Page 21 of Unraveled

Cara thought, now or never. A part of her wanted to stay right where she was. Another part knew it wasn’t wise.

“Don’t be offended, Gian, but I know enough about your last name and your family to make a quick exit. It’s not you, not really. But it is, at the same time—you’re everything I try to stay away from, that’s all.”

His brown eyes darkened with something unknown, but he hid it by looking away. “I see.”

“But you make it really hard,” Cara added after a moment, “and you should know that, too. You make it hard for me to not want to stay, or talk again like we did last night, or even fuck again. You make it really hard to say no, Gian.”

His laugher came out rumbling and thick. Another one of his sexy sounds. “Do I?”

“Yeah,” Cara admitted.

“Could I convince you on breakfast and coffee? Nothing more, I promise.”

Cara didn’t believe him, but still said, “Maybe.”

His hand twisted into her curls, and Cara sighed with a smile before Gian pressed a quick kiss to her temple. Just the heat of his body, and the glimpse of his fit form leaning over hers, was enough to send her spinning right back to memories of the night before. Then, his kiss to her temple moved to the tip of her nose, soft and sweet, before dropping down to her mouth. She could plainly feel the hard length of his erection pressing into her thigh, but as fast as he had rolled onto her to kiss her, he moved away.

“No convincing needed—breakfast and coffee it is, and then you can go, Cara.”

She nodded from the sea of white heaven that was his bed. “You really do make it hard.”

Gian smirked. “Clearly not hard enough, unfortunately.”

If only he knew …

“Your clothes are … somewhere,” Gian muttered, rolling over and sliding out of the bed with ease. “Sorry about that.”

Cara snorted. “Probably the hallway.”

“I’ll have the coffee ready by the time you find it all and get dressed.”

She could manage that.

Surely.

Gian moved easily through his bedroom, picking up a dress shirt and slacks as he went. He didn’t even bother to put them on, staying naked like he didn’t have a single fuck to give in the world. Not that he had to cover up, Cara mused, as his body was a work of art that needed to be appreciated in the light of day.

Once he was gone, Cara went in search of her clothes. Like she thought, she found most of it in the hallway, but her heels and panties were very close to the front door.

God.

It had been worth it, though.

Cara headed for the kitchen once she had made herself decent, only to find Gian wasn’t there, and no coffee or food was in the works. But as quickly as she realized Gian was not in the kitchen, she heard his footsteps approach from behind her.

She turned fast on her heel, thinking he was up to his tricks again.

Cara came face to face with heartache. Gian looked like heartache.

“Gian?” she asked.

He stared at her for a moment, running a hand through the slightly-longer bit of dark hair at the top of his head. In his other hand, he held a cell phone.

“Rain check on the coffee, at least?” He tried to smile, but he ended up with a frown, anyway. “I know that’s not what you agreed to.”

“A rain check?” Cara asked faintly.

“I’ll call you a cab, if that’s all right. I have to head out.”