Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 95049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
He leans in and kisses the corner of my mouth. “Stay here so I can open the door for you.”
As I watch him round his car and butterflies swarm in my belly, I wonder if we’re both being reckless by ignoring the fact that whatever is going on between us isn’t going to end well. I mean, how could it? My life is in Seattle, studying fashion design, and he’s a single dad in Harbor Point.
But then he opens the door and extends his hand for me to take, and I push the negative thoughts to the side. Life is short. I was almost taken and sold to a sex trafficker. Sure, the chemistry between us might burn us alive. But what a way to go …
“Okay, so hear me out. On our way in, I noticed the cutest ice cream truck, and I know we just had cannoli for dessert, but …”
I bat my lashes, and Lorenzo shakes his head.
“Woman, you’re like a bottomless pit. You had garlic knots, a salad, minestrone soup, calamari, lasagna, and cannoli.”
“Don’t forget the meatballs the owner brought out for us to try because they know you.”
“Jesus, you’re right. Where does it all go?”
He reaches over since we’re sitting next to each other in the booth and tickles my side.
“Hey!” I screech, swatting his hand away. “I’m young, and I have a good metabolism. It’s not my fault you’re old and you have to work out every day to look the way you do.” I reach over and pinch his nonexistent fat. “Don’t hate.”
“Did you just call me old?” he taunts.
I quirk a brow and poke his rock-hard abs. “If the shoe fits.”
“Oh, I’ll show you old.” He reaches around and cradles the back of my head, then pulls me toward him for a toe-curling kiss that causes my heart to lurch in my chest.
When an embarrassingly loud whimper escapes me, he pulls back, ending the kiss way too quickly.
“Let’s go get some ice cream before I lay you out on this table, fellow patrons be damned, and eat you for dessert.”
I glance at the table, imagining him doing just that, and his lips twitch in amusement, telling me he knows exactly what I’m thinking.
“As enticing as it is, when I do taste you, I’m going to want to do it in private, where I can take my time and enjoy every morsel of your body.”
We slide out of the booth, and Lorenzo wraps his arm around my waist, guiding me toward the door while making sure I’m protected, and I sigh into his touch, craving it.
Since the moment he took my hand to help me out of the vehicle, he’s been touching me, and every time, I relish in it. When he insisted that we sit next to each other in the booth, I was confused until his hand slid along my bare thigh—thanks to the cute, ruched floral midi dress I’m wearing—and he spent the meal stroking my flesh while we conversed and ate.
When we step out of the restaurant, a light, warm breeze hits us, and goose bumps prickle my skin.
“I let Matteo know what we’re doing,” Lorenzo whispers, pocketing his phone and threading his fingers through mine.
The ice cream truck is on the outskirts of a pretty park that has a large pond with a lit-up fountain in the center. I haven’t been on a date in years, but I have to say this one is kind of perfect.
“What can I get for you this evening?” the gentleman asks from inside the truck.
“I’ll take a cookies and cream milkshake with whipped cream, please.”
“And for you, sir?”
“I’ll have some of hers,” Lorenzo says, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
“You will not,” I say in jest, glancing up at him.
“Fine, then I’ll just eat you.” He nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck. “It was my original plan anyway.”
I snort out a laugh and shake my head, pulling my card out of my purse.
“Not happening,” Lorenzo murmurs, tapping the screen with his card first and making me huff in annoyance.
I let him pay for dinner since it was a date and he insisted, but he’s not even getting any ice cream.
“I know you can afford your own ice cream,” he says, pulling me toward the side while we wait for my shake. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t pay for it. This date is my treat.”
He leans over and brushes his lips against mine, and like always, I sigh into his touch.
I’m about to deepen the kiss when the gentleman calls out that my order is ready, and Lorenzo releases me to grab it.
My eyes are solely on him—and his sexy ass that fits his dress pants perfectly—so I don’t realize what’s happening until it’s too late.
A hand covers my mouth to prevent me from screaming as I’m yanked back and out of sight of the ice cream truck. Strong arms band around me, stopping me from fighting back, and even though I try to kick and pull out of the person’s hold, my gut tells me that this is it. I’m going to be taken.