Page 30 of Italy Can Bite Me

“We’ve decided to skip the seasickness adventure,” Agnes Dawson announces. “Margaret and I spotted the cutest little shops in town. Those Italian leather bags have our names on them. They just don’t know it yet.”

Her sister nods enthusiastically. “You two have a ball! We’ll be back before the bus leaves, scout’s honor.”

Before I can protest, they’re power-walking toward town.

Which leaves me with—

“Absolutely not,” Katie says, arms crossed. “I am not getting on that tiny boat alone with you.”

“Scared of a little one-on-one time, principessa?”

“You’re so full of yourself. Does your giant ego have a hard time fitting into your pants? Wait, no, don’t answer that.”

“Relax.” I gesture to the elderly captain arranging cushions on our boat. “We’ll have a chaperone.Due persone,” I tell the captain. “Just two.”

A knowing grin stretches across his timeworn face. “Ah!Gli amanti!”With renewed enthusiasm, he sets to work, transforming the back section into a floating love nest—presumably for our benefit. Plush cushions arranged like a bed, complete with soft throws and—Cristo—are those rose petals?

Katie opens her mouth to argue, but the captain is already urging us forward, his forceful hospitality something only Italian men over seventy can pull off. “Presto! The romance package, very special!”

“Romance package?” The pitch of Katie’s voice could shatter glass. “Tell him no thank you!”

“Perhaps next time you’ll pay attention in my Italian lessons so you can tell him yourself.”

“Vieni!”The old man pushes us toward the boat. “Love waits for no one!”

I step on board, instantly unsteady on the cushion paradise. “Take my hand before you fall.”

Katie lifts her chin, defiant as always, and attempts to board without assistance while maintaining her death grip on that binder.

“I’m perfectly capable of—”

The boat lurches.

Katie’s eyes go wide. She pitches forward with a yelp. And then she’s airborne.

WHAM!

She lands on top of me. Her breasts press against my chest, her thighs bracket my hips, and that strawberry scent that’s been driving me insane since the night we met floods my senses. My cock immediately stands up to introduce itself.

Those green eyes meet mine, darkening with awareness. Her lips part with a soft gasp that does dangerous things to my self-control. A strand of her silky, sweet-smelling hair brushes my cheek, and I swear I feel her heart pounding against me.

Katie jerks back as if stung, but Signore Meddling Romantic, the captain, decides it’s the perfect time to gun the engine, catapulting her precious binder into the air.

“No!” She launches herself after it with zero self-preservation instinct. She’s halfway off the boat with a death grip on her binder, unaware of how momentum is dragging her dangerously overboard. One more inch, and she’ll be gone.

“Fanculo!”My hand snaps out, catching her wrist before a splashy disaster. The boat hits a wave as I yank her back and—

CRUNCH.

Her hefty planner smashes into my nose with the force of an angry nonna wielding a rolling pin. Spots dance in my vision as hot pain blazes across my face.

“Oh God, your nose!” Her hands flutter near my cheeks. “I swear I didn’t mean to—”

WHOOSH!

The boat lurches violently as a massive wake from a passing ferry hits us broadside. Katie screams—not a dainty yelp but an all-out shriek—and launches herself into my arms like I’m her personal lifeguard. My arms instinctively lock around her waist, and I pull her close.

Fuck me.The feel of her curves melting against my body sends all the blood from my nose rushing back down south.

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