Page 5 of Claimed By the Possessive Mafia Prince
“I get the feeling that if I say no, you have no professional obligation to be friendly to me. You’d knock me overboard.”
She touches her hair, then drops her hand. Again, she was angry with herself.
Breaking down this stranger’s defenses gives me a thrill.
“Maybe I would,” she says. “Youarekeeping me from my work.”
“What’s the task?”
“I’m preparing a boat tour,” she replies. “The company has given me the runaround, so I’m prepping the route myself.”
“Okay, captain. Where to next?”
“If I were the captain, and you were my crew, I wouldn’t be the one rowing.”
“Say no more.”
I stand, arms at my sides.
She tilts her head at me. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like? I’m your crew, Siena. I won’t allow you to row.”
“Allow me,” she mutters under her breath. “Oh, brother. Seriously, Dario, don’t worry about me.”
I place my hand on my chest. “I insist.”
“I insist you don’t. In fact, I insist you let me get back to work.”
“Wouldn’t it make your job easier if I rowed? That way, you could focus on the route, on making notes, on dreaming up ways to ensure the boat tour is as magical and romantic.”
“Magical and romantic… are you trying to make me barf?”
“That seems like a very cynical take for someone orchestrating a vow renewal.”
“If you keep going, Iwillknock you back into the water.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
“Seriously? All I’d need to do is start rocking the boat.”
Rocking the boat like you’re rocking my world?I almost said, but that’d be cheesy, and I’m not sure she’d go for it. But hell, if I knew there was a line that would work on her, I’d use it.
“Last chance,” she says.
“For what?”
“To get back into the water of your own accord.”
“I don’t believe you’re that heartless, Siena.”
“No?”
She grips the edge of the boat and begins tilting her body one way and then the other. I keep my arms at my sides, balancing, which makes her rock the boat even harder. She laughs again–then stops, annoyed again.
“You’re allowed to laugh,” I tell her.
“I wasn’t laughing.”
