Page 54 of Mafia And Maid
“What?”
“I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
I jerk back like she’s slapped me. Her? Embarrass me? Who the fuck would be embarrassed with someone like Rosa on their arm? I can feel my brows pull together. “I’m sorry?”
She looks down at her feet and murmurs something else. Gently, I lift her chin to meet my gaze. “I wasn’t embarrassed to be seen with you.”
“You covered me up,” she says quietly.
“You were shivering in the car, and that place is notorious for being cold. I thought you’d be more comfortable.” I don’t understand how she’d ever think I’d be embarrassed by her. “You thought I was covering you up?”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
“Because you’re gorgeous?”Isn’t that obvious?
She makes a little sound in the back of her throat but shakes her head. “I’m not.”
“The fuck you aren’t.” I watch her like she's a wounded deer. One wrong word and she’ll flee. For the first time since I’ve brought her tothe house, I feel like I’m seeing the real Rosa. I lower my voice. "That’s why you didn’t eat dinner…”
A piece of the puzzle falls into place, but I’m not equipped to solve it, though I fucking want to. Badly.
Meekly, she nods, turning her head to the side to look away from me. She chews on her bottom lip. “I know I’m not…the right size.”
With my thumb, I guide her face back. Tears rim the edge of her eyes, and my chest squeezes.
Something roars to life inside me. The need to defend her, but something else. Something darker. The urge to make anyone who’s made her feel less pay. To watch the life drain from their faces under my hands. My hand twitches at my side, but I swallow the fury.
I need to be gentle with her. Soft. She’s broken in a way some buried part of me understands.
“I don’t know what that means. But you’re gorgeous, Rosa. Seeing you in my jacket, smelling like me, it was something I liked.”
Fuck. Even now, the thought has my body tightening. “It was damn sexy. Everyone was looking at you because you’re stunning, not because of anything else. You’ve got curves and fill out that dress like a sin. There isnothingwrong with how you look.”
I hold her gaze and can see that she doesn’t quite believe me. Her lips are slightly parted, glistening after she licks them.
It’d be so easy to taste her, looming over her as I am, holding her chin between my fingers.
All it’d take is one bend of my head.
One taste, and I’d know for sure.
The urge pounds against my chest like a hundred men marching.
“You are stunning, Rosa. You turned several heads tonight because of it. Several women were staring, jealous of you.” My thumb brushes her bottom lip on instinct.
Time freezes for a second before she nods.
“Anyone who says otherwise can go fuck themselves.”
“Okay.” She exhales.
She’s not dismissing me outright at least. It takes every muscle in my body, every ounce of self-control to keep me from claiming her mouth. From making her see just what her body is doing to me. I want her. I want to show her just how beautiful she is.
But there’s something that makes me back off...
My hand drops, and I take a step back, letting the cold air rush in between us.
She pauses in the doorway, her head tilted.