Page 87 of Niccolo

He laughed. “I’d love to try.”

“I’ll bet you would.”

He grinned. “You haveno idea.”

37

Niccolo

She wasdelightful.

I’d been right: she was incredibly intelligent.

If anything, she exceeded my expectations.

And Ilovedher confidence.

Be careful – you might not be able to handle me.

There was nothing she could have said that would entice me more.

There was a certain prickliness to her disposition, yes –

But underneath, there was also a hint of a smile.

I figured she was playing hard to get…

Which, for me, is like pouring gasoline on a fire.

However, when she said she’d arrived with Aurelio?

Ugh.

At first I thought I had completely misjudged her.

Anyone evenremotelyinterested in that festering bunghole wasn’t someone I wanted to waste time on.

But…

I noticed the obvious distaste in her voice when she said it.

I saw the flicker of repulsion that played across her face…

And I decided to press the issue to see how she would react.

To my great delight, she never once defended Aurelio or acted the least bit interested in him. If anything, she kept dancing around the issue, never directly answering me.

Speaking of dancing, she moved backwards from me slightly – probably to guard her personal space.

I stepped forward again…

And she edged to her left.

I doubted she was even aware she was doing it.

One thing about women: if they’re uninterested in you, they’ll stop making eye contact. They’ll look anywherebutatyou.

She didn’t look away from me once.

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