Page 74 of Better Left Unsaid

“Thank you for the roses. They’re beautiful.”

“Did you not get my first delivery?” The roses Dom saw. Days and days ago. . . .

“Uhh. . .” I laughed nervously. “No, I did. Just been busy. I’m so sorry.”

In a light, casual way—his very Italian way—Paolo chuckled again. “It’s okay. At least you called. Would you like to have dinner with me?”

This was it. No more debating. I had called him because I had a feeling he wanted to ask me out, that he was interested in me, so why not? What did I have to lose?

Darting my eyes to the side of me, I tried to see how close my sisters were to my ear. The answer: very. I took a few steps forward to walk away, entering the kitchen. “I’d love that.”

“Va bene.I’ll send you details.A domani.”

My stomach flipped over, and I wasn’t sure if it was nerves or excitement or a little bit of both. This was good, though. Maybe this came at the perfect time. I needed to go out on a date, to get away from this situation with Dom. It would give me time to step away from all these feelings I was having that I didn’t even know what to make of. “Looking forward to it,” I finally answered.

“Buonanotte, Maria.”

“Good night, Paolo,” I said and hung up the phone to only turn around and practically run into my sisters—well, all of them minus Allie, who was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

“Well?” Perla and Bianca practically shouted in unison.

“We’re going to dinner.”

“Ohmigod!” Bianca screeched and started dancing around my kitchen, stopping only briefly to take my hands and make me dance with her. “You are so lucky, Maria. Paolo is—”

“Literally perfect,” Perla finished her thought and nudged Allie’s shoulder. “What’s your problem?”

Allie shrugged, brushing her off.Oh, Allie. Get. Over. It.“Nothing. I’m just tired. It’s great, Maria. Paolo is perfect, she’s right.” Then she stalked into the living room. I believed Allie was happy for me and that she did think it was great, but that didn’t mean she still wasn’t sad about the prospect of me and Dom happening being flushed down the toilet with this whole Paolo thing. Problem was? We were never going to happen anyway.

“We need to pick something for you to wear. You’ll definitely need my help.” Bianca was halfway up the stairs. “Come on!”

“Now?” I asked. “I’m not even sure where we’re going, Bibi.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, now, because it doesn’t matter where you’re going. You need to look fabulous! You’re going out with a fashion designer. There’s no question you need to look great.”

“And I won’t look great if I dress myself?”

She arched a brow. Okay, stupid question. Apparently, I didn’t know how to dress myself. I thought I did, but what did I know?

“Where do you keep your cutlets?” Bianca asked, peering over her shoulder as I walked behind her into my bedroom.

Jade snorted behind me. “What?” she shrieked. “What the hell is a cutlet? Don’t those belong in the kitchen?”

I chuckled and waved a hand behind me, trying to tell her it was no big deal. “Silicone boob inserts to enhance the form. Make you appear more voluptuous,” I explained. “They’re called cutlets.”

“By who?” Jade asked, her voice hitting a high as she grew sincerely curious. We laughed, and Jade defended, “What? I’m serious. Who would say that?”

“Bianca,” Perla answered.

“Call them what you want, but a man like Paolo is going to want to see your boobs perky with a little spilling out on the top. We’ll need to pick something that accentuates your curves, too,” she said, ushering me into my own bedroom. “Come on. We don’t have any time to waste. You have to dress to impress.”

Allie walked around us and sat on the edge of my bed. “Ditch the panties, too.”

“What?” I did a double take, my head spinning so fast I feared I might have given myself a headache. Could she have known? How? I shook my head—no, there was no way. “I think I’ll wear panties.”

She sliced a hand through the air by her neck as though saying that was a no-go. “Big mistake. You don’t know where the night will lead, and you’ll want him to have easy access. Men like that.”

I shook my head profusely. I couldn’t. It didn’t feel right. That was— Something I did on a whim at Dom’s request. It was all fun and games. It was like our thing. Okay, maybe that sounded stupid. None of this mattered anyway because—“I’m not sleeping with Paolo.”

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