Page 42 of Captivated

Joe smiled. “All good Italian boys should.”

Liliana laughed at that. “Truth.”

Silently, Joe set his wine glass aside, and moved around the island to come close to Liliana again. So close this time, in fact, that he all but crowded her personal space. She didn’t even mind a bit. His finger grazed under her chin, and with a little pressure, she found herself staring up at him.

“Thanks for letting me in,” he said.

Liliana winked. “I mean, you did bring food and wine.”

“Is that the only reason, though?”

Her boldness decided to make itself known again. “Not in the slightest, Joe.”

“Thought so.”

“And thank you, by the way.”

Joe cocked a brow. “For what?”

“Telling me about your family. You seem so … closed off, I guess. Not with me, though.”

“Noticed that, did you?”

“A little,” Liliana teased. “And you know, I can’t think of any other way I would want to celebrate a successful show than just like this.”

“Calling that just successful is kind of … downplaying it, Liliana.”

She stiffened a bit. “Pardon?”

Joe inched closer still, closing any and all distance between them. “That show was much more than just successful. You, in particular, were amazing.”

“You saw my show?”

“I wanted to see you dance, ballerina.”

Liliana wet her lips, and did her very best to ignore the way his words whispered over her skin. She could deal with that, and the throbbing heat between her thighs, in a minute. She was trying to focus on Joe right now.

His hand moved from her chin to her throat, and his fingers curved around the delicate column with a soft touch. He didn’t squeeze, but she bet every drop of blood in her body he could feel the way her treacherous heart was racing from just his touch alone. His fingertips rested at her pulse point, and then his hand skimmed up to cup her jaw and cheek. And when his thumb stroked her cheekbone like it was the delicate, soft petal of a flower?

She shivered.

“And did you like it?” she asked.

“Seeing you dance?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Loved it, Liliana.”

There was something about the idea of him watching her dance from the crowd that she found to be incredibly fucking hot. Especially because it seemed like he had only really been there for her, and that meant all of his attention had to have been on her entirely.

She just had to check, though …

“Did you catch my missed eighth pirouette en pointe after I stepped out of turn too soon on the seventh at the end of the first—”

“Seven and a half, actually, but nobody noticed,” Joe countered. “How could they when you were probably spinning too fast for them to count?”

“Somebody noticed—you.”