Page 21 of Undeniable

The next morning, I am woken up by a body jumping on the sofa bed.

“Beccaaaa,” I groan.

“Morning sunshine. Did you have some fun last night?” She says as she wiggles her eyebrows.

My mind is fuzzy as I try to catch on to what she is talking about. Then I remember that I technically went out on a ‘date’ last night.

“It was fun. Daniel is a nice guy,” I say as I rub the sleep from my eyes.

“Yeah, he is huh? And he is super cute and really sweet. You guys seemed to be really vibing.”

I let out a humorless chuckle. “Definitely not. He is nice and cool to hang out with, but we have as much heat as a wet blanket in a snowstorm.”

Her eyebrows dip and she pouts. “Really? You seemed to be having a good time.”

“Oh, I was. But he is a guy that will stay firmly in the friendzone.”

Becca narrows her eyes at me as she watches me carefully. “Is there someone else?”

Heat instantly rushes to my cheeks at the reminder of Giovanni. Yes, I mean no. But yes. There is most definitely someone who is plaguing my every thought and fantasy. There is a sexy man built like a brick house that I would love to climb like a tree. He obviously is attracted to me but also clearly has some conflictions with crossing a line with me. I am not sure if it is because of his past relationship, the fact that I work for him or maybe he just genuinely doesn’t want to go there. I highly doubt the last one though.

Instead of spewing all of that, I settle on a much more concise answer.

“Kinda.”

Becca snorts. “Thanks for the details.”

I roll my eyes and shove her. “There isn’t really anything to tell. I met him at a coffee shop a few weeks back and have seen him here and there since then. He is hard to read. Sometimes the way he looks at me makes me feel like he is moments away from bending me over the table, other times it seems like he wants to get as far away from me as possible.”

She furrows her brows. “That is kinda weird. Did something happen? Is he married or something?”

I bite my lower lip and shrug as I avoid her interrogative stare.

“What is his name?” She asks.

I freeze for a second. I never told her that I had already met Giovanni at the coffee shop before I took the job. I don’t know why, I guess I just didn’t want her to see that I was all twisted up by him. Every time she asks me about the job, I focus on talking about Alessandro and steer clear of any mention of the sexy as sin father.

“Jared,” I say, spouting off the first name that pops into my head.

She nods. “What does he do?”

I frown. Giovanni said he is in business of sorts, whatever that means.

“Business.”

She lets out a laugh and shakes her head. “Fine, I will stop prying. If you don’t want to talk about him, you don’t have to. If I would have known, I wouldn’t have set you up with Daniel. Poor guy, I think he actually liked you.”

I shrug. “It isn’t like I wouldn’t hang out with him again. There is just nothing romantic that would ever go down between us.”

She nods. “I get that. Can’t help who we are attracted to.

Isn’t that the truth.

-

When I get to Giovanni’s house Monday morning, I have played out about a hundred different scenarios in my head of how our interaction would go. I know that it is totally pathetic that I am spending so much time dreaming up things to do or say instead of just doing it. Most of them consist of him being his usual distant self and completely ignoring Saturday all together. What I don’t expect is what happens when I knock on the door.

Giovanni answers with a smile and steps aside to let me in.

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