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“He knows. And he’s gone that route more than once.” She chuckles. “I’ve maxed out enough of his cards that I can’t blame him for being nervous when I put my shopping face on.”
I run a finger over the rim of my glass, laughing without really hearing what she’s saying. “Funny.”
Guilia lays her hand over mine, stopping my mindless circling. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
Images of Arsen shirtless flicker in my mind. I hear echoes of the words he rasped against my skin.I missed you. I missed all of you.
My face flushes, and I wince. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not looking for an apology, hon. How are things with Arsen?”
Hot. Out of control. Complicated.
“Things are… okay.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know what it means.” I toss my hands up. “We’ve been coparenting fine. He’s actually with Nina right now. He wanted some quality time with her.”
Guilia presses her hands to her heart, and yeah,I know. The man is a dreamboat. Arsen being a good dad the morning after he wrecked me on his desk isn’t offering up the clarity I thought it might.
Shocker.
“It’s quality time with me that is the problem,” I mumble. I drum my fingers against the table. “I’m scared to be alone with him.”
Guilia’s eyes narrow to slits. All at once, she’s the woman who snaps her fingers and gets people killed. “Did he hurt you?”
“What? Oh—no!No. Never.”
She blows out a breath. “Thank God. It was going to be a shame to kill a man so pretty.”
“Arsen has always been gentle with me.”Except the times when he isn’t gentle at all… like last night.My face flushes. “I just don’t trust myself around him. Especially since he’s been making such an effort lately with me and with Nina.”
Guilia clicks her tongue knowingly. “You have feelings for him, and he’s making himself hard to resist.”
I groan, dropping my face into my hands to hide my blush. “I’m pathetic.”
“Are you kidding? You forget I’ve seen your husband. As a very happily married woman,Ican barely keep my hands off him.”
“But sex complicates everything. How am I supposed to know what I want when I look at him, and all I can think about is?—”
“Licking whipped cream off of his abs?” Guilia offers. When I frown, she laughs. “Fair enough. Food play isn’t for everyone. What about handcuffing him to the bed?” My frown deepens, and she raises her hands. “Don’t yuck my yum, Laila. I have as much right to my fantasies as the next girl.”
“Just as long as you keep my husband out of them,” I hear myself say.
Jesus. I sound a lot like Arsen.
Guilia cocks an eyebrow at me. “Well, well, it seems like you know exactly what you want: Arsen all to yourself.”
I drop my face to the table, mumbling through my folded arms. “Not wanting him with someone else doesn’t mean I want him with me.”
“Oh, who are you kidding, honey? You want that man. You’re just scared to get hurt again.” She yanks on my arm until I sit up. Her smile softens. “I know it’s a cliché, but love is a risk, Laila. Heartache is unavoidable when you’re that deeply involved with someone. My advice? If he’s willing to try, then let him. That’s rare. He’s not the kind of fish you just toss back to sea.”
Arsen is waiting in the driveway when Gedeon and I get home. Whipped cream and handcuffs flash in my mind thanks to Guilia’s demented fantasies, and I have to blink them away as I climb out of the car.
“Where’s Nina?”
Arsen opens the back door to show me Nina strapped into her car seat in the back. She’s playing with a crinkly avocado toy I don’t recognize and wearing a pink dress I’ve never seen before.
