Page 43 of Chasing Caine
My eyes shot wide and I shook my head. “No, that’s not it. I mean…” It was about his family, but when he said it out loud like that… that is what it sounded like. “I don’t know what I mean.”
“This is about the questions the officer asked me, sì?”
I let go of his hand and rubbed at my face.
“You still don’t trust me, do you?” He pulled my hands down and leaned in so I couldn’t avoid his face or the sadness in his pulled-down brows.
“It’s a learning process.”
His head tilted and he smiled. “That was surprisingly honest, bella.”
“I should let this theft thing go, shouldn’t I?”
“Sì, I may have suggested this.”
“It’s just…” I wanted to rub at my face, put up a barrier between us, but he wrapped my hands around his waist. “It all rolls off you, like it doesn’t matter. Like nothing phases you. I can’t stop thinking about it, and you’re busy giving tourist advice to little girls.”
“Is my big girl not getting enough attention?” He leaned close to my ear, blowing lightly.
“Stop.” I stepped away, frowning at him. The room was full of people, and he was flirting shamelessly. “Can you be serious for five minutes?”
“Two is my record, but I can try.” He winked and took a step forward, pulling my hands around him again, which made my frown almost impossible to maintain.
I stepped back, narrowly avoiding running into an older couple discussing the Pompeii ruins model. I put up a hand to stop him before he continued the silly dance and I tripped over someone. “The pigment pots are famous and taken from the lab itself. Please tell me they’ll be easy to find?”
“Sì, they already found one. The others will be easy to find as well.”
“And the fresco—”
“I hate to say it, but it’s likely long gone already.”
“Not famous and not easy to find.”
“Bella, when we found the stolen painting at the auction, we reported it and moved on. We’ve finished doing that for the fresco and Bianca already did that for the pigments.” He leaned forward and kissed the hand, which was supposed to be my shield. “I want to get back to helping my girlfriend tick off bucket list items before she has to leave Napoli.”
I sighed, my irritation evaporating. He was right about all of it. “Damn you and your logic.”
“I believe you mean—” He snatched my hand and pulled me into his arms. “—prego, you dashingly handsome man.”
“Prego,” I chuckled.
He was tall, broad, and strong. I was four inches shorter than him and strong in my own right, but surrounded by those shoulders and biceps, it was like we were in our own world. The smell of his cologne. The soft hair at the nape of his neck. The gentle thrum of his heart under those solid pecs. His warmth. No one and nothing else mattered.
“May your boyfriend kiss you in public, Ms. Caine?” He was right, and I was just being stubborn.
I pushed up on my tiptoes, meeting his lips with mine.
He sucked on my bottom lip and pressed his groin against me, making his desire clear. “Can we go back to the villa now?”
“Will you make it that far?” I said with a laugh. “You’re like a thirteen-year-old with that thing.”
“It’s a curious effect you have on me.” His fingers snaked up to the base of my bun. He wouldn’t pull it out, would he? “One we should explore...” His voice dropped in pitch and volume. “More deeply.”
The sound shot directly to my core, and heat flashed through me, making me squirm. “Yeah, maybe we should go back to the—”
“You are going to love this!” Mario appeared out of thin air next to us, clapping his hands, causing us both to startle.
The room and all the other people snapped back into focus. What was I doing? Public displays of affection were off the table for me. And while Antonio’s gaze held promises that were thoroughly inappropriate in a national museum, I welcomed every one.