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“Yes. My goodness, you’re like a doddering old man. Stop worrying. You sound just like Gavin. Come on, let’s get your shoes on,” Stasia told Matty as she dropped him to his feet and took his hand.
“Oh, I can do that—”
“I’ve got it,” Stasia interrupted Paige. “You want to change before we leave? Here’s your chance.”
Paige glanced down at herself, then lifted her head, her gaze meeting Matteo’s once more. He’d been looking at her like a starved dog and only until she caught his gaze did he realize that he was. “Do I look bad?” she asked, and he could tell she thought he hadn’t liked what he saw. But he had.
You can never look bad, bella. Your beauty is far more breathtaking than anything or anyone I’ve ever seen.
“You look…” Amazing. Gorgeous. Perfect. “Casual.” He winced the moment the words slipped from his lips. Never had he had such a problem talking with women. Flirting. Flattering them, charming them into his bed—or whatever bed he could find at a discreet hotel so that he wouldn’t have to bring her to his home.
He spent time with Paige and he said something ridiculous, or worse, insulted her. Because he couldn’t go around flattering his son’s nanny, could he? It was unheard of. And awkward, especially in front of his son and his sister.
Paige flushed in obvious embarrassment, a slight frown on her forehead. “I’ll go change, then.”
Yet again feeling like shit, he watched her walk away, his gaze zeroed in on her pert backside, his mind filled with all sorts of perverted thoughts. He was wasting his time, lusting for Paige. She wasn’t interested. Hell, he was too damn old for her. Boring. Consumed with work, a father to a young child, taking care of a family business that needed him at its helm. While she was young and vibrant and so achingly beautiful she made his chest hurt every time he looked at her.
Paige Stewart made his entire body hurt with wanting.
Her.
Frustration ripping through him, he strode down the hall, walked into his bedroom and slammed the door behind him. If he couldn’t have her, then at least he could jack off to visions of her in his head later.
Again.
Chapter Two
The restaurant was small, elegant, crowded. Expensive. The menu was simple, not a price to be seen, and Paige knew if she had to ask she couldn’t afford anything listed. So she did her best to order what she could only assume was the most reasonable dish.
Earning a scowl sent in her direction by Matteo with her choice too. As if he knew what she were about but was too polite to call her out on it in front of his sister and her husband.
Matty was quiet and well-mannered, scribbling pictures with crayons all over the paper the waiter brought to their table to keep him occupied. Stasia positively glowed and her enthusiasm couldn’t be contained. She exuded such joy and warmth Paige found it downright contagious. Soon she was laughing, sipping a glass of wine, enjoying the stories Stasia told of her family’s growing up years, when she was constantly bossed around by three older and very demanding brothers.
And she had three more—the Worth brothers were also her half-brothers. Poor Stasia was surrounded by men in her family life, not that she seemed to mind.
No, she was quite in her element, if truth be told. And Paige envied her that.
Matteo sat next to Paige, quiet and brooding, intimidating the hell out of her every time he so much as looked in her direction. For whatever reason, he set her on edge even more than usual tonight. He seemed…surlier than normal. That it was just the four of them plus Matty accompanying them out to dinner, Paige could almost believe they looked like a couple accompanying Stasia and Gavin. Out on a double date.
Paige hung her head, staring at the pale cream tablecloth. Her thoughts were foolish. She’d fought them for months and was growing weary of going round and round in circles. Wanting him. Denying herself. Confronting him, running away. Pushing herself on him, having him push her away.
Knowing after everything that happened between them, that he still wasn’t interested hurt most of all. Perhaps…
Perhaps it would be smart to find a job somewhere else.
“Are you all right?”
Shivers cascaded all over her skin at first sound of Matteo’s deep, sexy voice near her ear. He sounded concerned, which was worse because then she could believe for a fleeting moment he might actually care about her, when she knew it was the furthest from the truth.
He cared about her like an employer cared about his employee. Nothing more and nothing less.
Glancing in his direction, she found him sitting close. Intimately close. She drank in the details of his beautiful, masculine face, the sharp cheekbones, the hard jaw, the soft mouth. His dark gaze was directed solely on her, his brows lowered in concern. Her breath stalled in her throat as she struggled to find an answer.
