new roommate lingering in the hallway. Dante remained outside the door of my yoga studio all day. Those midnight eyes never strayed, pinning ominously to any male that came within five feet of me.
I wouldn’t let him get to me though. Private lessons at Palestra were big money so I refused to let Dante scare away all the clientele. Shockingly, he remained fixed to the spot by the door all day and didn’t threaten another soul. Maybe this could work after all.
The lounge door opens, and Maisy’s smiling face fills the entry before I catch a snarling Italian behind her. He sneaks a peek into the employee lounge before the door swings shut, and I release a breath of relief. For a second, I was sure he was going to bust in here like he did on Christmas Eve when I planned on sleeping on the couch.
“Hey, Rose!” Maisy scoots into the chair beside me, then unwraps her sandwich, a grown up looking one with lettuce, tomatoes and all the fixings. Unlike my kid’s meal. Dante needs to upgrade his fridge contents stat. “How was your Christmas?”
“Great,” I mumble around a mouthful. Luckily the PB&J is a good excuse not to expand on the topic. “You?”
She shrugs. “Just perfect. With my perfect sister, her perfect husband and kids.”
I swallow down the big bite and squeeze her hand. “I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be. I’m being a total B for no reason. I’m just bitter.”
I’ve still never asked her much about her divorce, and I’m not stupid enough to get into that right now, but I make a mental note to find out more one day when we’re alone.
“How was Long Island?” she asks.
I freeze, debating whether or not to tell her the truth, or at least a version of it. I hate lying to my new friend. “I didn’t end up going,” I finally mutter.
Her eyes widen, and she drops her sandwich, the lettuce and tomato fly out and splatter on the floor. “Oh, sugar! Sorry, I’m such a clutz.” She bends down and tries to scrape up the rest of her sandwich from under the table, then pops up with a huff. “Any who, why didn’t you go?”
I mentally flail as I struggle to come up with a logical excuse. But nothing comes to mind. “Family drama.” Short and sweet and true. “I’d rather not get into it.”
“Sure, I get it.” Maisy takes a sip from her water bottle before her brows knit. “But wait, I thought your heater was broken. Where’d you stay the night?”
Heat burns my cheeks traveling all the way to the tips of my ears. Which makes no sense. Just thinking about the savage Italian has my body in a tizzy. “Um, I actually stayed with Dante.”
Maisy’s pale green eyes look like they are about to burst from her head. “Oh, girl, how could you just throw that out so casually? You spent the night with the gorgeous Roman god, Dante Valentino?”
A few heads twist in our direction, and I sink down in my chair. Sometimes I forget what a big deal the Valentinos are, especially in these circles. “Nothing happened,” I hiss.
“Is that why he’s standing outside the lounge?” She cocks her head over her shoulder toward the door and waggles her brows.
“Huh. You noticed that?”
A ridiculous grins splits her lips. “Impossible not to ignore the huge, snarly, sinfully delicious male.”
